Weighing up the options, it seems to me that the S88 MkII is near on the perfect controller if you’re seeking a piano-like experience above all else. Playing Hammond organ slides or technical lead lines feels a bit wrong, for no other reason than it’s designed to work best for piano.
Of course, while the action is fantastic for piano instruments, it’s not the best for others. In fact, through headphones or nice monitors, the combination didn’t fall much short of delivering all the tactile nuances of playing a real piano. The degree of responsiveness and delicacy in each key strike makes up for the relatively short travel and the resistance of each key is very natural. The sensation is entirely different when you’re hearing what your fingers are doing. Key travel is noticeably shallow and the action is firm but smooth.įiring up The Gentleman in Komplete Kontrol (a delightful Native Instruments upright piano) I had my first proper bash at the S88 MkII. It certainly feels ‘posh’ with a soft, weighty and refined touch. The primary point of difference on the S88 MkII is the weighted Fatar keybed which promises an improvement over the S88 MkI. Deep DAW control is available for Maschine, Logic ProX, Ableton Live, GarageBand and more. You’ll see from our review of the S49 MkII in Issue 125 that the S Series boards are a dream to use thanks to the blazingly fast workflow and those beautiful colour screens. Like its smaller unweighted synth action siblings, the S88 MkII is a purpose-built dashboard for driving NKS-compatible instruments via the Komplete Kontrol platform. It’s NI’s answer to many a musician’s demand for a full-sized hammer-action keyboard controller that plays like a grown-up piano. For anyone who’s invested in the Native Instruments ecosystem, the king of keyboards is undoubtedly the new S88 MkII.
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