Has NI Lost It's Way?

I guess that's a reality check for me then for the longer term strategy and future of NI.

Sounds damning if there are problems, but they don't understand that there are problems and aren't even equiped to deal with the problems, because they don't have a team team focused on the problems. If NI have really been this good for years and haven't improved much in all that time, then i've really been missing out. The M+ is what made me fall in love with NI again though and it's a relatively newish product that they have made into a masterpiece, at least to me who felt no real affection or desire to use my MK3 much. A company that can make such a quality and desirable product once, can surely do it again.

Speaking from the Maschine point of view then, I still have the rose tinted specs on.

Is it broken? No, not for me. In fact it's far from broken.

Is there anything better? Well, that's really subjective and it depends on the definition and perspective of the user concerned. More features doesn't always equate to better. A few focused features might make or break a deal in any number of directions, or even the price point might.

Can it be improved? Of course it can. There are lots of companies bringing new features out that occasionally catch the eye, some that i'd never even thought about.

But are we all screwed? I mustn't understand the viewpoint. I don't feel screwed, even if NI don't progress their line up, there will be a transitional period where I will still keep and love using the M+ until maybe something comes along that's better for me. If there is something better, I will probably use the better product but continue to keep using the M+ on occasion and probably re falling in love with it again.

I have a lot of gear that can mostly achieve a similar end result. but it's the journey to the end point that makes this a class act. It's interesting to read the opinions of die hard long term users though. You clearly loved this company once or you wouldn't be here fighting for how you see your projection of what the company can be in your eyes.

Yeah, strange isn't it? I guess it's the standalone groovebox focused hardware vs controller attached to a computer and all it's potential distractions and extra cables thing. The freedom to roam to a better place. Possibly some psychological reasoning behind it that can be described eloquently by someone else.

I doubt NI's Maschine market has grown too and I never said it had, unless I didn't explain what I meant above but I was talking about my perception of the "groovebox" market, which to me looks to be booming.

I was saying, that I don't think NI predicted that boom.

I somehow could take threads like these, which also surface in other forums regularly, more serious if NI would have dropped from being the top of the business to the bottom of the business, and laid off 90% of its staff.

This way, I can only feel a bit pity for the people who obviously don't have better things to do in life than talk everything worse than it is.

Also, what threads like these (and the people in it) sorely miss every time is the realization that the crowd that you cater to has significantly changed in the last 25 years. People using audio plugins aren't nerds anymore, and, a lot of the music industry has changed towards certain musical genres which have other ways to make music as well. You either cater to these people, or you can simply say that you are willing to cut off 90% of the market.

Now let's make some dope beatz with Maschine, OK?

"Konatkt for example is a very successful product, still the most popular instrument Sampler by far."

At least you are able to admit that, unlike many other people in such threads.

Or do you mean it had now placed profit above all else - even more than before. You know companies are made up of people with a selected group calling the shots. Then there are other aspects of being a business entity such as passion, being a pioneer to innovate, listening to what the market wants, collaborating and engaging stakeholders, being ESG environmentally responsible, doing CSR charity,managing optics and be seen to be generally in compliance, etc. Lost the way, maybe not if it knows exactly what it's doing and where its going.

To their credit, last year they did put out a Maschine survey which felt like taking a psychological test 😅

With respect to their last initiative, if you read the guidelines for submitting the suggestions, they are quite thorough, so much so that everyone is ignoring them. If they can be faulted for anything is to have overestimated the ability of users to stick to the protocol.

User feedback is not always the holy grail. I'd rather have dedicated and passionate product managers who use the product daily setting the vision for how the product should evolve. I've been saying this for a long time, but I personally believe that the constant reshuffling of personnel within NI is a major contributor to the current state of things.