Agreed. I don’t expect it either.
But those particular synths as hardware units would still be badass.
Hah! Dude, I’d buy the whole set of Behringer knockoffs of NI synths 
NI Razor = Behringer Shaver
NI FM8 = Behringer FreqMod8
NI Massive = Behringer Ultraheavy
NI Monark = Behringer Autocrat (yes, a Monark clone, function-for-function, would be 5x better than Behringer’s Model D…preset storage, 303-style slides, multiple filter types. EASY decision.
Seems like M4L might be the way to go if it doesn’t improve. It does a lot of the same stuff, same potential, large library of user created stuff. And maintained.
Not that deeply into though, but what I’ve gotten out of Reaktor was awesome. I loved Blocks, but if it’s just gonna keep on being such a resource hog and basically be totally abandoned in the end I think other solutions might be better.
Seems a perfect excuse for a Maschine+ Keys with upgraded hardware.
M4L is in totally different league when it comes to raw DSP performance vs Reaktor. While both can be used in some cases for making the same things, their CPU footprint will never be identical. This matters quite a bit, especially with these “underpowered” SOC standalone hardware systems
That may have been the last decent thing NI did (or at least the last thing I was interested in).
I would be INSTANTLY SO into a Maschine+ Keys if it simply did what Analog Four has done for over a decade: allow the quick, on-board creation of multi-parameter macros with assignable depths.
NI hardware really does try and shove powerful synths through the eye of a needle with their endless page scrolling to get to the parameters that matter - if you can even tell what they do (ever tried editing a Massive patch on NI hardware?)
…once there was a future promise land of digital simulations to do anything by sonic coding…
back then, two guys wrote reaktor…and back then, that was a never seen before revolutionary piece of software…
that complex and powerful, even decades later pretty much all their later on software developments were still based on it…
one of those two, left early on, to become co founder of todays global bedroom producer daw nr. 1…ableton.
not much later, ni’s downfall already started…venture capital and maxed out profit margin wet dreams took over…end of story.
I’ve been dipping back into some of the old Reaktor sound generator ensembles lately as sound sources for mangling and, I’ve got to say… it’s still great! I still like the blocks concept, and I’ve used Reaktor in general a handful of times for making little utility devices for very specific tasks. The user library is also absolutely full of fun/noisy gems.
Must admit I’m still not overly keen on NI’s focus on chucking more “stuff” into Komplete rather than updating their more interesting instruments, but the old stuff still holds up and I can understand why they’re doing it.
Migrating to the other PC, noticed that VST2 versions of NI plugins suddenly disappeared. Now I know about this problem, but other vendors just kept 2 versions… In general, migration with Native Access was smooth, except for this small issue (one plugin mapped wrong parameter after replacement to VST3)
Correction, just not to confuse anyone further, eventually the VST2 versions of plugins appeared, I just messed up before with moving NI folder to different location and did not finish it.
Reaper (7xx version) started automatically suggesting replacing VST2 with corresponding VST3. Bitwig does not do it, just does not load a plugin.
(And kudos to NI here - you can just fix location of the moved files it in the Native Access UI without reinstalling everything)
So Massive X actually quietly got an 1.5 update recently adding an OTT (because Serum 2 I guess), a bunch of new presets and some fixes and other improvements. So it’s still alive, which is good news.
Does anyone else have constant issues with loading NI apps and getting file not found or demo mode errors?
I feel like I’m reinstalling my library every month and komplete kontrol keeps struggling to load my selected sound with constant file errors.
I’m annoyed I’ve spent so much and have so many synths and fx or id be deleting it to save me the hassle
I still don’t understand how, in 2025, Native Access still only lets you install but not uninstall. This was just basic functionality for license manager apps a decade ago. It’s staggering that they’re still this far behind.
