Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol S61 MK3 Keyboard Controller (29852)

This is the Midi Keyboard that every music enthusiast or professional must have. All In One Performer. And EXCELLENT QUALITY overall. Minimalist and not complicated to use. Price is also reasonable compared to what you can get from a 3X priced (expensive paper weight and looks like a monster). Remember, it’s the Artist and not the Brush that makes The Art. Instead of getting the 88 keys, I partnered it with a Roli Seaboard Block and placed on the right side top part of Kontrol that made them looks made for each other complimentary = Simplicity is Beauty.

Haven’t written reviews prior, but due to there being so few on this keyboard, and with how great it’s been so far, I thought why not?

First on firmware (as people have complained about it):
The keyboard shipped with old firmware (~0.2.1) which, in contrast to what it updated to, seems to have been a problem causer. In my specific situation, there was nothing wrong. With that said, I did have the native access software installed before plugging the keyboard board in, and had no problem updating the firmware.

I am running Windows 11 as an OS on an X86 architecture (Intel CPU).
I plugged the keyboard in via a USB-C connection on my motherboard (ROG MAXIMUS Z790 DARK HERO).
I Opened Native Access and proceeded to type in the registration serial from the keyboards LCD screen.
Once unlocked I was prompted to update the firmware- which I did.
After which I was able to load it into FL21 and Ableton.

The keyboard has been amazing, it plays well with Ableton, FL Studio 21, As well as browser MIDI apis (In that order from most to least features).
Within FL Studio 21 and Ableton, I set up the MIDI with the configuration shown in the attached screenshots.

I was also able to test and parse MIDI information via Javascript (MIDI APIS in Browser), and I can confirm this keyboard sends nearly all relevant data.
I have not tested returning MIDI information to the keyboard via the browser API, however, given how it integrates with Ableton and FL21, I’d imagine it is totally doable.

With the tech testing/programmatic features aside, everything else on the physical keyboard seems great.

In terms of feel- the keys are split into two zones, the initial trigger zone which is springy (in a good way).
And a firm secondary zone which is extremely useful for creating controlled oscillation (by default it’s mapped to the note velocity, but this value is configurable- and mappable at the very least in most software).
Meaning you could emulate vibrato, (sidechain ratio, etc…) or other dynamic attributes of sound within your DAW.
The buttons are all “clicky”, which to me is satisfying considering it validates that the state has changed (click on, click off).
The Mod wheel, as well as the 8 CC nobs, (potentiometer / variable resisters directly below the LCD screen), are consistently firm, which is absolutely great for detailed control. However, you’re going to have a harder time (not impossible) with quick oscillation… you’d likely want to do that in the DAW regardless considering the nature of physical items being prone to wear and tear, especially at high rates of movement.

The Pitch Bend is firm as well as springy, it returns to its default state when released in a fairly linear fashion.

The touch capacitive slider (above the pitch bend and mod wheel), retains its state when released, and indicates said state with LEDs.

The Selection wheel is an infinite stepper (while turning you get a click for each step, validating how many units you’ve scrolled). It is fairly firm and also doubles as a button (the button is as of writing this used to indicate you wish to select/load the selection derived from your stepped scrolling).

The 8 CC Nobs are all touch capacitive, however from my experience, the state of the touch capacitors (touched, not touched) is not piped via midi, the values however (while the nobs are being turned) are.

While on the topic, the controls that aren’t piped directly through MIDI (some of which appear to be piped to a DAW in other ways), (firmware updates might be able to add them later, this is just as of writing):
– Fixed Velocity Button
– Octave/Semitone Down Button
– Octave/Semitone Up Button
– Metro Tempo Button
– Auto Button
– Shift Button
– Undo Button
– Quantize Button
– Play Assist Button
– Settings MIDI Button
– Left Arrow Button
– Right Arrow Button
– Previous Button
– Next Button
– Browser Button
– Plug-In Button
– DAW Button
– Pressed State of Selection Wheel
– Keys past 127

With all this being said, the quality of the LCD is great, I have an image attached of a wide angle and close-up of the display.

The LEDs are all multi-color and can achieve a decent brightness (color values/brightness are all configurable right from the keyboard).

The onboard software also comes with some MIDI candy.
Guided scales (the guided scales have a ton of possible configuration… super fun to check out), and an arpeggiator (also with quite a bit of fun config).

All in all, the keyboard has been great so far, obviously niche preferences and use case or going to drive whether or not someone would enjoy it. But for music production, sound design, and basic DAW processes, this keyboard is awesome.

Hope the review helps!

Amazing item

Order this keyboard on the 13th, it didn’t arrive until the 18th at 9pm, also they never updated the shipping dates with the carrier, I didn’t know when it was coming and I still can’t make a complaint to amazon about it, because it’s still saying your package is running late when it’s already been delivered days later amazon is becoming trash. Oh yeah the keyboard is perfect and definitely worth every penny.

Let me say that I have seen others say they had issues. When I tried to update the firmware it gave me an issue until I plugged in both the power and the USB-C type cable. After that it’s been smooth sailing. This keyboard taught me to play all scales in less than 2 weeks. It beats most of the keyboards I’ve seen in recent releases. I even purchased that MPC Key 37 from Akai and I wasn’t impressed. This keyboard has a dedicated software that gives you fast access to all of your NI instruments. Really a great keyboard.