Which way back in ?

[RobArran]

HI all,
Firstly, nice forums Ive been trawling the net over the last few days and found this site to be very informative !

My first post so I'll try to not to make you guys groan
A quick potted history if I may.....

I started clubbing, collecting vinyl and dj'ing in 1990, met my (lovely) wife, grew up (a bit!), bought house, had kids, sold all my kit but kept the vinyl collection......

So 20ish years on, and the kids are growing up and my love for music has been rekindled (not that it ever died really, I just had to sideline it a bit). So much has changed since the two decks and a mixer era that I'm wondering what route I should take back in to collecting kit?

Ideally I still want to be able to utilise my vinyl collection but not being familiar with the capabilities of todays equipment I'm struggling to decide what setup will best suit my needs. Digital certainly looks to be the way forward hence my post in this forum and I really like features of the s2/s4 products (with my limited knowledge).

So many questions I have but I'd like to open it up to you guys for suggestions and recommendations on starter kit based around the s2/s4 (or should I be considering something else ??)

Thanks in advance for your time and advice and apologies for utilising this forum (but I do kinda like the s2/s4 !)

Rob

[backtothefront]

Greetings, I similarly added digital DJing about a year ago after many years of being a 2x1210's and a mixer man using exclusively vinyl (most of which is sadly now in the loft BUT still accessible I'm pleased to say!).

I had had a play with earlier versions of Traktor and could see the merits of adding digital DJing in to my setup, however it was when I demo'd the Kontrol S4 I really sat up and took notice, it was a revelation, particularly as it would complement the TTs and I could continue to play vinyl.

Can't recommend the S4 enough but as others will probably say there are many other options out there, which I found a little overwhelming to start with but after whittling down between Traktor and Serato, the S4 became the obvious choice for me.

[RobArran]

Thanks

Maybe a daft question but.... If I went with the S2 is there some way to 'add in' vinyl decks through some jiggerypokery at a later stage or am I limited to just the two software decks via Traktor ? (right now Im looking at the cut price S2 which seems a very good deal but also makes me slightly suspicious that there may be something else on the horizon and they want to clear some stock !)

[backtothefront]

No worries Rob. The S4 has inputs for TT's/CDJ's whereas the S2 doesn't, so you'll need the S4 for either direct vinyl audio through or for DVS (i.e. timecode vinyl control of digital audio files). The S2 will do a hellava lot with 2 channels and sampler channel (especially with some superb mappings available), however with the S4 more configuration options are opened up.

[papo]

Thanks

Maybe a daft question but.... If I went with the S2 is there some way to 'add in' vinyl decks through some jiggerypokery at a later stage or am I limited to just the two software decks via Traktor ? (right now Im looking at the cut price S2 which seems a very good deal but also makes me slightly suspicious that there may be something else on the horizon and they want to clear some stock !)

You can "add in" vinyl decks with the S2 later on if you'd like, however, you will need to purchase an audio interface (Audio 6/10 DJ). This will allow you to use vinyl along with your S2.

[backtothefront]

Ah yes, very good point, can easily be expanded at a later date. The current price point of the S2 is difficult to ignore too. Either way I reckon you'll be a happy chap.

[RobArran]

Thanks again chaps, much appreciated.

@Papo That certainly looks like an interesting option, any chance you could give a brief explanation of how the setup would work ? Is it as easy as routing everything through the audio 6 and using the s2 as the mixer ?

[papo]

You are right on the money.

[punkpc]

Hey Rob,
I have been going through the same thing you have. I started DJing back in 94 and was strictly vinyl as well. I took about 4 years off and finely got the itch to jump back in just this year. I bought the S2 just under 2 months ago to give the Digital thing a run. It is a great piece of gear, but I started to miss using my records. So I did some reading and saw that guys were just adding a Audio 4/6 to there setup to add time code. Basically what you have to do is by pass the internal soundcard of the S2 and use the other soundcard instead. Which I really didn't care for that, because you would have to use the headphone jack and headphone volume on the soundcard.

like this...



I was trying this at first, but I didn't like it so I upgraded to the S4 and I'm a lot happier.

There are a few other pluses to the S4. One the Jogs are a bit more spaced apart which feels a but more comfortable to someone that played on tables for so long. All 8 hotcues are accessible. Dedicated filter knobs, and controls for all 4 effects.

Hope that helps...

[RobArran]

Thanks again, I'ts becoming a bit clearer now

Just one last thing on the S2 route. How does the software work with this kind of setup ?
Obviously I would get TP2 with the S2 itself and TS Duo with the Audio 6 (unless I could get just the A6 unit seperately ?). Logically Im thinking I would have to use the duo software over the TP2 otherwise I wouldnt be able to utilise the timecode features so are there any differences between the 2 bits of software ?
(essentially timecode isnt needed from my point of view as it will be either pure digital stuff or pure vinyl that Im using but it might be a nice option to have if I fancy just spinning the decks some day for old times sake).

@Punk - Ive seen mentioned a few times as Ive been scouring various forums 'latency'. How did you find this when using your S2 in the setup you've shown ?

One last thing I thought of as I write....Anyone up to speed on what type of soundcards are used within the S2 and the Audio 6 ? (Im off to see If I can find any info just now....)

Thanks again guys!