Native Instruments S-Series Komplete Kontrol S88 MK3 Keyboard Controller

Short Version: If you are looking to buy a bass deck, and you live in a lot of the Native Insturments’ world of virtual synths, this is a no brainer and dare I say, better than the M32Long Version:I bought the “Analog Dreams” synth pack from Native Instruments at the start of Quarantine, and was VERY impressed with the sounds and overall 80’s vibe. VERY impressed. But, my main controller is an Arturia. Nothing against them, but the mapping always had to be done manually, and using the stand alone control software for live playing just didn’t work. Since I was mainly looking for a bass deck, I did my research and it was down to the A25 or M32. Everyone raved about the M32, but I didn’t hear much about the A25. So, after some deliberation, I bought one.First impression- This is not a small controller when it comes to 3-octave decks. The matte plastic finish and full sized keyboard were flat out impressive feeling. The discrete label controls also made it look VERY German, and very cool. The keys are a full size “Semi Synth Weighted” affair, and feel fantastic! I have fat stubby hands and I am no concert pianist, so the large layout felt natural. It is also quite a bit taller than your average 25 key deck, but since I don’t intend to try to write anything on a plane, I didn’t care about how portable it was. In fact, the large footprint is a plus as it fit well into a spare mixer stand I had.DAW and plugin integration- While this is a very smooth controller to play, it really is best when paired with Native Instruments software and plugins. The controls are mapped out simply and well, and when running the Kontrol environment app, there is ZERO issue! Although, I found out when installing this on a Mac, make sure you disable all other MIDI devices first. I had my Arturia Keylab 49 and my mixer’s DAW controls active, and the controller wasn’t able to be read properly. So, I had to uninstall and reinstall the Kontrol app and then things worked fine. Once you do that, it works like a charm. Jumps right into ProTools and Ableton without fuss. Even tried it in Reaper (My preferred editing DAW), which is famous for working with ANYTHING, but usually you have to do some routing and mapping no matter what. All I had to do was to decide which MIDI channels to use for the I/O in Reaper, and once again, it worked like a treat!Performance- The semi weighted keys are placed naturally for any piano player, and nothing on the keyboard feels cramped. This controller also rocks the pitch and mod wheels to the left that are a decent size and don’t feel overtly plastic. All together, this just *feels* premium. It really shines as a bass synth, with everything within reach of a single left hand. The only issue is that the LED display is quite tiny, and you find yourself squinting to see what info is on it. But, given. How it performs and at the price, I can overlook that as my attention should be on the laptop if I am tweaking the settings.Speaking of price, it is more expensive than other 25-key controllers, but you are really getting your money’s worth. This is especially true with the free software that comes with it. I have paid for plugins and synths that sounded and performed worse.If you have a home studio that doesn’t need moved around constantly, this is a VERY wise companion to you main controller. As an audio engineer and a musician, I am of the mind you really only need 3 main MIDI components: A large format keyboard, a small format keyboard and a drum pad/sequencer. This is exactly the kind of 25 key that you need for that kind of setup, and would be almost perfect with their Machine pad controller for producers who are looking for a clean, integrated beat production setup. For a keyboardist like myself, this sits above my Arturia and is the best bass key controller so I can double up on multiple tracks.

Haven't written reviews prior, but due to there being so few on this keyboard, and with how great it's been so far, I thought why not?First on firmware (as people have complained about it):The keyboard shipped with old firmware (~0.2.1) which, in contrast to what it updated to, seems to have been a problem causer. In my specific situation, there was nothing wrong. With that said, I did have the native access software installed before plugging the keyboard board in, and had no problem updating the firmware.I am running Windows 11 as an OS on an X86 architecture (Intel CPU).I plugged the keyboard in via a USB-C connection on my motherboard (ROG MAXIMUS Z790 DARK HERO).I Opened Native Access and proceeded to type in the registration serial from the keyboards LCD screen.Once unlocked I was prompted to update the firmware- which I did.After which I was able to load it into FL21 and Ableton.The keyboard has been amazing, it plays well with Ableton, FL Studio 21, As well as browser MIDI apis (In that order from most to least features).Within FL Studio 21 and Ableton, I set up the MIDI with the configuration shown in the attached screenshots.I was also able to test and parse MIDI information via Javascript (MIDI APIS in Browser), and I can confirm this keyboard sends nearly all relevant data.I have not tested returning MIDI information to the keyboard via the browser API, however, given how it integrates with Ableton and FL21, I'd imagine it is totally doable.With the tech testing/programmatic features aside, everything else on the physical keyboard seems great.In terms of feel- the keys are split into two zones, the initial trigger zone which is springy (in a good way).And a firm secondary zone which is extremely useful for creating controlled oscillation (by default it's mapped to the note velocity, but this value is configurable- and mappable at the very least in most software).Meaning you could emulate vibrato, (sidechain ratio, etc...) or other dynamic attributes of sound within your DAW.The buttons are all "clicky", which to me is satisfying considering it validates that the state has changed (click on, click off).The Mod wheel, as well as the 8 CC nobs, (potentiometer / variable resisters directly below the LCD screen), are consistently firm, which is absolutely great for detailed control. However, you're going to have a harder time (not impossible) with quick oscillation... you'd likely want to do that in the DAW regardless considering the nature of physical items being prone to wear and tear, especially at high rates of movement.The Pitch Bend is firm as well as springy, it returns to its default state when released in a fairly linear fashion.The touch capacitive slider (above the pitch bend and mod wheel), retains its state when released, and indicates said state with LEDs.The Selection wheel is an infinite stepper (while turning you get a click for each step, validating how many units you've scrolled). It is fairly firm and also doubles as a button (the button is as of writing this used to indicate you wish to select/load the selection derived from your stepped scrolling).The 8 CC Nobs are all touch capacitive, however from my experience, the state of the touch capacitors (touched, not touched) is not piped via midi, the values however (while the nobs are being turned) are.While on the topic, the controls that aren't piped directly through MIDI (some of which appear to be piped to a DAW in other ways), (firmware updates might be able to add them later, this is just as of writing):- Fixed Velocity Button- Octave/Semitone Down Button- Octave/Semitone Up Button- Metro Tempo Button- Auto Button- Shift Button- Undo Button- Quantize Button- Play Assist Button- Settings MIDI Button- Left Arrow Button- Right Arrow Button- Previous Button- Next Button- Browser Button- Plug-In Button- DAW Button- Pressed State of Selection Wheel- Keys past 127With all this being said, the quality of the LCD is great, I have an image attached of a wide angle and close-up of the display.The LEDs are all multi-color and can achieve a decent brightness (color values/brightness are all configurable right from the keyboard).The onboard software also comes with some MIDI candy.Guided scales (the guided scales have a ton of possible configuration... super fun to check out), and an arpeggiator (also with quite a bit of fun config).All in all, the keyboard has been great so far, obviously niche preferences and use case or going to drive whether or not someone would enjoy it. But for music production, sound design, and basic DAW processes, this keyboard is awesome.Hope the review helps!