Welcome Keir

At least you didn't transition 60% of your computer use to BeOS in its prime like i did... ;-)
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you mean like Trent Reznor, who's very vocal about how much he likes Native Instruments? He has remarked that he uses Kore as his central sound tool... i don't know if he still does... Anyone want to ask him? ;-)

 

400 euros = 584.1200 US dollars

NI's US distributors sell Maschine for $599. For example, http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Maschine/

Keir, I appreciate your efforts thus far on behalf of NI's loyal Kore users. But that crossgrade discount is a perfect example of the saying "to add insult to injury." How much can the Maschine controller (no doubt made in China) actually cost NI? Wouldn't it better for NI, in the long run, to give a deep discount to existing Kore users? Doesn't it make sense to reward customers who have already demonstrated loyalty (ie, purchased Kore, the upgrade, and the Sound Packs) to your brand?

Don't throw away proven customers. Give us a discount that is fair, even if it means little or no profit to you now. Business 101: Reward loyal customers and the profit will come to you. But please don't insult us by offering a crossgrade "discount" of 400 euro. Call it something else if you can't come up with the vision or courage to create a brand that people care about.

May common sense prevail during your meeting with the development team.

 

Keir - "The Poisoned Chalice & the Samarai"

I think that we're all feeling a little sympathy for Keir here...The poor guy's been handed a poisoned chalice...What he should really do at the "development meeting" - love that title - is to hand it back and say " There have been some serious developments on the user forums and I don't want this poisoned chalice anymore."

I'm going to join the Kore rebels and fight with them They are like the samurai.. Their quest is an honourable one....

 

...and he could pick his head up on the way out

 

You are getting that wrong. That is the street price or MAP. The US retail price for Maschine is $669.00 Of course Keir is giving you a rough retail estimate and that will not be the street price if the upgrade is purchased from a retailer.

 

if it's a special NI deal for Kore owners only, it likely wouldn't BE through retailers.

 

Whereas the street price for Maschine in the UK is about 500GBP, so your looking at about 350GBP for 400 Euros.
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It could be the first and only time the UK has ever been cheaper for anything ever.

 

i bought Maschine this past november brand new at Guitar Center for $450

 

'UK' and 'cheaper' in the same sentence? That's the laws of physics as we know them buggered then. Hawking! Over here, quick. We need a new theory.

 

I think you'll find Hawking out of your price range. This is the UK after all

 

No. This is the new quantum UK. Prof Hawking is now more expensive AND less expensive at the same time. As long as no-one looks at him.

 

A Fly on the Wall

I would love to be a fly on the wall at that "Development Meeting" There could be some developments as a result of us rising up and letting the folks know at NI that we are extremely pissed off....

But after all - they want feedback from us...It's all here

http://www.native-instruments.com/en/company/company-profile/

"Native Instruments sees itself as a part of a vibrant international music scene, and is in constant communication with artists whose feedback is integrated into the conception and continuous improvement of the products."

Unfortunately,the current vision for NI seems to be too much about beatz and bling than about providing the solid tools that were once a part of the lineup...

I would love to hear somebody sequencing something like Beethoven's Fifth on Maschine...Most of the guys who seems to be endorsing that box probably can't even read a score The Illiterati !

"Development Meeting" - love that title !

 

Another balancer... Do we think that the guys at NI don't already know that there would be heaps of pissed-off Koreheads ranting on the forum? Do we think that they are maybe also sad to have had to make this decision?

Wouldnt mind if the Maschine-bashing calmed down either. There are many ways to make good music and it doesn't necessarily have to be with a scoresheet!

 

+1

I started this thread to open a dialogue with Keir and through him NI about what seemed to be some legitimate concerns and so far that approach is what has brought results, i.e. we have learned more in this thread than we have heard in many months about the future of Kore. We need to keep that dialogue going so the last thing I want is to see another thread closed by people getting too carried away with their need to "bash" somebody or something. Feeling let down is understandable - I feel that too and have invested a lot in Kore in terms of time, effort and money, and do not want that to go to waste, but getting threads closed by getting too confrontational helps no-one.

 

Maschine Music

Of course they would have factored in the collatoral damage,but I'm not sure that they imagined that the response would be quite so "heated"

I'm only stirring about Maschine...Read some of my other posts...I have owned and programmed many of the "classic" beatboxes...It's just that Maschine IS NOT Kore !

I also realise that great music doesn't need a score to be created,but I defy anyone to come up with a perfectly "orchestrated" piece of music without one because you need to draw the harmonic structure - from the bottom to the top...

Everything need to be balanced - mathematically and emotionally...A bit like the posts on these forums really...

For what it's worth,most of my music is performed without a score..I have played music all of my life - from clubs and pubs to concert halls and in between - but I did study at a conservatorium so if I need to write a score,I can do it 100% - with pencil and paper and all from my head

 

+1 to the list, keep Kore alive! I have tons of NI Soundpacks and use Kore extensively...

 

Digitalboy1, I agree with what you're saying about Maschine, I have it and my only wish is that NI could make it a better rhythm machine and forget about this super instrument ideas. My work goes from scores for film, tv, etc, to experimental electronica and I've never used Maschine to lay even one single note of harmony, I use it to program rhythms, and in my opinion it can only be useful for melody/harmony if your laying down very basic phrases and even then I wouln't use it, but that's me I know some people finds it useful.

On the other hand, I won't ask NI to keep Kore alive, Kore development was always very weak, lots of bugs, basic things were always very difficult to develop in Kore and this was when NI wanted to develop it, if there is even the smallest chance of keeping Kore development in the future, NI would probably do a even worst job with it.
I'm having a hard time looking at all the money I invested in Kore, but if x64 standalone and plugin and multicore support are released, first I'll be surprised, then I'll be happy, I'll have the possibility of using Kore in minimum conditions and that's all that I want now, NI can do whatever they want, because my money is going to be somewhere else.

 

Our announcement about Kore has been scheduled for Tuesday since quite a while, and that's when it will be posted here.

In the meantime, please keep it civil as laid out in the forum rules, and specifically refrain from insults towards our team. Inflammatory posts only drag the level of forum discussion down, but do nothing to change the NI product roadmap.

Please stay tuned for more info tomorrow.

 

Thomas...We promise to be nice and on our best behaviour...

But if you want to say nasty things about us - that's OK

 

I'd like you, digitalboy, to stay serious and stop provocating. It does not change anything.

I'd like you, Thomas, to join the discussion. I'd rather liked anyone from NI joing the discussion with their customers before any decision had been set in stone.

However, no one is unable to understand the Kore user base I guess. Hearing from any blog posting on the net instead directly here, from NI, about the future of your purchase is somehow frustrating, as is the future itself. It's all about money, but it's all about MY money, too. You already have gotten my money, so that's a bit a bad position for me and further frustrating.

I'd like you to take your time for US and join the discussion. Please.

There are some threads here now, which deserves some thoughts from NI. Please have a look and join the discussion.

Keir@NI is welcome, too.

Thank you.