- As we've progressed through the pioneer days of digital DJing, the trial-and-error ways of those early years have resulted in a dearth of options for the new user. Should you go with the time-code system of controlling your music from a turntable or CDJ? Or maybe a straight-up MIDI controller approach is better? Should you send separate outs to a traditional mixer and use its EQs/filters/faders? Or mix in-the-box and just send the main outs directly to the sound system? Imagine the plight of a new DJ wanting to get into the game without anyone showing him/her the ropes; the number of choices in addition to the body of knowledge required to get some setups up and running is overwhelming.
For proof, one needs look no further than on Native Instrument's page listing the devices that are approved as "Traktor ready." There you'll find over 30 devices ranging from the hyper-expensive Xone 4D to cheaper rackmount CD players, all the way down to quirky options like the touch-sensitive Stanton MIDI controllers. It was big news, then, when Native Instruments announced they were releasing an "all in one" DJ controller this year, teased by a mysterious YouTube video of Dubfire road-testing it at Space in Ibiza. They named it the S4, and promised it to be the "the ideal one-stop package for DJs who want pro features, instant usability and go-anywhere portability—a bold claim.
This isn't a review of Traktor on its own, so in the interest of brevity we will concentrate on the hardware—in addition to the unique aspects of the S4 version of Traktor. Starting out on the hardware side, imagine that someone pulled up a screenshot of Traktor, handed it to an engineer and said "here, make this." It's as close to a 100% faithful recreation of the Traktor workflow as you'll find. The sizeable controller is split down the middle with each side housing a jog wheel, tempo and volume faders, and a score of buttons and knobs. Each side controls two decks—with dedicated knobs (for each deck's 3-band EQ, dual-mode filter and gain), volume faders and buttons (for cue and assign).
The top of the controller is where you'll find the knobs and buttons that directly map to the FX modules found in Traktor. Sandwiched in the middle of the controller is the common section which houses the controls for browsing your track collection and one of the most interesting S4 exclusive functions of Traktor, the loop recorder.
Since each side controls two decks, there is a shared section on each side that controls the deck that is "in focus." Included in this section are the jog wheel, tempo slider and the deck controls (like the loop knobs, the sample play buttons, the hotcue buttons, and the play/cue/sync buttons). The sample-play and hotcue buttons are the physical counterpart to one of the best new features of the S4 version of Traktor: the sample deck. The sample decks by default live on decks C and D, giving you four slots in each deck that can store samples in either looped or one-shot mode. Samples can be sent to these slots automatically from the source playing in the deck "above it" (A to C, and B to D), or directly from the browser.
The process of sending samples from the deck currently playing above it literally could not be easier. All you do is press an unused sample play button while the track is playing, and a loop is automatically stored in that slot (not only is it stored in the slot, but it's automatically cropped to its own file in the Traktor library for use later). If the track isn't being looped at the time that you assign the sample, the loop size will be automatically determined by the value shown above the loop size knob. Once a sample is loaded in a slot, it can be triggered in sync to Traktor's clock, or manually triggered if you want stutter-style effects. Each slot has its own dual-mode filter and volume knobs, and the loop length can be halved or doubled straight from the controller by using the loop-in and loop-out buttons. This is some seriously powerful functionality, and is a welcome addition to the Traktor app.
There are a bunch of other advantages that the S4 adds over your standard Traktor behavior in the pursuit of "getting away from the laptop." One obvious example is the hotcue buttons, which allow you to assign hotcue markers on the fly while a track is playing—simply hitting one of these buttons stores a hotcue to the current playback location, quantized automatically to the nearest beat.
Another example—and probably the most powerful—is the almighty shift button. This takes the S4 from a nicely-designed MIDI controller and turns it into a real beast. Pressing the shift button opens up a huge amount of extra functionality—by holding it and pushing the FX buttons, you can scroll through the selected effect for that slot. You can also use shift to load and unload samples to the slots from the browser and to select which sample slot is currently being affected by the filter knob and loop size buttons. Did Traktor analyze a track's tempo incorrectly? You can use the shift key to define a new beatgrid for a track by using it as a tap-tempo button. Is the tempo correct, but the beat offset is slightly off? Just use the jog wheel to adjust to the correct alignment, and then press the shift and sync buttons together to adjust the beatgrid to that point.
As mentioned earlier, another major difference between Traktor S4 and its predecessors is the addition of the loop recorder. This is a valuable new tool that can be used to record and overdub a loop from the main outs, the cue signal, or the aux input (which can be set to either of the two stereo inputs, or the mic input). Much like any loop recorder worth its salt, you can overdub on top of the loop and undo the last overdub. This is a nice way to introduce loops from an external source, or to put an FX tweaking performance down to tape to use later.
One unfortunate part of the loop recorder is that if you want to have the external signal run through Traktor's EQ, filter, or FX before getting to the recorder, you have to switch one of the sample decks to input mode and send that via cue to the recorder. While in previous Traktor versions, changing the deck type could be done from the main interface, in the S4 version it requires a trip to the preferences menu. Once you have a loop that you're satisfied with and want to move over to one of the eight sample slots, you can copy it over using the browse button. It would be nice if the playback would immediately switch over to the sample slot at this point, but instead it requires some timing finesse to make playback seamless.
As an audio interface, the emphasis of the S4 seems to be on simplicity, as it only provides one stereo pair of outputs (RCA or balanced) and a headphone out. On the input side of the house, you've got two pair of RCA inputs (switchable between line and phono levels) and one microphone input—which can only be used at the expense of one of the RCA inputs. If you want to integrate the S4 into an existing traditional DJ booth and want to prevent interruption between sets, you can setup one of the inputs to route directly to the outputs without passing into Traktor first. Users who want to use the S4 with non-DJ equipment like drum machines will no doubt be frustrated by the lack of balanced inputs, as noise-inducing TRS-to-RCA converters are required. Another strange design decision is the fact that the headphone output and its associated knobs are placed on the front of the controller, which could prevent the S4 from being mounted flush or being used while in a flight case.
There are obviously no shortage of options out there for all-in-one DJ setups, depending on what program you're using and how much money you want to spend. With its middle-to-high price point, and its current "all or nothing" offer (there is no discounted upgrade path, even for existing Traktor users), on the surface the S4's target audience seems to be DJs who are either not using or not too invested in an existing digital DJ setup. However, considering what you get for the money with the S4—an audio interface, MIDI interface, and one of the best controllers available—there will no doubt be some Serato or Torq or even existing Traktor Pro users who will be willing to cut their losses and go "all in" in order to take advantage of the convenience and advanced features Native Instruments have baked in. Despite some gripes about the input routing and loop recorder features, with the S4 Native Instruments has achieved an impressive balance between polished simplicity and powerful flexibility that I believe will reward its users and keep the S4 in demand for some time.
Ratings /
Cost: 4/5
Build: 4.5/5
Sound: 5/5
Ease of use: 4.5/5