Sad state of Native Instruments

[pdxindy]

I think NI as a company and the current partnerships have a wonderful opportunity to do some amazing things. However, the single greatest thing these companies should do, is create an all in one work environment (DAW) that captures everyones technology concepts. Plugin Alliance integrated plugins, Izotopes technology, and Native Instruments sampling with Kontakt and Maschine integrated in the DAW. Each company can release expansions for the DAW, as so each company creates additional sources of revenue respective to their product lines. Creating a DAW helps to focus the direction each company presents, aligns their products, and helps to streamline users into working within an environment where they have access to everything. Too many DAW's, well....All DAW's thus far have kind of crappy stock plugins or features that users have to use 3rd party stuff. I think NI et al needs to focus, create a DAW, and forecast creating a useful environment for users.

One of the reasons I stopped using NI stuff is because they do try to get people into their tech system. Massive X has a miserable browser, but it works better when using their hardware. I have no interest in their hardware and I want their plugins to work well and be up to date for any DAW or controller. I would never buy a DAW from them and I'm happy with the one I have.

[vertibration]

I think NI as a company and the current partnerships have a wonderful opportunity to do some amazing things. However, the single greatest thing these companies should do, is create an all in one work environment (DAW) that captures everyones technology concepts. Plugin Alliance integrated plugins, Izotopes technology, and Native Instruments sampling with Kontakt and Maschine integrated in the DAW. Each company can release expansions for the DAW, as so each company creates additional sources of revenue respective to their product lines. Creating a DAW helps to focus the direction each company presents, aligns their products, and helps to streamline users into working within an environment where they have access to everything. Too many DAW's, well....All DAW's thus far have kind of crappy stock plugins or features that users have to use 3rd party stuff. I think NI et al needs to focus, create a DAW, and forecast creating a useful environment for users.

One of the reasons I stopped using NI stuff is because they do try to get people into their tech system. Massive X has a miserable browser, but it works better when using their hardware. I have no interest in their hardware and I want their plugins to work well and be up to date for any DAW or controller. I would never buy a DAW from them and I'm happy with the one I have.

Thats you, not everyone else. You speak for yourself, and thats ok. I am just highlighting what I think they should do as a company. Customers are going to use what they love, and not use what they dont like

[machinesworking]

Too many DAW's, well....All DAW's thus far have kind of crappy stock plugins or features that users have to use 3rd party stuff.

I would say without question that the only reason to use third party stuff with Reason or Logic is because you can. Both DAWs have at the start without a doubt great FX and instrument plugins as "stock". Live Suite and I'm sure a few others I'm missing also could be used without any suffering without third party plugins.

[funky lime]

i didn't say that, you quoted the wrong person somehow

[machinesworking]

i didn't say that, you quoted the wrong person somehow

Fixed, I have no idea how that happened?

[vertibration]

I just see an opportunity for all of these companies to do something more uniform. Focusrite has an opposite business model, in that all subsidiaries are independent and that works really well for them. Native Instruments really needs to think about whether they want to keep all the companies apart, or combine them somehow.

[rod_zero]

I think NI as a company and the current partnerships have a wonderful opportunity to do some amazing things. However, the single greatest thing these companies should do, is create an all in one work environment (DAW) that captures everyones technology concepts. Plugin Alliance integrated plugins, Izotopes technology, and Native Instruments sampling with Kontakt and Maschine integrated in the DAW. Each company can release expansions for the DAW, as so each company creates additional sources of revenue respective to their product lines. Creating a DAW helps to focus the direction each company presents, aligns their products, and helps to streamline users into working within an environment where they have access to everything. Too many DAW's, well....All DAW's thus far have kind of crappy stock plugins or features that users have to use 3rd party stuff. I think NI et al needs to focus, create a DAW, and forecast creating a useful environment for users.

NI won't make a DAW simply because its owners are not willing to invest capital into R&D, and the company has shown it is incompetent for the task, Maschine should have been the platform upon which build a DAW but it has been neglected for years. They have dilapidated the good will of Maschine users, so I doubt many people would be interested in a DAW by NI.

