To me, this implies you don’t really know what you want and probably should spend a thousand dollars on a controller until you figure that out. So, I’ll give you my thoughts but not actually give a recommendation.
The S8 doesn’t mean you can’t use the CDJs as HID controllers. You’d just have redundant controls for some things. And the S8 is pretty damn big to fit in a booth if you also want to use their CDJs.
The S8 is also a standalone digital mixer.
Also…remember that you can’t use the SX2 as a sound card with Traktor unless you use another controller to mix internally (which the SX2’s mixer can’t do).
You have to have another sound card to feed the SX2 audio. And there is, technically, a quality loss associated with converting to analog just for a cable run and then having the SX2 immediatley convert back to digital to do the mixing. With the S8, Traktor can feed a digital signal to the mixer directly.
The difference being audible would take an awesome sound system in an awesome room with awesome ears…but it’s there. Then again, people tend not to use the digital IO on CDJs and DJMs, so it seems like no one actually cares.
Yeah. The traktor mapping for the SX makes the settings window take forever to open (seriously: it’s ~30 seconds and feels longer). This happens whether it’s connceted or not, no matter what you’re trying to do, as long as the .tsi is loaded in Traktor.
FWIW, you can open the settings window while Traktor is playing. Controllers still work right, and it doesn’t affect the audio. But, the screen freezes and just doesn’t update while the settings window is opening or closing. I don’t remember if it updates while the settings window is open, but it’s not worth loading the .tsi again to find out.
This is honestly one of the big reasons I stopped using my SX as a traktor controller. The jogs just weren’t worth the hassle. When I wanted to spin, occasionally Traktor would load using my laptop’s output in internal mode instead of the sound card that I had connected to the SX. Fixing that took at least a minute, which would be a huge PITA if I was taking over from another DJ in a club, all of it just standing around waiting for the computer and not being able to do anything else.
Also, it still has fewere capabilities than either controller…and doesn’t require a laptop, which is either good or bad depending solely on your opinion. If you like using CDJs, it’s worth considering.
Well…that opens up options.
Keep in mind that the S8 will work with DVS. AFAIK, you just need the control vinyl. It’ll also work with HID control if you want the platters and have access to CDJs.
Frankly, I think that’s kind of a best-of-both-worlds setup, however you choose to do it. There were 2 reasons I didn’t do exactly that (an S8 + my 1200s, eventually maybe switching them out for CDJs). One is that I wanted to try a rotary mixer instead of the mixer on the S8. The other is that I don’t want to use 2 remix decks and 2 track decks, which seems to be about the only thing that the S8 is actually ideal for. I prefer 3 or 4 track decks and at most 1 remix deck, at least right now.
So…opinion on one or the other…I don’t really have one. I wouldn’t buy either at this point, and I’m about to photograph my SX to list it for sale because I just don’t want it anymore.
It sounds like you want to use Traktor, like the screens, like remix decks, and miss jogs. The “obvious” answer ignoring price to that is the S8 with a pair of CDJs in HID mode or a pair of turntables with time code records. Unfortunately, the XDJ-1000 doesn’t seem to do HID with Traktor. So…that becomes either a very expensive or a very physically large proposition.
The SX2 will do all of that either with your A10 and Traktor Scratch or with SDJ. But with Traktor, the control over the remix decks won’t be nearly as good. I’m not even sure it’s possible to map it to even come remotely close, and the SX2 is missing several controls that you need…so it might be futile to try. And it’s .tsi really is a hacky solution…it works while you’re spinning, but it’s not super-pleasant to work with except while you’re actually spinning. The SX2 just plain works better with Serato DJ, which doesn’t have remix decks…and it’s SP-6 is a damn joke in comparison.
So…I can’t offer advice except to think seriously about what you really want, sort our your priorities, and then decide. The SX2 and S8 are enough different that I really think comparing them like this means you haven’t done that yet. And that’s the important part if you don’t want to chance an expensive mistake.
My personal solution was to ignore both…and just use modular controllers. I think they’re still just better unless you happen to really want one particular controller. I still have these kinds of issues that boil down to “do I want to spend a bunch of money just on platters”…but for me that’s an issue because it makes sense to sell my 1200s, but I know that if I do it, I’ll probably never own Technics again.