Native Instruments Layoffs?

[DJ Warmonger]

they seem to be doing something right. What we forum dwellers often forget is that we're not the center of the world

You're forgetting that we're on the opposite side of this business. I, for example, want to get a multitude of newest and most advanced products cheap, while companies might want to sell recycled pile of trash for a lot of money If they succeed, it might not actually be in my favour.

[HM]

Their success, as seen today, does rely on monopoly on format I guess,.... on what they now will focus to press the lemon even further,.... as long as it goes

[machinesworking]

Also to be fair, other big software companies are making dumb decisions all the time.

Dumb by what measure though? Another good example would be Waves. I rarely ever read a good word about them here, yet they're one of the biggest players, and seem to do very well. I think there's a huge difference between the opinions stated, and the people present here, and the world out there. It's just that noone realizes that or wants to realize that here. The people here are extreme niche, at best.

Waves fell from grace years ago though. They still do well, but they long ago lost their "Pro Tools" gloss as the only pro standard etc. No one thinks of them like that anymore. I like them OK, they were way too expensive 15 years ago when I was collecting plug ins, so I only own a half dozen at most.

I wouldn't discount home producers who are avid prosumers.That is easily the biggest market share you can get, besides selling 24 fader Pro Tools hardware rigs and 8k mics to people etc. I'm absolutely certain Logic for instance is not a "loss leader" for Apple, it's a money generating machine.

Now if you just meant that KVR members will tear a new ass out of any product mentioned ever, I 100% agree.

[AnX]

Novation also still support their nearly 20 year old software... it's still full of bugs, though.

that's not really support tho, is it...

[machinesworking]

Novation also still support their nearly 20 year old software... it's still full of bugs, though.

that's not really support tho, is it...

It's more support than Spectral Delay, Kompact, Intakt, Pro 53, Kore, B4, Rig Kontrol, Elektric Piano etc. etc. are getting.

I hooked up a guys Remote SL v1 to Ableton Live 10 to show him how to use it etc. It's fantastic, the software interface is flawless with 10, what? 10-12 years later?

[noiseboyuk]

I want a new deeply integrated hardware controller and software combo based on new unified platform strategy that would allow me new seamlessly integrated experience of accessing NI's core products and services. It should offer me a unique and premium experience by connecting NI's existing ecosystem of award-winning software and hardware to a centralized online service. I'd like to see a mandatory online store and subscription model integrated into all future NI hardware and software products.

That all sounds great, but really I'm also crying out for vertically integrated product streams that move across interactive membranes focused on consumer deliverables. Can't get any work done without that.

[chk071]

Novation also still support their nearly 20 year old software... it's still full of bugs, though.

that's not really support tho, is it...

Yep. Actually, it's even counter productive... when they implement bug after bug in the updates.

[DJ Warmonger]

Novation also still support their nearly 20 year old software... it's still full of bugs, though.

that's not really support tho, is it...

It's more support than Spectral Delay, Kompact, Intakt, Pro 53, Kore, B4, Rig Kontrol, Elektric Piano etc. etc. are getting.

I hooked up a guys Remote SL v1 to Ableton Live 10 to show him how to use it etc. It's fantastic, the software interface is flawless with 10, what? 10-12 years later?

That's the result of unified platform, continuous development without drastic turns and, of course, automatic tests It's easier to support one product than 50 disjointed products.

[Stefken]

TBH, the only thing which is of interest for me, is the product itself. I don't care about CEO's walking around in forums, and informing about and praising their products. That's also why i never cared about Urs or others posting on these forums, playing the social media manager. That's not of interest for me. I'm not interested in politics, or religious following. That's nothing which is of relevance for me, when i'm using software. I'm interested in quality software. And NI mostly delivers on that front.

One thing doesn't go without the other.
NI does have some good stuff, but it's in no way king of the hill anymore.
Other firms like U-he, Arturia, ... produce (much) better software.
And NI has already been more of a content provider than actually producing new software for several years. It's more Sampled Instruments than Native Instruments.

MX was probably their take on convincing people that they could still come up with new stuff. I guess they wanted to go for a renewal of the Massive success but anyone that is objective knows that this was surely not the case.

Seeing what I saw in the development of MX (be it the poor communication, the actual poor deliverable, etc) and now hearing the internal problems that were going on, I'm not one bit suprised. I kinda sensed things were going wrong but had no internal information. Now that be do, the picture is pretty clear.

And good engineers can't keep the company going if management f**ks up. CEO's do matter.
The sad thing is that these engineers are now paying the price.

[chk071]

NI does have some good stuff, but it's in no way king of the hill anymore.
Other firms like U-he, Arturia, ... produce (much) better software.

Arguable. Especially with Arturia. *cough cough*

[noiseboyuk]

Also probably worth pointing out - thought its obvious - that NI's breadth is massively bigger than others. U-he are fabulous synth specialists and a smattering of fx. Arturia have some hardware and a pretty broad range of products, but even ignoring NI's DJ stuff - as i understand it their biggest money-earner - their Komplete products are much broader. A complete Symphony orchestra, world music series, cinematic products, a virtual drummer in many forms etc etc. And it wouldn't be quite true to say jack of all trades and master of none - they are masters of quite a bit, though not all by some way (that symphonic series is very much in the also-ran category).

I do wonder if in retrospect they didn't try to combine some of their synth platforms into one uber-synth to rival Omnisphere, maybe with modular elements. One platform to maintain, one set of patches to browse and so on. I know part of the idea behind Komplete Kontrol is to do just this, but its just awful, still not yet at 1.0 levels of core functionality.

With Komplete in particular we consumers have had a very good thing going for a long time, and I fear those days may be ending. I'm generally a fan of NI and hope they can find a way through this.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

I want a new deeply integrated hardware controller and software combo based on new unified platform strategy that would allow me new seamlessly integrated experience of accessing NI's core products and services. It should offer me a unique and premium experience by connecting NI's existing ecosystem of award-winning software and hardware to a centralized online service. I'd like to see a mandatory online store and subscription model integrated into all future NI hardware and software products.

That all sounds great, but really I'm also crying out for vertically integrated product streams that move across interactive membranes focused on consumer deliverables. Can't get any work done without that.

You've both got the lingo down. You'd make good McMillan men

[Robmobius]

This whole 'new way' to experience an unified NI platform stinks of another online subscription model. Lucky us!

[digitalboytn]

Also probably worth pointing out - thought its obvious - that NI's breadth is massively bigger than others..... their Komplete products are much broader. A complete Symphony orchestra, world music series, cinematic products, a virtual drummer in many forms etc etc.

You are ignoring some serious facts here Senor...

How much of this "content" did NI actually produce ?

Sure...they are responsible for the framework that we know as Kontakt,but most of the content is supplied by a third party...

The truth about Komplete is that are a few gems padded out with an enormous amount of bloatware

[Obsolete236871]

Personally, I'm not very fond of online based subscription only models, if this is the way they want to go.