Which controller to get? Traktor S2?

[Nibbsy]

The S4 offers MUCH more than just a glorified loop controller, I promise! The built-in sound card is awesome, the absolute GORGEOUS integration with Traktor, and the super quality is impossible to complain about.

That being said, while the S4 does have awesome power of sample decks and loop controls, it is perfectly capable of being used as a 2-deck mixer (which is primarily what I've used it for), or a 4-deck mixer (for all those capable of wrapping their head's around that...I can't!).

My one comment that I will make regarding Gre3nergy's post, is that you'll want to try out both pieces of software before making the jump. I used Traktor with an S4, tried Itch with a Twitch, and I'm back to Traktor. Itch isn't BAD, but once you get used to one, it's very difficult to fully appreciate what the other offers.

Anyways, I still stand by my statement that you won't be disappointed if you burn cash on the S4 - the unit is simply one of the coolest pieces of hardware I've EVER purchased for any reason.

Thanks, the S4 does sound like a great piece of kit. And like I said, at the moment it's looking like it has no genuine competition for what I'm after, which I find slightly disappointing.

Regards software, I am genuinely unfussed about switching. I use so few of the advanced features in Traktor (never loop, never manually beatgrid etc) that I can't imagine I'd really feel the difference that much - I use it as a means to put a track on the deck, beatmatch/sync it, then it's just EQ's, volume and crossfading. Is Itch really that different for those functions?

[nicoga3000]

My biggest beef with Itch was that I couldn't pre-cue a track before loading it onto a deck. Maybe I was just dumb and unable to figure it out, but I tried and tried...I prefer to do that since I would go through and pick a song that would mix well with what was currently playing on the other deck.

One thing that Traktor does that Itch didn't was quantize/cue point juggle sync (again, maybe it did, but I couldn't figure it out in my limited time with it). That's where you can argue the lack of need for the S4 + Traktor. But if that's not your thing, the functionality is still HUGE for what it all does.

[Nibbsy]

To be honest i don't think I've ever pre-cued a track before loading it onto a deck in Traktor. I generally pick the track, load it onto the deck, then start cueing in my headphones. So that's not a huge issue for me.

I've looked again at my set up, and it really won't be easy to fit an S4 between my turntables on my desk. It's 20 inches wide, which seems such an unnecessary size. Apart from anything the turntables would be really far apart compared to a standard mixer.

I'm still hoping that someone can suggest another controller that would suit my needs, but I'm starting to become less optimistic that there's one out there :/

[Jiggle]

Get the s2 and a sound card. I've got the s2 and an audio 8, 2 x 1210's which are just getting dusty. I used to love beat juggling, vinyl all the way. But Im so happy with the s2. The jog wheels are awesome. You can always record the vinyl and use it on the s2 without any extra hardware. Thats my biased advice anyways. Have you been to a store and checked any of the kit out yourself? I went out to get a twitch and came home with the s2 and it will fit on your desk

[nicoga3000]

I thought I'd like a Twitch as well...Turns out I didn't. lol Who would have thunk. Cool controller, but The S2/S4 is just miles ahead.

[Nibbsy]

Get the s2 and a sound card. I've got the s2 and an audio 8, 2 x 1210's which are just getting dusty. I used to love beat juggling, vinyl all the way. But Im so happy with the s2. The jog wheels are awesome. You can always record the vinyl and use it on the s2 without any extra hardware. Thats my biased advice anyways. Have you been to a store and checked any of the kit out yourself? I went out to get a twitch and came home with the s2 and it will fit on your desk

Thanks very much. So I'm pretty much back where I was at the start of the thread. Lol. Your setup sounds pretty much what I'm after. That's what I do at the moment - record vinyl to MP3, and anything I want to play but haven't got round to recording yet I play straight off vinyl. I'm still trying to understand how it would all work though, so I would really appreciate if you could answer a few things:

How do you record with the S2? Presumably I'd need to have an Audio 6/8 so I can plug the turntables in to record?

Are you sure it works with 2 turntables? I can't understand how you can have both connected when there aren't 2 inputs on the S2.

Do you (or anyone) know if that setup would work with timecoded vinyl? Surely you would need 2 line inputs, one for each turntable going in to each channel on the S2? Or have I misunderstood?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm just struggling to work out how it all fits together. Any help you can give would be much appreciated.

[Jiggle]

to hook the decks up you'd need another soundcard, the S2 only has outputs. If you have/get another soundcard you can use decks C & D in traktor as live inputs and mix away like normal, s2 as a mixer, and still have the s2 decks like normal.

The timecode setup requires traktor scratch, the s2 & s4 come with traktor pro so its something you have to pay more for to get timecode control. Same with the traktor Scratch certified mixers I think. It depends what you want to do with the timecode? Scratching on the jog wheels is exactly like my 1210's, just smaller and no jumps

the audio 4/8 or traktor 6/10 are all traktor scratch ready. You can pick up second hand audio 8's But you would need the scratch pro upgrade for timecode.

[Onimode]

I went out to get a twitch and came home with the s2

Reminds me how I was searching for Novation's ZeRO SL Mk2 and bought an Akai APC40 that day instead. :P

How do you record with the S2? Presumably I'd need to have an Audio 6/8 so I can plug the turntables in to record?

I assume you use one of the interfaces to route audio from the turntable to Traktor, then change one of the decks in Traktor to "Live Input" and use Traktor's built-in recorder to rip from vinyl.

[Jiggle]

Yeah, but to be honest I've only hooked them up to check it all works because someone asked It all works.

[Nibbsy]

Thanks Jiggle, that makes some sense.

I'm still not clear though on how the Audio 8 works with the S2. Are you basically using 4 decks in Traktor, with the turntables playing 'live' through 2 of the decks?

So when you mix between deck A (on the S2) and deck D (right hand turntable), for example, are you not then using 2 sound cards at once? One to route the sound from the turntable, and the other to play from the S2? Is Traktor ok with doing that?