Komplete Kontrol S series MK1 keyboards End Of Life
Comments
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Much appreciated!
Of course no decision, particularly EOL, is without cost, and as a user myself I do feel the impact deeply. I've been on both ends of the spectrum: making, or being impacted by such decisions. I can certainly empathize with the frustration, which we all wear differently, some more out loud than others.
In my experience, even the most frustrated of users is more reasonable in person (I talk to many on calls). It's a lot easier to be unforgiving from beyond a computer keyboard. Ultimately, we're all creatives making music, which is deeply personal, which is I think why things can be taken so personally.
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"While I somewhat disagree with your take on Apple's OSs and hardware, considering the communication and support that Apple gives to their customers."
I sense my "message" on MacOS was a bit pointed. Would have probably been better to just focus on MacOS (and leave out the hardware) and just say this:
Why is it perfectly "fine" for Apple to kill (EOL) a perfectly decent OS like Catalina (released in 2019 and EOL in late 2022) and not only does anyone complain about it - but users are more than happy to be force fed the next one like its nothing? (not to mention all the usual bumps, bruises and hassle factor that comes with each wholesale OS purge)
But suddenly it's a mortal sin for NI to "finally" EOL ONLY the support of the MK1 (with Komplete Kontrol 2.9.4) after a 10-year run. Not to mention the device will continue to run just a perfectly as it did on Day 1?
I mean - what up?
VP
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We haven't killed the device. It works just as well today, as it did yesterday.
We have however, been transparent about what to expect: no further feature development for that device.
I don't think the idea that certain features may stop working in time on future versions of your OS or DAW is quite the same as killing anything. As others have mentioned, much older products than Kontrol S MK1 are still functional, despite official support dropping, and besides, you're in control of your system configuration and whether or not to update, should breaking changes occur.
Regarding your question:
The Kontrol S MK1 has certain technologies that are no longer supported or compatible, impractical or not possible to maintain. The Kontrol A and M keyboards came later (4-5 years later), and do not have this issue.
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Quote : "that all subsequent hardware also has a ticking clock of ten years."
Is that 10 years from first release or from last sale of unit ?
I would be very interested in knowing when my S61 MK2, that I bought only one year ago, is EOL also ?
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Of course, everything continues to develop. Now I can think about whether I should dispose of the electronic waste at the recycling center, or put it in the forest, or leave it on the street corner with a note “to give away”. The only thing that is sustainable is probably the recycling center. A new keyboard from Native Instruments is out of the question. In both cases I no longer use software versions 3.0 and above. If you want, you can stay with version 2.9 and use MK1 until the end of its life - without the future features.
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I think you misunderstand my point, and are misquoting me out of context.
I did NOT say "all hardware has a ticking clock of ten years".
In fact, I said the opposite.
"Worth pointing out that this decision was made due to certain technological frameworks specific to Kontrol S MK1 that are no longer supported or compatible with new features being introduced. Meaning, it should not necessarily follow that because Kontrol S MK1 was EOL'd after almost a decade, that all subsequent hardware also has a ticking clock of ten years."
Other hardware could well be supported for far longer. I was trying to explicitly outline why it would be incorrect for users to assume that just because MK1 was EOL'd after ~10 years, other hardware would also be.
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There are 2 ways to approach this, you would only be able to use one as your Komplete Kontrol loader anyway, even before this update as it has always been the case that you can only use one keyboard running KK at a time. So the second would be working but as a standard midi controller
It is theoretically possible to keep both versions on the same system but it is risky and unsupported and anyway only works with the app version not the plugins. The problem is both versions use the same scanapp so you would need to keep swapping between versions of that and potentially risking damaging your database. I have tested that approach but would not recommend it.
A much better approach would be to dual boot and keep both systems separate with different hardware profiles.
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Well, the only I can do is not to buy NI HW anymore. I will use what I have at current state and when it dies, it dies and gets replacement from different company. And if someone asks me, I will share my experience.
Everything has its costs...
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Oops ! , sorry , I were certainly not trying to misquote you 🙂
But look at the bright side ! My little blunder enabled you to clarify so more people , including me, understands you better ! 😎 😁
I will have to buy some more N.I. stuff ! Especially if my S61 MK2 keeps working 10 years+ with no problems , No ! , no ! , I didn't misquote you again (you did NOT just promise that it would) , but I wish that it would ! 🙂
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Thanks for the response, Matthew, regardless of how we feel about the decision I think we all appreciate you coming on to the forums to explain and answer any questions we have.
