AI — fitting S2 and S4 with Innofaders so you don’t have to

Audio Innovate‘s Elliot Marx is a jedi master when it comes to electronics. His weapon of choice is his soldering (or soddering as he likes to call it) iron, and his circuit board fu is second to none. So he more than anyone can appreciate that fitting his range on Innofaders into DJ products ill-suited to them can call upon reserves of the Force that many will never possess. So for those who would love for Native Instruments S2 and S4 controllers to be retro-fitted with Elliot’s wonder fader but lack the necessary skills to do it, Audio Innovate are now selling S2 and S4 controllers fully fitted out with Innofaders in every slot.

Over to Elliot to fill in the dots:

It seems many customers are looking for S2s and S4s with Innofaders. But then the questions come in…How can I afford it? How do I install these parts if I don’t know how to solder?

Well to get things started, I’ve taken it upon myself to offer both the S2 and S4 with pre-installed Innofaders. The S2 has 3 mini Innofader PNP S faders while the S4 has an Innobender crossfader and 4 mini Innofader PNP S channel faders. I’ve signed each product myself on the bottom so you know for sure where it’s coming from! I’ve had many questions about these so let’s start with the pics of these bad boys and I’ll answer the questions as we go along.

Q. Are these brand new?

A. As you can see from the pics, I’ve essentially taken brand new controllers and simply installed the Innofader parts. Even the original tape is still on the jog wheels. The Innofaders are also all brand new.

Q. What comes inside the box?

A. Inside the box are all of the unopened accessories, unused serial numbers, and stickers. At the top of the box are neatly packed Innofaders with all of the unused stickers and accessories still there. In addition, each box has the original faders inside should you decide later you’d like to put the original parts back in and put the Innos into another product.

Q. How do I adjust the mini Innofader if it’s already soldered to the board?

A. Fortunately we thought about this. A year ago when I first attempted this I had a mad scientist setup with wires floating from the main board so I could calibrate parts while they were hooked up. Noting the madness of my ways, I figured this process would be much easier if the calibration buttons were accessible after the parts were installed. The soldered wires add a small amount of height to the parts which made the soldering a bit tricky, but this allowed me to place the buttons wherever they needed to be without shorting to anything.

P.S. The front panel headphone + mic control boards make things a bit tricky on the S2 and S4. On the S2, you have to wiggle the faders around this board to get them out but they do come out without the need to mess with this board. On the S4, you need to remove the remove the phone jack nut and the other 3 control knobs, then push in all of the knobs, remove one screw. Then once you pull the plastic cassis over the headphone jack, you can rotate out the entire board out of place.

Q. How about the warranty?

A. Well the main reason I started with these products is I’ve seen from working with NI on getting the mini Innofader in the Z2 that they have an extremely comprehensive QC system in place.  So the likelihood of having warranty issues with their products is extremely small compared to most other manufacturers. But since I’ve already opened and modified the product, I’ll take it upon myself to do a one year warranty on my end.

Q. How much is this all going to cost me?

A. These products have only $50 added cost for each mini Innofader and $100 added cost for each Innobender. So at today’s price 8/24/2014 the S2 is $649US and the S4 is $1099US. I can ship either by USPS domestically or get good discounted rates with DHL or Fed Ex for international shipments. Shipping is probably in the $25 to $80 range depending on location.

Q. What if I already have a controller and want to do the soldering upgrade?

A. As a customer, please feel free to ask for my assistance. I am happy to do free installations for any DJ who purchases Innofader parts from me and sends me their mixer or controller for updating. This goes for not just the S2 or S4, but for any controller or mixer that we have on our compatibility chart. If you don’t want to send me the product, I can assist you by finding a technician locally who may be able to help you with the installation.

Q. Why doesn’t NI just sell S2s and S4s with Innofaders already installed like they do with the Z2?

A. Haha it’s not my place to tell NI how to sell and market their products. I’ve already put the bug in their ear and even sent them an S2 with 3 mini Innofaders for evaluation.  If this is something you’d like to see definitely let them know!

In a nutshell, Audio Innovate will supply you with:

• A new Kontrol S2 mk2  fully fitted out with mini Innofaders and a 12 month warranty for $649.
• A Kontrol S4 mk2 with a full sized Innofader and 4 x mini Innofaders and 12 month warranty for $1099.

For potential buyers in the US, this is a fair hike over the off-she-shif price, but a lot cheaper than buying the Innofaders and having to do it yourself, and invalidating the warranty at the same time.  For people outside the US who are experiencing a beneficial exchange rate, this could be a total and utter bargain. At the time of writing, a Kontrol S2 mk2 in the UK is £399. But a full Innofadered S2mk2 from AI converts to just £391 plus shipping and duty. The S4 mk2 comes in at £662 as opposed to £649 retail, which is a little more expensive, but still a brain for what you get. Obviously shipping is on top, and for such a thing insured shipping is recommended. And if you’re lucky, you may not get hit with import duty. Good luck with that though — I regularly get hammered with duty so don’t expect to get away with it,

Aside from the obvious price benefits, having the InnoDaddy himself do all the fitting and throwing in a 12 month warranty too is a service worth paying for.