Komplete Kontrol S series MK1 keyboards End Of Life
Comments
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It's not a demand it's a request - that's how it's phrased. See the please at the start of the sentence?
You even used the same formulation.
You are fully entitled to ignore it but it was polite and I would ask that you consider it rather than tone trolling.
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But you do realize that NI is NO different than any other tech company that sunsets their hw and sw due to 10 year old products that become legacy. It's pretty comical to be (as an aside to your comment above) how so many swear they are going to stop buying NI products today, but will be in this very forum next week complaining again....complaining which will not satisfy their desires.
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It's not ten years old, S88 Mk1 was released 7 years ago, and sold until 5 years ago. It was not released with the other Mk1 units.
Facts please.
If we don't complain and show our displeasure with their actions they will continue to act like this.
Do you understand that? Not responding is accepting bad actions.
NI also just did a big marketing push on the Mk2 units prior to announcing the Mk3. They did this to clear stock before the launch, putting their own interests ahead of their customers.
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I bought my MK1 five years ago , I really feel ripped off by NI.
I couldn't believe it when I received that email.
Knowing that it will just become a basic midi device soon, and loosing all the interactions between the hardware and the software (this is why people bought it) is hard to swallow after just five years of using it.
NI deserves no respect at all, just as they have none for their customers who have invested a lot of money in NI hardware and software.
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Native Instruments staff PLEASE LISTEN...
It is too easy to update Komplete Kontakt and KILL a $1000 keyboard.
IF you have been forced as an organization to make such a severe software change, then organize your communications to your community better (and make the previous Komplete Kontrol version more available)!
It is unacceptable that I was so close to going to the press to say I was being FORCED to spend $1000 on a new keyboard after only five years because of my investment in NKS. - Fortunately (for you) I found the legacy install files for the previous Komplete Kontrol version hidden here in the forum.
But many of your community will not.
Many of your community - indeed your most DEDICATED long term customers - will feel just ripped off.
It didn't need to be this way.
Who is in charge of the communications strategy here?
They have failed.
For every one extra new keyboard you might sell, hundreds of community customers will never trust you again.
Was this discussed in staff meetings?
Why is the legacy Komplete Kontakt installer not easily available for those that accidentally update, or as in my case, needed to reinstall? That might have save you losing the trust of your longest running customers.
This is a crisis for many in the community, and I don't think you get it.
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For sure they get it , they could do it , but they just don't give a f...
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Vagus, you are a coms consultant. Interesting.
Time to come clear Vagus - this MK1 situation is not normal, but you come out right away with a spin.
It has been 7 years since release, and 5 years since last sales of a $1000 piece of studio gear.
Now you might be fine that your little iPhone might go to landfill in that span of time - but that's never been normal for studio professionals.
So, Vagus, what is the name of your studio, or band, or label, or project?
...or are you a fake?
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What you should do is, buy 3 MK3 KK keyboards and then throw 2 of them in the garbage just to show everyone how little the money and/or the plastic really means to you. Making comments on forums has such a little carbon footprint, why not just make it real?
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Honestly, that's a piece of bad news.
I can live without Komplete Kontrol software, even because in 8 years NI did quite nothing to optimize the GUI or the workflow. I know that I still can use version 2.9.4, but the thing that I can't update or enjoy new features makes me angry, so I prefer not to use it.
But there's one thing I can't understand: why is it not possible to build a KK 3.0 software that works with MK1?
I mean, if some new features can't be used with MK1 hardware, you can "tell" the software to ignore these new features on older machines.
It's full of examples out there. Starting with iPhones: iOS supports different devices but some have "limited features" due to their hardware (camera, processor, device shape, etc).
Why can't you do that? It's hard to believe it's impossible...
Anyway, I already experienced something similar with my machine MK1: I sold it with all libraries and I decided not to buy the NI machine anymore. I think I'll do the same right now: probably I'm going to switch to another brand for my MIDI controller, cause even if I buy the MK3 I already know that in a few years, it will become "old".
I have to say that I'm really upset cause I just updated my NI Komplete package and I'm disappointed about the "timing" of this news.
But as a private company, you're entitled to do whatever you want, I guess.
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My point wasn't "I can afford to throw all that away", it was "The keyboard has outlasted many generations of other consumer hardware". Anything of that age that's had almost 10 years of updates before it got moved to "It'll still work, it just won't get updated" is (from my point of view) pretty reasonable.
And the old computers got passed down to kid so didn't get wasted. Mac book and two of the phones were from work.
-- Mike
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People are still using old Yamaha KX controllers and old Roland ones, those are like 20 years old or more now.
The difference is that those controllers had everything implemented on hardware. Even if they have no USB, regular MIDI connection still works (with any USB midi interface) and all settings are programmed and stored ON DEVICE.
Why NI decided to make Mk1 and Mk2 to be so completely reliant on computer software is beyond me…
Cost cutting, I’m afraid.
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Some good points made here, for sure, and I do understand and appreciate that hardware can’t be supported by companies indefinitely.
That being said, for me, it was the very short notice that disappointed me the most about this. Not all of us can afford to buy brand new hardware as soon as it launches, and I (due to not being able to work because of illness right now) and many others rely on selling our older gear to help us afford upgrades. I’d wager that quite a few of us were planning to do this with our MK1s to either source an MK2 or and MK3 in the near future. Now this has happened, I can’t in good faith sell on my MK1 to another buyer.
I’m not saying any of that is NIs responsibility, I’m just saying that it’s a reality some of us face, and while the news of the MK1s EOL was never likely to be taken well by those of us who still own one, NI must’ve known about this in advance, and the very short notice nature of the announcement is what got to me the most.
The second thing, as others have mentioned, is having to keep our current KK versions frozen in time, which, when some of us only have one set up and own other NI hardware, isn’t all that viable in the long run…but for now, since I won’t be able to upgrade to an MK2 or 3 like I’d hoped, I’m relieved I can still use my MK1 in its full functionality in the short term…
Perhaps it will be possible for NI to make or tweak the current MK1 compatible version of KK to work separately from newer versions as a standalone legacy plugin perhaps, I don’t know. I guess we’ll see.
I eagerly await any further updates with the situation and patch 2.9.5 from the team, either way…
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Because they were designed specifically to integrate with the software? You can still load the MK1 drivers and controller editor and it'll work as a plain old MIDI board without the DAW integration and Komplete browsing. Not sure if the MIDI ports on the back work standalone, I'll have to try it. But yeah I have controllers and stuff from decades ago that still work, but they were designed as standalone. Same with hardware keyboards, mine have been EOL/unsupported for years and they still work fine. Even the Kronos with it's PC motherboard is hanging in there!
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Hello everyone,
thank you all for your contributions on here.
The team have been able to put together an update for the last version of Komplete Kontrol supporting VST2.
It includes the following updates:
FIXED: Crash and UI glitch when loading Sampler or Audio windows, closing and reopening
FIXED: First note in Logic does not play correctly
FIXED: Issue where Logic Pro would open projects with empty instances of Komplete Kontrol
Here you have the installers:
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Yes. I’m questioning the reasoning behind that design. There’s no reason why it can’t be both. Mk3, once updated with promised standalone functions will be exactly that.
It’s just a pity that it took NI two iterations of controller to finally understand that it is desirable .
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