Traktor Scratch Certified (What does it mean now)…
… and what does it take to get something “Certified”
The reason I ask is, I really expected the 4trak to work with scratch. It’s a stand alone mixer in its spare time, with phono amps and must have been developed pretty closely with NI, given that Numark have used HID for the jogs which I didn’t think anyone else was allowed access to, apart from NI (s2/s4).
Am I massively misinformed?
Anyone else not happy about this?
MMM
I’m guessing the reason it isn’t Traktor certified is because it would cannibalise sales away from NI’s own S4. There’s only a few mixers that are Traktor certified and the S4 is the only certified controller (I think).
Yup I was thinking that myself but was hoping it wouldn’t be the answer.
Its pretty sneaky I think. And makes me not like them a little bit 
Scratch certification is different than it was a few years ago. NI will never ever scratch certify another controller. And these days the only way a mixer has a chance at getting certified is to be made by pioneer.
Why?
They will never certify a controller because of the s4.
NI claims other mixers haven’t gotten certified because they aren’t expected to meet certain sales quotas which they have now… The only mixers that have been certified in the past couple years have been pioneer despite many others that fit the technical criteria- so it wouldn’t surprise me if they had some sort of agreement where NI won’t certify anything that competes with the 900 nexus or T1, but this is just speculation.
Because pioneer have money to burn.
What is it they did to stop “ghetto Timecode” working?
Traktor knows what soundcard is connected and if it isn’t on the list of approved soundcards the software disables timecode. This move only hurts paying customers like us since anyone can download a pirated hacked version of traktor scratch pro 2 that lets you use any soundcard you like- which is pretty irritating really knowing I don’t get that freedom as a paying customer and we have to deal with NI’s certification politics.
Seeing as NI are about to announce that they’re about to move to a ‘free software with hardware purchase’ model, I can kind of see their point.
Anyone can download an old, buggy, crashy hacked version of traktor 2 pro that lets you use any soundcard you like.
If NI let you use any soundcard you like, then anyone could then download a perfectly working hacked version of TSP that would net NI exactly zero money (because you haven’t bought any NI hardware). NI wouldn’t get as much money; which mean that they’d either have to:
…either way, not a good result for NI or the end user
Are they really?
http://www.soundware.co.uk/news/2012/04/02/native-instruments-update-the-traktor-line-up-for-2012/
Yeah, it looks a lot more like the Serato model of sales now
I cant as I paid for my scratch setup and would just like to have as little clutter around as possible.
I just think it would be nice to have the option given I’ve paid good money for a scratch setup but would like to get rid of as much clutter as possible.
Interesting- as long as they don’t go the dongle route. At least they are getting rid of traktor scratch duo- they should have done it like that from the very start it was always kind of pointless.
I wonder what this means for the Traktor Scratch Upgrade option or if they will ditch that again and force you to get an A6 package.
I am perfectly happy buying NI hardware to get traktor scratch pro 2 and that’s how it has always been for the most part- I would just like if that money spent meant I could use whatever soundcard I like.
While they’re at it NI needs to come out with an Audio 10 MK2 that makes it more efficient on power and doesn’t require the AC adapter.
Yup, I definitely understand but I don’t think NI would want to let unlocked software out in the wild
Maybe I’m a bit off-base here but…
This “makes you not like them” because you didn’t do your research before making a ~$1000 purchase? Instead you assumed that it would work with Scratch Pro? I still have yet to see any marketing material for it that would make me think it works as a soundcard for TSP. Even the product page for the 4trak (4TRAK | Numark) mentions nothing about Traktor Scratch. Trust me, when a product is TSP certified, the manufacturer usually shouts that fact from the rooftops. It’s a process that takes a significant amount of time and money and results in an important selling point for the product; they want you to know about it. If the marketing was misleading, that would have been fair enough; as it is - no sympathy here.
Maybe I just do more research about my large purchases than most people, but the idea of dropping a grand on something when I’m not intimately familiar with all its features is appalling to me. It’s kind of like the situation with my DJM 900. I wish it sounded a bit warmer, that the effects were higher quality, that it could receive midi-clock, and that the soundcard was a bit more flexible. However, I don’t blame Pioneer for the lack of those features because after my research I knew the product didn’t have them. I accept responsibility for being informed (or not) about my decisions.
If NI didn’t want to work with Numark to certify the 4trak because of the S4, that’s a perfectly legitimate reason and makes good business sense for them. As a consumer you might want them to work differently, but they have to do what’s best for them as a company. As a customer of theirs, I’m happy they’re being smart about things like this so that they can grow and make Traktor into an even bigger and better product. Put it this way - would you still want Scratch certification in the 4trak if the controller cost an extra $200 because of it? Scratch certification usually results in a higher price point compared to comparable gear.
As for Xone’s point about certification - I suspect he may be right. However, unless NI have an exclusivity contract with Pioneer, I would not be surprised to see them working with other companies like Allen & Heath on certification in the future. I suspect the reason that the DB4/2 didn’t get certified was because A&H and NI couldn’t work out an agreement, not because of exclusivity with Pioneer. NI haven’t been exclusive with companies for certification in the past and I would think that should continue. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if working with Pioneer changes that; as for past certification decisions, I wouldn’t have wanted to lock certification to Korg or Mackie either. It can’t be ignored though that Pioneer represents a potentially huge marketing boost, especially with the DJM 900 becoming the new industry standard mixer.
I haven’t dropped $1000 on anything without doing my research. I am doing my research thankyou very much, so back in your basket!
And as far as “It’s a process that takes a significant amount of time and money”… Money… probably. Just to line NI’s pockets so that they will flick the “switch” which cant really take much “time” at all. It used to work with anything until they just blocked it by knowing what device is connected see “ghetto timecode” thread if it still exists.
It makes me not like them as I … actually you know what i can’t really be bothered as I have already said why, but you clearly just jumped at the chance to have a bit of a rant at me without actually reading past the post you quoted.
Cheers for your input 
MMM
