Sad state of Native Instruments

[noiseboyuk]

Not updated since Komplete 12, have I missed anything worth having? Pretty much the only thing I use on a daily basis out of the whole lot is Raum, and that was a freebie. Its shame that the latest controller does not come with Komplete built in, no need for a computer. That might be interesting if it was up-dateable.

Depends what sort of stuff you do and what version you're looking at. Here's the stuff I think is great of the last few versions, I can't remember what came when so you may have some of these already:

NOIRE
UNA CORDA
SESSION GUITARIST ACOUSTICS/NYLONS
MIDDLE EAST
ACTION STRIKES 2 (don't use it much but I should)
The LIGHT series
LORES
GUITAR RIG 6
KNIFONIUM

[SLiC]

I think NI will hit the problem that part of their update incudes things like KNIFONIUM and izotope etc, but many of us already own these programs so don't get any advantage (no discount). Always a problems with multi-vendor bundling.

[machinesworking]

I hope that NI can get back on track and get their ship together because the truth is that they do make some great products

I'm going to point out once again, NI aren't doing anything different, I've been a customer for 20 years now, they've always made some great products, deprecated some that IMO shouldn't have been, introduced some ROMpler type stuff, and have been last in line to adopt new tech and plugin standards. Last in line for 64 bit, OS9 to OSX, PPC to Intel, and now last for VST3, resizable GUI's, Intel to Apple Silicon, MPE, etc. etc.

I think the only difference is that recently the standards aren't just Apple jumping to a new chip, and that affects more than 50% of their user base, but again the awkward business decisions have always been there: Komplete Care 2005, Kore hardware, Rig Kontrol and their other audio interfaces not being updated, plus the list of deprecated plugins at one point in Accoustic and Electric Piano, Spektral Delay, Pro 53, Kompakt, Intakt, B4, Kore, and recently Absynth.

They make great products, outside of Kontakt and Reaktor they aren't to be counted on to support those products for more than 5 years. That's how I look at them and always have.

[elassi]

... the list of deprecated plugins at one point in Accoustic and Electric Piano, Spektral Delay, Pro 53, Kompakt, Intakt, B4, Kore, and recently Absynth.

Add Bandstand to this list. A dedicated GM-compatible Rompler, perfect for previewing multitrack Midi files.

I can't use it anymore though it's running on my Win64 machine. The activation process fails, it needs the old Software Center (or however it's called).

[midi_transmission]

I am sure UVI/Falcon will have some people move over....Falcon now on V3 and every update has been free.

I also hope NI turn it around (I have Ultimate, KK Mk2 and Machine hardware, I'm invested) but it seems to be getting worse not better, paid updates for very little improvements, nothing but more sample based instruments for many years. It's not the developers, its the direction.

The issue is that UVI is using iLok at a lot of people really don't want to use that.

[digitalboytn]

The issue is that UVI is using iLok at a lot of people really don't want to use that.

If Falcon was iLok free,I would have bought it,but iLok killed any chance of that

[dayjob]

I am sure UVI/Falcon will have some people move over....Falcon now on V3 and every update has been free.

I also hope NI turn it around (I have Ultimate, KK Mk2 and Machine hardware, I'm invested) but it seems to be getting worse not better, paid updates for very little improvements, nothing but more sample based instruments for many years. It's not the developers, its the direction.

The issue is that UVI is using iLok at a lot of people really don't want to use that.

is native access any better than iLok? the only hang up i can see with iLok is the $25 license transfer fee. otherwise.. it's just a software authorizer like any other. it's rare that you need an actual dongle with it these days. there's a couple of developers that require the actual dongle but UVI is not one of them.

as always ymmv

[Careless Memories]

plus the list of deprecated plugins at one point in Accoustic and Electric Piano, Spektral Delay, Pro 53, Kompakt, Intakt, B4, Kore, and recently Absynth.

It's funny, but I loved the sound of the deprecated "NY Grand" piano instrument. It just worked so well in Pop tunes for me. It wasn't overly bright but it had a nice tone and didn't completely dominate a track like "bigger sounding" grands sometimes can.

I guess there was some hacky way to get these few deprecated pianos back on the Mac. But I'm not sure if that's possible on newer Apple Silicon Macs and with the latest version of Native Access.

