Any musicians out there who own/have used/have any beta on this company's products?
They're expensive - but everything I've seen online is leading me to think they are worth it.
I mean... So yeah. If you love actual analoggy things, DSI has a long and illustrious heritage. They do that one thing and they do it really well. Me? I ain't got time for that shit. I still have a K2500XS but I use the onboard engine never. Host power for plugins has been so brutally good for so long that there's effectively zero point, from my perspective, to bother with the archetypal ADSR VCO VCA tweakfest because if you want to do something sexy with it, you have to do it in real time all the time. Sure - knobs are hella fun to play with but I've had controllers with knobs all over them for ten years now. Let's say you wanted an OB-6. For one thing, it's 3 grand MSRP. For another thing, it's 6-voice polyphony which means if you try to actually stack some shit, you'll find yourself in voice-stealing territory in about a chord or two. And yes, those knobs sure are fun to play but for 3 grand you could get an 88 key Kontrol, Komplete 10 Ultimate and Arturia VCollection 4 with another 500 or so left over for, oh, I dunno, Symphobia all of which will speak NKS and light up your magic knobs. So that's this and this and this and this Or... This. I've played a Prophet 5. I've played Steve Miller's Prophet 5. Yeah, it's phat. But for what you can get in software these days there's zero reason, in my opinion, to own hardware other than pure unadulterated fetishism. oscillators are nice and all but you can't do shit like this:
hmm ok. I have not yet poured through the depth of your post (links)... but I am also actively removing myself from the DAWs and their companions.....despite the market for them being incredible now, I personally am rooted big time in tactile controls and free improvisation on keyboards... think Keith Jarrett (the Köln Concert album is one of my all-time favorite albums). I am definitely big into the analog sound...especially in a live-jam style format. I do have Ableton Live 9 Ultimate + the Push.... but it's been collecting dust... I just never felt too connected with the style of play from the computer, even after a commitment to learning the program with a dedicated instructor. I never came close to reaching the sense of freedom - and flow - from the DAW as I have on a plain old piano. I wish I had bought the Maschine instead at the time... Plenty of acts who I enjoy are using DAWS in their sets/performances - but my juices flow better from the fruit of older roots.
I'm not talking about computers. I'm talking about a dedicated controller interface that speaks to three different manufacturers' software synths. I've had knobs all day and I've never been as creative as when I had Kore. NKS is basically Kore reborn and open-standard.
ok I got it. My vast upbringing around an acoustic piano is rooted in where I get all my creative juices going. I think i'm in love with actual analogy things. I wouldn't say I'm illiterate with computers - but pretty much. =/ That looks worth the jump to digital, though.