In order for third-party VST instruments to take full advantage of the KK paradigm, they must be NKS compatible the growing number of developers adopting this standard is indicative of how thoroughly NI have infiltrated the market and mindset of musicians and developers the world over. The innovative lightguide - LEDs embedded above each key - provide colour-coded information on playable key ranges, scales and keyswitch positions. Whilst control of virtual instruments from hardware knobs and buttons isn't new per se, the KK hardware/software combination takes this much further, providing visual feedback of key parameters on the keyboard itself and using eight rotary encoders for hands-on control of those parameters.

The NKS (Native Kontrol Standard) protocol is at the core of the Komplete Kontrol concept, whereby the keyboards communicate bi-directionally with instruments via NI's Komplete Kontrol (henceforth KK) software application. Native Instruments' Komplete Kontrol series of keyboard controllers has been around for nearly five years now, having proven very popular - notably amongst studio musicians who work with NI's Komplete series of virtual instruments. The S88 MkII offers a high-quality weighted keyboard and even tighter computer integration.

Native instruments 61 keyboard