Traktor S2 Review part 1

[overit]

1st thoughts

Software-wise i was upgrading from Traktor Le to pro 2.5 so was already registered as a service centre user. The process of upgrading was very easy. I have no idea how it is registering.

Installed and sorted software swiftly, even let me keep traktor scratch pro which is a bonus as I may want to use my timecode sometimes. Drivers for the hardware were installed with the software.

1st run didn't work though. Not sure if i was getting cocky by not running the setup wizard but i went str8 in to set it up in preferences. I saw everything working and levels looked good but no sound. I noticed a little warning flashing light on the unit and did a quick google - turns out this light can mean all kinds of things and doesnt appear very helpful. But I checked my power supply, tried a dif USB, tried a DIFFERENT USB, turned it off and on again... then I finally gave in, ran the setup wizard and even though it didn't change any settings, I could hear it started working.

Obvious tip right here: ONCE IT IS WORKING (and every so often after that) EXPORT YOUR PREFERENCES SETTINGS as a .tsi file. This way you keep saving incremental changes to your GUI and other settings to fall back on when the ish hits the fan during controller mapping or messing about.

Lots of effects to choose from. The classic beatmasher which I will get into one of these days, The flanger, which I won't, Delays are ok and the filters do ok but you have to pick a filter that suits you. In fact I would seriously recommend users experiment with all the fx as there are many variations and only a few will really work for each DJs style.

There was lots of stuff on the GUI which I had to toggle off in the preferences to get to a screen that suited me but this is one of the real benefits of traktor in my eyes; it allows you to modify it to your style. Plus if your style begins to evolve as you develop and learn more of the software you can set up a new layout using the layout manager and switch between the two during your sets. This really helps dinosaurs like me get to try out the newer features while being able to switch quickly back to a familiar GUI that only has all the controls I really need.

Latency seemed ok on the buttons and the nudge is nice and smooth. But the platters are still too small, too unresponsive and behind too many other buttons to be any fun to scratch with.

Crossfader curve is adjustable in the preferences but I had to do it while testing it as the far right position of the fader bled sound when I had the curve adjust on full sharp. Each unit will be different here depending on how well put together the unit was in the factory.

Build quality is ok for the price range. It's lightweight and would probably crack if dropped rather than bend. The pots and controls extrude quite far from the unit which is nice to use but means you would definitely want a bag or box for this to save anything get knocked off. Pitch faders are nice if short, The gain pots are continuous controllers which seems weird for gains but the software is often used with autogain so I guess many users change those pots to an effects function using the controller manager. There is also a note in the manual mentioning that the platters calibrate and will error if the unit is turned upside down while turned on.

Overall i think this is ok for any DJ who isn't interested in scratching at all. Nudging is realistic and there is no need to sync when only using normal decks (see remix decks below).

Sound quality and functions are way better than a mixtrack but 2 channels compared to 4 make this an intermediate unit between the typhoon/mixtrack and the NS6/denon mc6000. Also in this price range are the denon mc3000, numark NS4 and pioneer ergo.

For tech see: http://www.native-instruments.com/en/pr ... ontrol-s2/

I run a macbook pro 2.3Ghz Intel Core i5, 4GB 1333 Mhz DDR3 on Mac OS 10.6.8 (whatever that means!)

Not sure of which version traktor pro was when I installed it. Too busy press pressing djing

REMIX DECKS:

NB: I have yet to discover what the deck C and D "remix" decks or the "samples" can do or even if these are the same thing by some quirk of jargon. They appear to be multiple sample players which can be used for looping but as the S2 only has two platters I guess to keep them beatmatched I would need to start using the sync button. Also as the S2 has only two channel faders I am unsure how much control of these extra 2 players I will have. But that will be my next step in a few days and I will post my findings as part 2 of this review.

[Mitch]

nice writeup

[overit]

REMIX DECKS REVIEW:

Well, having played on the remix decks a bit I can seriously understand their potential, and the dangers of overuse by amateurs.

