Dirk Ulrich has left Native Instruments – is NI slowly a sinking ship or ready for a brighter future

How about a middle ground, or, "nobody knows for sure"?

And, I don't really know why the departure of some advisory figure who sold his whole business to NI is supposed to be a sign of somebody leaving a "sinking ship".

Man, you people really should focus on making music. I'm sure you do better than with your crystal ball.

Yeah, I don’t know what this means for NI’s future or not. But I also think it’s an overreach to take this news article and start talking about the merits of izotope (which, apparently you approve of), or demerits of Plugin Alliance (and Brainworx, which you didn’t mention).

But reading Ulrich’s Facebook post basically says he’s leaving because he’s not on the same page as NI’s decision makers. When it comes to NI’s current focus, we can all see for ourselves using our own eyeballs what they are doing: 1) huge marketing push to sell existing IP, and 2) supporting Kontakt. Matt_NI and other NI staff have come on these very forums and have stated multiple times they aren’t putting any money or time into updating old instruments or new innovations. So, from that standpoint, the Synthanatomy editorial certainly seems to be on point.

I think everyone should be concerned that they don’t appear to have the resources to support brand new hardware despite a really, really rocky launch.

Not my words but my sentiments from another website

When you are owned by a venture capital firm - while it would be nice to think that these two would make some sort of effort to optimize, fix or maybe even (god forbid) - lead the field once in a while - the reality is much more simple: "Make more products so "we" make more money and do not waste precious resources looking back"

We all remember the NI of old - where they had maybe a dozen or 20 products and all were well coded, well designed and in some cases - the standard of their time.

Those days are long gone - espeically in iZotopes case - where it appears they do almost nothing between Septembers - except add more questionable, hard to justify features to already well-established products plus give each the usual UI tweaks to make them "look" new - all under the guise of "Look what's "NEW" in iZoTope (insert product name here) Version x.x" all in the spirit of moving ($$$) more new product while instantly forgetting the one that came out last September.

Fixing anything for both these companies (unless it is an actual shopstopper) is not in their game

plan whatsoever.

I can't imagine Dirk Ulrich having single idea worth paying any attention to.

I'm glad he is out of there and not pushing stupid strategies.

Entire concept of PA is the antithesis of the future.

They don't need new hardware! They are fine with Maschine MK3 and Komplete Kontrol MK2, to be completely honest. They wanted to make a bigger screen? Fine, okay, nothing wrong with that idea! They need to synergize the platforms through the software applications and firmware updates. They lack synergy between devices, bring these components together, let them work together! Stop separating everything out into it's own environment! I have invested a ton of money into these products. I prefer this system, but it needs a hell of alot of work to bring it into maturity.

They created this forum and community, which I welcomed, so that we could work together to make all of our experiences better. Although, anytime I read other's posts or shoot out my own ideas to better the system, or see others get on here and ask for help, they get shunned, pushed aside, told all the reasons why NI can't or won't do anything, and we're treated like idiots. While NI does the bare minimum to actually make things better and charge us a ton of money in the process.

What was the point? Why even make a community forum if their intention was to blow us off?

When I shoot ideas to Arturia, they actually do them! I'll see my ideas come to fruition in the next update or product drop. They actually listen to us! They email me back with thanks and treat me with respect. They are even doing a better job on their NKS mappings! If the People at NI are offended with that last statement, they should be! I didn't invest into Arturia hardware, I invested into NI hardware, and I feel like a customer that has been left behind on this investment. The ideas I put on here, would require them not to even make new hardware, they can synergize the whole process through the system they already have and turn the damn company into a gold mine!

Instead, we're told by a bunch of meat heads "we can't... we won't... look somewhere else!".... Well, if that's the attitude NI wants to run with, people will leave to other vendors! Other vendors that will make their experience a pleasant one. If you don't want to build this company and turn it into something special, why are you even running it? Sell it! Sell it to someone who wants the challenge! Because the bare minimum isn't cutting it, and you're not building a future! I remember the old NI, it was a great company, you were innovative and inquisitive, always bringing something new. Now, I feel like you're just pumping stuff out just to make an extra buck?!

I'm an electronics engineer... I worked in that field for two decades! Companies would hire me to come in make them money, decrease losses, improve quality, increase revenue and synergize operations, all of it improving policy and creating a more pleasant workplace for the employees and engineers. I was extremely successful in the years I was working in that field, but I also got burnt out and left industry, because I hit a ceiling and there was no where higher to move, without me having to create my own consultation business, which would have required too many certifications. I'm saying all this, because when I shoot ideas, it's coming from experience. I don't say stupid things "D-One"! I'm giving you ideas to make our relationship and experience together better! You shouldn't blow all these people off that are asking you for help! You get your team together and work on ideas on how to improve those experiences, while using the community forum to get more ideas from your clients.

Frankly, I don't know if Ulrich left on his own accord or not, but I wish him the best. He's probably doing himself a favor anyway?! I don't want to have a bad relationship with NI, I want the best for this company, and they could be the best, but not with the attitudes they currently have when it comes to us, the clients.

P.S. - "A good CEO listens to the people below them and hears what their clients are saying, then takes that advisement and makes an informed decision."... The CEO of Sony said that, after he turned it into a multibillion dollar corporation. Take the advice!

how much more hardware and software do you all need .Get busy and start making music.

I strongly suggest you add Investors Business Daily to your reading list. It's about 5 times more expensive than the WSJ, but if you want to make money, then you kind of can't put a price on it anyway.

That said, you are right; there are a TON of companies struggling.

And we can see that in the market breadth. Just in the NASDAQ alone, the top 4 to 7 stocks make up the great majority of the index's move up or down on any given day! That's not a lot of depth because everybody else is pretty much an "also ran", although to be sure, there are lots of moneymaking opportunities in the "also rans", lol.

Google just about took it's pants off in the middle of a busy train station with those AI pictures of Vikings and the Pope. But just look at the personal views of the main guy over that project. He raised the Gemini AI to be just as if it were one of his children.

It's like that episode of the original Star Trek, called "The Ultimate Computer", where the designer of the "M-5 computer" used his own mind as a basis to solve various AI problems. That resulted in the Enterprise not having good judgment during a training exercise, and killing multiple other starships and their crews.

Yeah, that's just a 1960s story of fiction. But even our cultural fiction can inform us going forward.

Apple was looking "toppy" to me last summer, and I stopped following it regularly. Oh sure, I'll still buy a new iPhone or a new Apple Watch, but I won't buy the stock until the company turns things around. Unfortunately today, it can't seem to get out of its own way. Dropping the electric vehicle project is probably a good thing, and is probably 18 months overdue. We'll see if there's more to come from Apple.

Neither have I, but I will say that the music industry has seen a lot of consolidation over the course of the last few years. NI has been a part of it, but then so have other companies. Even Sweetwater changed owners recently.

Consolidation is not usually a good thing. It's an opportunity to be a good thing, yes. But leadership needs to take the opportunity. Instead, most mergers end up 1 year later with a lower value of the combined entities than the original value at the start of the merger a year ago!

Seriously. Look into IBD. You'll cry at the price. And I won't even tell you how much the MarketSurge charting service costs, or you might fall over and maybe even foam at the mouth and stop seeing in color. But that's temporary. You'll get over it like I did. 😯

Hehe, maybe it was no more interested in producing an endless amount of extensions for (the remaining) outdated products ;)