#Native instruments komplete kontrol a49 full

That’s a hundred-odd quid for a keyboard and a whole bunch of instruments, all ready to go and talk to one another. To test this, on the A-Series you also get a hefty software library thrown in with Monark, The Gentleman, Reaktor Prism, Scarbee Mark I, and more. I’m okay with the bulk of these cuts, as long as the NKS integration – how the hardware sets up with whatever software you control – is as slick as that on the S-Series. The screen is much smaller on the A-series (plus the S-Series now has two) and you lose the touch strips, a pedal input and the keyboard now has a ’custom NI keybed’. And, yes, they look bloody lovely too, so I shall miss them. These are the lit-up keys that help a lot when it comes to the scaling options that KK offers, and give you an indication of where all the different samples, keys and articulation sets are on a typical Kontakt-based instrument. The first and perhaps biggest difference is you don’t get the Light Guides.

#Native instruments komplete kontrol a49 full

NI has listened and the A49 on test here is streeting at £149 – a full £300-odd less! The A25 price is half its old siblings at £109, while the largest A61 is just £189, £400 less than the S61.

I’ve since looked at the Akai Advance series which did its own successful take on giving you less computer-screen time and, more recently, Novation’s SL MkIII – another type of controller entirely and one that breaks down control barriers with both hardware and software.Ĭan NI keep up then? The A range is a cut-down version of the S-Series which has been criticised for its pricing – indeed, Googling the current S49 shows it to be around £469.

However, four years is a long time in the world of control – an area that’s been hotting up. With excellent screens and controls, the S-Series almost seems to suck the software from your computer and place it in the hardware, making you turn less towards your computer screen and more to what you’re actually playing you’re less technician, more musician.