Traktor kontrol s4 tutorials upgrade#
Traktor kontrol s4 tutorials full#

But for DJs preferring to rock ‘commando’ - manually beat matching and riding the pitch fader on music not recorded to a click - the absence of jog wheels on the S8 wasn’t welcome news. For those playing perfectly on-the-grid music genres, their absence may even be celebrated. Novation’s Twitch holds the crown as the first manufacturer brave enough to abandon any semblance of a jog wheel, substituting a touch-strip in its place. As I’m certain many casual Traktor users just leave their die-hard favourite FX loaded into slots one and two. Taking the guess-work out of parameter control is sure to inspire more risqué use of Traktor’s FX section. It now not only offers an intuitive means for selecting effects - press the FX Select button and the FX names are listed in the display to scroll through and select - but also displays the name of the parameter associated with the knob you’re currently touching. The FX control section has been reimagined to make use of the displays too. In fact, the overall GUI design for the S8 screens borrows a lot from Traktor DJ. The workflow will be familiar to those who’ve used the iOS version of Traktor, Traktor DJ. Now, with the S8’s dedicated Preparation mode for its dual displays, you can break away from the big screen. Track ‘preparation’ in Traktor - setting the origin point of the beat grid, ensuring the track tempo is accurate, and strategic placement of Hotcues - is a process which had required users to cosy up with their laptop.

In many ways, the S8 is a four-channel successor to the two-channel Z2, but with massively enhanced control of cues, looping, browsing and more, thanks to the visual feedback offered by the pair of displays which appear identical to the ones on the flagship Maschine Studio controller - a good thing.

The S8 can also operate as a standalone mixer like the Z2, however, sans-FX.

Traktor kontrol s4 tutorials upgrade#

By comparison, the S4 series requires a paid license upgrade for DVS control privileges.

Traktor kontrol s4 tutorials full#

Just like Z2, the S8 comes with a full Traktor Scratch Pro license allowing timecode vinyl/CD control (DVS) out of the box. The audio setup options share similar attributes with the Traktor Kontrol Z2 in that the sample rate is locked at 48k operation. There are no wobbly pots or faders on this controller!Īfter integrating the S8 into my setup, there were some immediate indicators of where it sits in NI’s road map. My first impression when unboxing the S8 was that it’s stunning - in terms of footprint (substantially larger than the S4 Mk2), sheer mass and premium build quality. I’ve been salivating over the S8’s built-in full-colour displays - a first for the Traktor line - and the prospect of relegating my laptop from centre-stage. I’m still a total fan boy who frequently gigs with the S4 Mk2 DJ system and Z2 mixer exclusively, and wouldn’t DJ with anything else.

A Traktor veteran of seven years, I’ve enjoyed the software’s innovation and endured its growing pains. I was pretty excited about the prospect of digging into Native Instruments’ new Traktor S8 DJ controller.