Feedback - Komplete Kontrol 3.0

True. NI had better never try that trick or the backlash would be worse than Wave

The Good: Visual integration with the rest of the NI universe (although I can't figure out why that little accent mark separates words in all of NI's product names. It looks like a graphical error because, grammatically, it makes no sense. No more short names! Whoo hoo! No more tag collections using up almost ALL of the visual space in the browser. THANK YOU. Seems to work better under the hood. My templates load quicker and the plug instantiates faster. Always a good thing when the nuts and bolts get some attention.

The Bad: RESIZING. This has always been a big issue with users, but in order to utilize the new browser layout effectively, you have to be able to resize it. Bigger icons are great, but only if you can accommodate them. I have over 850 libraries to manage and this layout actually makes it harder. Additionally, not having the preset list in a consolidated view with the loaded instrument (like the old KK) adds one more step to the browsing process in having to flip back and forth between browser and instrument view. At this point, if resizing is such an issue, NI needs to create two visual modes for the UI: Desktop & Controller. The user can decide which to use. NAME LENGTH RESTRICTIONS. This has always been my biggest beef with NI UIs. Why are names limited to so few characters??? I've actually renamed over 100,000 presets to adhere to a naming convention and stay within the boundaries of the UI. Yeah, it's a bonkers thing to do, but it was necessary to be able to see everything and speed up workflow. I had limited all of my instrument names to fit the old KK browser list (because that had the most space) and now that's decimated. There is extra space available in the KK header to accommodate bigger names. Why not use it? In the Kontakt-style browser, if an instrument's name goes beyond the character limit you can't even see what its full name is without loading it (or having to open another window in the Finder???) and the columns don't resize when the window is expanded. It's just bizarre. There's no uniformity across UIs to ensure name length stays constant. Along with that, there's no way to resize the Libraries list in Preferences. A search tab there would help a lot.

I understand this is all QoL stuff, but it's REALLY important QoL stuff. It directly affects workflow. If NI wants to continue to utilize a fixed-space UI, then they need to better utilize that space.

I have already been asked in this forum to be "less vocal". To be honest, I don't think I was so far, but in case it has really been perceived in such a way, I deeply apoligize, especially to Matthew_NI.

Please forgive me, but the reason why I'm so disappointed about the limited services that KK V3.0 currently offers (and the resources it consumes within my DAW) is the fact that my decision to buy an S-Series MK2 keyboard half a year ago was based on solid information I had collected (so I thought at least). The benefits owning an MK2 keyboard were not only propagated by well-known NI employees like Matt Lara ("...everything in Komplete Kontrol..."); my final choice to get me that particular keyboard - along with many great NI libtraries - was mainly driven by the endless possibilities that have been presented and promoted in all kinds of media and forums. Just for clarification, I'm far from calling myself a "power user" or anything similar, even though I'm a graduate IT-engineer as well. Nevertheless, in the same way as everyone else would act when going to buy any kind of hardware or software, I have done my homework very carefully, e.g. by digging a little bit into the way data and the general workflow are structured before I decided to continue my way with NI and its products.

Aside from the MK2 (which I even obtained later), I have already purchased the Komplete 14 Collector's Edition, along with the full Maschine Factory 2 library and many Maschine extensions. After all, the MK2 seemed to be the perfect gear to manage all of those tasks. However, of course I also purchased lots of "non-NI" libraries and plugins. Due to the possibilities which seemed to be without limits a few months ago - even though for 3rd party products from vendors currently not classified as "official NKS-partners" - it was a no-brainer for me to go that route. I was really thinking that Komplete Kontrol could play an essential role in my overall studio setup, acting as a "central instance" for searching an managing all my plugins, sounds and libraries, and being able to manage those within a solid database for which tagging and categorization functions are unrestricted, regardless of the vendor. Especially the ability to control all VST parameters within my DAW (Cubase 12) via the MK2 keyboard's controllers in a convenient way, as well as title/logo/view/shortcut customization was the final trigger trusting NI.

Having said that, it's not far-fetched that it would be a disaster for me now if all the time and efforts I've spent throughout the past months, customizing my precious libraries - especially the "non-NI" ones which need more affection, would turn out to be useless. Just think about that situation from the perspective of customers who have recently started working with a new MK2 keyboard and now getting told that things will drastically change from one day to the other. Wouldn't you agree that it's a normal thing to get suspicious in such a case, not knowing what's going on from now, especially after noticing that an ordinary "update" for the KK application which you think you finally know by heart gets suddenly replaced by something totally different, offering less functionality and a reduced feature set without prior warnings?

Yes, of course I have read all the contributions to KK 3.0-related threads from start to end, and I also appreciated the "paths" that have been envisioned so far by Matthew_NI. But to be honest, I cannot detect a solid commitment to bring back all the well-known and proven features which already existed (regardless in which way they will be finally coded). I guess you wouldn't give away too much information about your further internal strategies when trying to answer the following single question by yes or no:

Considering your plans for further development for the KK 3.X standalone application in conjunction with the existing MK2 keyboard (which is by far not supposed to become EOL soon), will NI continue to support VST3 libraries/plugins (even if not sold directly by NI GmBH and its partners) along with related database managment functions, unrestricted tagging/editing options and one-shot/loop sample drag&drop functionality in the same extent as already known from KK 2.X?

I know that this might take some time, but let's really try to be honest here. My deepest concerns are that - as it has already been mentioned in this thread before - NI's target could be to get rid of all 3rd party vendor implementations within KK, so that in the near future only "NI-native" libraries will finally benefit from the KK application's goodies. In fact, this would be contrary to the current situation, as KK 2.X does all that. And that's finally what has made this application one of the most powerful of its kind (at least from my personal perspective).

This whole discussion (and maybe confirmation to my question above) about features which could get lost is really essential for me, especially having invested almost 2k by purchasing NI products in order to be future-proof. For sure, an MK3 won't be on my personal short list - already half a year after having invested in an MK2 (and massive time for related sound customization). That's why I guess many current MK2 users have the same question. Please let's forget about your MK3 targets/sales for a monent and just let's only focus on the majority of MK2 users which are supposed to change to KK 3.X soon, at least when it comes to NI's imaginations.

Thanks for being honest with the community.

Welcome to the Native Instruments Universe. Unfortunately this happenend in the past before. Kore 1 and after that Kore 2 had more or less the same approach as Komplete Kontrol. Kore 2 was basically a plugin wrapper as Komplete Kontrol but had a seperate FX plugin instance, had morph possibility on the XY achsis. You could buy as well Expensansion Packs for it. From one day to another the product was discontinued. Sure Tech Stacks got newer etc. but with NI it has become tradition to cut away features which were there simply stating we needed to put it in the backlog. Most of the time those features never come back. This is really sad and i hope NI can proof us the opposite but history tells a different story. I think the plattform which is here with the NKS standard is the best in the industry and especially for that case its so sad to see such a software release. So please NI proof us you can do better to get our money back again. Till then i‘m enjoying KK 2.9.4 with the MK2 Keyboard which in my oppinion is the better package of hardware and software combined than the MK3 Keyboard with Kontrol 3.0

thank men! found it and luckily was able to revert back successfully meanwhile

Be careful: they’re gonna call your feelings “easy and cheap shots”

This Update totally destroys my workflow!

I raelly miss the old browser and the browser/plugin view. It is a p.i.s.a. to change the view each time I want to select another preset from the list.

And I also iss some libraries. Soe from Spitfire for exsample!

Please give me back the old Komplete Kontrol!