Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol S88 MK2

Briefly:
- This isn't a MIDI keyboard, this is an user interface for Komplete Kontrol software. Buy ONLY if you are going to use NI instruments and nothing else.

First play with S88 was a huge disappointment after all the hype that it has received. In a few days I have had lot's of problems with software, even NI's own instruments disappear every once in a while and display sometimes. Sometimes they work inside your DAW and sometimes in Komplete Kontrol standalone, sometimes in both and sometimes they are not found in either of those.

This is actually the first disappointing product I've purchased from Thoman so far and I've had over 10 synths and keyboards. I knew this was meant for NI software, but I didn't understand how much it relies solely on the software. It's Kompletely useless without a computer.

The Good
- Great support for NKS software and easy to use
- High quality build and displays
- Great keybed

The Bad
- no faders
- buggy software (instruments disappear randomly, transports stops suddenly working)
- very closed architecture, so it's hard to combine,export or import with anything outside NI ecosystem
- no MidiFX on the ARP / scales. Hard to get output of these to recordings you could edit. Plugin boutiques Scaler is also better option for scales and even Logic's stock ARP or MPK249:'s ARP is better than the one on KK. Can't even use these with hardware synths since they don't work in MIDI mode!
- software included is quite ok but you get better sounds even with stock Logic plugins. At this price point I would expect to get at least the standard version of KK software and not Select.
- No browsing VST sounds (unlike VIP), unless you find a thirdparty NKS plugin for it somewhere.
- No midi output from MIDI connectors if USB is connected!!!
Yes, you read it right: you have to unplug it from computer to get midi output. This is probably a result of that the keyboard don't have practically any software inside it - it's relying solely on your computer.

Also even if USB is disconnected you can't even change the midi channel or even use the presaved midi templates because apparently the device has no memory in it or something. So NEVER EVER get this if you want to play actual midi devices.

I should have stayed with my Akai MPK249 which at least works always and with everything and without computer and have better connections.

Better options might include Arturia Keylab and Akai MPK series

Ostin Komplete Kontrol S88 MK2 edellisen S61 MK2 tilalle.
Olin S61 jo erittäin tyytyväinen mutta tämän S88 painotetut koskettimet oli ominaisuus, minkä halusin omaan studiotyöskentelyyni.

Koskettimisto on tämän ehdotonta parasta antia. Näin ei-pianistille näissä painotetuissa koskettimissa on ihana sormituntuma verrattuna S61:n semi-painotettuihin koskettimiin.

Muuten ominaisuuksiltaan nämä ovat täysin identtiset. Softa toimii hienosti ja Native Instrumentsilla on laaja soundikirjasto kiippareita täydentämään.

Ainoat miinukset tässä S88:ssa on että tämä on painava ja vaatii USB-liitännän lisäksi oman virtalähteen, mikä tulee mukana. S61 toimii pelkästään USB:n kautta tulevalla virralla. Tämän lisäksi virtanappi on vähän kyseenalaista laatua, mutta ajaa toki asiansa.

Erinomainen laite kuitenkin kaikinpuolin!

I love playing and composing music on a quality hammer-action keyboard. Therefore, when choosing a midi keyboard, I considered options based on Fatar keybed. The keyboard is made of a very high quality, all keys have the same elasticity when pressed and there is no horizontal backlash, as, for example, in the Korg keyboards. The faders have excellent rotational viscosity, which helps in smoother adjustments. Well, a huge advantage is in the hardware and software native support for NI libraries. I got a great tool and a great positive experience!

I received the product via UPS courier services. Unfortunately, the 3rd tab on the left has a defect, when you press it you hear a strange sound "I made a video", I found another problem, on the last tab on the right when you press it you can see the huge scratch with a tint white and the second tab on the right when you hold it down the tab next to it shows dirt from long time use "I took pictures" so in conclusion Thomann gave me a heavily used tab and it was most likely returned to service center for replacement, they almost brought it back to life, cleaned it and sold it to me as new, I feel cheated. Being from Moldova, it will be very difficult for me to return it to Germany. I hope that this will reach the administration and I would like a prompt solution.