Table of Contents
Introduction
Preface from The Editor
This is the first of a handful of articles relating to Native Instruments’ latest and greatest release of Traktor. Version 2.5 brings the all new Remix Decks as well as the diminutive Kontrol F1 controller to make them sing. Over the next few days, we’ll bring you this update article which is aimed at those who want to know about Traktor Pro 2.5 and its new features but without having to buy an F1, as well as other Remix Deck and F1 articles. We hope you like them all. Now back to Jared’s review…
Introduction
Even though it hasn’t been discussed very much, Traktor Pro 2.5 has brought a few new features and controls that effect users who don’t buy an F1. Even though the Controller Manager is still there, a number of very serious improvements have been made as well as some under the hood changes that can make any DJs life easier. Unfortunately, they also made some serious workflow changes that frustrated me as I was playing with this software sans F1.
While I now have an F1 and have played with it a bit that will be for a different review. This review is instead dedicated to Traktor Pro 2.5 as a general update, while explaining how the more advanced MIDI functionality has changed with the Remix Decks for users who don’t have an F1.
Please keep in mind that a lot of what I am going to talk about it just dedicated to the MIDI mappers out there, and if you are (understandably) averse to mucking around in the Controller Manager you might not be interested in some of what comes next. I still really wanted to understand what would change if I didn’t have the F1 in front of me.
General Update
The 2.5 update feels a lot more solid now. My computer resource monitor moves around a lot less than with other softwares (VDJ and Itch), and having four decks running, each routed to advanced FX with loops shows no latency whatsoever. All in all, I can’t recommend this update enough for people. That being said, there were two issues I ran into with beatgridding that frustrated me.
The analysis was great (and the addition of reanalyzing Gain levels is a wonderful addition), but there are some frustrations. If the analysis of the new song was incorrect (didn’t happen often) and I didn’t know the correct BPM there was an annoying bug that would delete my inserted beatgrid and replace it at some random point in the track. However, I have been informed by Native Instruments that a fix is forthcoming in the 2.5.1 update due at the end of the month.
My general method of gridding a song once the tempo is correct is to constantly trigger the beatgrid and push the marker back and forth until it is right where I want it. In previous versions of Traktor this worked perfectly. Now, though, the wave form is not moving smoothly and I can’t trigger as quickly as I’d like. It didn’t prevent me from gridding accurately, it just feels like it was a step backward.
Controller Manager
Native Instruments has finally given a series of updates to the outdated behemoth that users have been requesting for far too long. The best update (and arguably rollback as it was available in Traktor 3) is the availability of using Learn for your Outputs. Thank god, is all I can say. No more needing to scroll through the awful trees of notes and CC and Note messages to have them mysteriously disappear because I hovered too close to some unrelated window.
They also added a nice feature for outputs that I didn’t expect. If you select any Input message and click the Output menu I can now automatically duplicate that Input into an Output, messaging and all. Perfect.
They added a bunch of new modifier values added to be used with any command. These include the Hotcue states, what the Remix Deck play state or mode is, what the FX mode is, and whether Scratch has been activated. These are great additions to the selection that was available before, but there are still only two slots for any translator, which can feel limiting once you want to do more complicated mappings.
The Controller Manager has also been heavily reorganized. Controls are easier to find, and Legacy controls are labeled as such to hint that they have been replaced with better options (more on this later). My favorite change was that the FX control has been consolidated to just one set of commands that encompass both Advanced and Chained options.
However, with these submenus, the Cue menu does not line up correctly. Hovering over the wrong part of the menu will close what you were looking at. This is frustrating, especially when neck-deep in a mapping dedicated to making your sample decks work like they did before.
Unfortunately, the Controller Manager has a lot of its ingrained nuances that make a lot of MIDI mappers frustrated: I can’t select more than one command; I can’t make batch changes; I can’t resize it; use the keyboard to scroll through it, etc etc etc. The Output changes are a great step, but there are so many parts of this thing that need deep updates that I can’t help but bring them up. That being said, the changes they have made are a great step forward into a world where mapping a controller in Traktor isn’t an absolutely miserable experience.
Remix Decks/Sample Decks
So let’s say you don’t have an F1, nor have any plans on getting one. Well, first of all, be prepared for a little bit of work ahead of you. Slot Play has been removed altogether, though your individual mapping will not be cleared of this command, yet. Bear with me because this is about to get a little confusing.
Keep in mind this entire section is going to be dedicated to getting your controllers “future proofed” (protected against future updates of Traktor Pro 2) and having them interact exactly as they did in previous versions, or as close as we can get them.
The first thing you want to do is go to the Remix Deck section of the preferences and check Auto Enable Deck Play on Sample Trigger. This will force your Remix Deck to play when you hit retrigger. If this is not selected and you turn on a Remix Cell it will not play until the associated Deck is activated.
Slot Play has been removed and the only option is now Slot Retrigger. Retrigger is linked to the cell type (Gate and Latched) of the sample you are working in and has two different interactions, as per usual, hold and toggle. Be careful because these interact completely differently depending on whether your deck is in Latch or Gate mode.
