WK Audio closed?

We are a US distributor and cannot speak for Steinberg Germany. I recommend you email the support team in Germany at info@steinberg.de and they will be be able to assist you with your inquiry.

I was at the Nuage demo in Cologne/Germany yesterday.
Of course there was also some talk about the WK ID before and after the presentation. This is what I understood from the conversation:

  • Wergin and Korfhage (WK) have indeed terminated the business.
  • There has been no official word on further support for the units.
  • The ID integration into Nuendo is very likely not to be expanded beyond current functionality, on the other hand there seem to be no plans from Steinberg’s side to drop support.
  • It was said that the WK Audio driver software was not actually coded by WK Audio.
  • There is currently a way to “trade-in” your ID if you decide to buy a Nuage System. The amount of deduction will vary with the different WK products. (Up to 3.5k Euros) At the moment this seems to be a limited offer until the end of July.

The Nuage System is way more sophisticated than the ID, integration goes far beyond what can be done with the WK controllers.

Ollie

Hi
I have now been in email contact with Matthias and spare parts are available.
Oliver, can Nuage integrate with other DAWs?
For me the biggest problem with the ID in my mix theatre, is I cannot hire it out to mixers that are on other DAWs ,PT for example.
I might have to look at Euphonix or some other controller down the line.

Can control ProTools through HUI.
Unfortunately no Eucon, AVID doesn’t license it to third parties.

Fredo

Thanks Fredo,

That’s better than nothing I suppose.

Hello,

yes, WK Audio was closed on Jan 1 2014. We do not have an access to WK Audio technology, which means that we’re not able to further develop firmware updates for WK Audio consoles reflecting NEW Nuendo functionalities.

We also deeply regret the decision of WK Audio to stop operation after more than 10 years. The consoles of M.Korfhage have been among the most solid DAW controllers ever build.

Thanks,
Timo

This is the reason NOT to buy expensive hardware “tied” to a piece of software. Either the hardware goes out of business, or the software change in a much to big way (going from nr.1 DAW til way down the list - C7/N6) and you are stuck with a piece of HW that are working reduced in other DAW’s.
Either way, one of the two can render the other “useless”.

If I ever got the money to by a Nuage system, I would buy a nice mixer (not tied to any software) instead.
I may be a bit negative, but I have seen more than one piece of hardware been left behind in the software land. But an old SSL desk…still works.

I’m afraid you don’t know what you are talking about …
(Don’t take this personally, it’s not meant as an insult)


An old big console like an SSL burns the gross National Product of Nairobi in Electricity. Each month.
It needs an airco to cool the power supplies.
It needs regular (read: monthly - if you are lucky)) maintenance by a skilled and experienced engineer.
You need external Patchbays, miles of expensive multi cable, weeks of wiring, cables, connectors, worth much more than the price od a Nuage system.
if you want, I can go on for a while with things like retail value and so …

Am I glad that I don’t have to deal with that anymore.

Fredo



  1. You are both right. I watched an 80 grand investment molder when Sonic Solutions decided that our 3 systems were too old to support.
  2. Fredo, don’t forget the airco repairs, that is if the criminals don’t steal your A/C systems (over and over).
  3. there are fewer qualified techs out there. I live in a major city and all the good technicians have quit because the DAW generation killed their business.
  4. I am HARD PRESSED to find parts for my old analog console and my many machines (24trk, 4trk, PCM-800s, Dats). Large Filter caps have all but disappeared. I had to trash a top quality amp because it was cheaper to buy a new one than to buy the filter caps for the power supply.)
  5. I have seen our investment in our Euphonix System-5 become difficult to repair because they have designed new processing cores, and frames with different faders, power supplies, and they don’t even have the parts anymore.

But what about the software end.
We had a PC loose the Mother board.
We had to build a new one.
Had to change from Win-XP to Win-7
Because of this we had to upgrade Nuendo, Wavelab, Waves plugins, $$$$$$$$$, and still not done having to upgrade to get everything to work.

Now I can’t afford to upgrade my other system, so I get the joy of having to get files created in N6,
to load in N3, you can’t cut and paste, you can only use “track archive-with media” or AAF-with media import/export. Pain, Pain, Pain !!!

Both sides of this issue are valid. There is no good answer. The Technology world is destined to kick your backside. The only thing you get to decide is, how bad, and in what way do you want to be kicked.

Later,
Brain

Don’t act stupid. You know what I ment.

