Komplete Kontrol S series MK1 keyboards End Of Life

Speaking for myself, I think there has been a serious over reaction to the abandonment of the mk1's. It's the way they did it. At least it still works as it always has and is still a terrific keyboard...looks like the new Korg Keystage making me feel like NI got the mk1 right

What is really wrong is the implementation. How people found out about the demise with very short notice or really no notice at all unless they closely follow the goings on of Native Instruments. I registered my mk1 and bought quite a bit of NI stuff...they know how to reach mk1 users. This all created quite a disruption in my music land. Our time is as valuable as their time.

Also really bad is how NI seems to be happy just pumping out instruments and then not bothering to make them better...My native guitars are all stuck on v1 as an example...There is so much more they could do with this stuff. As a result I;m supporting Impact Soundworks .. their Shreddage guitars are awesome..they are now on version 3.5..they do so much more and sound far more authentic than my NI Session Guitars...and are nks. I bet they continue to make their stuff better and better.

I;m hanging on to my mk1 until the wheels fall off. I don't need another pretty screen from a company who doesn't care about their customers. I just wish there were other keyboards out there w. light guides that work with the nks eco that I now find myself stuck in

Unluckily “be open” and business don’t go well together very often.

My big problem is…maybe they DO have something in the oven…but lately the cooks are changed…or my taste has changed…

I don’t know if I want to discover what the new dishes will taste like.

Specially if they serve them half raw…or if, after I asked for years for a meat dish, they tell me “our datas tell us that our clients make different orders. Some take beef, some take fish, some eat vegetarians…but all of them have salad as a side. Therefore…take this unseasoned lettuce”

Hi @Kubrak

I accept that SW development time is needed, but there must have been a robust "plan" from day 1, for the hardware with regard to what functionality NI envisaged for the Mk3 product line, and surely the software should have been developed in tandem along with the hardware? I remain unconvinced as to why KK3 is such an underwhelming piece of browsing software when used within a DAW when they had perhaps upwards of 2-3 years of development time.

Admittedly I can't use it properly in my current workflow - I have a KK S88 Mk1 keyboard which would be crippled by its use (that's another story altogether), but I have downloaded and experienced it on one of my other Macs.

What still works after this update? Can I continue to use the piano as a MIDI piano? Or does that no longer work at all?

That's not actually true - many much larger companies are open with their information and their source code. NI has just chosen to embrace the current, sick American model of secrecy and obfuscation to protect themselves at their customers cost.

If they have compelling products they will sell, keeping them secret and creating a situation where customers can't plan their own businesses in the future does the opposite.

They're selling audio production tools, not a final product but a step along the way. People need those tools to be robust and long lasting - what are we meant to do if we need to pull up a project 10 or 15 years later and NI have deprecated all the software and it no longer runs on current systems? This is a real thing the audio production world and it happens a lot.

It doesn't matter if they have something 'in the oven' we need the products we built upon in the past to keep working and being supported into the future - that's what being a professional company is all about.

Or, honestly, I'd be fine with upgrading to KK3 as long as I could at least keep the NKI light guides. That's literally the only KK feature I use on my mk1, but it's very important to me.