Komplete Kontrol S series MK1 keyboards End Of Life
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I got caught out with this update and have reverted back.
Will the 2.9.4 version still distribute the software updates or will they eventually only be available through version 3?
There's no way I can afford a Mk3 controller so I'm hoping used Mk2's will become cheaper.
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Quote : "Native Access keeps telling me it cant install v3.6.2 until i restart the app...when i restart the app each time i get the same message"
That is a known issue which is usually resolved by manually downloading the 3.6.2 installer and install it on top of the previous version.. : https://www.native-instruments.com/en/support/downloads/
Quote : "Why wouldn t the software at least give us a warning that upgrading would trash our mk1's when we click on 'update'?? That is just wrong. so i had to waste all that time getting back to my old version and now no time to make music today. why would we check the release notes on all the stuff we have when NI rarely updates any of my vst instruments..."
And absolutely right you are ! Other forum member(s) brought up the issue which in turn made me make a post and direct the question at N.I. staff. Unfortunately staff didn't respond. I can not say if they choose to ignore the questions and reports or if they didn't have anything constructive to add at presently and are working on some kind of 'fix'. I would like to believe the latter but the first might be the answer anyway !? . Ref. : https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/100644#Comment_100644
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Quote :
What does this mean for the latest version of the software?
From October 12, 2023, we will start to introduce new features and improvements to our software that are not compatible with Kontrol S-Series MK1. These software changes will arrive first in Komplete Kontrol 3.0 and Kontakt 7 and expand from there.
The current MK1 experience will be “frozen in time”, so the last compatible versions of our software will remain available but unsupported. This means that future operating system updates on your computer could affect MK1 compatible NI software. You will need to stay on your current operating system version if you want to avoid damaging updates.
Ref. (Please read the original starting post on page 1) : https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/17363/komplete-kontrol-s-series-mk1-keyboards-end-of-life/p1
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I think that making the argument that the MK1 is still a "MIDI keyboard that works" is an extremely bad argument. The majority of people who buy NI hardware are buying it because of the software integration.
I bough a S88 MK2 a year ago. Based on your logic at some point I can expect NI to drop support for it and it will become an expensive MIDI controller keyboard. I had the choice for a little bit more money to buy a MODX from Yamaha with internal sounds and from a variety of other companies at the store. I choose the keyboard not just because it's a good keyboard but precisely because of the software integration. It's difficult to believe that the MK1 is so difficult to support considering the few functions it has.
Your hardware is built well and I suspect quite a few people come to buy Native Instruments software because they bought a used peace of gear. Please take a moment to explain to your investors that every piece of hardware that people can buy used will lead to software sales down the road.
And if you can't deliver proper long term support for your hardware why not create a fork KK and open source it and provide detailed instructions of how developers can communicate with your hardware including being able to display information on displays that you make in MK2/MK3s.
I've bought several pieces of hardware one new (my S88 MK2) and two used (Maschine MK3 and Jam). I've been recommending your used hardware to anybody interested in making music.
Hardware has hight costs and low margins. Software has high margins. You are making a big mistake and creating negative brand equity when not investing the minimal resources required to support the MK1s or by not delivering open source tools for others to have more than just a MIDI keyboard.
I'm much more hesitant now to invest in NI hardware or software because of this announcement.
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Quote : "I bough a S88 MK2 a year ago. Based on your logic at some point I can expect NI to drop support for it and it will become an expensive MIDI controller keyboard."
Quote Matthew_NI :
Meaning, it should not necessarily follow that because Kontrol S MK1 was EOL'd after almost a decade, that all subsequent hardware also has a ticking clock of ten years."Other hardware could well be supported for far longer.
Ref. : https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/99985#Comment_99985
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”not necessarily” and “could” doesn’t mean it will be. I’ve learned to be sceptical with carefully worded answers like those.
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Except of course that previous NI products have had even shorter support life spans.
Learn from their actions in the past, this is typical of NI.
I bought a Kore 2 after NI talked its future up big time, they EOL'd it after 5 years after delivering nothing they promised, they did an offer on a Maschine Mk1 to replace it then EOL'd that after another 7 without compensation and no real justification in so doing other than they didn't want to continue support.
A Rig Kontrol went the same way - support stopped because they didn't want to support it. Never is there a technical justification that reads true, just a choice by them to abandon products they had superseded without ever delivering on initial sales promises.
NI are probably the absolute worst for this out of all the music software companies and that's a really low bar.
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Yeah , to be fair , had I had your experiences I might have felt the way that you do also.. Well , who knows , it's only a year ago I bought my S61 MK2 , which was my first N.I. purchase so maybe I still have time to get plenty of n.I. products EOL'ed myself !? Who knows ? But for now I'd like to stay positive and give N.I. the benefit of the doubt with respect to my own purchase - while you of course have no doubts anymore that N.I. could possibly benefit from 😁 😎
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Right you are. 🙂
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I think it is safe to say that every product ends up unsupported one day. It's not possible that anything is supported for the rest of your life. Especially when there's software running on the hardware, which succumb to the same rules as software on your computer.
It's more a matter of "when" than a matter of "if".
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If it did not showed Kontakt lights I'd still be using a KX88... something like 40 years after its release, still has great action...damn lights...
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Well said.
If more folks would realize that this is how the world works (and has always worked) maybe we could avoid some of these 20 pages long threads with users bashing NI, users bashing users, Users bashing whatever is bugging them at this moment etc.
I still think 10 years from a keyboard is a rare thing at any time AND there is a KK 2.9.5 coming as well.
VP
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The KX88 (which I unfortunately sold once) was the best master keyboard in my opinion. Unfortunately, Yamaha did not maintain this and added a touch screen and advanced technology features.
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MIDI 2.0 certainly has a lot of promise and we are in full support as part of the MIDI Association. Kontrol Mk3 supports MIDI 2.0 and is architected to allow us to add features as they become available. This will be alongside some of the more bespoke things that we can do with NKS2.
Similarly, Kontrol Mk3 connects directly to Kontakt via a new API that we have developed. Kontakt is the first product to use this, but we don't intend it to be the last or only. Plenty of thought going in that direction too, again for the more bespoke use-cases.
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Except of course the S88 Mk1 was not released 10 years ago, it was realeased over two years after the initial S25, S49 and S61 launch. At the same time as the M series keyboards which are still supported. Also they tend to equate "launch", when they announced it with the product being available which is rarely the case but makes their inflated "10 years" figure bigger. It's PR and not true.
Nobody is paying you to be a corporate booster, hold companies to account as I said earlioer rather than being their apologist.
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