MK3 CONTROLLERS & MORE

Clear back in 2006 when I first started DJing, I made an arbitrary decision in the heat of the moment that lives with me to this day, some 13 years later.

That decision? To use Native Instruments’ Traktor as my primarily DJ software. For these pages, I’ve had an opportunity to use and learn pretty much every one of Traktor’s competitors, and I’ve found a lot to like in all of them.

But there’s a certain amount of inertia involved in changing tools that are so essential to what you do day-to-day, and one’s choice of DJ software is no different. I have years of notes and ratings and categorizations embedded into the metadata of my music collection in Traktor. I know how the software works, inside and out. And I’ve come to appreciate the Berlin-based company’s attention to detail in the UI and UX of Traktor — spit and polish that I’m tempted to attribute to classic “German engineering.”

But whatever the specifics, Traktor fans, like me, have been doing a lot of waiting in recent years; the last major upgrade to the platform was roughly eight years ago. Admittedly, not a whole lot has changed in DJ technology in that timeframe, but it seemed like an extraordinarily long release cycle.

Toward the end of 2018, Native Instruments (NI) sent out a press release like none I’ve recently seen; it certainly appeared as if they’d be updating pretty much every piece of software and hardware they produce in a single cycle. That wasn’t quite the case, but there was certainly a lot of meat to the news, including a refresh of the Traktor software — as well as many pieces of the Traktor hardware family — which is the subject of this particular review.

After returning from Winter NAMM show this past January, NI kept the news train moving at full speed, announcing (among other things) the imminent release of their new entry-level DJ software, Traktor DJ 2, which will be available for iPad — as well as for Mac and Windows. I’ll provide updates on that as soon as we’re able to get our hands on the software.

Traktor Pro 3: Long-time Traktor users may find themselves a little confused about NI’s naming and numbering scheme for Traktor. It’s been called Traktor, Traktor DJ, Traktor Studio, Traktor Final Scratch, Traktor Scratch, and Traktor Pro over the course of its nearly two decades. And the name Traktor joined with the number 3 might be familiar too, since it came out in 2006 and survived as the flagship for a couple of years at that point. But regardless, Traktor Pro 3 is the shiny new version we get after roughly an eight-year gap since the last major release.

Whether incrementing the number from “2” to “3” is warranted or not is, I suppose, subject to some argument. While I’m grateful that Traktor has received some attention, the changes aren’t exactly revolutionary. NI boasts of five major changes in the new version:

Redesigned interface. Absent a side-byside screen shot comparison, I’m not sure the average Traktor user could identify anything new here. The product’s legendary design polish remains. Everything you’re used to is right where it used to be. Perhaps a (figurative) new coat of wax has been applied, but I’m hardpressed to see much else, beyond support for Mixer effects.

Retooled sound engine. To be sure, Traktor sounds great. But it always has. In fact, it’s been another reason I’ve stuck with Traktor all these years; it just works, and I never miss a beat (literally or figuratively). Again, I’m hardpressed to hear a tangible difference.

Mixer effects. Historically, one of Traktor’s best features has been its superb, highly controllable effects engine. Admittedly, however, it can be a little tricky to use in the heat of the moment without a ton of practice. To change that, NI has added “mixer effects,” a single knob, per-track way to apply an effect or filter with ease. You can assign any of four to the available slots and enable and tweak them quickly and easily. This is perhaps the most notable (and most usable) improvement in Traktor Pro 3.

Reverse mode. Like the name suggests, you can now play a deck backward; it works in conjunction with Traktor’s Flux Mode so things stay perfectly in-sync and on-beat. For DJs who slice and dice and essentially remix on-the-fly, this could be a really cool addition to their toolset.

DVS ready. Traktor Pro 3 now works with Traktor’s own timecoded media right out of the box — there’s not a separate version of the product for that. You’ll still need the control media itself — which can be purchased separately from NI, or from dealers. But no special hardware or software is required to make it work, allowing you to easily choose or switch between control approaches.

At NAMM 2019, NI showed the next update to Traktor Pro 3, which includes an optional new parallel waveform and beat view that I really appreciate.

In summary, and as I already stated, there’s nothing truly revolutionary here. Traktor was a great piece of DJ software before, it’s a great piece of DJ software today. Perhaps incrementing the version number glazes over that eight-year psychological gap since Traktor was last given serious love. Or, perhaps it focuses a light on the fact that the gap was, indeed, purely psychological — and Traktor users had it pretty good all along.

Traktor Kontrol S2 & S4 MK3 Controllers: It was way back in 2010 that I looked at the first Traktor Kontrol S4, and early 2012 when I got my hands on the first S2. With the most recent versions now out, NI is on its third generation of each — dubbed “MK3” (following NI’s traditional hardware versioning nomenclature).

As NI has tweaked and refreshed its overall brand identity and general look, they’ve applied that “design language” more broadly. That’s arguably what the interface changes in the software are all about, and indeed, what NI has done to the hardware starts to make the older versions look a bit dated. While it’s a fresh look, I have to say that the downside is that NI’s controllers now look more like those of its competitors — and a tad less trailblazing.

