Feedback - Komplete Kontrol 3.0

To answer the bolded question: yes, of course we plan to continue to support VST hosting, irrespective of who made the VST in question. The new keyboard even supports VST3ParameterInfo, a function that allows a VST to declare basic parameter types. It isn't close to full NKS, but basic things (e.g. a toggle) do declare and are shown. This is an expansion of VST support, not a step back.

You seem rather worried we'd disallow 3rd party participation in our ecosystem in general, but the opposite is true. Almost 50% of the usage in KK is 3rd party, and Native Kontrol Standard (NKS) already includes more than 1200 products, with many more coming all the time.

As it keeps getting lost in the discourse (which –given time– I'd much rather become a dialogue), I'd like to repost again a summary of the main feedback, and next steps.

• We've made a major tech transition, partly to allow for us to build more things users want (e.g. resizing)
• We have not yet brought everything forward, and where not, I've explained why (e.g. prioritize the most used features first, and then continuously improve). I don't expect that all users necessarily like the prioritization, but all deserve to hear the explanations I'm providing. We're all human, but I think there are constructive ways to exchange facts and feelings, and thank those of you who're doing so.
• The main complaints as of now are:
  • RESIZING:
    • What: we have transitioned to a UI framework that allows us to support HiDPI and resizing. We focused on supporting host content resizing, as this was the most hotly requested feature.
    • Feedback: users also want to see browser resizing, and KK shell resizing.
    • What next: we plan to take on browser resizing as a next priority (Kontakt 7 already does this). KK shell resizing remains an open question, as there are interdependencies with the host content, which itself already resizes.
  • BROWSING:
    • What: we implemented the new visual browser seen in Kontakt 7
    • Feedback: some users use the browser to organize samples they then drag/drop into hosted content (e.g. a granular sampler) and are no longer able to do so.
    • What next: we plan to add a way to import samples from the new browser into host content
  • SCANAPP:
    • Feedback: some users are reporting hangs or crashes with specific content. Note that we tested with 10s, 100s, 1000s of products, but the variables are exponential, and issues can occur.
    • What next: we will look at the bugs filed against specific reports, and also some general improvements (e.g ability to exclude from list).
  • MEMORY USAGE:
    • What: the new Qt user interface framework unlocks a lot of possibilities (some already realized, like scaling and resizing) but is more memory intensive than previous (which was fixed bitmaps).
    • Feedback: some users are reporting an increase in memory usage too great for their needs
    • What next: we will continue to profile and reduce memory where possible - this is not one specific thing, but a general effort you can look for in release notes
  • TAGGING:
    • What: we implemented the new visual browser seen in Kontakt 7
    • Feedback: since the new browser does not yet support the full user tagging workflow, people who make use of this tag editing capability (especially on behalf of preset communities) are stuck on KK 2.9 until support is added
    • What next: we plan to add tag editing capabilities and eliminate the regression in the coming months.

Note that despite my transparency, the one thing I'm not at liberty to say is exactly when each feature mentioned above (and others that crop up) will ship, just yet. But what I can say is that the browser resizing, scanapp and memory topics are things we're starting work on this year, amidst other topics specific to the new keyboard (Play Assist on device, MIDI templates on device, Accessibility support).