That said, I’ve learned not to count NI out. Things that other music software companies do in months they do in years, but I remember when I thought they’d never update Reaktor for Apple Silicon (which, given the complex ecosystem of Reaktor was no small task), and yet these days, everything from Raum to FM8 is running smoothly on my M1. And while I’m not deep into their hardware ecosystem, my trusty Komplete Kontrol M32 is still the best compact keyboard I’ve ever owned. If they ever make an MPE sequel to it, it’ll be an instant buy for me.
NI may be a lumbering giant, agonizingly slow in everything they do, but they continue to deliver. I hope they can fully right the ship.
I’m ok with NI these days. I don’t have any hardware or expectations but I’ll always love the sounds and have interest in what they’re up too.
The MPC instruments Sway and Homage are 2 of my gotos. Also, having all of my Maschine expansions converted to MPC kits on my MPC Live 2 has been great.
Im really looking forward to buying more NI expansions and play series instruments for my MPC. The partnership with Akai was smart and I hope it supports future growth for NI.
It seems like they are pushing a corporate SAAS model and have stopped taking chances or innovating. Sometimes short-term strategies are employed in big firms because the owners want to pump the company for a profitable fiscal year (and sell their share) rather than invest in something long-term. Gut the fish.
I tinker with traktor and various controllers, I’m their ideal customer when I comes to their small Controllers
I completely missed the launch of their recent mixer controller… it looks reasonable and should’ve caught my attention. No emails , social media , you tube spam of any type. It only appeared to me when they announced a discount … presumably to try and shift a few units.
I also remember their ‘magical’ system update software updating reaktor to a version that wasn’t compatible with my os … it seems like a very basic check to do before messing things up for me.
But I did like raum and have many of their plugins. I’m not convinced they’re hugely successful but it’d be a shame if they vanished.
I’ve been a Native Instruments customer for over 23 years and have become deeply vested in their software and hardware ecosystem. Over time, I’ve learned to embrace what’s available and work within limitations, rather than relying on constant updates or new features. Given the sheer breadth of their portfolio—spanning software, hardware, and platform ecosystems like NKS and Kontakt—the operational overhead they manage is substantial. They simply can’t move at the pace of smaller, more narrowly focused developers.
That said, NI seems to be a very intentional company. Their decisions reflect clear trade-offs and a focus on long-term value rather than short-term trends. What they’ve built is impressive: a vast, high-quality sound library, robust instrument and effect cataloguing through NKS, and a portfolio of well-designed hardware. Their sounds remain among the best in the industry. I respect that they prioritize relevance and thoughtful evolution over reacting to every customer request.
I’ve posted about this in another thread, but if they updated these controllers to have a more robust midi user mode which made use of the displays and leds then they would shift way more units and probably convert people to Traktor in the process. There’s no other modern DJ mixer style midi controller on the market, but it’s just not worth buying if you’re not using it with Traktor.
I have reined it in with NI a bit, but still like their stuff. With all the chat about Arturia with V11 coming out, I noted that while owning both, I used Komplete significantly more than V, mainly because the Kontakt instruments just work really well if you want a specific vibe in a track.
At one point I had Ultimate and Maschine, but moved a lot of it on. Considered completely leaving, but stayed with Standard as I think it’s a great bundle for the money. Honestly even if you’re only into Ozone and Kontakt, it’s still a great value. If you’re not 100% convinced, they’ve basically given away licenses for K14 and 15 Select at various times. If you have both you have a fair few useful instruments under your belt. That or standard plus some well chosen 3rd party Kontakt libraries is plenty. NI is much derided, but I’d sooner have great sounds and a slightly dodgy interface or install procedure than the other way round.
Speaking of that, I completely agree on uninstall. They’ve managed it for sample libraries and expansions but not the plugins themselves. Almost every other installer can do this, so it’s a bit odd their ms doesn’t. Seems to be something to do with the labarynth of files for Native Access, Komplete Control and the individual instruments. High time it was prioritised but not sure if it’s at the top of the to do list.