It is not all that daft what iBM said…

Quality hardware outlives any software or software-bound hardware, easily.
My oldest is from 1958… And it would work, if I pulled it out the shelf.
My new-timer Nuendo DD Encoder …NOT!
(btw, the DTS Encoder is a free download, now, at http://steinberg-dts-encoder.software.informer.com/1.0/ …was a 1.000$ ??)

Analog consoles need maintenance, but when you switch them on they usually do work.
No driver probs, no samplerate, plugin or clocking issues, hardly any updates or upgrades, HD-crashes, PC upgrades and graphic card insanities, but a lovely, most reliable way to work when doing music.
Why is me working with DAW? Because, for obvious reasons, I must … It seems to be the way of things.
Why Steinberg? SB is still the least problematic software gadget for post ( not necessarily for music, though).

I have worked with WK ID only a few times. It did a good job. It is pitty that WK went down.

Big K

Off-topic reply: The “free!” DTS-Download is fraud, as it seems.

Hello Dietz
:slight_smile:

Ok, thanks! … Better that way. I have not tried it out, since …for what?
I have my legit copy sitting on the shelf alongside the other useless-grown products.

Servus, Rainer

Only on a Mac though - not PC.

Interesting about the trade-in deal - this was not mentioned to me at all (I have an ID Console) when I was looking to buy a Nuage, although I have to admit I have now cancelled my order as for me, the ID is more suitable.
This is not the place to go into details though - and I seriously hope that the ID gets continued support for parts.
Anyone got a fader pack they want to sell me???

Next Nuage software update supports PT on PC.

Fredo

That’s good news.

And the SSL were only used as an example of something that works “forever” independent of whatever happens (unless the world explodes :wink: )

How many/much software dependent hardware (or hardware dependent software) audio gear have been abandoned, discontinued or otherwise left behind throughout the history?
Plenty (Steinberg among the worst hardware wise).

From an economical point of view, it is perfectly fine to think ahead. And act sensible. Isn’t it?

And please don’t worry about my electrical bill :wink:

As I pointed out, and as Brian pointed out; these things are not serviced anymore, and spare parts are no longer available.

How many/much software dependent hardware (or hardware dependent software) audio gear have been abandoned, discontinued or otherwise left behind throughout the history?
Plenty (Steinberg among the worst hardware wise).

You are correct up to a certain point only.
Software evolves. And needs to evolve in pace with the OS’s and the hardware. So you know that after a matter of time you will need to upgrade, or that the application will simply stop working. Granted, there are examples, like the DTS encoder, which were abondoned, for reasons which make perfect sense to the company that developped them (the fee asked by DTS was so enormous that it simply couldn’t be kept alive) but makes no sense to the user.
The point that while the user expects software to become outdated, he/she has the idea that the hardware will be around forever, it simply isn’t.

I own a bunch of great vintage gear, like an 8-rack of Neve 1772’s, a tube U47 and much more.
The matter of fact is that it costs me handsfull of money to keep them working, and I know fore sure that at some point, no spare parts will be available anymore, and my equipment will simply drop from a value of $5000 to a couple of nickles and dimes for spare parts.

It’s all a matter of perspective …

Fredo

Yes it is. How easy or hard you wanna make it :wink:

I have to disagree, SONY is the worst at developing a great hardware product, flooding the market with these items and then abandoning the products and their customers.
PCM-800s, Dash recorders, Digital consoles, Video machines and editors…

by the way, I am forever looking for a studer A-810 to cannibalize for spare parts to keep my 3 other machines running. I had a guy call me every name in the book for wanting to dismantle a perfectly good machine in order to keep other machines happy, but when the OEM wants to charge $2000 for a regulator board because there are almost none left, and the whole machine originally cost $2500, buying a used machine for $2000 that can be used to keep 3 going for the next 20 years !!!

This is what owning vintage gear means.

While I seem to be defending software over hardware, that is not the case.

My stance is… you are going to get screwed EITHER way. You are going to PAY either way.
With software you are always updating, fixing, waiting for bug fixes, watching the bug fixes break something else, watching your original $5000 investment in software become obsolete overnight.

and as for dedicated hardware for software, by the time you have upgraded your software to the point the hardware can no longer work, the unit will most likely need service with parts you can no longer get.

Both sides hurt.
It is up to each of us to decide which path to PAIN we wish to endure.

Later,
Brain