NI S-Kontrolh

[gregwar]

so there is a 1.1 update to the s-kontrol

it brings much needed
- stand alone mode
- support for 3rd party vsts
- maschine integration
- arp/chord output (to daw, hardware, etc)

it is still not kore but it's shinys & new with many lights, screens and touch strips. also the free update to k-10 is hawt sauce

any takers ?

[gregwar]

i've been trying to sell my novation ReMOTE 37 sl mk1 to fund the purchase of an s-kontrol 25

i just can't do automap anymore its so crappy, even the 4.9b beta i've been using. yes i can control logic x and have completely random parameters mapped to the knobs.

navigating the templates and everything is painful especially when i would hardly ever use the 60mm sliders to mix anything. what i need is plug-in control and as its raison-d'etre it fails

the nektar panorama slays novation so badly that its embarrassing considering they had like 10 years to get it right. hopefully they ship a logic x 1.1 update soon

i get another pay cheque a couple days before the free k-10 update thing expires. i might bite the bullet then and get it.

[MetroSonus]

I don't care for the automap features.. I don't think I've ever seen one that works 100% right. Some of the Akai controllers for Live work all right, but i'd rather just do everything manually.. I don't have a NI product to my name right now, so getting the kontrol might be pointless for now, but I do like that they've expanded it to third party plugs.

[gregwar]

well the s-kontrol and free update to k10 expired. in the 25th hour (June 1st at 1am) I almost pulled the trigger but the deal was over

now it's s-kontrol and 50% off k-10 ultimate until june 30th. this may be the offer I was looking for since it will really tidy up kontakt and put tons of orchestral/film stuff at my finger tips

I kinda want the 49 or even 61 keys but it wouldn't be portable enough. decisions

[ElectricPuppy]

Interested EP is intersted.

I haven't yet found The One Controller that I'm looking for. I love the action on my ReMOTE 61 SL, but Automap sucks, and the controls generally feel crappy. The controls on the A-800 are better, but the keys suck. I was actually looking at NI's Kontrol last night and thinking, "hmmm... Fatar keyboard, you say...?"

[gregwar]

I think for $850, including the s-kontrol 25 and upgrade from k2-9, it might just be too overwhelming

it's around what I paid for k4 and kore 1 back in the day. the biggest problem was that there were thousands of terrible presets and finding what you were looking for was really hard and uninspiring

the redeeming factor was that everything was mapped intelligently (including sound morphing, etc). so making your own sounds and even templates was really intuitive

I guess this is the make or break. things should be intelligently mapped at least for native instruments plug-ins

[midinut]

I hate it when NI runs a sale and I'm broketh. I've got K9 Ultimate and they've been real proud of their upgrade pricing. Everything half off makes it more tempting. I was considering an S-Kontrol as well. I've got an Arturia KeyLab 61, a MiniLab, a M-Audio Keystation 88es and 49es so it's hard to justify another controller. I like the interation S-Kontrol has with Komplete, but I also like what Akai is doing with their controller. You can load any VST you have installed into it. Their VIP software seems to be chasing after MainStage's tail. I've been using Cantabile as a VST host for a couple of years. It's not pretty but it lets me use anything I have installed. Been lusting after MainStage but it being Apple only doesn't help me. This Akai VIP software looks to do the same thing. I wonder if they plan to sell it by itself or if it can only be had by buying their controller? Inquiring minds want to know.

On another note, do any of you do Spanish tutoring online? lol

[Plink Floyd]

¡Holla, El Midinuto! ¿Que no habeñero espaniel? ¡Muy Peligroso!

I haven't yet found The One Controller that I'm looking for. I love the action on my ReMOTE 61 SL, but Automap sucks, and the controls generally feel crappy. The controls on the A-800 are better, but the keys suck.

I too am in search of The One Controller. I like everything about my very affordable M-Audio 61, except it doesn't has MIDI. Or a joystick.

I insist on those two options, so I seem to be limited to the ones of which ePuppy speaks. I hope to try them both @ gearfest. I suspect I'll be happy with the A-800 because that one offers everything that I want, and hopefully I'm not as picky about key feelage as others may be.

