We’ve seen the Traktor Kontrol S8 rumors and various leaks around the web, but today everything has been confirmed: Native Instruments is set to release a new jog-wheel free controller with dual screens that pull information directly from Traktor Pro 2. Watch the teaser introduction video inside to see the first glimpses at the controller.
Native Instruments had a slew of big product releases this year including:
In the following video NI teases the Kontrol S8. The official announcement can be found here – or check it out in the DJTT webstore here.
KONTROL S8 FORGETS JOGWHEELS, FOCUSES ON REMIX DECKS
The new Kontrol S8 controller appears to have a strong focus on the Remix Decks – note that there are four smaller faders that appear under each of the screens that likely correspond to the four columns of Remix Decks.
The screens appear incredibly crisp from these first video clips – obviously we’ll wait to see how they appear on the final product, but a great-looking powerful on-screen interface will be essential for NI to win the market.
A few other quick control interface items to glean about the Kontrol S8 from the quick shots in the video:
- Filters now appear to have dedicated on/off switches for each channel
- The Pads on each deck are full-buttons without any labeling (similar to the VCI-400’s) with full-color RGB backlights on each of them – likely to correspond to colored cuepoints or Remix Deck clips
- There’s a Traktor button below each gain knob, as found on the Kontrol Z2 – making this a full standalone mixer that can be used with external inputs. This likely also means that the S8 will be Traktor Scratch-certified.
NATIVE INSTRUMENTS S8 LEAKS CONFIRMED?
We had seen a number of leaks show up at the beginning of the month from various sources – and while we haven’t been able to write about them on the blog, there’s been rampant discussion in the forums discussing and debating the validity of the product mockup shots that made their way onto the web. These initial glimpses seem to completely confirm the leaked images. Major things we can tell just from this image:
- Touch Strips seem to be the replacement for jog wheel control but will we see Traktor DJ style features applied to this strip (freeze mode, two fingers to set loop/loop size, etc)?
- The decks have pads with switchable modes, just like on most of the other all-in-one controllers out in the last year. Modes include Hotcue triggering, Loops, Freeze, and Remix.
- “Capture” and “Edit” buttons to the bottom left of the screens seem to indicate that the Kontrol S8 has a complete workflow for recording and quickly deploying Remix Deck slots, a process that only has been super-intuitive on the Kontrol F1 controllers until now.
- The screens have the ability to show two decks simultaneously – note the above screenshot (grainy because of the zoom level) showing Deck A (track deck) and Deck C (Remix Deck)
- The Kontrol S8 has on onboard crossfader curve adjust on the front of the unit – which means that effectively the entire middle section of the controller is almost identical to what a Kontrol Z4 mixer might look like. We can dream, right?
We’ll continue to have some of the best coverage of the Kontrol S8 in the coming weeks as it approaches a release date. Check out some of the original speculation about the product in this article where one of our forum members predicts the S8 almost on the money!
