Ask me anything: Kontrol S-Series MK3

Kaiwan_NI · 2023-09-12T13:58:22+00:00

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A picture of S49 S61 and S88 MK3 by Native Instruments

Ask Native Instruments Product Managers anything about the new Kontrol S-Series MK3.

Here comes the new Kontrol

The rumours are true. We're dropping a completely redesigned Kontrol S-Series MK3! Now with a high-res glass display, polyphonic aftertouch (props to those who knew this feature is coming), direct connection to Kontakt, and next-gen NKS technology, our new keyboard seamlessly integrates with the most popular DAWs out there.

See all the new features and specs here.

https://youtu.be/Pxn_wP-3uiY?si=1PZQtJ9WDqmCvKgV

Joining us for this highly anticipated launch are our Principal Product Manager Matt Hines and Lead Product Manager Christopher La Pietra, who will be hosting an exclusive Q&A session with community members. From behind-the-scene tidbits to an in-depth look at the new features, we're open to questions about anything and everything.

Feel free to post your questions in the comment section below. Matt and Christopher will start answering some of your questions directly in this thread from September 18 until September 28, 2023.

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Comments

Matthew_NI

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/94848#Comment_94848

No animations, yet. But I would like to progress into more dynamic visualizations.

Between now and the day the keyboard ships (which isn't the 31st, bdw), we're building out more NKS 2 content, and applying the finishing touches to the launch versions of the software and firmware. Ironing out bugs in testing, that sort of thing. Nothing particularly glamorous.

Matthew_NI

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/94813#Comment_94813

Whilst we have no plans at the present to build a new Rig Control, or embedded FX in general (pedal, desktop, rackmount, whatever) we're always researching ideas, and certainly ideas in this space are mentioned.

Speaking for myself, I have a grossly ostentatious number of guitar pedals that I use with my keyboards, so such topics are certainly near and dear to my heart.

Of course, you can load and control Guitar Rig 7 on the Kontrol S MK3, and you could make use of the four assignable pedal inputs on the back to control almost anything in GR7. It's not quite what you're asking for, but it's not. nothing.

Matthew_NI

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/95555#Comment_95555

@Vagus out here asking the deep deep questions!

Right now, no (sorry).

Battery is a topic of discussion at the moment, but that's pre any hard plans.

Matthew_NI

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/94787#Comment_94787

If I had a USD*/GBP**/EUR*** for every time people tell us things are "probably not that difficult to implement" I probably wouldn't be employed in the service implementing them for much longer 😀. Eh, who am I kidding, I totally would be. I love the products too much.

To be fair to you here though, that wouldn't be overtly technically complex. It would actually be one of those pesky problems that's easy to solve, but takes a lot of time to account for all the variables. Where do the assets come from? Where are they saved? How are they recalled? How might they be transferred from computer to computer (to avoid a user having to rebuild if setting up a second or new machine)? etc etc... and also... How many end users would use this, and would the effort be better spent elsewhere?

It's a genuinely top notch idea. But not one that'd bubble to the top of the priority list, just yet anyway.

* Where I live

** Where I'm from

*** Where I work

Matthew_NI

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/94781#Comment_94781

Forgive me if I'm responding to this twice. I tried to yesterday and am not sure if it posted or not.

This is true, and no we don't. Instead, we elected to use the top buttons in the mixer page for Mute and Solo per track. This offers a workflow improvement with a benefit that outweighs the "downside" of using the nav wheel to scroll through tracks, as users can now easily mute and solo multiple tracks, whereas before it was only possible to mute/solo the focused track, which got really annoying if you wanted to go back and forth between tracks.

Matthew_NI

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/94779#Comment_94779

No - they're still supported and they still work great.

Matthew_NI

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/94778#Comment_94778

Direct Integration with Kontakt 7, and the new NKS features will not be brought to Kontrol S MK2, Kontrol S MK1, Kontrol A or Kontrol M series keyboards. These features make use of a new hardware technology stack only in the Kontrol S MK3 keyboards.

The existing keyboards will continue to work with NKS 1 instruments, and new instruments will still support NKS 1 as well.

paulgerrard

I just disconnected an A49, ready to connect S61 Mk3 and OMG THE CONNECTOR IS DIFFERENT. I may have made a huge mistake.

I guess I will need some type of usb-c adapter and ... do I have to go find midi cables in the attic? My Mac doesn't have usb-c.

nightjar

Some more thoughts for KK software, building on my suggestion for grouping presets together to create a genre-themed "band"..

Having these "bands" be a sharable thing.. with virtual and real identities attributable to "players".. leading towards a collaborative ecosystem.

Matthew_NI

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/95567#Comment_95567

Yes - Kontrol S MK3 is USB-C powered.

You'll need a USB-A to USB-C adapter, and you may need to use the second USB-C input to provide enough power using a standard USB-C wall charger.

Out of curiosity, from where did you get your Kontrol S MK3? If you bought it from a retailer, could you send me a direct message? None of the required software is publicly available so it won't work. If you received one for beta or review test purposes, then hopefully you've been provided the behind the scenes builds?

Uwe303

Soo many great questions and answers here, I really like that q&a.

One question I have is, if I play keyboard I use arp and chord assist a lot. For example if I play an arp, press and hold the chord, does poly aftertouch influence the note start/velocity. Same for chords, then of course I play a chord with one key so only aftertouch from that one key can influence the whole chord (all notes in that chord)

rephazed

I just recieved my new S49 MK3 keyboard, and I'm stuck on the step "Get the latest update" - with instructions on my keyboard to download the update at ni.de/kontrol-update. When I enter that link, I am redirected to: <too new, can't post a link, but it's broken> - and it's a Page Not Found. Can't advance beyond this step. Is the link in the keyboard wrong?

TVbene

Thanks so much for this AMA, this is so interesting for me, including the more technical explanations. I‘m really invested in NI mainly because of NKS, and the 8 knobs + display paradigm. With my KK Mk2 I can browse my instruments, with my Maschine hardware I can load Guitar Rig presets and immediately access the macros. Which means a lot to me.

There‘s just one argument I still don‘t fully understand about how NKS 2 only works with the new hardware. I get that the Mk3 has this internal CPU that the Mk2 doesn’t have. So as it is, Mk2 cannot interpret NKS 2.

Obviously the screens of an Mk2 are fully rendered by KK software while this does not seem to be the case for the Mk3. What exactly prevents you from taking the capabilities of the chip in the Mk3 and implement them in KK software for the Mk2 users? I can understand that this would lead to two contradicting concepts for NKS 2 (rendering etc. on external device vs. on computer). I’m really interested in the reasoning here. Since it‘s obviously possible to render even more dynamic visuals than NKS 2 on a computer to send via USB, see Ableton Push.

ozon

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/95577#Comment_95577

This! Is exactly what I thought right from the start: All you need is an adapter software, similar to KK, to render the proper visuals and implement control behavior for NKS2 on an NKS1 device.

Dave Anthony

I've been using Cakewalk Sonar since the 90s and have delivered literally thousands of client projects with satisfaction. Is there any chance the new S-61 MK3 keyboard will include Cakewalk as one of its approved DAWs? I'm ready to pre-order now, but it would help to know.

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