Native Instruments Kontrol S61 MK3

The Native Instruments Kontrol S61 is a great keyboard. I wasn’t expecting anything extraordinary from the keybed itself (it’s decent and within the norm), but the real advantage lies in how it optimizes the creative workflow and improves convenience. The main highlight, of course, is its excellent integration with Native Instruments Kontakt 8 — it truly opens new creative possibilities and encourages me to use effects I probably wouldn’t touch without this keyboard. For example, it’s very easy to set up scenes and adjust mic levels in Spitfire Abbey Road Orchestra without even opening the player, and you can quickly make changes to plugins directly on the selected track. The integration with Logic Pro is excellent. These benefits clearly outweigh the average mechanics of the keybed. Hopefully, future models will also include a touchscreen. Thank you, Native Instruments.

The keyboard is well built and feels premium. I personally really like the single screen - I like the simplicity of it. The user flow of searching for what I need is intuitive and encourages me explore and experiment. The light guides are very useful, especially if you're learning, and when paired with some of the tools they make it a really great experience. The polyphonic after touch is implemented in some of the instruments I tried, and does feel like it adds some depth. The keyboard does not include a lot of other features you might see in other keyboards (like pads), but what it does offer is very solid and premium