NI / Izotope partnership. A good thing for musicians?

[SLiC]

Glad most in this thread are not in product development.... severe lack of vision.

Making Maschine+ was seriously the smartest thing any music company did in the last decade. They will own that market for the foreseeable future. Outside of guitar stuff, it’s probably the biggest segment of the market.

I am not sure big the stand alone market is when there is also a laptop and controller option that is identical (unlike say Elektron stuff where you have to buy the hardware). My Machine Mikro and laptop is far more powerful that Machine+, can host all VSTs and can run off a battery outdoors or on a plane for 8 hours!

I would also think the AKAI MPC range currently have most of the market for this type of device just based on how long they have been doing and all the different versions, but it would be interesting to know if the Machine+ did sell well for NI.

[nightjar]

Glad most in this thread are not in product development.... severe lack of vision.

Making Maschine+ was seriously the smartest thing any music company did in the last decade. They will own that market for the foreseeable future. Outside of guitar stuff, it’s probably the biggest segment of the market.

What iZotope has learned with their Spire product might bring some good additions to audio in the Maschine environment.

[Unaspected]

Btw I don't think the kids of today are getting excited when they look at the NI list and see '60s Drummer, 70s Drummer etc.'

Because.... THAT is their first impression they'll get of NI when going to the NI site. Apparently, no one at NI HQ realizes that '60s Drummer' is not exactly a great business card anno 2021.

Abbey Road Drum series is one of the best products they ever done in house
Who knows, maybe it would do better marketing if exposed more.

100%

I'd love to see a cymbal expansion but other than that, it's a great product.

The idea of a NI-Izotope partnership sounds horribly to me. I can't imagine a good reason for this. I never wanted to have something to do with Izotope and never found any of their products appealing. I've a really bad feeling about this and the future of NI.

edit: Maybe i'm a little too harsh towards Izotope here. But the core statement stays.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Native Instruments layoff several people just a few years ago, followed by a very large investment, then a year or so later, another large investment by another investor? Now they are merging with another company? All I see is red flags... Oh yeah they tried to vaporware some stuff recently too... Maybe they're heading right into the subscription model?

They're not merging. There was no indication of such action happening. Maybe a few people online have said that but the official news doesn't mention a merger at all. "A new technology group, backed by Francisco Partners and EMH Partners", are acting as liaison to ensure a sharing of resources between CEOs of both companies - who will be working together under this new venture. It could be a very good thing if managed correctly.

Of course, it doesn't rule out a merger in the future but both brands are distinct and seem to have a firm footing in the market so a merger doesn't make too much sense right now. This makes a lot of sense and is quite exciting. I'm looking forward to the plans and products that they will announce.

[zerocrossing]

NI is the McDonalds of audio. It is what it is.

McDonalds doesn’t have a number of “best-in-class” items on its menu. Native Instruments does.

McDonald's would say they do.

Show me a business that advertises their products as “somewhat good.”

Allow me...

Massive X: seriously one of the best sounding wavetable synths available right now, including hardware.

Maschine/+ best hardware-software integration available and a ton of great available libraries... and you can actually sample with it and make your own! If I was doing live shows there is no doubt I’d bring my Maschine with me, or maybe even pick up a Maschine+.

Reaktor: still nothing like it from any competitors. To save space, I’ll just include all the Reaktor instruments like Form in this. Brilliant. Molekule is still a go-to for unique effects.

Super 8: as good sounding as any of the vintage analog competition, though a bit light on features, the interface is fast and easy to use. Love the modulatable wave blender.

Guitar Rig Pro: decent amp modeling, but what it really is is a super flexible modular multi-effects processor. The new Crush Pack and Softube effects sound brilliant.

Komplete: still top of the food chain with tons of great libraries for it. Una Corda is my favorite ambient piano library.

FM8 is still a great FM synthesis playground. Not the closest thing to a DX-7, but far more powerful and easy to work with.

Absynth still sounds great. Does it need an update? YES! But it’s still a unique and great sounding instrument. Mostly it needs a UI redesign.

So, I’m going to stop because those are the main things I use in Komplete. To me, that’s well worth the price. Is everything they make the best of its kind? Nope. Is everything they make good and a good value? I’d definitely say yes. Comparisons to a Portasound are ridiculous. Closer to the best workstation keyboard ever made. Actually, I don’t think there is a workstation keyboard as good as Komplete.

