Once I had the KKS Mk2 set up (more on that below), those displays immediately came to life, and revealed that they’re there for a much bigger reason than just looking good (although they succeed in that, too). Along with the displays are considerably more controls than were present on the earlier versions. Perhaps the biggest immediate difference between the Mk2 and the Mk1 consists of a pair a small color LCD displays right on the top of the unit. However, the new Mk2 offering is currently available only for the 49- and 61-key models the 25- and 88-key versions remain at the now so-called Mk1 iteration.įor this review, I’m looking primarily at the brand new 49-key KKS Mk2 keyboard, while commenting as well on the older 88-key KKS Mk1 model for comparison.įirst Impressions: After viewing the promo videos Native Instruments had already released, I was pretty excited when I started unboxing the KKS Mk2.

While the KKS keyboards, spanning 25-, 49-, 61- and 88-key models, has been out for a few years now, Native recently introduced the next iteration of the KKS hardware, dubbed “Mk2,” consistent with Native’s usual hardware naming practices. Is the whole better than the sum of the parts, however? Absolutely. Can you use one without the other? Absolutely. More on all that later.Ĭreating this two-sided ecosystem for music making has a number of clear advantages no other MIDI keyboard can provide the broad, deep, functional integration with the software - and the software is considerably easier to use with the matching hardware in place.

But software is only one part of Native’s Komplete offering the Komplete Kontrol S-Series keyboards are the hardware side of the equation.ĭesigned to dovetail perfectly with any edition of the Komplete library, the Komplete Kontrol S-Series keyboards (which I’ll refer to as “KKS” for the remainder of this review) also provide support for third-party plug-ins compatible with NKS - the Native Kontrol Standard.

Not long ago, I reviewed Native Instruments’ Komplete 11, the Berlin-based company’s preeminent collection of software synths and effects.

Komplete ultimate 11 logic pro x