My original post (before I edited it) had a suggestion of creating a 'Komplete Legacy' plugin that older hardware could use with a reduced/static set of features, but within a few minutes of posting I started to realise that trying to add Mk2 and Mk3 keyboards, as they later reach EOL, would then create a load more issues with compatibility etc. which is exactly what's happening with KK now 🤪.
The issues with Mac OS is something us Mac owners have to face regularly, it's funny how we see it as NI's fault, for example, for not providing new OS support as opposed to it being Apple's fault for having an annual OS update for no reason than it's been 12 months since the last one. Like Vocalpoint mentioned, we seem to accept Apple's approach to redundancy/legacy and just go out and buy a new Mac when it's no longer supported (unfortunately, myself often included in those people!).
Just out of interest, now that there has been 3 generations of the keyboards, have you been able to build the Mk3 keyboards with more future proofing in mind through lessons learned etc.? (apologies if you've already gone through the details elsewhere). I think it would be good for potential purchasers of the Mk3 to hear more if you've been actively working towards providing longer support for the newer hardware.
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Hi,
I'm too an owner of a KK61 mk1, and now NI made his decision of EOL... Like a lot of people i found it ashamed. Many other brands like RME continue to follow and update their old products, but NI follows the Apple and EOL way. The mk1 is a 700 bucks good fatar keyboard and now we are invited to throw it into garbage even if it works fine just because NI don't want to make any support or update for an 8 knobs midi controller.
"It is not possible for us to continue the maintenance of all our older software while also focusing on research, innovation, and supporting new product releases and features. "
=> I don't know if it is a good economical decision to loose base customers, just for choosing to stop support of a simple software. Yes a "simple" software that people of the forum have to fix themselves like JesterMgee did on the past in order to be able to use his KK mk1 with an ableton live update (thanks to him at this time!).
Furthermore we can said that you did this on the sly. Personnaly i saw this with the update on native access ... oh my KK don't work anymore! Not even a message which prevent the Mk1 user on native access before the update... No you'be aware when you have done the update and forcing you to loose time and make research to find a "website announcement" 3 days before the effective day!!
You know how to communicate with you customers for sure! Not Even an email to inform the owners.In fact NI don't care. They just care about money not (ex)customer's complains.
I have just one more thing to say : i WAS a customer of NI, and i never will be. The stop of Absynth support, the stop of KK mk1 support, the stop of Komplete audio Mk1 driver support, and in a nearly future Maschine Mk2? You'll caught me once, never twice !
My next midi controller purchase will be for another brand.
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Wow. Fortunately I dont own a MK1, but as embarrassing as this is to admit in front of the modern YOLO audience and their RBG covered PCBs, I *care about* the earth's ecosystems and I am deeply concerned about the endless manufacturing of devices whose scheduled obsolescence is part of investor wealth generation systems.
Any truly ethical corporation will continue supporting old hardware, if only to work toward lessening the number of them that wind up in a landfill across the earth. The idea that a 9 year old piece of hardware - WHICH CAN BE REPAIRED AND CONTINUE WORKING FOR DECADES - should no longer be "supported" is a lazy, profit-driven statement and is not connected to the real world.
I look forward to the day it isnt LEGAL for companies like yours to do this. Put that in your PE pipe and smoke it.
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Week and lazy in my opinion, there is no reason to drop support for mk1 other than to force an upgrade out of people. mk1 is more than adequate for my needs and I won't be upgrading. I did however think the software was always the letdown with Kontrol and its a real shame that NI is to lazy add the support for mk1 to improve it. At the end of the day, drop support for my hardware and I have no need to purchase any software/hardware from NI ever again, but from the comments I guess you guys already know that! Bye.
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Did you happen to read this earlier post that offers a wider perspective?
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Well, that is one way of forcing existing NI customers to purchase their new, underwhelming products.
This will mark my EXIT from purchasing NI hardware and possibly software as well.
Upcoming KORG KeyStage controller keys look more temping anyway...
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