Ask me anything: Kontrol S-Series MK3
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It will behave the same as it behaves today
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Will it be possible to navigate between parameter groups and toggle between edit and performance mode using the buttons above the screen on a KK mk2?
And/or will these functions be midi-mappable?
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Hello.
If I buy the S88 mk3, but I only have the Komplete 13 Ultimate library for now, will there be a problem with the controller working properly? Thank you.
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Was asking about sample visualization. The grain tab in Ashleigh for example. Being able to edit it from the keyboard with the visual information on display. Or the arpeggiator visualization in the sample tab
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No. The MK2 has NKS 1 support, but will not be receiving NKS 2 support. The parameter iconography and user experience (e.g. the weight, throw, and scale of the knobs ((e.g. a toggle button requires a super quick turn left or right, rather than a tedious rotation until halfway is passed)) ) is rendered on-device, a capability the MK2 does not have.
NKS 2 can be thought of as a ton of added features that new hardware can take advantage of, but from a content development perspective, authors fully map NKS such that it will be compatible across ALL hardware. It's just the new hardware that can display and do a bit more with that information.
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No issues - it's backwards compatible with all content we have ever produced. In fact, you'll see old content already looks a lot better and has some improved parameter metadata (we took advantage of information Kontakt already could provide).
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Its not exactly the same as the MK2, it now has direct connection to Kontakt, with how the focus follow works is an improvement. We are also evaluating further improvements with our DAW partners in the coming months and scheduling this into our roadmap once we have a solid approach.
Custom chord sets have been on our mind for a while, but cannot commit to anything at the moment with all of the other priorities we have.
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Got it - not yet.
I can tell you why not yet, but also acknowledge your idea would be awesome if we ever figured out a scalable way to do it.
The input to the NKS metadata map (think of this map as the thing that tells our hardware what is what, where to go and what to display) is parameters with an automation ID. The parameter has to be exposed to the host software by the plug-in, so that we can see and connect to it, and then do the things the map tells us to do (e.g. if a waveform, display waveform... if a toggle display a toggle).
The graphical representation of the sample is obviously a separate construct. The automatable controls built around it can be mapped, but there's nothing about the graphical representation that is exposed to a host today. For us to display this on the keyboard would be a custom solution. Not impossible, but if we were to instrument a method by which we could replicate or mirror that UI on the keyboard screen, I certainly wouldn't want that to be limited to Ashlight. I'd want it to be scalable so that other plug-ins could use it. Doable? Absolutely. A lot of work? You bet. A potential improvement as NKS continues to grow on this new hardware platform. Could be!
For the Arpeggiator, it's somewhat of a similar story, but with more nuance. Today, there is Play Assist in Komplete Kontrol. There is also Play Assistance type stuff in a number of our 1st or 3rd party instruments. It's not uncommon for a piece of content to contain an Arp or Sequencer. At NI, we are thinking about the role of Play Assistance across our product line holistically. Not to say it will become homogenous, but at least designed with more cohesion across the product lines.
- Step 1 is to get the existing Play Assist into the MK3 keyboard standalone starting this year (we would not remove it from KK for users of older hardware).
- Step 2 is to improve what Play Assist is capable of in general
- Step 3 is to bring those capabilities into our product lines to varying degrees
It is very likely you'd continue to find that content products contain scales and arps and whatnot, separately to the keyboard, because we're thinking of the keyboard as a standalone, expressive MIDI generative instrument the more time passes.
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What I was wondering was whether you might consider back-porting the navigation between groupings and between performance and edit modes to the mk2 buttons, or midi-mappable buttons, without those other parameter-level enhancements, seeing as there is an effectively identical row of buttons above the screens on the mk2 that isn't really doing a lot else at the moment.
Are there any plans to develop nks 1 or is it now a dead end?
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Also this has probably been asked before but what doors open up once DAWs have MIDI 2.0 implementation? What does that make possible that wouldn't have been before?
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With NKS2 mapping being much more efficient for third party developers, what level of adoption do you anticipate?
