Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol S4 MK2 DJ Controller

Product Information

This daylight-dimness is more than made up for by the spaceship-meets-70s dancefloor appearance you get in the dark, which combined with the new aluminium jogwheel tops gives a really attractive look. We used Traktor DJ on an iPad 2, running iOS 6 – at the time of writing there were still concerns over iOS 7’s stability with the software so we steered clear until after the test. When button “2” is engaged, a less enthralling EQ window slides into view which seems to just show the current values delegated by the controller, none of which are controllable by the screen; however, by tapping the Filter tab, you get an X/Y grid for the filter controls and you can have great fun using a combination of finger on the screen and knob rotations on the controller, to let rip with the filter. The loop is split into eight equal slices, assigned to the eight cue buttons (well, the four cue buttons as 1-4 and the four remix / sample trigger buttons as 5-8) so you can slice and play around to your heart’s content. For those looking for intuitive, comprehensive control of Traktor, the Kontrol S4 Mk2 is hands-down your best bet for a hassle-free, plug-and-play controller that won’t let you down.

Traktor Kontrol S4: 4-channel DJ controller - Native Instruments

I don’t mind though, in most DJing situations the ability to grab and trigger eight samples from the controller without having to switch decks is plenty enough.See which jog wheel mode you’re using, and get real-time feedback on how much you’re nudging or stalling the deck. You can instantly see which deck you’re on when playing across four channels, with color-coded light rings and deck buttons. A further feature in browse; by pressing the browse knob down a second time whilst a track is playing, you get a list of all tracks that the app considers would go well with the current track, by BPM and key – this is a cracking tool and is crying out to be included in the Pro Version, which doesn’t give anywhere near as targeted a result when you use the sort feature there.

Compatibility of Native Instruments Products on macOS Compatibility of Native Instruments Products on macOS

So if you’re considering this as your first Traktor controller, or perhaps stepping up to it from from an S2, then go for it. First Impressions / Setting up New, slimmer fader caps for the track volumes, crossfader and tempo adjust contribute to the sleeker more streamlined look of the S4. You still need an F1 (or another controller, as now you can map third party ones) to truly have a blast and get the most out of the Remix Decks.They are TRS outputs, switchable between booth and main output, and with a volume knob for when in booth-routing mode.