I already kind of made a thread about this, but I thought I’d get more precise feedback here.
I’ll be upgrading from a Numark Mixtrack Pro with Traktor because; no hotcues, no sampling, tedious loop cancelling, and very tools to utilize effects.
If there is a thread that directly compares (like lists) the concrete differences between the two, I’ll just delete this.
But if anyone could, point out the differences between the two, or even give advice on what you think would be a better upgrade from the Mixtrack. My budget is fairly limited, but there is a “month old used lightly by an adult rarely” S4 on my local craigslist for 700$.
if you are just going to do Live DJing at a club you will more or less use 2 decks, are you going for more advance mixing and maybe some recording go for S4. I have S4 and love it
i owned the S4 for a whole year before selling it and buying the S2 due to several reasons (among them portability, not needing the 2 extra channels etc)
you can read my review here
the review was done when i bought the S2 at pretty much full retail price, with the current discount at the moment its a no brainer that the S2 is the ultimate value when it comes to 2 deck controllers
do you really need 4 decks? Do you need smooth filters on all 4 decks? if yes then go for the S4, although for the current discount you can pretty much get 2 brand new S2’s for less than the price of a brand new S4 , also do you really need timecode ? If you do you might want to consider getting the S2 + Audio 6 +Scratch upgrade instead for more options
I think its a thing of taste… if you like to do a complex routine with lots of effects, and loops playing everywhere, and crazy tricks with faders and knobs… well the s4 its your choice… of course not too much portability and a your gonna need a bigger bag
If you just want to play and mix 2 songs, scratching and have fun with it… well the s2 its perfect.
eventually yeah, so is there any sense in getting another two deck controller with a very, very, similar layout/functionality? I just get this feeling the S2 is not that much more sophisticated than the Mixtrack, please prove me wrong haha.
Does anyone foresee a deal on the S4 like we have on the S2 right now?
I’m only about halfway through but I had to come back to tell you, this is helping a lot!! I’m one of those people when it comes to buying something that I’m really into i can NEVER make a decision.
There are good deals out there on the S4 used (especially with a lot of people buying the VCI 400, it seems). I was just able to buy a (barely) used S4 for $550 shipped.
Yeah, the part about it being too big (Although I wanted something big so it would look more professional) to bring around easily sound annoying.
And I HATE when things like that scratch, the freaking metal ipod backings all over again?
I don’t think deals like that are easy to come by… Unless someone wants to point me in the right direction.
I’m thinking the wisest route here might be getting an S2 and then coupled with the F1 seeing as the F1 is being made to compliment the S2 greatly, but a price estimate on the F1 would be nice. Anyone?
I think you’ll be really happy with that setup. That’s exactly the setup I’m going for too.
I’m gonna estimate the F1 to be around $200-$300 dollars, plus you’ll need to upgrade traktor to be able to use it to it’s full potential. Probably $80 for the upgrade.
After being away from DJing for a few years, I bought a Mixtrack Pro to get back into it. I bought Virtual DJ Pro, got everything loaded up, and was pretty satisfied for a little bit. That being said, though, I have used the S2/S4 and I can tell you that if you want a more sophisticated 2-deck controller than the Mixtrack Pro, the S2 is it. The components are much higher quality, the effects more functional and expressive, the built-in sound card better sounding, and the overall feel and build quality of the S2 is very high. The Mixtrack Pro, with its cheap plastic construction, doesn’t feel nearly as good as the S2 does and lacks a lot of great features that the S2 has. Now, I’m not saying that the cosmetic differences should make a huge difference, but the S2’s software and quality are top notch and would most definitely be a huge upgrade for you. And, with the current sale, they’re at a price that can’t be beat!
Also, after you save up some more cash, the F2 and 2.5 would be a great companion to the S2. For the time being, though, the S2 by itself is a fantastic unit.
