Come on NI - you know you want to release this…
let’s get some proper waveform displays on the S4 so we can hide the laptop under the dj booth…
+1
if something like this was made and could potentially access both traktor and maschine on one controller, i would be very interested. i would want 8 pads per side though
hmm well perhaps I didn’t mock it up well enough… I was intending the screens to display Traktor waveforms, artist/tune name, time remaining, beatgrid setup, loop markers, effects parameters, track collection scrolling, etc (rather than be a Traktor/Maschine hybrid controller as you suggest).
Basically, in the same way that Maschine provides incredibly tight integration with software, I was hoping that NI would ditch the jog wheels and provide some Maschine-style screens. This would mean that we, as DJ’s, could finally ditch the laptop screen and concentrate on the performance and controller.
You guys do know something like this exists right? The thing is another company makes it! The only difference (from your mockup) is that it’s only got 2 channels. It’s called a Novation Twitch!
if Twitch was anything like I’m proposing then I’d have bought one a long time ago!
there isn’t really anything on the market like the screenshot above… NI would need to open up Traktor so that external hardware can display waveforms, track names, etc… a much deeper interaction between software and hardware would be required (much like Maschine allows).
The only similarity between my photoshop and Twitch is that they both don’t have jogwheels.
I’d love something like this but I’d be happy enough for a mixer only version, Im really into the idea of modular setups, that way you don’t restrict people
This thing looks amazing, you should send it over to NI as a prototype because I can definitely see something like this happening one day.
here’s another example of what I’m talking about:
That’s the removable front panel for the Akai S6000 hardware sampler. As well as being controllable via the front panel, you could also use ak.sys to remote control everything via a pc/mac. This was developed 10 years ago and is WAY more advance than anything you see on the market today!
see: SOS Past Articles now online (back to January 1994)
It’s this sort of integration that I think should be the next step for Native Instruments. If they opened up Traktor to a deeper level of software/hardware integration then we could also see some really interesting iOS/Android Traktor apps (ones that can display Traktor waveforms, file browsers, grid point editing, etc)
If this was made of metal it would be solid! I like the idea a lot.
totally agreed - I would buy a mixer only version of the S4 in a heartbeat… it’s a shame NI didn’t realise this instead of the S2 imo.
i guess there´s gonna be something better than this up in ni´s sleeves!
Ooh ooh ooh I have one of those! 
Hopefully… cos what I’m proposing isn’t fiction or a fairy tale dream… they’ve got the software know-how to do the software/hardware integration and those screens and pads could come straight from a Maschine. The Maschine is relatively cheap to make so it wouldn’t necessarily make the S4 that much more expensive. There’s no other company other than NI that could make something like this - it would destroy the competition imo…
Thing is, I dunno how big the Traktor hardware market is compared to the Groovebox / production market. Would be interesting to see how many Maschine’s they’ve sold compared to S4’s…
But they released the S2 to a waiting market.
That doesnt mean they arent working on a crap load of other stuff as well.
Its often assumed that one thing is brought out at the expense of another. I dont see it like that. NI wanna make money so they can develop all manner of stuff. The S2 is selling like hot cakes.
I would be very surprised if NI combine a Traktor controller and Maschine in quite the same way you have done on your mock up but i wouldnt be surprised to see pads on a Traktor controller.
So many DJs are using Maschine and barely scraping the surface of what Maschine does simply cus they dont care, they just want pads.
Its all about the pad at the moment. NI would be silly not to realise that. NI arent silly.
As I mentioned earlier, I’m not talking about combining Traktor with Maschine. I’m talking about a controller that deeply integrates with Traktor so that the 2 screens display information that can’t be extrapolated using midi/hid (the only 2 options we have at the moment). I presume Maschine connects via USB and receives some sort of propietary data that allows it to function the way it does.
I’m talking about the Maschine a lot in this thread because it’s clear that NI understand the software/hardware integration paradigm better than most… they developed the Maschine specifically so that you can write music without using a mouse or laptop screen. So why can’t they do the same for Traktor?
And yeah, the more pads the better!
Yeah saying maschine is kinda misleading I get what youre going for.
Forget maschine integration just having LCD screens on the controller that show waveforms and stuff similar to the way maschine dose it.
I would also really love a modular deck controller for traktor.
Something the equivalent of a Numark V7 but it is non spinning and has a CDJ2000 sized S4 like jog wheel and has LCD screens on the controller that show Traktor waveforms and stuff priced at $500 each or less. If they don’t ever get around to advanced hid on the cdj2000.
Plus a sound card and connection that can be linked through ethernet so the sound cards aggregate and it only takes up one usb port.
Ill do a cad mockup of this either over my winter break or next semester as a project or something…but yeah I have a few ideas of my own as well on this topic.
Basically, a beefy midi mixer with pads and fx panel, probably 8 pads per side but not as big as the maschine pads, slightly smaller.
I think it would be a big boost to the ‘respect’ shown for controllerist if you could dj with your computer closed, if you had a set list prepared I don’t see why you would need a computer.
Basically have the main display showing a waveform, bpm, and time (the info in the track display window of traktor currently) and then just one extra line of text to show which effect is selected…all else would be hardware feedback.
The second layer of the display would be for browsing and loading (just have a file loadout)
very very interesting though…I think a midi mixer would be more profitable and a better product placement instead of another controller.
I would buy it if I had turntables or cdjs and wanted tight integration without 75ft of deckspace with the s4.
You are living in a fanstasy. 500 or less? Ha!
Why would NI sacrifice margins (I mean this from a business sense, not a cynical one)?
There are a few problems I see with your concept however:
Why do I want to give up the real estate of my laptop and pay extra money for a few dinky small screens? The s4 already does a good job of keeping you from touching the computer at all.
How am I going to use this without jogs if I don’t play easily gridded music?
What is the difference between looking down at tiny little screens and looking across at your laptop? I always keep my laptop off to the side, never in front of me - I hate my laptop in front of me. But I’d hate to not use my laptop at all too.
All in all I just don’t get the external screen idea. They aren’t big enough to simply glance at - you have to look close - and it doesn’t leverage the use of your current screen on your laptop. You’re trading one screen for another - and you’re paying more money for it in the process. There is never a time in the booth I can’t just glance at my screen quickly to do a check on something. Giving that up would be dropping one of traktors biggest strengths.
That’s the first thing I thought of.