It's very cool, and, though not *entirely* necessary, does make things easier and more seamless

Two downsides: semi-transpose feature is only available when using the Komplete Kontrol software, which has a steep learning curve; and the light bar feature, as useful as it is, does not have "fun" capabilities, like when pressing a key, the colors shift outwards in a rainbow patterns...this would be cool, but is not available.

i noticed on NIs website that the keyboard does not work well with Pro tools, most of the functionality is stripped

NI will continue to improve the functionality of the KK software and this controller will only become more useful as time goes on

That sucks, so no biggie, i just go back to FL and find out the functionality of it is not nearly as good as it is on maschine software (yes there are torrents for it)

Mostly because the company won't adequately document the functionality their product has, or support their own product.

For a fraction of the cost, you can buy yourself any other midi controller and just route the knobs yourself and get all of the amazing functionality this keyboard "offers

The touch strips are actually a great design for pitch and mod, very useable

Pros- Perfect for those that can’t play piano-Bundled with TONS of instruments-Solid Build Quality-Innovative Design-Easily integrated with other NI hardware and softwareCons-TERRIBLE Customer service response

Pros- Perfect for those that can’t play piano-Bundled with TONS of instruments-Solid Build Quality-Innovative Design-Easily integrated with other NI hardware and softwareCons-TERRIBLE Customer service response

Solid build, great key bed, and as many rotary encoders as you want to create

If you purchase this controller for any other reason than for a basic midi controller YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED.I don't want to bash this product, it's really a great build, look, and feel

The knobs have a great feel to them, and they have haptic functionality, which means that when you lightly touch a knob, it shows the current settings

I have to say that the feel on this keyboard is amazing!

It has a fantastic feel (it uses a Fatar keybed, a very high quality component)

I'd rate this 4.5 out of 5 stars only because the integration with Ableton Live doesn't allow me to fully leverage the unique integration that is possible with Native Instruments' Maschine or Komplete software

This one is the best combination by far, and the integration is very good

It's seamless integration.

There are other controller keyboards out there that have more knobs, pads, and sliders, but what is unique to this instrument is the ability to flawlessly integrate with the software by color-coding and by context-sensitive knob labeling

Touch-sensitive knobs with display of what they control right beneath make messing around with synth parameters quick and easy

The knobs and faders are all responsive and this is just a great product overall

The knobs feel smooth, unlike those on some other keyboards, which felt either too loose or too stiff (although that's personal preference)

Others turned with no resistance, felt cheap and broken Very poor quality 'Kontrol' on this product

The build quality is excellent and I have not experienced any basic functionality incompatibilities with other synth modules

2 of them felt high quality, smooth when turned, nice resistance

Pros- Perfect for those that can’t play piano-Bundled with TONS of instruments-Solid Build Quality-Innovative Design-Easily integrated with other NI hardware and softwareCons-TERRIBLE Customer service response

, I think it's great quality and has some unique and useful features

I sent an email to tech support at Native Instruments about it and Benjamin at NI told me to send a video of the problem

I was very excited for the concept and design but total lack of tech support will tank this company

NI tech support is probably the worst i have encountered in all the audio software i have seen.

NI tech support is probably the worst i have encountered in all the audio software i have seen.

Tech support took 2 weeks to answer my first ticket thean another week then responded with sending me to a support forum unrelated to my issue.

Obviously if you aren't running Kontakt there are cheaper controllers that will do the same.

The S88 is a great keyboard controller, however do yourself a favor and just buy from the manufacturer (native instruments or Sweetwater) or any other 3rd party site

Best midi keyboard controller on the market in this price range

None of the buttons and knobs worked basically paid for an overpriced MIDI controller with none of the features that make this keyboard special actually working

With the KK software, I can control Komplete sufficiently well from an inexpensive controller, and because the control on the keyboard is relatively limited, it is not really that much more tedious to use the mouse to tweak settings.

(8tb)Ableton Live 7 , 9/64I've never had so many problems installing any software as your products

The knobs and faders are all responsive and this is just a great product overall

The box came opened and it looked like somebody was already tring this product

Seriously Native Instruments, I want to know how many developers screamed at the execs and telling them that this product was not ready and they went with it anyway

If you purchase this controller for any other reason than for a basic midi controller YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED.I don't want to bash this product, it's really a great build, look, and feel

Pros- Perfect for those that can’t play piano-Bundled with TONS of instruments-Solid Build Quality-Innovative Design-Easily integrated with other NI hardware and softwareCons-TERRIBLE Customer service response

I think my only complaint when browsing and loading instruments is that you have to switch between the rotary knob and the arrow keys to navigate multiple times to load a single instrument

You need to make sure to install the Kontakt player as well as the Reactor player in order to get all of the free instruments to work -- this is far from obvious to those new to the platform, and you can find yourself with weird "unable to load plugin" messages just because they don't take care to manage interdependencies

Take a complex instrument like Absynth

Mark any instrument preset as a favorite in the KOMPLETE KONTROL software or directly on a KOMPLETE KONTROL S-Series keyboard