Suffice to say, that if you like manual beatmatching and mixing non-electronic music, this controller isn’t for you – stick with the S2 or S4 as they have jogwheels and proper pitch controls, and so don’t rely on Traktor’s “only good for electronic stuff” beatgridding limitations. I’m not going to dwell on the fact that there are no jogwheels here, or that the screen usability is a mix of good (FX, Stems, Remix Decks feedback) and not-so-good (library selection is still too convoluted)… this stuff is all covered in our Kontrol S8 review. This is where you can set things like the behaviour of the touch controls (whether or not they automatically open their respective screen displays) how the touchstrips work, and the way the Stems controls are configured (toggle vs hold – more about this option later). Do expect a few head scratching moments nonetheless as you go if you haven’t done this before.Īs with NI’s other dedicated Traktor controllers, you get a separate window in the config panel: The Kontrol S5’s config panel, where you can adjust certain behaviours of your hardware. To get going, you need to go through the (it always seems to me) unnecessarily convoluted process of installing Traktor’s proprietary license / updates / download manager software, and answer a few hard-for-beginners questions before you get to the starting line, although to be fair things have improved in this area in recent years with the advent of NI’s own Traktor hardware. There’s a single USB for attaching your laptop (in case you’re in any doubt, you still need your laptop think of these screens on the Kontrol S5 as “remote” screens showing you some of the info from your computer in a more convenient place), a power input … and, apart from the choice of 1/4″ and 1/8″ headphones sockets on the front, that’s it for your inputs and outputs. Outputs are RCA and XLR for main, and 1/4″ jack for Booth. Inputs are limited to a single Aux, which allows you to plug in a Mic and/or a Line In – that’s it. Note that there are no phono / line inputs here since it’s not a standalone mixer.Īround the back is where we see the big changes. The Traktor Kontrol S5 has Master and Booth outputs, along with Mic and Aux inputs. Overall the layout does appear more conventional – minus the jogwheels and plus the screens, of course. The selector buttons for the performance pads have moved into a more usual position above the pads. It’s certainly not quite as scary looking as the S8, dropping the four mini-faders per deck, as well as the second sets of FX / further controls. It takes a little bit of checking around to realise its ambitions are more aligned with the S2 (ie it’s basically a self-contained software controller, not the potential centre of a DJing “hub”). How does it sit in the new line of controllers from NI?Īctually, on first impression the Kontrol S5 looks a bit like the S4, being the same size, having four sets of channel controls, and pretty much the same form factor. First Impressions / Setting up We take a look at Native Instruments’ latest offering, the Traktor Kontrol S5.
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