Anyone know?

[SLiC]

I am sure UVI/Falcon will have some people move over....Falcon now on V3 and every update has been free.

I also hope NI turn it around (I have Ultimate, KK Mk2 and Machine hardware, I'm invested) but it seems to be getting worse not better, paid updates for very little improvements, nothing but more sample based instruments for many years. It's not the developers, its the direction.

The issue is that UVI is using iLok at a lot of people really don't want to use that.

is native access any better than iLok? the only hang up i can see with iLok is the $25 license transfer fee. otherwise.. it's just a software authorizer like any other. it's rare that you need an actual dongle with it these days. there's a couple of developers that require the actual dongle but UVI is not one of them.

as always ymmv

I use iLok but it still has the issue that if for some reason your computer/HD wipes you have to ask for your licences back (you cant move/cancel on line once your computer is gone). Native Access has both advertising and data tracking by default, but you can turn off the tracking but licences are not something I have never had an issue with with NI.

[_leras]

I would hardly say all this wasted development time and the way NI are prioritising things is ‘good news’, we can now manually turn off advertising we didn’t want in the first place. Wooo.

That's it right there. That's the attitude.

Are NI now about to become a paragon of virtue? No. Do they realise they pushed aggressive advertising too far and their customers don't want it? Yes. Is that good that they listened? Yes.

Harsh. I don't think it's a huge issue to allow people to browse available packages etc. maybe easier than via email. But I definitely agree it shouldn't be intrusive and distracting. These are tools, not media for consumption.

I'm generally giving NI the benefit of doubt as they have a lot of products and it must be hard to maintain etc.

However, and not just NI, I got an Izotope email or Ten Best Reverb Plugins of 2023... They were all Izotope, exponential audio or NI... A big advertorial... I don't like that type of deception.

[martinjuenke]

I still have a Kontrol Keyboard with 49 keys MK1.
They do not support it any longer.
What are alternatives for a simple 49 keys Midi keyboard?
I'm looking at the Swissonic one.

[_leras]

is native access any better than iLok? the only hang up i can see with iLok is the $25 license transfer fee. otherwise.. it's just a software authorizer like any other. it's rare that you need an actual dongle with it these days. there's a couple of developers that require the actual dongle but UVI is not one of them.

as always ymmv

I think Native Access is great one log in and I can easily setup and/or update anything. NI have a lot of products as part of Komplete and this makes it so easy to manage. Setting up a new computer is much quicker and easier than it used to be.

Quite a few companies have these now and it's definitely only upside if you ask me.

A counter point would be Uhe, and I have a bunch of uhe stuff, and this requires individual installs and manually entering login details. It's fine, but way less convenient.

re: iLok, personally I think it's fine. Just install the software and works when you plug in the key. I would want computer based for anything I'd use from a laptop though.

[chk071]

I still have a Kontrol Keyboard with 49 keys MK1.
They do not support it any longer.
What are alternatives for a simple 49 keys Midi keyboard?
I'm looking at the Swissonic one.

You only want keys, or also knobs/faders?

If you only want keys, then this might be an option: https://www.thomann.de/de/m_audio_keystation_49_mk3.htm

[martinjuenke]

I still have a Kontrol Keyboard with 49 keys MK1.
They do not support it any longer.
What are alternatives for a simple 49 keys Midi keyboard?
I'm looking at the Swissonic one.

You only want keys, or also knobs/faders?

Only keys, keeping it simple.

[jancivil]

list of deprecated plugins

It's funny, but I loved the sound of the deprecated "NY Grand" piano instrument. It just worked so well in Pop tunes for me. It wasn't overly bright but it had a nice tone and didn't completely dominate a track like "bigger sounding" grands sometimes can.

I guess there was some hacky way to get these few deprecated pianos back on the Mac. But I'm not sure if that's possible on newer Apple Silicon Macs and with the latest version of Native Access.

If you mean New York Concert Grand from Classic Piano Collection https://drive.google.com/open?id=104C-3 ... -Rag00K15s
Start Native Access 2 and go to Preferences > Legacy Products and enable the toggle to show discontinued products.

Restart Native Access and go to Library > Available > Kontakt and scroll to one of the Classic Piano library listings.
https://support.native-instruments.com/ ... ive-Access