Speaking of crappy effects at this point NI has only one that stands out in the crowded sea of stuff: Replika XT, the rest are run of the mill, good but very average products that have much better alternative. So what exactly would NI provide in a DAW that is superior to others?

Izotope used to be stellar but the mixing/mastering suites have become bloated, they drop useful features each iteration and more CPU intense, they are kind of going backwards.

and PA...well they just spit emulation after emulation and not a lot of innovation or interesting stuff, it is like UAD but cheaper. But not as cheap as Waves.

[foosnark]

Speaking of crappy effects at this point NI has only one that stands out in the crowded sea of stuff: Replika XT, the rest are run of the mill, good but very average products that have much better alternative.

Honestly I am not thrilled by Replika, but Raum is quite good. in fact Raum and Supercharger GT are almost the only NI products I use anymore.

(I say almost, because I doubled a synth patch with Una Corda yesterday... but it was the first time I used it in years and I plan to uninstall it this evening anyhow I end up using Kontakt only a couple of times a year really, and I don't need any of those big libraries.)

[gentleclockdivider]

LOt's of top notch effects by N.I. ( some coded by third parties)
Phasis , crunch pack , vintage compressors (softube ) ,Raum ( awesome ) ., massive passive clone ( softubepremium tube series ) etc ...
Get guitar rig and you've got a TOP notch effects rack ,
I think some people just don't really know the difference between a good vs mediocre sounding effect .

[martiu]

I think some people just don't really know the difference between a good vs mediocre sounding effect .

because for some lo fi good, so if the effect sound mediocre or bad for them is good, and if it sound good is bad, so bad that may be good for someone else :DDD

[aMUSEd]

Replika XT is just awesome, one of my favourite 'delays' (delay doesn't really do it justice - it can do so much)

Also Molekular is one of the best NI effects (plus all sorts of awesome fx in the Reaktor user library particularly Dark Star)

[foosnark]

They should never have killed off Spektral Delay.

[Daru925]

Replika XT is just awesome, one of my favourite 'delays' (delay doesn't really do it justice - it can do so much)

Also Molekular is one of the best NI effects (plus all sorts of awesome fx in the Reaktor user library particularly Dark Star)

Oh yeah molekular, so much fun.

[cfree]

I am just surprised that everyone is hung up on NI and 20+ old tech no matter how they dress it. We should be looking at new technologies like Soundpaint and the next-generation engine that they have created. We are in this today and the future with AI and ways to make creating more accessible, not more complex or challenging. I'm tired of workarounds and conforming to old tech limitations. Soundpaint affords us the freedom to create and just play again. If you still need to check it out, you should- the engine is free.

[funky lime]

I am just surprised that everyone is hung up on NI and 20+ old tech no matter how they dress it. We should be looking at new technologies like Soundpaint and the next-generation engine that they have created. We are in this today and the future with AI and ways to make creating more accessible, not more complex or challenging. I'm tired of workarounds and conforming to old tech limitations. Soundpaint affords us the freedom to create and just play again. If you still need to check it out, you should- the engine is free.

my experience with soundpaint is basically just an 8dio rompler with added latency and patches 4x the size of their kontakt equivalents. sure, it is more "playful," (though the whole morphing and velocity things are rather gimmicky to me) and i think that makes it its own thing. not a replacement for kontakt at all, and not really attempting to be one either. after all, 8dio is still making and selling kontakt libraries, and have indicated that they plan on continuing to do so while also developing soundpaint.
of course, there are also unrelated reasons why one might avoid giving those folks money

as for 20+ year-old tech, i mean ... MIDI is 40, and it's still pretty cool. i'm not a huge nerd but in my opinion, i've often found the limitations of midi to be more "academic" in nature. maybe the MPE nerds can chime in about how wrong i am maybe that stuff is just beyond me, and i'm too trad or whatever. and i feel the same about (the level of technology behind a product like) kontakt, from the end user side anyway—it's more than enough for lifetimes of music making. that tech (sampling as we've known it) will probably always have a place close to the heart of my studio, anyway, in addition to whatever fancy new thing might happen to appeal