Native Instruments KOMPLETE KONTROL S49 MK2 49-Key Controller, Semi Weighted Keybed with Aftertouch, Color Screens, Auto-Mapping with KOMPLETE 9/10/11/12, Eight Touch-Sensitive Knobs
Native Instruments
- The Native Instruments KOMPLETE KONTROL S49 MK2 builds upon the success of the original with an updated user interface featuring two high-resolution displays and more buttons for faster direct control over parameters. Other notable upgrades include a four-directional push encoder, eight touch-sensitive knobs, ergonomic pitch and mod controls, an assignable touch-sensitive smart strip, and dedicated MASCHINE controls with access to Scenes, Patterns, and Tracks. The keybed of the keyboard is made by Fatar and offers semi-weighted keys with aftertouch. Additionally, there are DAW transport controls for direct access to DAW transport functions for Logic Pro X, Ableton Live, GarageBand, Cubase, and Nuendo.
Warranty: 1 Year — effortless warranty claims with UK-wide coverage. Learn more
Details
- Shipping Weight
- 6.70 Kg
- Shipping Dimensions
- 15.50 cm x 89.00 cm x 35.51 cm
- Keyboard
- 49 Keys, Synth Action with Aftertouch
- MIDI Control Surfaces
- 8 x Rotary Encoder
- Performance Functions
- Transport Controls
- I/O
- 1 x USB Type-B1 x MIDI 5-Pin Input1 x MIDI 5-Pin Output2 x 1/4" TS Expression Pedal/Sustain Input
- OS Compatibility
- macOS*As of November, 2018: Check with manufacturer for the most up-to-date compatibility
4.310 reviews
Got something to share?
Rate this product — your experience helps other buyers.
Theo W. Used for: 3–6 months
Pros
Browsing sounds without a mouse is worth the money on its own
Comment
Bought it for the bundle, kept it for the keybed. Not the deepest set of controls on a board this size though
Daisy W. Used for: 3–6 months
Pros
The screens mean I stop staring at the laptop
Comment
Head down at the keys instead of the monitor, which is the whole point of it. Browsing presets by turning a knob has changed how I write more than any plugin I have bought this year!
Oscar K. Used for: 1–3 months
Comment
Bought this for the Komplete Select licence as much as for the keyboard, and that part has been worth it. The NKS browsing genuinely works: type a word, get a shortlist, load it without touching the mouse, and the two screens show you where you are. Where it falls down is anything outside that walled garden. My favourite reverb is not NKS, so the screens go blank and the knobs revert to a generic bank I have to map by hand. The Light Guide is lovely for scales and useless for everything else. I am still not convinced the keybed justifies the money either; it is semi-weighted and pleasant, but no more responsive under a heavy hand than boards at half the price.
Oscar P. Used for: Less than a month
Cons
Takes up more desk than the photos suggest
Comment
Measured the gap twice and still had to shift the interface onto a shelf to get 90cm of keyboard in. Plays beautifully though, and the Light Guide had me finding chord shapes on the second evening.
Jack N. Used for: More than a year
Pros
The keybed itself has held up
Cons
The software it depends on has moved on without it
Comment
Two years in, and the hardware is fine while the ecosystem around it has drifted. Newer Kontrol boards get things on their screens that never arrive here, and every major update means another evening of licence checks and downloads before anything will load. At this money I expected the integration to be the durable part and the keys to be the wear item. It has turned out the other way round, and I would think hard before buying into it again.
Oscar B. Used for: 1–3 months
Cons
Touch strips are more fun than useful
Comment
Set it up on a Sunday afternoon and had a track running by tea time, with nothing mapped by hand at all!
Ava P. Used for: 3–6 months
Pros
The bundle alone covers a good part of what you pay
Cons
Not going in a bag without a proper case
Comment
My studio is a spare bedroom, so 49 keys, a laptop and a screen share one desk with about a hand's width to spare. It fits, just, and once it is in place you stop thinking about the computer entirely. The knobs are the underrated part. Automating a filter sweep by hand used to give me stepped, obviously drawn lines; from these it comes out smooth enough to leave alone. The touch strips took longer to find a use for, though pitch bend on a pad sound has grown on me. Coming up on five months and the only thing I would change is the weight. Lovely on a desk, less fun carried down to the car.
Charlie P. Used for: 3–6 months
Pros
Light Guide turned scale practice into something I actually do
Cons
A laptop stand is an extra you will end up buying
Comment
Came to this from a 25-key mini controller and a mouse, and the difference is not the keys, it is that my hands stay on the instrument. Preset browsing, plugin parameters, transport, all under the fingers. I learnt piano as a child and the semi-weighted action was the thing I worried about. It is lighter than an acoustic and always will be, but it is even across the whole 49 and it does not bottom out with a knock. Playing something quiet at midnight is possible, which was never true of the board it replaced. Five months in and it has not needed a firmware fix or a reinstall once. The only money I have spent since is on a stand, because the laptop had nowhere sensible left to live!
Oscar S. Used for: 3–6 months
Cons
Third-party plugins fall back to a generic knob layout
Comment
The Fatar keybed is the reason to buy at this level: even under a heavy hand it stays consistent from the bottom octave to the top, and there is none of the clatter my old controller had. Four months in, the only real irritation is that anything outside the NKS list needs mapping by hand, which is a good 10 minutes per plugin.
Florence D. Used for: 3–6 months
Pros
Keybed is even from top to bottom
Cons
Needs the NI software running to be clever
Comment
Best keys I have played on anything with a USB socket