An example? On the original S2, NI stubbornly used a button labeled, simply, “PLAY” to start and stop playback — one the same size as three others in the same row. The new S2 MK3 goes mainstream; the button is larger, stands paired with the Cue button, and uses the familiar triangle and parallel bars iconography for play and pause. Is it nice it follows an accepted standard? Sure. Does it take sandpaper to some of NI’s quirkiness and uniqueness that was part of its appeal? Yes.

The S2 is an affordable (a bit over $300 street price), portable controller that delivers all the basics you need to be effective with Traktor. The RCA and stereo 3.5mm (1/8-inch) master outs make clear the target market for the S2 — as does the focused, reduced feature set. As has been the case all along, the S2 offers no ability to bring in external sound sources; it’s designed solely to control the virtual decks in Traktor, and use the music library on your computer.

I don’t know about the S2 MK2, but the differences between the S2 and S2 MK3 are pretty stark. Beyond the changes mentions above, the rotary encoders (platters) are much larger, and less toy-like, and the make cueing and scratching easier and more accurate. NI has removed the dedicated effects-control capabilities to make room, but has added knobs and controls for the aforementioned mixer effects in Traktor Pro 3. A 2x4 multifunction, color-coded pad grid has been added for cueing and sample playback. The S2 MK3 also provides easy access to Traktor’s loop capabilities.

The build quality still seems good, but perhaps, reduced a bit from the original, which felt to me more solid, a bit heavier, with slider controls that were smoother and had a better feel. Some of the niceties have been removed; the headphone jack is now 3.5mm only, and the ¼-inch outputs are gone as well.

The S2 remains a joy to use, however. You still get the full version of Traktor Pro, so you still have its full capabilities available; they just might not be mapped to hardware controls. The unit is easily portable, allowing you to go from bedroom to studio to house party to club with ease — and with all the functionality you truly need to make it happen. And given the price point, the Traktor Kontrol S2 seems like a bargain.

In my original draft of this review, I speculated where NI was going with the S2 MK3, and indeed, at Winter NAMM 2019, I was proven correct. There’s a USB port on the back of the unit labeled “iOS” and the box has a very obvious “Made for iPad” logo printed on it, so I’m not sure I needed a crystal ball to figure it out; there is indeed a new version of Traktor (as mentioned previously) for iOS (and for Mac and Windows) called Traktor DJ 2. It’ll be bundled with the S2 MK3 when available, and brings to market a full hardware/software DJ solution to the iPad from NI. I’ll report more when I have a chance to try it hands-on later this year.

The Traktor Kontrol S4 MK3, as was the case with the first-generation hardware, is the S2’s bigger, nicer, and better-looking sibling. It offers a larger array of hardware controls, and while it, too, adds the multifunction pad grid to the controller like the S2, it offers some extras. Among them is a small color LCD display on each side, along with improved rotary encoders that are motorized, and use a system NI calls “Haptic Drive.”

The platters can behave very much like vinyl, including a very authentic-behaving backspin, or be set to function in the more familiar jog mode. When cueing up a track, I really liked how the platters provide haptic feedback at the downbeat of the track. It’s quite subtle, but the tactile feedback was an interesting, and I think useful addition; it works on cue points as well.

CEntrance MixerFace R4

CEntrance makes a big deal of its proprietary “Jasmine” preamps, and again, without a lab full of diagnostic gear, I can only offer the subjective assessment that they delivered pure, clean audio in my test recordings of both vocals, and electric guitar.

About the only issue I had with the unit is getting my monitors connected. Unusual 1/8-inch TRS to XLR cables are not something I happen to keep around. In fact, I’ve never heard of, let alone seen, an 1/8-inch balanced audio jack. But again — this is a small package, you have to make some compromises, and yes, in fact, there are such cables around; you’ll just need to order them up online. In my case, trying to get the functional equivalent with various adapters and cables I do have on hand wasn’t successful.

About my only real functional complaint with the MixerFace R4 is that the channel 3 and 4 inputs are not really separated out, but rather, are mixed with channels 1 and 2 via a knob on the unit. While it does offer some interesting performance capabilities for buskers and the like, it’s best to think of this unit as offering a single pair of physical inputs and a single pair of physical outputs.

But given the portability factor, the mobile use cases, and the attractive price point (about $350 street price), I can see the CEntrance MixerFace R4 being pretty appealing to a lot of potential users. I haven’t cozied up to mobile workflows as much as some, but I do tinker with Apple’s GarageBand and Music Memos applications from time to time to sketch out or capture musical ideas – and paired with the MixerFace R4? Well, the quality certainly is much-improved over other solutions I’ve tried.

Finally, it should be noted that as I was putting the wraps on this article, CEntrance released the Mixer- Face R4R ($449 street price), which adds an on-board, MicroSD cardbased recorder to the unit, allowing for truly standalone recording applications — and making portable digital recorders with their marginal on-board mics seem a little archaic indeed.

In any case, the MixerFace R4 is a well-built, convenient and fun little unit that, when not in use for anything else, will do quite nicely for connecting my pro-grade studio monitors to my iMac, MacBook Pro, or other devices outside my dedicated studio set-up.

By Wesley Bryant-King