NAMM 2025: Introducing the NKS Hardware Partner Program

Kaiwan_NI · 2025-01-22T14:41:04+00:00

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Hi everyone,

If you've been following the news about NAMM 2025, or are lucky enough to be attending, you might already know there's plenty to look forward to. Our Chief Product Officer, Simon Cross, took the stage today to share some big news from Native Instruments, and I'm super excited to share it with you all!

Meet the NKS Hardware Partner Program

We're making it easier than ever to explore new sounds with the launch of the Native Kontrol Standard (NKS) Hardware Partner Program.

Many of you are familiar with NKS as the technology that allows third-party plugins to be pre-mapped to Native Instruments hardware. Now, with the new Hardware Partner Program, we're extending the NKS ecosystem to include third-party hardware. This means hardware manufacturers can integrate seamlessly with Native Instruments software, making your creative process even smoother.

Our first hardware partners

We're pleased to welcome Akai Professional, Novation, Nektar, Korg, and M-Audio as our first partners.

If you own any of the following keyboard controllers, you'll soon be able to use them with Komplete Kontrol software to access over 1,800 NKS-compatible instruments and effects.

Akai Professional: MPK Mini, MPK Mini Play, and MPK Mini Plus
Nektar: Impact LX MK3
Novation: Launchkey MK3 and MK4, FLkey, and SL MK3 controllers
Korg: Keystage controllers
M-Audio: Oxygen Series keyboards

This feature will be included in the next Komplete Kontrol update, so be sure to stay tuned.

Special content for MPC Users

We've also teamed up with Akai Professional to bring Native Instruments' content to the MPC platform. You can purchase some of them now at our webshop.

Five MPC Expansions: Drum kits and sample packs reformatted for seamless control on Akai MPC hardware.
Five MPC Editions: Instrument plugins developed from our Play Series, custom-designed for MPC users.

Free Komplete 15 Select for new NKS-ready hardware owners

Soon, when you buy any NKS-ready hardware, you'll receive Komplete 15 Select at no extra cost. Depending on your music style, you can choose from one of the following editions: Beats Edition, Band Edition, or Electronic Edition.

Looking ahead

We believe the future of music tech lies in collaboration and interconnected tools, and this is just the beginning. Our ecosystem will continue to expand as more top hardware and software developers come on board. 🪩

If you have any questions about the NKS Hardware Partner Program, leave them in the comments and Simon Cross, our Chief Product Officer, will answer them in the upcoming community update. We've been putting a lot of effort into this partnership program, and while the community update is a little later than usual this quarter, we really appreciate your patience!

What other NAMM 2025 announcements are you excited about? Drop your thoughts below.

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Comments

Super8boy

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/205593#Comment_205593

that’s not exactly true. It’s coded for that particular platform.
if you buy cubasis on iOS, do you get a pc and an android license too?

mykejb

if you buy cubasis on iOS, do you get a pc and an android license too?

Yet if you buy Cubase for PC you get the Mac version too. Same with Pro Tools, Ableton, Maschine, Kontakt, all th other expansions etc etc etc.

ozon

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/205780#Comment_205780

Imagine a world where companies actually finish their products before abandoning them!

MaikR

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/205499#Comment_205499

Well, reading through the entire discussion I think this slightly rhetoric question has been answered multiple times and in multiple ways. And, due to another ’internal reshuffle‘ -that doesn’t add up to customer value at all- you’re allowed to forwarded all questions about M+ onto @Chris_NI. Even though he isn’t up and running and/or up to speed, yet… so, please hold-on… just a little longer.

Meanwhile you partner up with Akai to help them further boost the MPC platform; absolutely nothing wrong with that, but if you don’t understand what this move means for your own M+ user-base then you’re not willing to really understand ’customers’. You COULD AND SHOULD have anticipated on that planned move, simply by updating M+ beforehand to be stable, class compliant, and on par with software version 2. We’re on-hold for a VERY LONG TIME, and you (and @Simon_NI) are co-responsible for the enormous delay… prioritizing new business development, like this one.

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/38221/will-there-be-a-version-2-update-to-maschine-or-only-a-version-3-upgrade

LostInFoundation

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/205855#Comment_205855

Do you mean after they fixed the bugs, changed some things users suggested could be better implemented, introduced many new features and plugins, gave us the linear arranger…all for free…although Force wasn’t a big commercial success and therefore they could have said “let’s abandon it”?

I would say they are going well: atm we don’t need new updates (unless they will want to give us some more gifts), so there is none. Exactly what is needed

Edit: before somebody else will think this post will need votes down: I’m not saying Akai is perfect. What I’m saying is that the perception of how they work is a little bit more positive regarding their interest in satisfying their customers. And I’m meaning the ones that already bought and gave them money, not future buyers of new things

Tom Collins

I think it's a mistake to assume that the amount of dissatisfaction on display in this forum is the same in the NI user base. Visiting this forum gives you the impression that users are mostly unhappy, especially because people that dare to express satisfaction in NI products are quickly ridiculed. Thank you @Matthew_NI and all your coworkers for the work you do, I think this NKS partnership program is great for everyone. I love working every day with my MK3 keyboard together with Ableton and Maschine and I think the workflow and DAW integration is excellent and unparalleled.

