Maybe if you didn’t write the biggest TL;DR post ever 
Too bad about your sig. other though… 
As a former owner of an S4, and the current owner of a pair of CDJ-2000s and a DJM-2000, I really don’t understand how anyone can think of an S4 as “toylike.” Maybe it’s got something to do with old hat morons and reviewers who think anything less than 40lbs and made of steel won’t last, but of all the complaints I have with the S series, durability and build quality is definitely not one of them. The OP is essentially a misinformed stream of FUD and prejudice, especially considering Pio jogs have the same style of pressure-sensitivity. If you want to get into the subtleties of the buttons, sure, but the fact of the matter is that with bolted metal stems, magnetic jogs, smooth, short body faders, and uncrackable buttons, the S series is here to stay.
Despite my serious misgivings with the controllers, there’s no other controller I’d touch over an NI knob-box if I was going to go back to the abomination that is Traktor. Anyone who has any complaints, especially outward complaints, about the build quality is just paranoid or stupid.
And L oh fucking L at people recommending the 4trak over the S series, now I know whos just a paranoid old hat who gets off to hardware wrapped in steel. These same people would probably recommend a beat to shit M3D or an M5G over a TTX or super OEM because of “legacy and reliability” or something equally paranoid. The 4trak is an abominable pile of poor build quality design decisions, let’s be real here: Numark had a good design philosophy with the NS7, and then when they built the NS6/4trak, they just thought “hmmm… Should we use the awesome buttons we custom made for the NS7, or those shitty buttons we put on our old NDX players that felt like crap and cracked all the time? Let’s go with the NDX.” Add that to the plastic pots, sandy feeling faders, and poorly mounted jogs, and you’ve got nothing but a metal case.
I have my doubts that he can even map talent for himself… He’s a damn talented performer, but his staff seems to do all of the mapping for him at this point…
That’s actually a totally badass-looking piece of kit that I’ve never even heard of somehow… Except for no touch jogs, which I could get over, and only four cue points… I’d fuckin LOVE that thing if I were still into all-in-ones. Wish I’d picked that up originally instead of my S4. Damn. Also, yeah, the NI sound cards are pretty good. The maschine is still somewhat low-build quality for it’s price, but nowhere near the atrocities of the S2/S4.
Don’t reply critically to shit you don’t read, and you won’t look like a dubass, champ! 
I… What… Sir, I rarely say this… But you seem to just have no idea what you’re talking about whatsoever.
First off. I’m new-school-as-fuck, not some “old-hat”. The S4 was my second DJ controller ever. I know all of what I know about gear through playing around with other artists’ gear.
Next, your rant about build quality is… I’m blown away. I find it hard to believe that you’ve ever touched an S4, and I’m not sure you know much about DJ equipment at all. “smooth, short body faders”? You have a DJM-2000, and you think the S4 faders are smooth??? I’m calling shenanigans here, sir. Either you don’t own a DJM-2000, or you’ve never used an S4. Further, “short-bodied”? Are you claiming that the pitch faders being short is a good thing? Now I’m questioning if you’re even a DJ.
Bolted metal stems are pretty much standard, I don’t know many controllers that don’t have them, and they’re hardly something to brag about. “uncrackable buttons”? Really…? How-the-fuck often do buttons crack on controllers… WTF?
And the jogs, as we’ve previously covered are not the same as on a CDJ 2000 AT ALL.
The design for the 4-track is fucking great, I dunno wtf you’re on about. I’m assuming you just don’t use most of the controls it offers in your workflow, if you were able to switch to CDJs and a mixer. Also, you’ve made it clear that you’ve never touched one… The build quality is at least fairly good… And MILES beyond the S4. Those buttons arent amazing, but they’re, again, MILES beyond the S4 buttons.
Honestly… The only thing I can think of that would spawn this ill-informed silliness you just spouted is can be summed up with… “Nice try, Native Instruments”
This text is because vbulletin is dumb
If you want to use a controller to scratch with in traktor you have to use an S2/4… That is the way traktor was designed, It is unlikely that it would be optimised for any other controller without large kickbacks to NI… As always VDJ is better suited to controllerism anyway and you can use any controller in full resolution, even NHL protocol if you can figure it out…
Just because of the furious way your trying to make your point, I would be more keen on trying the S4, than to stay away from it.
If a controller/mixer or any kind of player causes you to make misstakes more often, you should change the way you’re handling your music and players, or go for another controller or player.
“Be careful crap”?
Sure, it just goes to show the way of appreciating/respecting your gear.
If you cannot respect/appreciate your 900 dollars/euros worth gear(S4), that you’d rather keep on abusing it in stead of just handling it, then this will result in breaking down on you.
You will probably keep on encountering gear being wrecked.
Trust me if I say that switches and rotaries won’t turn/switch any better when you flick them at full strength in stead of using appropriate strength.
Agreed. The only time during this thread I just had to effin’ bust up laughing..
