Vadim Zavalishin ( reaktor main developer ) now works at u-he

gentleclockdivider · 2025-05-08T17:39:29+00:00

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The writing has been on the wall , but now it's official .

Vadim Zavalishin works at u-he.

Great news for U-he ( which I am big fan off and also betatester ) horrible news for reaktor owners .

So , N.I. congratulations for screwing up things so far and letting go one of the greatest dsp developers of the past decades .
When I see some of the N.I. promo videos passing by on facebook or youtube , it's apparent you're interested in the quick EDM dollar targeted at youngsters .

How sad to see what this once great software company has become .

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pixel85

I came here just because I read that CEO message, and I feel like it's a shameless slap in the face. Of course, it's a typical CEO talk written by the assistant or AI, that's nothing new. But seriously, this one was really painful to read. All those mentions of Reaktor and synthesis. I know that all that it means is more sample-based libraries in Kontakt—nothing more.
I just don't understand why they're not straightforward about it. It would be much better for us users than that meaningless hollow message from the CEO. At least they would treat us seriously. This? It feels like nothing more than just one big disrespect toward users. "Blah, blah, blah".

Vadim leaving is just the last nail in the coffin. Don't make yourself hope if you don't want to be disappointed. NI has already shown in recent years that they only care about sample-based libraries.

gentleclockdivider

We don't need a CEO that briefly talks about how amazed he was by radioheads "kid A , and the use of reaktor .

In the end he's just following the playbook from the capitalist suits in L.A.

I bet my life he hasn't make anything in reaktor , it's just promo talk ( and a verry cringe one for that matter )
What we need is a person who knows reaktor inside out , uses it daily ..and vadim was that guy .

That's why I am gravitating towards smaller companies , where the coders and the people in charge often overlap .

PoorFellow

What I don't like is this :

Of all our products, past or present, which one do you personally have the most love for and why?

Reaktor will always have a special place with me – it’s where the journey began for NI in many ways, as well as for me. It represents our roots in deep synthesis and experimental sound design.

If you look at the whole article then it is build like he answers the 'questions' in the order posed. So question being 'Past or Present?' and Reaktor comes up first then that to me suggests that Reaktor might be suggested as sort of being in the past. It's like I ditched my GF but she "will always have a special place with me".

I might be putting too much into it. And perhaps Nick Williams is referring to his own past here (as not really using Reaktor anymore). But personally then I hope that Reaktor will be kept on the present product shelf permanently because of the sheer power that it gives the user. Reaktor to me is a very unique tool that should never be retired.

Personally then I think that while keeping Reaktor 'low level' (Core/Primary) abilities and maybe even improve where needed then I think that maybe N.I. ought to make the whole Reaktor Block building even more accessible and expand and improve on it.

pixel85

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/225951#Comment_225951

"Modular building even more accessible". Here ya go: https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/nks-partners/10-phantom-rooms/crosstalk-modular/
"A new approach to modular sound – no expert knowledge needed"
😉
I can bet 10 space bucks that this is exactly what the CEO meant by saying these words:

"I can say that synths are a big focus for us in 2025 and beyond. We’re working on reimagining what’s possible in that space, while staying true to the expressive, tactile experiences that make synthesis so powerful"

PoorFellow

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/225956#Comment_225956

"Modular building even more accessible". Here ya go:
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/nks-partners/10-phantom-rooms/crosstalk-modular/
"A new approach to modular sound – no expert knowledge needed"
😉
I can bet 10 space bucks that this is exactly what the CEO meant by saying these words:

???

I am not referring to anything like that , I am referring to stuff like this (my bad I should have used expression 'Blocks') : https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/synths/blocks-primes/

I will edit the expression to Blocks in my post.

pixel85

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/225961#Comment_225961

I know. You're talking about something that you wish to see, I'm talking about what NI is really doing these days. I'm not buying their promises that they care about synths. They already proved that they don't.

PoorFellow

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/225969#Comment_225969

I think that you mix up things. There are synths and there are synths. Even if N.I. should decide to not update Reaktor anymore then N.I. have other synths. E.g. Massive.

I completely understand your attitude. As I wrote earlier then "I hope that Reaktor will be kept on the present product shelf permanently because of the sheer power that it gives the user. Reaktor to me is a very unique tool that should never be retired."

But I think that the general synth discussions in this forum here neglects to take into consideration that N.I. has taken over Plugin Alliance also which I believe has added to their synth IP also and it remains to bee seen how it will all pan out.

I would not be that surprised though if N.I. would do an , in my opinion , extremely stupid decision such as retiring Reaktor. If they do that then it will be because their number crunchers tell them that Reaktor only is used this or that much and that they only makes this or that much money.