LostInFoundation

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/205827#Comment_205827

😂😂😂

Do you see why I say that you fit well the “market is all” NI’s attitude?

That was a very good answer bringing readers all around in a tour of many things that we already know, this and that… and being able to NEVER DIRECTLY SAY “no, same porting of Play Series won’t be done for M+”.

That’s art 😂😂😂

You are very good in this. Probably, from my point of view, even better than in taking decisions.

Now it remains to explain in another very convoluted way (never really giving a direct answer) the “why”.

Why will same porting not be done for your own device, the one that your users already paid for? Because it is not possible, because you don’t think it would sell…or because you are already planning to completely abandon your hardware division?

Last possibility that leads to another question: in NI’s decisions, what brought to think that the aspect that made NI a big name in the industry was neglectable? I’m talking about tight integration between hardware/software. It was NI mantra, identifiable in most of the things previous NI invented: Maschine, NKS and its dedicated keyboards, Traktor with so many controllers (even “modular” ones)…

I know it is difficult to see that the stats saying “users buy one hw device once in a while but they buy way more softwares and projecting hw is more expensive than putting together some sample packs or sample instruments all with the same architecture ” are not also saying “they buy all these softwares BECAUSE we gave them the hws so efficient in using them”. But I suppose that a company making its analysis have also stumbled across that.

So…what made all of this not being taken in consideration?

I ask because I’m afraid the answer is easy… “We are interested only in the short term and in making our investment (Francisco’s one) profitable as soon as possible (to then sell?)”.

Long term, users’ satisfaction (and therefore loyalty) or accurate planning (accepting also initial loss in favor of a more stable and strong future) aren’t really what Ventures are famous for…

MLARS

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/205811#Comment_205811

More platforms supported with NI Expansions would be nice. Ableton and Cubase native drum support for NI Expansion drum kits on my wishlist (without having to use a messy conversion software).

Streamlined cross platform kits for MPC, Maschine in others would be very nice, and likely make more money for the sound design teams and beat maker collaborators.

Eyraske

"Free Komplete 15 Select for new NKS-ready hardware owners"

I got a Akai mpk this month and registered it. Will I be eligible for komplete 15?

PK The DJ

@LostInFoundation said:

"Using premade patterns? Isn’t it a little bit like…let’s say… sampling someone’s else work?"

Nice try, but I didn't say I used them. Even if I did use them, it's basically using a preset - like a pattern in a drum machine or a synth patch. They're there to be used, and it's legal to do so. 😝

LostInFoundation

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/205886#Comment_205886

I think there is a basic misunderstanding here.

I don’t think anyone is against NI opening up. It’s a good move.

What is disturbing some is that, having limited time and strengths, those are dedicated principally to aspects that can generate new sells, instead of perfecting (or even only fixing) what has already been sold. And to promises that are dragged and must be waited for years (again…for a limited capability invested in “other things”)

I’m SURE that if the announcement was about the long promised fixes being released and those porting being given to ALL (NI stuffs AND third parties stuffs), EVERYONE would be happy of the news.

And about people expressing satisfaction being ridiculed: you see? It’s a matter of perception… I see way more “you are dumb cause you don’t understand” to people complaining about something than someone “ridiculing” happy users. Find me a single comment on this thread telling to the ones happy of this move they are ridiculous. The comments are about “why are we left behind?”

Perceptions…

LostInFoundation

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/205893#Comment_205893

You are presuming people who samples are doing it illegally.

There’s also a legal way to do it. It’s enough to pay what is due.

And people who produced music 50 years ago are happy of it. “Look…I’m still earning from something I did long time ago. Nice!”

And…in your remarks against sampling in the other thread, the point was not about it being legal or not or if it was there to use it or not.

You were pointing at this form of art being poor. Am I saying something wrong? 😏

PK The DJ

No, that's not what I said - but using presets is not "a little bit like" sampling, because it doesn't require jumping through hoops to do it.

el-bo

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/205769#Comment_205769

Not all Maschine users are pissed. It's already been confirmed that the people responsible for putting in the necessary work to bring these expansions to MPC are not the same people as on the Maschine team. So it makes no difference. What are you pissed off about?

LostInFoundation

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/205890#Comment_205890

More support would be nice indeed.

But the “conversion software” is not messy at all.

You literally have to take only 3 steps: say what expansion you want, say for which program (let’s say Ableton Live) and push start.

It will convert ALL kits of that expansion in Ableton format automatically.

Not too difficult

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Unanswered questions