I'd love to have six or seven octaves, but I want light keys. Not even 'semi weighted'.

[gregwar]

welcome back to my own thread !

welp i've had the v-synth gt sitting next to me for like 1+ years of no oil rigging. so i've been turning it on diligently but honestly haven't used it in a tune for like 2+ years.

i think i'm finally going to trade it in for a komplete kontrol s88 some time this fall. then i can turn my mac mini into a komplete box with a second ssd hard drive inside for kontakt.

thoughts ?

[ElectricPuppy]

Good thoughts. My thoughts are similar. The V-Synth doesn't do anything so incredibly unique for me that I can't live without it.

(said the guy who hasn't used any of his stuff in eons)

[gregwar]

looks like this is official... maschine mk3 and s kontrolh mk2

[gregwar]

this is copied from a gs post:

This is translated from a German site
https://m.bonedo.de/artikel/einzelansicht/preview-maschine-mk3-und-native-instruments-komplete-kontrol-mk2.html

MACHINE MK3
The classic modern production and performance system is now better than ever before
Elegant new design
Layout was optimized on the basis of comprehensive customer and artist surveys to enable the fastest and most intuitive workflow
Contains a professional 96 kHz / 24 bit audio interface with stereo and microphone inputs as well as line and headphone outputs
Larger pads make fingerdrumming even easier without losing the established feel of the MK2
Search for sounds, edit notes or samples directly from the hardware via high-resolution color displays.
The focus remains fully on the music and not on the computer
Unprecedented integration with KOMPLETE and NativeControl standard (NKS) instruments, plus full VST / AU support
New dedicated buttons for frequently used functions such as Note Input Mode, Lock, Macro and more
4-Dimensional Push Encoder makes browsing and navigating even easier
New Smart Strip for a completely new feel to play: play chords like on the guitar or control MASCHINE's Perform FX
Power supply via USB or supplied power supply
Many further improvements and optimizations
Price: 599 Euro (identical to the MK2)
Commercially available from 5 October 2017

COMPLETE CONTROL S49 & S61 MK2
The fully integrated, smart keyboard controller for all virtual instruments
Elegant new design for improved, holistic workflows
Half-Weighted 49 & 61 Fatar Keybeds with Aftertouch
Unprecedented integration with KOMPLETE and NKS instruments, plus full VST / AU support
Two high-resolution color displays for a quick overview of instruments, presets, parameters and much more
LightGuide with RGB lights above each button allows to recognize single drum cells, key switches, chords, scales and more at a glance
Rubberized pitch and modwheels, plus a freely assignable touch strip for even more creative possibilities
4-Dimensional Push Encoder for one-handed navigation and soundbrowsing
Improved layout with even more dedicated buttons for the most used software features
Improved MACHINE integration as well as intuitive transport, mixer and edit controls for Logic, Ableton Live and GarageBand, Cubase and Nuendo will be released this year
Price: S49 599 €, S61 699 €

Perhaps the most important first: The MK3 now has its own sound card (I hear a scene applause, as one knows it from Apple presentations?). It is a simple line-in / out plus an additional microphone input and a headphone output. Thus, Native Instruments is unquestionably fulfilling a heart of many users. The second obvious innovation: the MK3 now also has those high-resolution color displays, which until now have only been installed in machine studio. At all, the entire layout is a whole new look. Perhaps the most obvious change is that the space between the pads has become smaller and the pads are larger - a significant advantage in finger drumming. The former master section was also updated: Here, a single rotary push encoder (in the previous version, three potentiators) and corresponding function buttons were located here. This is followed by a touch strip, as already known from the Kontrol S series. Context-related tasks can be performed with various tasks - including pitch changes, modulations, parameter changes, notes input and arpeggios. With the new machine software, however, complete lock-state morphing of all (!) Parameters is possible. We've tried this at the presentation: it's really "gone" when a track to the break, infinitely changes its sound. I speculate that - after the omnipresent Trap-Note-Repeat Hi-Hats - the next big thing could become.

