NI Komplete Kontrol S-series mk3 tons of problems + solution

[adn_01]

I have got this brand new, shiny komplete kontrol S49 - mk3. First it did not tend to update the firmware. Tried different ports, I got the message that i need... a powered hub. Direct connection to mac studio did not work! Changed port. No go. Changed machine. The third one was accepted and with external macbook pro power brick I was able to make the firmware update.

Then something weird started to happen.

When I launched Komplete Kontrol Software the screen did not update, keys were not active (function keys), browser did not function properly, screen froze, after changing presets on the software side I had to power cycle the Kontrol in order to update screen for new preset. After switching to DAW mode there was no way to switch back to preset or browser mode.

All this was fine with older mk2 S-series. Therefore I suspected this was caused by badly updated firmware on the mk3. I forced firmware update and there was not much difference.

Finally I realised, that the mk3 does not seem to work properly with some USB ports. The TB4/USB-C ones on my mac studio or mac pro do not seem to work fine. This is the first device that is so fussy. I connected it to a USB-C powered hub in one of my displays ad so far it seems to work fine. Still I am not sure whether it has anything to do with the power supplied or specifics of mac USB-C ports being coupled with TB4.

Hope this ends my battle with this product. I must say I am disappointed how it behaves and that there is no information on that huge screen that something might be wrong. Well, NI. Hope the poly touch works fine though...

[Roman Wisniak]

I've sent back my MK3. Poorly designed or/and unfinished product