Kontrol S-Series MK3 - Feeling like a beta tester. :(

I don't know how many ways I can reiterate that this was a data-driven decision.

We know how many products we sell.

We know how many users opt-in to data tracking.

Therefore we know what our sample size is.

We know what that sample size owns, does and does not do with the products that they own.

I have been abundantly transparent, perhaps more than I should have been, because this was an extremely tough decision to have to make, but the ends simply did not justify the means.

I understand why users who like the integration with Maschine and Kontrol S MK2 would be upset that it's not available in Kontrol S MK3 should they choose to purchase a MK3 (note that the MK2 is still supported). And I think it's perfectly natural for unhappy users to express this, and to ask about the reasons why.

And you may see those users, as I do too. But that is not the same thing as the sheer user numbers that informed a tough decision.

That is simply the facts of the matter. I cannot change those facts. Nor is "suits" and "devs" helpful or accurate. Kontrol S MK3 has been in development for a long time, behind which is a unified team of people.

Everyone is entitled to make their own decisions on what to use, and where to invest.

I stand behind our decision to end support for Kontrol S MK1, after bringing it to Apple Silicon, and patching it twice since end of support in response to community feedback. I also stand behind our decisions to continue to support MK2, and the integration it comes with, as well as invest in the transition to MK3 and the new features it has to offer.

Those were all decisions we, the team behind the product, took. I'd like to make a distinction between whatever you see as "employees defending NI corporate decision making" and what I see as us here to talk through the decisions made during the development process, by those closest to the products.

@Jezric I think that's a really fair point regarding the basic transport controls over the deeper integration. It also deserves a response and I recognize we've been hyper focussed on the larger integration in discussions. So...

• Kontrol S MK3 is an embedded device (the logic has shifted to on-device vs. on-desktop)
• This is true for all integrations (e.g. a DAW integration) and all features it currently has or will have (e.g. Play Assist standalone coming early next year).
• Building a Maschine integration onto this embedded device is still a decent effort, because it's ground up, new, and mostly a plumbing job before anything can be hooked up. It may not be as much effort as the big screens-on-device (MK2) effort, but still much of the work is front loaded.
• Although it's true that all forms of integration were deprioritized due to low usage numbers, I can certainly consider with the team some form of middle ground or compromise by delivering the basic transport integration at some point.
• I cannot promise that, and it's not on any roadmap for 2024 yet. But I'm listening, and will mull that with. the team. It may still be too much effort for too few users, given other things we want to build for y'all, but we'll see.

I'm explaining why the decisions were made. Transparency and context may not always be appreciated, but that's not even remotely the same thing as "not giving an f about what others say". People ask why a certain change has happened, and I'm able to explain why, as well as what's happening next (which is informed more by the usage data we collect than whoever speaks loudest).

I have no idea what you mean by "honesty to finally say", as there's an entire thread dedicated to Kontrol S MK1 end of life where we've been very up front about the why: our new tech stack is not compatible with that hardware.