I feel there’s something wrong with the person standing behind your gear… 
“Shitty buttons not pressing like they should”?! Never heard such a piece of s***!
My S4 owning mate is the only person I know to have had to send his back for repair twice due to faults, which could just be bad luck but could also be worth bearing in mind.
Note that he didn’t damage it either time and NI didn’t quibble with the repair.
This. You shouldn’t have to abuse any of your equipment IMO, the only thing that build quality should have to defend from is accidents happening at gigs and such, and if you spend alot of money on equipment it should be protected in cases. No matter how hard you bash NI, they will keep making money off people who enjoy their products. And really, implying Numark making a better controller just because of the metal case? Lamest thing i’ve ever heard.
Regardless of how hard you treat your controller I don’t think anyone could deny that the Vestax controllers are a lot better built than the S2/S4. Can’t speak for the Numarks because I haven’t seen them, but the 100/300/400/600 are built like proverbial tanks compared to the NI kit.
When people talk about build quality they are not just talking about durability and how long it will last or if it will break. It’s about the quality of construction and how it feels to operate during regular use- how it feels to rest your hand on the surface or what it feels like to turn a knob or fader and if it feels wobbly and cheap or like a solid machine.
You’ve pretty much summed up why I went for the Twitch.
I had a play with the S4 in store and not only did its $900 AUD price tag turn me away from it but the Twitch did everything the S4 did and better in my opinion. Soundcard on the Twitch isnt great but what do you expect for $400? It’s one of the best controllers on the market if you ask me.
In saying this the S4 aint no junk haha…
Bullshit. Buttons should fucking press when you push them down. Those shitty recessed buttons don’t work half the time. Are you really going to call out my skill on hitting a button…? I’m gonna go out on a limb and say I can press the Deck Switch button just fine. I shouldn’t have to adopt some new button pressing technique to press the shitty buttons.
No… I’m saying you should be careful, but if something is billed as high-end gear, you shouldn’t have to be MORE careful with it than you would ACTUAL high-end gear.
No, build quality should feel good while you’re using it. Nobody in the world can make a legitimate claim that the faders feel anywhere near as good as a good mixer’s, the rubber buttons have as short a travel as they should, the jogwheel touch system isn’t a complete joke, etc.
And I call bullshit, you’ve never touched a 4 track. It’s got nothing to do with the case. I’m as surprised as you’d be if you played with one. The build quality isn’t bad, especially for Numark. And I never said it was great, I just said it was better than the S4. I Just like it because it’s got a design that would fit my workflow pretty well if I wasn’t getting away from all-in-ones asap.
Honestly, there aren’t any all-in-ones that I know of that I’d say the build quality of is even close to that of high-end mixers, except for a couple of Vestax’s badasses, and maybe some of the smaller, specialty companies like faderfox and Livid etc.
true… i just get a little narky each time someone makes a totally unfounded statement about hid verses midi. especially as it seems to be what most people seem to think. so nothing against him in particular.
this is true… for some reason that i can’t fathom traktor does seem to work better in hid mode when it comes to jogs from what people say. ofc it’s in their interest to keep it that way 
they just have more interest in optimizing and giving priority to their hid decode over midi. these days they do seem to want to sell a hardware+software package as opposed to just software that can work equally well with any controller.
if someone really wanted to map a hid device - and their are some reasons to do it, like waveforms on a cdj - then vdj or mixxx are the way to go…
My macbook pro was 2 grand and I baby it way more than I did my old dell…
(although my dell wasn’t “high end” I think you get the point)
But are you saying that the S4 is billed as high end gear? I think anything less than $1000 (and again this includes the software) is not billed as high end gear, Its mid range and perfect for a DJ on the go. Also due to is “CHEAP” build I dont break my back carrying it to and from gig’s.
Also I have never had any problems with my unit, but then again Im trying to imagine how hard you beat on your equipment to come to these conclusions.
this has just turned into a pissing match between people who hate NI’s gear and people who enjoy it. @Saurus, i have in fact played around with a 4 Track bro and wasn’t too impressed. Like I said, people have different opinions. And as you think mine is bad, I think yours is too. No one here is going to say some miraculous statement that makes someone say “Well damn, good point. Im going to switch gear right now.” So I “call bullshit” on this entire thread.
their gear must be pretty good with so many people really liking it. personally i don’t intend every buying an s2/s4 but i do want to buy a maschine sometime, even an S1 for the nice rgb lights… (not for it’s remix deck capabilities as i don’t use traktor any more)
this forum is quite biased towards traktor so it’s also going to be fairly biased towards the NI controllers… they’re certainly some of the better controllers around. not sure i’d call them “high end” kit, but certainly decent middle priced controllers.
Yes, I would go with either Twitch or S4 just now. Those are the two best designed controllers out there. The rest are me-too. I’m not that worry about durability to the point that if something is done properly and is not a tank, that’s good enough for me.