Kontrol 2024 outlook: what was, what now, what next?

I realize that I was pretty negative in my previous posts so I apologize for bringing the mood down. I’ll try to be more constructive as I realize that the development team is grappling with a whole bunch of issues and just barking out my frustration doesn’t help the present situation we are all in.

On a constructive level, the fact that the Kontrol has a capable internal stack is amazing. It seems that it is well suited for a long life of updates and from that standpoint it makes for a good investment. From what @Matthew_NI is relating to us it appears that NI is putting some muscle into the hardware stack and they will work, at their own pace, to see things through. That is positive!

I have some suggestions for development:

1. it would be amazing to have an 88 non-hammer version of the Kontrol. It would be easy to travel with, fast action (love the synth style short action on my 61) and lower profile for desktop use. Arturia is doing this with their Essential line, Novation has done it an and it seems great!! I don’t imagine it would be that hard to manufacture since the poly-at keybed is already developed by Fatar.
2. on non-NKS MIDI implementation and even for NKS I have a suggestion. It occurs to me that all soft synths have certain controls in common: Cutoff, Resonance, Env Amount, ADSR for Amp and Filter, Glide are a few of the most used ones but we could add to that list for sure. I think all these common controls should be in the exact same place (rotary knob # and bank) for all instruments. This way you always know where your Filter is (for example) regardless of the instrument you are using. I started doing this with non NKS instruments in Logic and it is amazing!! I can pull up Serum, Diva, Omnisphere or whatever synth outside of KK and immediately start tweaking the most common and useful elements without even looking at my screen. I just reach for the knob regardless of the instrument I’m using and it just does what I expect it to. I started liking this more than NKS and NKS2 where all the controls are in different places for each instrument. On that point, I’m hoping that the MIDI template editor will allow labeling the CC knobs. Previous implementations, I believe, let us add pages and change MIDI messages assigned but we couldn't relabel the knobs with something other than their CC Value. I plan to program all my favourite synths the way I described and I also suggest this kind of uniformity across instruments for NKS/NKS2 since at the moment it still feels messy. Let's face it, for simple tweaks NKS and my suggested method is great, but for a deep dive into a synth sound design we still need to do the mouse thing as it is much easier.
3. for Smart Play here is something I would love to see: combine the chord feature with the ability to play single notes in a split keyboard mode. This way the left hand can play chords and the right hand can augment them or play melodies on top. It would make an amazing combo allowing us to play things that would otherwise be impossible to perform with just two hands.

Me either.

I have reacted to a few blatant rants in the past that massively deviated from the topic - but I usually flag that instead of doing a vote down.

VP

This is a thread about the future of Komplete Kontrol.

You probably should start a new thread if you want to talk about competitor controller products. I sure ain't giving any answers in this thread; that would just be rude.

Just sayin'.

Actually it's a thread about the future of Kontrol and its integration with the standalone and plugin KK. As in, it's not a thread about the KK software itself.

Yeah...and just my luck that's the one thing that doesn't work with Ableton presently......

Well, I guess as long as the project managers have not decided to NOT integrate these other NI platforms, I guess there is still hope...

Here are my observations and requests for consideration for the Kontrol's MK3 place in the NI ecosystem. I bought the Komplete bundle for the synths and effect plugins. If NI had offered a bundle with just their synths and effects and none of Kontakt or Komplete Kontrol, I would have bought it instead. The Reaktor community is enormous. And it is singularly unique. Massive and Massive X are absolutely wonderful synths, and even if development has been stopped, people continue to use it simply because they have invested so much time in presets for them. Battery was once the standard, and could be again with a little love. These instruments need integration in Kontrol MK3 (and beyond) hardware!

I remember 1996. I remember being jealous by this brand new company being able to overcome the limitations of my Kurzweil K2500 keyboards with its new invention, whereby you could design your own synth on your desktop computer. When the MK3 keyboards were being teased, and the claims were being made that you would be able to pull up any NI or third part instrument and use it like the synth was native, I finally decided to take the plunge. NI's decades-long innovation (Guitar Rig, Reaktor, Massive) is what is responsible for the huge user base that NI enjoys. And, in my personal opinion, that user base is now being taking for granted, based on misguided daily usage stats and overstated conclusions based thereupon.

And yet, NI has an opportunity with the MK3 keyboards- and whatever new version or replacement for Machine is on the horizon- to keep and grow that user base. But only if NI uses this innovative hardware in ways that doesn't just serve the Kontakt users. If that is the road that NI chooses to go down, the MK3 keyboards will not live up to their potential and eventually not provide growth for NI. And make no mistake, I want NI to grow. Just not exclusively as a sample library based company.

P.S. And add a touchscreen for MK4. Just saying.