Kontrol S 88

How about two S49's side by side?
Me, I'm going to get an S25 and put my Axiom 32 Mini or my APC Ley 25 next to it.
But then, what do I know? I'm a guitarist, for pete's sake....

 

I'd go for an S88 as well, if it had weighted stage piano style keys and additional knobs/faders. Sorta like a Keylab 88 with total Komplete integration. I'd be happy to pay a reasonable price for a thing like that, given tha fact that I just upgraded to K10 Ultimate and need an S88 more than ever :-D

 

I'm waiting on the next iteration with onboard screens...I'm not in the market for an 88 key hammer action controller as I already have one, and I'd want something I can easily take on tour, but would be tempted for sure. Just cross-graded to K10 U as well, so auto-mapping features and coloured key switches would be an obvious and major bonus to have. Maschine has the former but not the latter. Price is an issue as the S-series is about $150 overpriced in my opinion. Have to see how the Advanced keyboard pans out as well. Basically, I'm not in a hurry to decide as I need time to learn Komplete, but am looking forward to upgrading my keyboard when the time is right.

 

So, is anyone at NI at liberty to disclose some hints as to whether or not the future might bring an 88 key controller from NI, be it an 88 key version of the current Kontrol S or a future Kontrol S Studio version?
Considering the what the NI team has done with the current Kontrol S I would definitely buy an 88 key version.

 

NI never discloses hints, really.

 

IMO 88 key MIDI keyboards have fallen out of favor but appear to be making a comeback. I was glad to see that Arturia added an 88 key version to their Keylab series and Nektar now has the affordable Impact LX88 available. NI will probably do some analytic research to see if an 88 key version will sell well.

 

Personally I think it's a bad idea.

I have a lovely kawai MP10, superb piano action, I adore playing piano on it.

But for me, I find it pretty useless for synth and organ sounds, much prefer no hammer action for those.

So a 76/88 key bed like the 61 and yes I would say great. But most people want hammer action when talking about 88.

 

For sure it would boost my creativity when I could map, say, four or five, instruments to different parts of the Komplete Kontrol (S88). Part of my inspirational workflow is playing two or three parts (bass, pad, melody) live to come up with new melodies and chord progressions. Pity though that it's not straightforward with the current software, but given an 88 keybed real master keyboard it'd be a must.

 

They didn't provide much info, but they hint the fact a brand new product would come by the end of the year... So we can probably expect a larger Kontrol keyboard (unless they are planning to release a complete new range of products. Who knows?)

Personally, I'd bet that Kontrol "S" is for Synth, and therefor we could expect a Kontrol "H" (Heavy?) or "P" (Piano?) for a larger keyboard with 73/76 and 88 keys. Or maybe it could be a new range of Kontrol keyboard, such Kontrol Studio with larger display, more knobs, maybe some faders, etc...

I disagree with the fact it would be too expensive since the 61 keys is $699... because Maschine Studio is $999 and Kontrol S8 is $1,199, so there's room for a higher version of Kontrol. Mainly if they want to go in competition against hardware workstation keyboard that are easily over $2,000 or $3,000 (just like Maschine was in competition against hardware drum machine).

To me, it would perfectly make sense and I just can't wait for a 76 and a 88 keys Kontrol keyboard. 61 Keys or less are just not enough for me and generally for any real player/composer (not even considering that most of Kontrol bank have extra keyswitch keys outside of the 61 keys range). So if NI wouldn't release larger keyboards, it would just make no sense at all and they would avoid a large part of the market that are actually already using plugins and NI software. That would be a huge marketing mistake if you ask me. So let's wait & see...

I think we should wait around end of September or October, that's generally the period of the year that NI release new hardware and updates

My 2¢

 

They're selling the 25 key Kontrol S at my local shop for almost $650 before tax. 25 keys.....love the product but the prices need to come down, and most likely will do so when they release the new line (whenever that may be).

 

I fully agree, for a 'komplete kontrol' I really need 88 keys.
It does not need to be a balanced hammer action (I prefer a dedicated piano controller such as the Kawai VPC1 for that job anyway), but the same keybed (perhaps with some adjustments to make it more quiet) will do fine.
I do hope you are right about September/October.

 

Since they have been using Fatar keyboard for the Komplete Kontrol S, I would suspect them to do the same for a "piano" controller. Personally, my favorite 88 keys (beside the Kawai) is the Fatar TP-40/W (with wood keys). But it's not the lightest one, so I'm quite sure NI won't be using it and they might prefer the other 88 keys from Fatar, the ones we can find on the Nord Stage and Kurzweil PC8...

About the date, it's just a guestimation... based on what they say in a video (the fact to come with a complete new product this year) and also the fact it's often around this time of the year that we saw most of the updates and new products (such lately Maschine Studio, Maschine 2.0, etc...).

Wait & See

 

88 key and a multi color touchscreen.

 

Well, I'm not quite sure about Touchscreen... because you generally need screen large enough to be usable with your fingers. If you look at workstation, even on a Kronos Oasys/Kronos that have color touchscreen, it's far from being perfect, low resolution, often clumsy, etc... If it would be a touchscreen large and smooth like an iPad... why not, but in that case, why just not use a tablet with an app (like we can already have for a lot of applications)?

However, color screens such the ones on Maschine Studio/Traktor S8... yeah, that would be great and they could reuse the same technology and software integration. A 1,000 buck large keyboard controller with color displays, knobs and all features to be usable and replace most of "hardware workstation" keyboard such fantom, motif, kronos and such... I'd love that since I don't find any interest in hardware anymore because I have way better sound with all my software. All I really missing, it's the hardware user experience of knobs, faders, buttons and hardware navigation... But I was saying the same thing back in the day with the MPCs and now that I'm using Maschine, I'm perfectly fine... and couldn't get back to some clumsy and limited hardware.

My 2¢

 

Remember NI's target audience is for DJ's and Producers. You mention real players sounds like you need a yamaha keyboard.

 

They already got the DJs with Traktor products line, and Producers with Maschine products line... Now they're focus on players with Komplete products line. I wouldn't be surprise to also come with a new "Guitar Rig" updated line for the guitarists. Why would NI let you need a Yamaha keyboard when they clearly and definitely already have some keyboard in their product range? No company wish their potential customers to go buy some products from another company... If they only have to release a larger keyboard to fit the needs, they can do it. Their part provider (FATAR) already has parts for this market... That's definitely doable by them. Simple observation of the market... NI have all interest to cover the higher end of keyboard player. On a big picture point of view, all hardware keyboard from Korg, Roland, Yamaha, Kurzweil, etc... would simply be obsolete few years from now. NI knows it for sure and therefor they have all interest to come in the market with a controller solution. Not rocket science here...

 

That would be great indeed.
As a matter of fact, a color screen which gives you a focused view of what you are doing (as well as displaying a browser) is what I am missing in the current Kontrol S.
And of course the 88 keys...Among the 'target audience' of NI Komplete are quite a few composers and producers, and the ones I know prefer a full 88 key range at their disposal.

 

Don't think NI are worried about korg, roland. Different customer base. Yeah they are covering the keyboard player, but don't expect them to make notation software next lol.

 

FYI: There is some interesting talk going on on vi-control, starting with this post...http://vi-control.net/community/threads/88-key-midi-keyboard-recommendations.48367/#post-3898014

 

Not a big surprise to be honest... What I'm more surprise is that it would simply be an extended version of the current version.

Personally, I do expect a "Studio" version of the Komplete Kontrol, with 76 and 88 keys, but also large color display, knobs, maybe even faders, etc... That would make way more sense to me, but who knows what NI have in mind.

Let's wait & see...