Back to Hardware: The whole look is now slimmer, more modern and much more elegant. This can be seen in details, such as the potentiometer buttons, the new typography and the considerably darker optics, but also the omission of superfluous elevations and depressions of the housing. The MK3 is only a single, angular black block. "Sharp-edged" is, by the way, to be understood in the wortinn, because the corners are really extremely pointed - I can imagine that they will be the one or other performers sometimes painfully. Obviously, the new displays, which correspond technically to those of the machine studio, are jumping into the eye. This means that the information density and depth that can be read directly on the device is significantly increased and now corresponds to what we have already been able to report on the workflow with Maschinenstudio.
There are countless innovations, which should be mentioned, but we reserve the right for the full test, which you can read here soon. However, our first conclusion is consistently positive: Native Instruments has rarely had the feeling that user requirements have been incorporated directly into product development. Especially the integrated sound card should have been on the top of the wish list for almost all machine users. Pleasing also that the price remained stable the MK3 has the same list price as the earlier MK2. It may be a bit painful for users who have just bought their MK2, because the new version is unquestionably a "major update" - not a revolution, but a new development, the way how to use the machine Soft- and Hardware network works.

Komplete kontrol has also been modernized. Let's start from behind: The LED Light-Guide-System and the very good playable Fatar-Keyboard with Aftertouch remained. All drummers have experienced a change. Obviously here are first the two displays, which are identical with those of the machine studio. This makes, of course, an incomparably higher and more complex information density. This includes not only browsing the Komplete library, but also working with DAWs, NKS-compatible plugins, and VSTi plugins. They can all be commanded with the new controls.
In a first demo at Native Instruments, it was already shown that both the transport functions as well as the mixer from Ableton Live can be controlled via the control keyboard and the mixer's level display can be visualized on the keyboard. Support for Logic Pro X, GarageBand, Cubase and Nuendo will follow soon. On the hardware itself, the new controller wheels fall into pitch and modulation. Here, Native do without touch strips and instead return to mechanical wheels, which are ergonomically advantageous, a little tipped away from each other. A horizontally oriented touch strip remains, which is occupied with various context-related tasks (including "strumming" of notes, arpeggios and control of modulations). Here, as in the case of the machine MK3, it should be noted that both device series are now completely bus-powered via USB and an external power supply is dispensed with.

[christianrock]

I don't know why they don't just put the pads and extra controls on the keyboard version.

That would be super cool. Get your grooves and then play over them.

[gregwar]

crwar i guess the question becomes does anyone want the "light guide" keyboard?

a guy could grab maschine mk3 and use it with a dumb keyboard...

[christianrock]

crwar i guess the question becomes does anyone want the "light guide" keyboard?

a guy could grab maschine mk3 and use it with a dumb keyboard...

Well I guess they end up being two different products for two different kinds of people.

Maschine is mostly for hip hop/R&B (90+% of their many expansions are in that genre, so that's gotta be what's selling). I guess some EDM people use it too, but most probably prefer other things.

Then the keyboard is probably for people who install Komplete on their computer and want to play it the same way people used to play Fantoms, Tritons and Motifs. As a ROMpler+synth. It kind of only makes sense for that market. I have to wonder if it's selling well - it must be, otherwise they wouldn't have released a new version...

[gregwar]

o snap akai just released VIP 3.0 software for their range of advance keyboards lol

maschine and s-kontrol *are* 2 different products but that is an arbitrary decision on ni's part.

i did some looking into the "seamless integration" and it seems like, for now, you can't just fire up the komplete kontrol plug-in and use the maschine knobs to browse and control it (included with komplete)

if that's the case it might be a deal breaker.

if this is the case, i understand they are trying to protect their keyboard range and not canabalize sales but from a user perspective it's dumb.

i remember kore could only run a few instances before choking powerful mac pro towers. obvs i'd want more than 1-2 tracks in my beats and if i can only run the full machine plug-in and not a "mini-maschine" (komplete kontrol plug-in) then it's harmful to users