[mi-os]

The idea of a NI-Izotope partnership sounds horribly to me. I can't imagine a good reason for this. I never wanted to have something to do with Izotope and never found any of their products appealing. I've a really bad feeling about this and the future of NI.

edit: Maybe i'm a little too harsh towards Izotope here. But the core statement stays.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Native Instruments layoff several people just a few years ago, followed by a very large investment, then a year or so later, another large investment by another investor? Now they are merging with another company? All I see is red flags... Oh yeah they tried to vaporware some stuff recently too... Maybe they're heading right into the subscription model?

Exactly. The sum of those events are pointing to more trouble ahead. Looks like NI is need of help by another company instead of being the leader itself.

Don't get me started with subscriptions...

[zerocrossing]

Glad most in this thread are not in product development.... severe lack of vision.

Making Maschine+ was seriously the smartest thing any music company did in the last decade. They will own that market for the foreseeable future. Outside of guitar stuff, it’s probably the biggest segment of the market.

I am not sure big the stand alone market is when there is also a laptop and controller option that is identical (unlike say Elektron stuff where you have to buy the hardware). My Machine Mikro and laptop is far more powerful that Machine+, can host all VSTs and can run off a battery outdoors or on a plane for 8 hours!

I would also think the AKAI MPC range currently have most of the market for this type of device just based on how long they have been doing and all the different versions, but it would be interesting to know if the Machine+ did sell well for NI.

I don’t have any numbers, but I do know a few people who bought and love Maschine+. It’s not for us, though. It’s for the people who don’t want to bring a laptop to a gig, or even their studio. I think that’s a big under served market.

[Cancel Culture Club]

They're not merging. There was no indication of such action happening. Maybe a few people online have said that but the official news doesn't mention a merger at all. "A new technology group, backed by Francisco Partners and EMH Partners", are acting as liaison to ensure a sharing of resources between CEOs of both companies - who will be working together under this new venture. It could be a very good thing if managed correctly.

Of course, it doesn't rule out a merger in the future but both brands are distinct and seem to have a firm footing in the market so a merger doesn't make too much sense right now. This makes a lot of sense and is quite exciting. I'm looking forward to the plans and products that they will announce.

It does give off a little bit of a,

iZotope have announced today the acquisition of the Exponential Audio product line.

type of vibe though...

[SLiC]

NI is the McDonalds of audio. It is what it is.

McDonalds doesn’t have a number of “best-in-class” items on its menu. Native Instruments does.

McDonald's would say they do.

Show me a business that advertises their products as “somewhat good.”

Allow me...

Massive X: seriously one of the best sounding wavetable synths available right now, including hardware.

Maschine/+ best hardware-software integration available and a ton of great available libraries... and you can actually sample with it and make your own! If I was doing live shows there is no doubt I’d bring my Maschine with me, or maybe even pick up a Maschine+.

Reaktor: still nothing like it from any competitors. To save space, I’ll just include all the Reaktor instruments like Form in this. Brilliant. Molekule is still a go-to for unique effects.

Super 8: as good sounding as any of the vintage analog competition, though a bit light on features, the interface is fast and easy to use. Love the modulatable wave blender.

Guitar Rig Pro: decent amp modeling, but what it really is is a super flexible modular multi-effects processor. The new Crush Pack and Softube effects sound brilliant.

Komplete: still top of the food chain with tons of great libraries for it. Una Corda is my favorite ambient piano library.

FM8 is still a great FM synthesis playground. Not the closest thing to a DX-7, but far more powerful and easy to work with.

Absynth still sounds great. Does it need an update? YES! But it’s still a unique and great sounding instrument. Mostly it needs a UI redesign.

So, I’m going to stop because those are the main things I use in Komplete. To me, that’s well worth the price. Is everything they make the best of its kind? Nope. Is everything they make good and a good value? I’d definitely say yes. Comparisons to a Portasound are ridiculous. Closer to the best workstation keyboard ever made. Actually, I don’t think there is a workstation keyboard as good as Komplete.

I am a K13U and Maschine user and have been with NI all the way from the beginning. I stay with them because I have liked and used their stuff for such a long time and the upgrades (I only do it every other year) are reasonable in the 50% off sales. However, its getting (for me) harder to justify even upgrading every 2 years (unless you collect soundpacks) and unless I am the only one who feels this way, sales may be dropping.

The last thing NI did that found interesting was 'Blocks'. Komplete 6 was a disappointment, Massive X was late, not finished and no better than the current crop of modern WT synths IMO. Even the much heralded GR6 was just a GUI update and a few basic new amps (+ recycling all the FX I already own). I don't see any innovation whatsoever from NI (latest NI product? Another sample based guitar player...) so the iZotope 'partnership' cant make things any worse.

[EvilDragon]

Now they are merging with another company?

This is not a merger.

[Unaspected]

They're not merging. There was no indication of such action happening. Maybe a few people online have said that but the official news doesn't mention a merger at all. "A new technology group, backed by Francisco Partners and EMH Partners", are acting as liaison to ensure a sharing of resources between CEOs of both companies - who will be working together under this new venture. It could be a very good thing if managed correctly.

Of course, it doesn't rule out a merger in the future but both brands are distinct and seem to have a firm footing in the market so a merger doesn't make too much sense right now. This makes a lot of sense and is quite exciting. I'm looking forward to the plans and products that they will announce.

It does give off a little bit of a,

iZotope have announced today the acquisition of the Exponential Audio product line.

type of vibe though...

That would have been a benefit to Exponential Audio at the time; whereas NI is an equal or bigger player than iZotope. Though it could well be that this is an elaborate way of suggesting that the CEO of iZotope is now mentoring the new CEO of NI.

I'm staying nauseatingly positive until we get some proof of what is to follow. I'm not interested in applying machine learning in favour of art but in terms of production line, these companies sharing tech could result in many new products at a quicker rate. As long as quality control maintains the brand image of both companies, we should all benefit.

Now they are merging with another company?

This is not a merger.

We both already stated.

[nightjar]

I'm not interested in applying machine learning in favour of art but in terms of production line....

Machine Learning is not inherently the enemy of art, rather it can offer tremendous assistance to many non-creative tasks, and free up time for creation.

And Machine Learning can enable new sonic variables that inspire organic creativity.

[Unaspected]

I'm not interested in applying machine learning in favour of art but in terms of production line....

Machine Learning is not inherently the enemy of art, rather it can offer tremendous assistance to many non-creative tasks, and free up time for creation.

And Machine Learning can enable new sonic variables that inspire organic creativity.

Absolutely.

Machine learning can certainly increase turnover and allow an engineer to focus on other areas of creativity. I'm just not personally all that interested. I love mixing audio by ear and wouldn't want something tuned to a reference. This said, Soothe is very useful for quickly stripping most troublesome resonances - but when it comes to tone control, I want that all in my hands. This is why most of iZotope's new products have failed to catch my attention. I've been involved in and directed productions but I don't consider myself a music producer or musician (though I do play instruments) - I'm an engineer/designer. However, I like the way NI are using machine learning in Guitar Rig and hope that this tech will speed up production.

[Cancel Culture Club]

They're not merging. There was no indication of such action happening. Maybe a few people online have said that but the official news doesn't mention a merger at all. "A new technology group, backed by Francisco Partners and EMH Partners", are acting as liaison to ensure a sharing of resources between CEOs of both companies - who will be working together under this new venture. It could be a very good thing if managed correctly.

Of course, it doesn't rule out a merger in the future but both brands are distinct and seem to have a firm footing in the market so a merger doesn't make too much sense right now. This makes a lot of sense and is quite exciting. I'm looking forward to the plans and products that they will announce.

It does give off a little bit of a,

iZotope have announced today the acquisition of the Exponential Audio product line.

type of vibe though...

That would have been a benefit to Exponential Audio at the time; whereas NI is an equal or bigger player than iZotope. Though it could well be that this is an elaborate way of suggesting that the CEO of iZotope is now mentoring the new CEO of NI.

I'm staying nauseatingly positive until we get some proof of what is to follow. I'm not interested in applying machine learning in favour of art but in terms of production line, these companies sharing tech could result in many new products at a quicker rate. As long as quality control maintains the brand image of both companies, we should all benefit.

Now they are merging with another company?

This is not a merger.

We both already stated.

The point is, it's all leading to something and somewhere...

[Unaspected]

The point is, it's all leading to something and somewhere...

Yeah.

[martinjuenke]

The point is, it's all leading to something and somewhere...

Don't know where this is leading to but it sounds Guru like wise and important. Should look where my orange clothes from the eighties are (not sure if they still fit...)...