But I think it extremely important to keep apps such as Reaktor alive and onboard because it is part of what makes N.I. what is N.I. . The CEO of Native Instruments, Nick Williams, actually sort of says it himself in as much as he says that "It represents our roots in deep synthesis and experimental sound design.". But I am just not sure that the N.I. officers truly understands to what extend that all the bits and parts that makes N.I. be N.I. really help manifest N.I. as one of the worlds leading companies in music software.

So like the rest of you then I suspect that N.I. will fall into the belief that if they can only deliver enough sampled Kontakt libraries and push NKS wide enough then everything will be great. But I hope that that do not happen. I for one think that N.I. really need to excel as they have done in the past and that to me also includes lifting it's synth legacy even if it does not appear as the most profitable branch of it's business.

Jugjug

It feels like they are dismissing Reaktor because they cant seem to find a way to satisfactory monetize the whole thing. Last attempt to monetize Reaktor on the same foot as Kontakt failed miserably.

There isnt a whole lot of money in a few enthousiasts who make products which are "inferior" to commercial releases. I woudnt be surprised that (if and when a next version of Reaktor would appear) it will be a free engine and pay-per-module, or a monthly subscription granting a new block per month…..

chk071

Apart from a few enthusiasts, Reaktor is certainly not a very popular product, apart from running the (great) Reaktor instruments in it. I would certainly understand it, if they didn't choose to go on developing it at max.

That said, even if Vadim Zavalishin left NI, it doesn't mean that they don't continue to support it. People seem to forget the dozens of other names in the list of people who developed it…

Surely makes for a good sensational thread though.

Vocalpoint

"It feels like they are dismissing Reaktor because they cant seem to find a way to satisfactory monetize the whole thing. Last attempt to monetize Reaktor on the same foot as Kontakt failed miserably"

I would not label it "dismissing". I would label it - "the cost of doing business".

The reality is that a private equity firm bought the company in 2021, took the usual two years to look at its product mix and determined where the value (for them) lies. And where it does not.

In this case - unfortunately - it is not with Reaktor - plain and simple.

These guys own this company for reasons no one (especially Reaktor fans) seem to be able to comprehend.

They did not spend millions of dollars to buy the company - just to become pals with Reaktor users and funnel time, talent and resource into a product that - lets say for arguments sake - maybe 1% of the overall NI user base might hold dear.

They are laser focusing time, talent and resource into things that 90% of the NI user base will buy, use and hopefully upgrade again and again.

That is why NI is essentially now four distinct product lines - Komplete, Kontakt, Maschine and Traktor - in that order.

I do not think this has anything to do with Reaktor personally OR with it's legacy. Hopefully NI can somehow keep that legacy going with some of their (as of yet) undisclosed 2025 plans

But products come and go all the time. This is a business after all.

tetsuneko

I've considered Reaktor EOL for quite some time. It is in life support only mode, which might not continue much longer. But I dont think NI will ever sell Reaktor off, far too much of their total R&D revolves around reusing stuff originally created for Reaktor.

ZDF guy leaving Reaktor team and starting at U-he doesn't sound all that odd to me. IIRC he was looking for a new job for some time now. Great to see he landed to a dev who's passionate about creating forward thinking synth stuff. He finished core, and that will forever be his legacy.

I am personally going to be using Reaktor inside my Maschine+ standalone for as long as I am able, regarless of what happens to the platform in the future. I have had zero expectations after 6.5, so wont be disappointed if that comes to pass. Reaktor is the deepest modular synth I've ever used.

KoaN

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/226014#Comment_226014

It's easy to justify everything for money,but if that is the only goal then you end up catering to the mass,trying to know what they want the most,following what is trendy and popular and try to give them.

And this very rarely leads to creativity and innovation,usually the opposite…generic and predictable stuff.

A company is also supposed to have some values or a vision,always like that at the start and then the bigger a company becomes unfortunately it usually ends up being more about money and maintaining power,monopoly…maybe it is inevitable when there are too many people to manage and pay.

U-He seems to be successful and faithful to what it was at the start but it certainly is a very small company compared to Native.

Native has become something else for sure…i don't expect a Reaktor 7 but if they maintain it,upgrade a few important stuff,UI and all…that would still be nice.

Vocalpoint

Well I still think the current owners of NI do in fact have a vision.

It simply does not include Reaktor is all.

I understand it’s hard to accept that if you are a fan - but it is what it is.

VP

KaOsphere

I had a vision a few month ago…I sold almost everything NI related and moved on. 😁

dreason85

I don't think everyone should expect too much from Reaktor. Just use Reaktor as you should normally, and if you don't want to use it, you can look for other alternative solutions. Anyway, NI won't change anything for us.

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