I don’t know if you are able to share any companies that are actively working on it but.. would LOVE to see two big guns like Spectrasonics and UVI jump on board.
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Also how difficult or easy will it be for Reaktor users to create NKS mappings for their user libraries?
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I don't have any more questions but I just wanted to show a bit of appreciation to you, the team, and this AMA initiative. Thanks for doing this. I legit don't remember this amount of information being shared about a main product release, ever... there's a level of honesty in many replies here I haven't seen before too, these things usually tend to sound very curated, almost as if written by a PR team but this AMA is not one of those cases IMO. Your patience in replying to everything even the mean or less positive comments is commendable, surely it must not be easy sometimes to read some stuff...
I hope this becomes stable on communications even if only on major releases. Cheers, and good luck with this release.
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That is certainly appreciated! Back at you. We've not properly met, but I've become well acquainted with your forum moderation, and curated wishlists in the last 1.5 years since joining NI. I wish more could change for the better faster, but we intend to get there. I completely understand where users have impatience in the meantime, much as we've had turbulence and impatience internally too. It's reasonable that some folks might be skeptical until proven otherwise, but things are in a really good place these days. We have dedicated and passionate teams focused on building cool things, from the top down. Our new owners very much understand that the growth they expect can only come from building things people will want to use, which some corners of the internet tend to forget 😁.
And on the PR front, AMAs are intended to be unfiltered, IMHO. The sooner we can move from debate to dialogue (which I appreciate has been happening thanks to folks on this thread), the better. It's also simultaneously true that 1) reading some of what people write isn't easy and 2) it's part of the job, particularly if users are unhappy. I'm also not afraid to be direct in return.
And let's be honest - I'll still be on the forums after the 29th, when this AMA officially ends. And we've already said we'll do one for Maschine. I imagine we'll do several for Maschine. Because even when the next updates ship*, and/or we can tease the updates beyond that, it's been sufficiently long that no amount of feature improvement will be enough for some.
*For folks who haven't seen, in some of the posts I alluded to having a build of Maschine Plus with VST3 and Polyphonic Aftertouch support, that we hope to get at least to beta in Q4 2023, if not shipped.
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This is a great question! The quick answer is I expect a high level of adoption. Companies generally sell more products when we collaborate, than when we go it alone.
TL:DR...
I definitely cannot share details in advance of any company making their integration public, but those are two companies I'd love to see onboard.
Forgive a little bit of a detailed peek under the curtain. This is the non end user facing stuff that is still fun to talk about, even if most users care only about "does it work when i buy and install and load XYZ?".
NKS 2 mappings are much more efficient than NKS 1 mappings for several reasons, chief among them:
- NKS is now implemented in KSP (Kontakt Script Processor), so Kontakt instrument builders can develop NKS in tandem with developing their instrument, rather than it be a cumbersome and separate step. That is true for both NKS 1 and NKS 2.
- NKS 2 is also a global map, rather than per preset. Both Kontakt and VST developers had to do NKS 1 maps per preset, which takes an age, especially if you have a lot of presets. This doesn't mean the global map has to display a rigid and unchanging list of parameters - they're mapped globally, but how they display on the keyboard is fully dynamic, and can change as parameters change in and out, if the content manufacturer implements this.
However, it's actually NOT more efficient just yet. Because we still require a product be authored for both NKS 1 and NKS 2 in order that it supports existing and new users. Even if NKS 2 is easier, you still have to author for NKS 1 as well.
We do plan to introduce more updated tooling at some point to help people who create NKS content do so more efficiently. NKS 2 partners already receive a dedicate application that creates all the required visual assets in one fell swoop, for instance. But there's more work to be done.
We also need to put thought into how user presets play into NKS 2. Folks like @JesterMgee do a huge amount for the community with third party NKS maps for non NKS products, which is helpful, but also even a lifeline to some (e.g. users who rely on NKS for Accessibility purposes). Currently, this isn't possible, and would still be NKS 1 only, which works on the new keyboards, but doesn't get the cool new features.
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