In a nutshell each remix deck works a little like session view in ableton. There are 4 columns and I think 16 rows available to use. This means you can have 4 of any 64 samples playing at any one time on each remix deck you have enabled. Each remix deck will auto sync all the loops and allow you to set some as one hits/stabs with varying quantise launch settings. Each sample can have it's own settings regarding gain, filter, behaviour and each set of samples can be saved simply by dragging and dropping it for later use.

This makes it a very easy way to add loops, beats, basses, stabs, vocal comments and other textures and elements to your sound.

This also makes it very easy to seriously overload your listeners ears with too much mess!

But it also makes it very easy for considered work resulting in excellent live remixes.

The remix deck sync works to keep all the loops in time but it does not require that your main playing decks are synced to them. So you can have 4 loops playing in sync in a remix deck but then mix a whole song in manually with a track deck. I like this option.

If you really want to you can turn sync off within the remix deck itself, but as you have little control over all the samples you run the risk of chaos very quickly if you do this. Herein lies my biggest problem with using the tractor 2 remix decks on the S2. These remix decks do have nudge buttons and do have a pitch fader, but there are not enough buttons on the S2 to be able to access all these functions without some serious controller map modifications, and all of which will use the shift button a lot.

I quickly swapped my S2 sync buttons for a play for remix decks C and D but then instantly ran out of buttons to set as nudge etc. The majority of online tutorials also show the S2 being complemented by a Maschine or launchpad so I guess S2 purchasers are expected to augment their unit with more midi control if they really want to take real-time advantage of all the features available in the remix decks.

That said: I reckon a bit of time well-spent gridding songs and then setting up "remix sets" could quickly result in outstanding setpieces on just an S2 as long as the user had a pretty methodical approach to mapping the controller settings to suit use of decks C and D.

In the short term here's a trick I know: when you are mixing two songs and the outré of one sounds great you can loop it, drag it down to a remix deck, hav it continue playing, but load a new song into your actual track deck and so carry on mixing your set. This trick can be done using any loop sampler or extra deck but it is very straightforward doing it on traktor 2 remix decks.

Native instruments Remix decks info and tutorial videos are about half way down this page:

http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/ ... &page=3431

Finally: I have played about with the scratching on the S2 a bit more and I take back what I said before. The platters aren't that bad when you've got used to them. The difference between trying to scratch on these and trying to scratch on a CDJ or NS6 is about the same as the difference between trying to handbrake turn a volvo family wagon with trying to handbrake turn a rally spec mini cooper. But that isn't to say you cant do it once you've adapted your style and got used to it. The platter is still too small. And the platter has this physical plate that needs to be pushed down before it thinks you want to scratch (unlike the cjds and NS6 etc which are touch sensitive platters). But tears, scribbles, transforms etc are all possible. You just have to adapt. They are nothing like scratching with vinyl as there is no torque and paddling scratches (where you take your hand off the platter to allow it to play on a little) are still impossible.

Summary:

For the price this is a really steady piece of kit. Any intermediate DJ wanting to develop their own style would be happy with this. Any pro needing a back up rig would be happy with this. Any beginner would love this. It is so light and so easy I can't see any problems carrying it into clubs and hooking into a spare line in on the venue mixer. The NS6, DDJt1 and other units are sometimes just slightly too big and heavy to get away with this due to the space in some booths. It has heaps of features that are worth investigating and the remix deck idea does give a first step into the world of production via its ableton-like workflow. It is not a good unit to learn scratching on but anyone should be able to achieve some basic wiggy wiggy/dibby dibby sounds with it.

I like it. It won't replace my NS6 and I don't expect to see them replacing CDJ in venue booths at all. But for who it is aimed at and for the price it is a great unit. Well thought through and able to expand on using other midi surfaces within the very adaptable software.

outro: obviously this is an opinionated review after only 3 hours playing with this unit. If I have missed, overlooked or ignored something or if i got something terribly wrong, i apologise, please feel free to correct for the benefit of other forum users.

[Scottie]

Top write up, will be passing it on to a friend who's interesting in buying some decks

[overit]

cheers scottie,

Pioneer Ergo review should follow in a week or two.

[overit]

nb - just trying to map the remix decks has given me a headache.

but t'interweb has heaps of people truly rocking this tech with maschine, midi fighter and the traktor F1. the F1 looks like the pick of the bunch.

LMGTFY: