In a week that’s seen the announcement of Push 3 and the release of Logic Pro for iPad, NI have… updated their logo. That’s a small detail but it looks like something is coming but we’re not sure what.
I know Machine+ has had a broadly lukewarm response, Maschine and their key controllers are well liked from what I hear but the range is in the 4-8 year old bracket. And the software underpinning it comes with some jank baked in, compared to most other mainstream manufacturers out there. Kontakt, Komplete Kontrol and Native Access have all had evolutionary updates but without addressing some concerns about basic functionality.
There’s also Komplete Now which has also felt a little quiet since release. I wonder if this has had a mixed reception given the value that Komplete brings to the table. (I’ve just gotten into the ecosystem so I’m hearing and seeing a few of these things either firsthand or secondhand. )
What do you either think or hope is coming from NI and in what capacity (eg: SW or HW?) And what do you think is actually likely to happen; if that differs from what you’re hoping for?
Just bigger and more frequent sales and more 3rd party developer Rompler stuff I am afraid.
I love NI- Have 13 Ultimate and a KK but I feel like they are circling the drain…
I’m not really part of “the krew” but I get spammed with a lot of youtube ads for existing product, it feels as though they’re still trying to milk the existing cow, such as it were.
They need to overhaul all their software rather then their hardware in my opinion, some of the GUI feels like it is 20 years old (prob is).
Maschine feels like a load of bolt ons over the years to me and starting to feel a bit messy where teams have left / sacked / quit and others taken over.
Also Komplete has become a bit messy in my opinion. Tons of little tiny novelty add ons etc. im sick of getting new expansion emails.
The install process can be a right bloody mess also sometimes.
The hard ware is tight. All I hope for are slight improvements to the software.
Better use of the screens would be nice. Like frequency spectrums for EQ, graphics for compressors, graphics for synths, etc.
If they do update hardware, I’m hoping they just stick to making Komplete standalone keyboard. M+ is solid as a sampler and would be so tight integrated with something like that.
I think they will leave it by just changing the Logo😂…don‘t expect anything from them. Also if they bring anything before making their 1000€ machine plus UI usable will blow a shitstorm not from this earth.
Nothing except a sale and more expansions. Don’t see them bringing out a new standalone, that would piss off a lot of people who have had loads of issues with the +.
I will say that I actually like the expansion packs; they’ve just done one with AlexKidd for house and it’s definitely a nice addition. I can understand why folks might not like that direction. But I do think they are doing it for a reason.
I think the reason they focus on samples and packs is because that is a niche they occupy that few others do. If you want retro synths you have Arturia. If want more modern sounds you might go for Pigments or Serum over Massive. There aren’t many folks putting out sampled instruments as well as NI do, and personally I really like Playbox and the Play series of instruments.
Re: the software; one thing that I’d like them to address is Komplete Kontrol. What I find really interesting is that Massive X has a very similar navigational ui (not the synth itself) as Arturia’s synth browser. This leads me to think that somewhere at NI, there is a version of KK that has a very similar streamlined and modern UI. If KK was as sleek and modern as Massive X that would make the experience very good, along with a revamped Native Access. There are other things that could be worked on. But if KK worked well, it would have positive knock on effects towards other aspects of the system.
While new hardware could be interesting, it feels like the underlying software would be the biggest move, and would make existing hardware more interesting to existing owners.
I think overall, with NI their sounds are often better if not the best of the bunch, it’s just that if it worked a little more simply and had a more modern UI it would be top class.
I’ve had my eyes and ears on Native Instruments for a long time (Since 2015 when I bought a Traktor Kontrol S2). Here’s what I think is going to happen:
Out of all of their hardware (Komplete Kontrol, Maschine, and Traktor), only the Maschine+ is standalone. The logical direction would be to make all of these three devices standalone, but I think the issue that that have run into is cost effectiveness for manufacturing these devices.
Over the past 10 years we have seen a shift in both the DJ and music Production markets to standalone devices. For example, Pioneer and Denon both released the XDJ standalone series and Prime standalone series, respectively. In 2017, we saw the release of the Akai MPC Live and X, the companies first standalone devices in almost 10 years. Pioneer and InMusic, (And even Elektron, obviously) while not large companies, found ways to manufacture standalone music production and DJ devices that are relatively reasonably priced, yet are still able to turn a profit for the company.
All that being said, I don’t think that NI has the proper business model to sustain standalone hardware long term. NI is a software company that also happens to sell hardware. Akai is a hardware company that happens to sell software. The Maschine Plus has already proven to be a niche market device that still has a ton of flaws and lacks the frequent updates that many other standalone production devices have gotten.
NI, even with a new logo, will do what they always do. Release new and updated software packages at different price tiers periodically, then release a bunch of gimmick hardware to go along with it that requires you to have a powerful custom PC just to run it, then they update the software 2 months later and it’s incompatible with your OS or audio card, or who knows what. I waited YEARS for NI to update the Z2 mixer, or release standalone DJ hardware, only to be disappointed by the newest lineup of Traktor Controllers. Don’t get your hopes up. I expect Behringer to release something before Native Instruments.
I have Maschine mikro 3 which I bought to use as a controller but reinstalling the thing whenever I’m forced to do a Windows reinstall is a major pain in the rumpus. I wish NI would take the time to simplify the process. NI fees like fort Knox.
It’s easy to trash NI for just releasing one sample pack after the other, but honestly: What are they to release at this point without repeating themselves? I mean, even in the synth department they have so many amazing sounds that I don’t know what they can add at this point…
Things like revamping their interfaces or adding long-requested features are probably low-priority because they don’t drive new sales.
To break the apparent stagnation, I reckon they’d need to release a whole new type of product that blows people’s minds, not just a Maschine+ Mk2. On the other hand there has been a Maschine survey kind-of recently…
A Komplete Kontrol standalone workstation keyboard?
Kontakt in an MPE box (with user upgradeable RAM and storage) with a prime focus on creating and playing multisample instruments, so i/o that includes two nice preamps with inserts, and probably Adat i/o because it’s now on trend.
Maschine Keys that combines the best of Studio/Mk3 and M+ with Maschine Jam?
I hope they update maschine software more than anything else. I really liked the form factor of the mk3 and glad they stayed with it for the plus. In terms of new hw, maybe a kk standalone would make sense, if anything. Something that makes the M+ obsolete would be the the wrong move I feel like.
For the M+ especially, there’s a lot of opportunity for updates. Stuff like sampling in audio via usb, leveraging the wifi on the M+ to transfer files/projects wirelessly, graphical feedback in the UI, porting over some NI fx (supercharger gt, vc76, solid series, etc.) would be highly appreciated
