New – the Native Instruments A Series Keyboards
All very affordable and integrated with the NI software.
http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/keyboards/komplete-kontrol-a25-a49-a61/
I’m sure these are great units, but it’s a shame hardly anyone makes 37-key boards anymore.
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Just to compare with these, NI is also bringing out their top of the line the Komplete Kontrol S88 Mk2,
http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/keyboards/komplete-kontrol-s88/
A25 – $149
A49 – $200
A61 – $249
These are all killer prices if the quality is good. The quality should be – i expect.
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haha wow they’re gonna sell a million of these
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Has anyone an idea whether these can be used as basic Midi keyboards and if so, how these would compare to the Arturia Keystep?
Interesting… I was thinking about maybe buying an S49 MkII later this year / early next year if I can scrape the pennies together… might be good to get back into making some music again.
But the A49 is 1/3rd of the price of an S49… so how much are the screens worth / difference in functionality, hmmm.
Maybe I should try and get a job at NI to get some cool toys…
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I ‘hack’ people could use to make up for the lack of a controller screen is to use masking tape to reveal only 1/8 of your laptop screen 
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Send me your CV please, company like mine could use talents like yours 
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I really like the screens in my KK MK2… Worth the difference? Perhaps not, but whether in Live or Maschine they are great to use and removes some more need for keyboard and mouse.
If using Maschine, integration is even better (as you would expect). In Maschine, they are nearly full Maschine controllers in keyboard form for me.
I’m guessing the A series don’t have the lights above each key? They look gimmicky at first but become very useful when using various instruments as well as scales.
I wonder if the knob is a joystick like it is on the KK.2. quite handy for browsing and moving around a DAW. I know the new micro ditched the joystick knob so suspect they will have on the A series too.
And no touch strip on these either. Suppose the differences start to add up pretty quickly actually.
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Yamaha reface units are great midi controllers imo, you get an extra sound source too. Going to get a second one after vacation 
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Those “A series” keyboards do not seem to have physical MIDI ports !!
what the hell?!
who still thinks building controller keyboards with only USB is a good idea? :-/
Same B/S as with most of the Nektar keyboards… it´s a shame…
Pardon?
no DIN MIDI jacks.
I´ll edit my post to make “A Series” seem more like the name and less like an unfinished sentence 
Yep that’s actually why I bought my FM! Midi ports and 37 nice minikeys. Wish it had a modstrip but I guess nobody’s perfect. I sometimes think about swapping mine for one of the other models as the sliders kind of annoy me.
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Same reason the machine mikro can’t be used with any other hardware or software even via USB; you’re buying the HW as a controller for their ‘komplete’ suite and they expect you to stay within those confines. The fact that they were also able to save 20c on connectors is just an incidental side benefit.
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sighs
Rusty thinks that Rusty should really do a gofundme, kickstarter, or some kind of share issue or something so Rusty can build some cool hardware 
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to hook up gear like… almost every hardware synth.
no, scratch that… ALL of the hardware synths.
Elektron stuff too, mostly - since Overbridge is only for 2-3 boxes out of what, 6?
Leaving out DIN MIDI jacks in the middle of a hardware renaissance is… well, cheap. 
That being said, I guess that´s why it´s their cheaper range and targeted more at laptop/Maschine “beat makers”…
still, a MIDI jack costs 5$ and not much engineering to implement, I am always confused why people leave it out if there clearly is enough space for it.
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Thru ports plz!
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