Kontrol S-Series MK3: DAW support
Quick question:
Just saw an email about the extended support for midi templates in this Keyboard. Lovely stuff!
My DAW of choice now ships with support for this controller "built in". So assuming - when I get around to ordering a Kontrol S keyboard - that the two play nicely together, my question is this
using the hardware buttons on the Kontrol S, example its "mixer" button… does this imply that the channel I'm now controlling in my DAW has its values displayed on the Kontrol's screen? If so… wow!
Basically what I'm trying to move towards is "mouse-less" workflow. The less I have to take my hand(s) off my keyboard and its controls the better! It bothers me to find myself keep moving away, look up or across at a computer screen, and then grab the mouse.
TL;DR: with Kontrol S supported by my DAW, do all editing features for which controls are present on the Kontrol S update on its own screen, thereby avoiding my having to operate the DAW discretely via my mouse?
Best Answer
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Good answer :) Bitwig is by far the best host for use with Kontrol MkII and III Keyboards in my view - but to get the best from it you need to use the third party MOSS Extension which adds a huge amount of extra functionality to the Kontrol MkIII support
So with this as well as the usual display of mixer channels on the keyboard, you can also have display and control of mapped device params (using the mappings created with the Remote Controls Editor or using a pre made one by the community - see links and explanation below) - this is in addition to what you get from Komplete Kontrol wrapped plugins as it also works with Bitwig Native Devices
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Answers
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What is your DAW?
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Bitwig - if that makes a difference to the answer. It does fully support this controller.
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Good answer :) Bitwig is by far the best host for use with Kontrol MkII and III Keyboards in my view - but to get the best from it you need to use the third party MOSS Extension which adds a huge amount of extra functionality to the Kontrol MkIII support
So with this as well as the usual display of mixer channels on the keyboard, you can also have display and control of mapped device params (using the mappings created with the Remote Controls Editor or using a pre made one by the community - see links and explanation below) - this is in addition to what you get from Komplete Kontrol wrapped plugins as it also works with Bitwig Native Devices
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How hugely awesome!! AT LAST… what I would call proper integration!
Drives me nuts that however good a DAW is, I end up with all the "click drag" overload.
Two other devices I may add to the hardware, one of which I only just became aware of: Stream Deck. I mean WHAT a great idea. At that price, it's not really worth me messing about with SOC and some github.
Other device I like the look of is the Nektar Panorama CS12, almost purely for the fact of the motorised (single) fader. Quite some overlap between these two and the Kontrol S… but, all heading very much in the right direction (*right as defined my me ofc hahaha).
Thanks for the help and the info - will start saving!!
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DrivenByMoss also supports Reaper, too. There's also a Cubase script based on the MIDI Remote API, and I was going to start creating one specifically for the Mk3.
I just wish you could get to the other screens on the new Mk3 though, being able to manipulating text/values in real-time via the general MIDI view would be brilliant. We're limited to going through the mixer view which is a little annoying.
I wish that was put forward as a request when they were working on the MIDI templates. It would only need to respond to SysEx data. (I say "Only"… lol).
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Yeah it does but Reaper doesn't have the Remote Controls functionality Bitwig has (I also found it very fiddly to setup in Reaper)
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For setting up your own VST parameters and order, you mean? It does have that, but in typical Reaper fashion you have to run it via an action to even get to see that dialog, as it's not a part of Reaper but a part of DbM.
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I see, thanks. Still not sure if it can do the same though, the key thing about Remote Controls is you can create them at the device level which means every time that device is loaded, whether a native device or plugin, that mapping will load and be instantly available for control (with graphical display of the setting both on keyboard and computer screen). Coupled DAW integration and NKS mapped plugins this means you can control a lot of Bitwig with the Kontrol keyboard
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No, it's not entirely the same you're right. But it's a very capable secondary option if you're wanting the flexibility and options available in Reaper as a more traditional DAW akin to Pro tools. The parameter mappings are saved to that plugin and will open the same next time round, though.
But you're right, the underlying integration is nowhere near as polished as Bitwig. Cubase is similar, there's some great integrations which give you on-screen plus on-device feedback - but you can't move those controls on-screen.
Also, within Cubase there's 3 different ways of controlling parameters (Quick controls, Track controls, VST controls) so it's quite a fragmented experience.
Bitwig is much better designed at the core. I just wish that there was a way to get to parameter screens on the hardware vs having to sysex to the mixing view - This 'direct' control that we're hoping third parties will use would be great if that became available to those wanting to integrate to a DAW, I don't know how possible that would be though, or if it's ever been debated/requested on here?
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DrivenByMoss also supports Reaper, too.
Correct. This fills the gap of missing DAW integration support from NI.
Be careful: Komplete Kontrol v3.2.1 and v3.3.2 crashes REAPER as reported since November 2023 which makes S-Series Mk2 / Mk3 keyboards useless with REAPER.
For more details, please refer to:
Still waiting for a fix in Komplete Kontrol VST3 plugin which is currently planned for Q4 2024 according to NI support. This is a response time of 9 to 13 months from NI to fix this critical bug as they rejected to prioritize this bugfix and keep at low priority.
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On Windows by the sounds of it?
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https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/171743#Comment_171743
On Windows by the sounds of it?
Yes, I've provided a testcase to NI for Windows 10 as I don't have Mac. NI bug report: KBDSW-7859
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