When opening up your Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol S4 MK3, the first thing you’re going to notice is its jog wheels spin.

One thing Traktor has always been known for was its FX sections. These controls were generally very detailed and allowed for complete control in sound expression. It looks nice, really nice. Little touches like the slimmer fader caps and grey filter knobs in tandem with the RGB buttons and aluminium jogwheel tops have combined to give the S4 a fresh, modern look.

The question for most Traktor users isn't 'does it implement well?', 'is it responsive?' or even 'is it any good?' - the question is 'is this for me?' In this section, I’ll be writing about the Traktor Kontrol S4 MK3 version, which I grew fond of in the last couple of years. If you’re currently an owner of the MK2, don’t worry, because when it comes to the best S4 DJ setup, it won’t make any difference.

One section that will be new to veterans is the Loop Recording section. It's straightforward with controls for Record, Undo, Size and Play. Record a four, eight, sixteen or thirty-two-bar loop from the master, cue or aux outputs - nice for returning to sections and as the recording replays after the set length, it's a one-button affair. Reinvent the wheel Additionally, we learned that the software Traktor Pro is great for music production, and very popular among musicians in general. Before You Go… The knobs are all recessed, each with an orientation in both the EQ section as well as the gain, giving it a more classic mixer FX feel. Pads

All in all, the Traktor Kontrol S4 MK3 has really grown and evolved past the previous visual look and constraints of the older versions. If anyone remembers the S8 and S5, they’ll remember NI’s famous attempt to change the jog wheel mode up for more screens, space, and buttons. If you’re solely using Traktor Kontrol S4 without an external DJ mixer as I do, go and select internal in mixing mode. Naturally, you select the left and right monitors to tell Traktor Pro where to send the sound.

The flagship TRAKTOR 4-channel mixer software from Native Instruments is the foundation of the TRAKTOR series, offering cutting edge control of your music files. Featuring professional-grade audio quality, instant syncing for beat matching, seamless looping, Hotcue, beatjump tools for remixing on the fly, and a full suite of high-grade effects, TRAKTOR PRO 3 is the top choice of DJs around the world. While it certainly was a cool experience, it didn’t really have that “game-changer” feel that I sense they were hoping for. As such, while it wasn’t the explosive experience they were hoping for, it certainly was something interesting. Something I expect will become much more compelling as time goes on if it isn’t already the case now. This is a big improvement from the S4 MK1 which was noted for having a lot of ghosting and jittering with its faders. Without getting too deep into every control atop the S4's panel, it's worth pointing out the sheer amount of options available to the user. NI have done a fantastic job of avoiding the dreaded shift-function as much as possible, while still making all the important functions easily accessible and all the controls clearly labelled.

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Starting off with the faders, the Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol S4 MK3 uses the same technology found with the S5 and S8 controllers. The Mixer FX allows immediate and simplistic effects with a turn of the knob. By turning to the left or the right, you can immediately get a nice sounding effect. You could easily lose the CDJs and hook up some turntables to the DJ mixer. Most DJs use the Audio Technica 1200 with Traktor, including myself. In this chapter, I will explain to you how to connect everything, and get your favorite DJ setup. Connect The Cables To delete the hot cues, you just hold the shift button and press the pad that had the cue point saved. Connectivity Not only has the layout been condensed and streamlined in a major way, but the sound quality has also been given its own update as well thanks to the improvement to the sound card and internal audio summing model.