A small but important update, the controller now has several small RGB screens sitting between the different buttons. Overall, the updates to mixer layout/spacing, components, and styling make the center of this controller look and feel a lot more like Pioneer DJ gear, like the ubiquitous DJM-900NXS/2 mixer. At first I was a bit annoyed at this new “Pioneer” look, but it’s growing on me and certainly feels more professional than the classic Traktor controllers. One section in particular is a welcome nod in that direction… The Mixer FX (Instant Gratification) The Mixer FX allows immediate and simplistic effects with a turn of the knob. By turning to the left or the right, you can immediately get a nice sounding effect.

The sound card has been greatly updated to match its new design and feel, giving a much more noteworthy sound quality as a result

Can I re-map controls on the S4 to do different things? Not now – but we are told it’s coming soon. Filter knobs have little resistance and feel 'cheap' at first impression. Not what you expect from a device in that price range. But to be fair when mixing it doesn't bother me. Extremely satisfying experience with great resolution on both fast and slow scratches”– read more about the Kontrol S4 in our review: https://djtech.tools/s4mk3review

Many of you asked the DJ experts in our online store some great questions about the new S4. We tried to answer them all here in a simple, understandable way: In addition to much of its hardware setup, the Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol S4 MK3 also has a number of different mic input options available.

Traktor Kontrol S4 MK3

Move the switch to either LINE or PHONO next to the INPUT CHANNEL B or INPUT CHANNEL A on the rear panel of the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 hardware. Not only do these platters look great, but they also work surprisingly well despite the controller’s reduced size and weight.

That’s a very personal question, but here are some clear groups that I think might really benefit from upgrading to the new S4, or staying with your existing system. However, unlike Denon and Numark who opted for a system with a moving platter and slip mat, NI chose a high torque motor to move their capacitive wheels. You can choose between a spinning turntable mode or a more traditional static nudge wheel with adjustable tension. The tension control is directly adjusted on the unit by holding the TT button and rotating the jogs. This is a great feature and this genuinely creates jog wheel tension that feels far superior to mechanical offerings found on units such as the DDJ 1000.The pad buttons are somewhat smaller though the spacing actually works better for your fingers when compared to the earlier versions. Anyone that absolutely loves their existing button placement and doesn’t want to learn a new workflow. There was a light turning noise in TT mode on my test unit – apparently torque noise and not a sign of mechanical problems. Only noticeable with no music playing It’s worth pointing out that unlike the S4 Mk1/2, these don’t have mechanical tops – they detect whether you’re touching them via a touch sensitive electrical system, similar to most other jogwheels. The edges are in a tactile rubber finish, and are used for nudging rather than scratching. Note: The older generation TRAKTOR KONTROL MK1 model offers this switch functionality on the rear panel for INPUT CHANNEL C and INPUT CHANNEL D. The additional THRU / USB switch on INPUT CHANNEL D must be set to USB. Additionally, INPUT CHANNEL D shares its input channel with the microphone ( MIC) input so that a microphone and an external audio source cannot be used at the same time on this channel. AUDIO 4 / 8 DJ

Plug-and-play integration with Native Instruments' Traktor Pro 3 (included) and Traktor DJ gets you up and running in no time It’s simple to use and saves diving into the config panel in the software to choose external inputs – but at the time of writing, you do need to have the unit plugged into your laptop with Traktor running to use external inputs at all – in other words, no true standalone capability. This is a massive update and game-changer to the Traktor line. The versatile motorized jog wheels use an original magnetic technology, creating and establishing a strong rotation without feeling “loose” or flimsy. When asked about it, NI said that the newly introduced limiter type (known as “Transparent”) utilizes much of the previous “Classic” limiter while greatly reducing the amount of clipping. The headphone outputs sounded louder to me, which was welcome as even the S5 and S8 controllers (the loudest of the bunch) still occasionally ended up maxed out in loud clubs.That said Traktor is still a very complex piece of software which can be daunting for first time users. The turntable style jog wheels are fantastic fun, they feel great and we would love to see them on more products in the future. We are looking forward to seeing the firmware updates, the stand alone mixer is a feature that will really add value and will allow the S4 become the centre of a DJ setup. Note: Make sure that the Direct Thru option of the input channels is disabled. Additionally, if you wish to save the Input Sens configuration for future use, perform these changes under the Startup tab. Read about the Direct Thru and stand-alone use of the TRAKTOR AUDIO 6 / 10 in this article. TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Hardware and software work together at 30 times the resolution of standard MIDI for maximum precision