Komplete Kontrol S series MK1 keyboards End Of Life

@DS99

"RME has always been a role model in terms of first-class quality and support. Many other pro companies can take an example from this! Especially because they always satisfy all users with much less staff. "

If you are really going to compare audio drivers (RME) with what is going on with Komplete Kontrol software/hardware (regardless of series/version) you probably need to think about this a bit.

Yes - RME is the undisputed king of supporting their interfaces (I know because I have two of them) - but their "support" is light years away from what is going on with your typical Komplete Kontrol keyboard (and its associated software)

Drivers are (seemingly) easy for RME - they wrote the book on this 25+ years ago and consistently take their knowledge and repurpose it quickly for each new device they make and OS that comes along.

But let's be honest - once RME has one working driver - they have all working drivers. (Each with specific nuances for the various RME hardware offerings).

RME also never really strays too far from center on their interfaces either. My 2022 UCX-II has a startling number of features that match up with my 2009 Multiface - so given their team and extensive "driver" know how - it is really not a stretch for them to keep "support" going. And good on them. But it is still not an oranges-to-oranges compare.

RME does not need to deal with NKS, they do not need to deal with third party developers or a billion VSTs out there (that ALL need to work correctly in KK) ranging in quality from barely passable to excellent.

RME does not have to deal with the baggage that comes with interfacing with something as ornery as Kontakt or the minefield of NI product authorization or the huge NI eco-system and so on and so on.

While it's a comparison - it's a distant one.

VP

Thank you very much for your answer. I can understand some of the complexity, that's certainly true. I was more concerned with a general claim that NI has always communicated with flagship products. If I take Massive X for example, the bugs that have not been fixed for years, then I'm sure a lot of users who bought the product and hoped that the support would work as it once did would agree with me. You simply have to be able to expect something like that with products around 200€. As far as KK software is concerned: If you only own NI products, you don't care about other 3rd party companies. Then the software should be further developed just as well and, as already mentioned, user preset management should be integrated, which still doesn't work well. That is one of the main aspects why you use them. You want to be able to manage your own sounds well. Once you have worked with the KK software, you are practically dependent on it for sound management. And NI users simply have to be preferred before you think about other manufacturers. I want to make it clear that I love NI products like Massive X, FM8, Abysnth, but NI must also admit that their update policy is much too slow, as in the case of Massive X and KK Kontrol software. Please always think about how much money you invest (also Kontrol keyboards).

@DS99

"As far as KK software is concerned: If you only own NI products, you don't care about other 3rd party companies. Then the software should be further developed just as well and, as already mentioned, user preset management should be integrated, which still doesn't work well. That is one of the main aspects why you use them."

I honestly do not believe that NI set out to release KKv3 - with a specific intent to screw us all over by removing everything that made KK2.9.4 useable.

Yes - KKv3 is new. Yes - it's rough. And yes - it is a letdown in many ways. But this type of thing is not uncommon in the software world. It will take time to get the right fit, finish and polish. But it will get better.

Patience is hard but it's what we need at this time. 2.9.4 works great. Let's rock.

VP

What you say is correct. kore died in 5 years.

I must admit very valid points have been brought to the table here.

But some things remain valid in my opinion.

If I compare oranges that cost 2€ a kilo to oranges that cost 10€ a kilo, I expect the latter to be more tasty.

And if oranges are audio interfaces, why NI oranges continually get abandoned (AUDIO 2 / 4 / 8 DJ, TRAKTOR AUDIO 2 MK1,…) while RME oranges are still eatable?

@Vocalpoint

Well, KK is here for some time already....

RME has several drivers to maintain. And those drivers have to support tens of HW with diverse capabilities... They have bugs in their SW, but they fix it regullary....

But OK. Lets take TotalMix, it is closer to KK. Maybe even by age....

I develop SW and have to maintain and further develop non simple SW that has 30+ years old codebase.... So, I understand NI from one side, but on the other side I know, that it should be possible to include KK MK2 into KK3 and future Maschine.... But it would cost something, of course....

I think the reason not to include support is financial, not technological. The same with putting down authorisation of very old NI SW. Again, IMHO financial reason, not technological....