Traktor Kontrol S4 : the dream controller ? answer of other competitors ?

[Peter Willis]

I’m shocked at the reactions I’m reading on this forum and in the comments…
Everyone is sounding like a product like this already exists. But it’s not true! This product is truly innovative. It is the first time what we’ll get on our controller to perfectly match the softawre we are using.
This will be a big improvement over the VCI-100, it will become the new controller standard.

This controller answers lots of requests people have been having for a long time. (HID control, lots of big playable buttons, samples, LED feedback, 4 channels mixer with meters and filter knob, 2 FX bank control, NI build quality, nice pitch fader, high resolution jog wheel).

Of course it’s not for everyone.
It is not for turtablists, who will always use turntables.
It is not for the superstar mix DJs who will use CDJs 2000.

But it’s for a lot of people!
Home DJs (as long as you don’t need to transport the unit, it’s perfect).
Ableton Live DJs (no one talked about that… NI’s going to steel a lot of Ableton DJs with the sample function).
Local club and bar resident DJs.
Beginner with a big budget.

And stop saying it’s expensive!
It’s priced just right.
It’s even cheaper than a single CDJ 900, but you can do much more!
At 700 €, people would question quality. At 1200 € it would be too expensive and the in xone price point (which has a better soundcard).

The reason there is no reduced upgrade price is simple: you don’t pay the software. That’s how they made it that cheap. Anyways, the software is already developed, so that’s no extra cost. So don’t be pissed of if you are already a NI product user, because you just pay for the hardware.
About the soundcard, without wouldn’t cost much. (because in the 199 € you pay for an audio 4, only a small amount is used to pay for the proper hardware, the rest is marketing cost, R&D, transport, sales…)
So this controller without software and soundcard would be maybe only 100 or 150 € cheaper.


Stop hating. Stop the stupid comments. Stop the point less comments. Please.
Evryone will benefit of it and the conversation will be more interesting.

And start talking about the layout, the functions, the new mappings, the form factor, the quality of the constructions, the way we can fit the unit in a crowded booth, the competition… Can this unit establish NI on the map of hardware manufacturers ? Can this be the end of the Pionner dominance ? Will Pionner answer with a controller? What about Vestax?

[DJMilk3y]

http://www.djtechtools.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16087

[Peter Willis]

I know.
I just wanted to start a threat without reading every 2 lines people asking the same stupid questions

"When will it be available ?"

"What is the price?"

"Will the sampler be part of TSP?"

[DJMilk3y]

fair enough, But as a rule of thumb i'de say its generally not widely accepted to have two threads on the same topic raging at once

[Peter Willis]

Yeah that's right...
But the first topic is really general.

I wish this topic would be more about discussing the reaction of other companies to this + discussions about the layout.
That hasn't really been covered in the other topic (I've read it enterily, and got really sick of seing the same comments all over the place)

[DJMilk3y]

very true :P i think it would be more fitting for a more in depth discussion to go in the controller forum, were as the general topic your talking about well it is in the general forum :P but i agree that the same comments come up i will be forking out the 1 grand to get my s4 asap i think it offers much better value than the like of a vci 300 or the xponent which is shares aesthetic similarities to, The xone dx or 4d was never on my list of controllers i would like "no touch sensitive jogs", the 4d did have amazing controllability and mapping potential with an analogue mixer to top it off but that thing is so darn heavy and big to carry to and from gigs, The new denon controller does look nice but native instruments is more popular and i don't think we'll be seeing as many denons and we will s4's there is of course the vms4 but again it's made by american audio. It seems that native instruments is like one of the shall i say pioneer type brands of controllers and have a monopoly across production (Maschine, VST's etc) djing (TSP,TP etc) and controllers obviously (X1 S4) and are one of the leaders in digital djing plus the fact that ean golden worked on the s4 in conjunction with native instruments to create this controller makes it more exciting native instruments has made a controller for its own software which is great and shows just how much effort they've gone into making this piece of hardware. but thats enough rambling i need to finish this english paper :S

[Peter Willis]

by the way :
who is going to go buy a xone DX now ?
or a vestax VCI 300 ?

both or more expensive than the kontrol S4...

[haze324]

by the way :
who is going to go buy a xone DX now ?
or a vestax VCI 300 ?

both or more expensive than the kontrol S4...

people who really like colored waveforms and simple lay outs.

Itch's biggest angle is that it's a simple interface. I honestly think the VCI-300 still has a place in the market. It is as close to a two channel mixer and 2 decks as it gets....and there are lots of DJ's that don't spin EDM that prefer a "traditional" set up. The DX....man, thats a tough one though, I was planning on getting one - but jogwheels not being touch sensitive kept me from buying it. The S4, I'll get one, I think it's a good answer that meets many DJ's needs (for all the reasons listed above), however, it doesn't please everyone so you some gripes and complaining.

I'm interested in hearing more about the software and seeing a list of everything that is new from TP. That would be a great start as to see what this offers.

[DJMilk3y]

people who really like colored waveforms and simple lay outs.

Itch's biggest angle is that it's a simple interface. I honestly think the VCI-300 still has a place in the market. It is as close to a two channel mixer and 2 decks as it gets....and there are lots of DJ's that don't spin EDM that prefer a "traditional" set up. The DX....man, thats a tough one though, I was planning on getting one - but jogwheels not being touch sensitive kept me from buying it. The S4, I'll get one, I think it's a good answer that meets many DJ's needs (for all the reasons listed above), however, it doesn't please everyone so you some gripes and complaining.

I'm interested in hearing more about the software and seeing a list of everything that is new from TP. That would be a great start as to see what this offers.

/agree

[ctrld]

It is the first time what we’ll get on our controller to perfectly match the softawre we are using.

o rly? *looks at his APCs and maschine* not rly.

don't treat this like the second coming of christ please, it's just a controller and I bet you that most experienced users will be able to take advantage of the S4 feature set with their existing controllers of by adding an additional one - at the fraction of the price.

it's certainly a nice thing for those who just start out or actually like working with small jogs. but a high percentage don't give two shits about this thing, and in my (biased!) opinion they won't be missing out on much.