Latched
If your sample is set to Latched mode and you set Retrigger to Hold, the sample will continue playing forever. Not only that but when you hit the button again it will just trigger over and over. When it is set to Toggle it has identical interaction.
What does this mean? In Latched mode, you cannot stop individual samples without stopping the whole deck or using your mouse with a Shift + Click on the sample.
Gated
In Gated mode, with Retrigger set to Hold the sample will only play as long as you hold the button and will disengage on release. This is tied to the Quantize value, so if your quantize is set to 1 beat it will stop after 1 whole beat has passed.
With Retrigger set to Toggle you can start and stop your sample as per normal. Keep in mind this does not stop it at a certain point and then start it again; instead it restarts the sample again from the beginning. There doesn’t see to be a Pause for individual sample cells.
Loading
Also, when loading cells from decks or the loop recorder, the old interaction was great: it would load the cell, mute the cell, and play the loop just like a deck copy. This allowed for some seamless transitions between samples and newer songs when it was necessary. Now this functionality does not exist. There are very complicated ways to do this involving modifiers and layered commands, but it just bothers me, as that functionality worked so well.
You can also set the source of where the sample will come from directly. This gives another option for how your controllers are set up, instead of needing a full shift layer to load from the loop recorder OR the deck you can just change that option and when you are in the process of loading. The original commands for Copy from Slot and Copy from Loop Recorder are in the Legacy window, though, so they aren’t gone yet.
The Capture command is set using the Slot Capture/Trigger/Mute command, which was fascinating to just play with. If there was nothing in the cell it would copy to the cell. When I pressed it again it would play. When I pressed it again nothing would happen, but then again it would mute. Then I realized that my interaction mode was set to toggle, when I set it to hold it worked as expected. It’s still just a really strange way of doing things. I think this was an attempt to get at my issue above, but it just doesn’t hit the mark.
Cell Properties
So they have added a bunch of new properties to individual samples, all of which are great. They each have their own Play Type as before (Loop or One Shot), but now have Trigger Type (Gate or Latched), whether or not the cell is sync’d to the deck clock, reverse, its own beatgrid that isn’t very easy to edit within the Remix Deck, pitch and gain.
My frustration is the only way to get to this menu is to open up the entire Remix Deck. I can’t have access to it while it looks like a sample deck, and hence it takes up precious screen real estate. These options are great, but getting to them can be a pain if you weren’t planning on using the full 16 cell window. These should be available no matter what size I have the Remix Deck set to.
Looping
You can now loop a Remix Deck and all of the included cells. This can be a lot of fun once you get your samples doing exactly what you want them to do. When samples are set to One Shot, though, they will stop one beat before the loop ends, wait a beat, and then begin playing again. Just something to keep your eye on.
Final Thoughts
Should you upgrade to Traktor Pro 2.5? Yes, just for the stability improvements. Hell, gain analysis and beatgridding are better, and that little bit can go a whole long way. Also, being able to save gain and pitch to samples, as well as any other cell type is very useful. So I’d say go for it, whether or not you have an F1. Just be aware of the changes you may need to make for the Remix Decks to be used to their full potential without needing your mouse.
Editorial
I really love the idea of the Remix Decks, just like I did the Sample Decks. They are great with the F1 (I mean, hell, it has a Sample Stop button), but the inherent work flow is not the best when you are using any other type of controller. The fact that they removed a tried and true functionality that, at least for me, worked very well and informed my entire work flow (loading sample cells) is frustrating.
A lot of discussion has been happening around Remix Decks drinking Ableton’s milkshake. I can see where that comes from, but I don’t think NI pulled it off yet. This is a great step forward in DJ software technology, but if someone wants to DJ in the method Ableton allows (cell based) Ableton is still the best solution for that. Traktor, for me, was always great because of its improvisational technique. I could bring my system to a gig, load up and DJ with minimal prep. That just isn’t possible in Ableton. And now it feels like Traktor is moving in that direction as well.
Deep down at its core, Traktor is still an improvisational DJ tool. If I don’t want to build Remix sets and instead want to show up to a gig and just mix two or four decks, I can. The Remix Decks add a whole other layer of functionality to play with, but I think they restrict the improvisational nature I have come to love over the years. I want to see Traktor embrace what it’s great at.
The Remix Decks, however, are built to be used in a very specific way, and if you don’t want to use them that way, then, well, tough. In the past, every new function added was never required to be used in a specific way. Remix Decks are the first time I’ve loaded up a new feature in Traktor and felt forced to use it their way, which was not nearly as satisfying without their new controller.
A counter argument has been that the Sample Decks were offered only with the S4, and then were rolled out to the general user base with the release of Traktor Pro 2 later. I would have been completely fine with this if they had given advanced access to Remix Decks for F1 users, but left everyone else with the Sample Decks for now until the kinks were worked out for the general user base. That would have made a lot more sense to me.
This is obviously a first step, but either they went too far in one direction (locked control) or not far enough in the other (improvisational grid style DJing). I know Native Instruments has great things on the horizon for Traktor, and I am beyond excited to see how this software I’ve used for years grows in the future.
Traktor Pro 2.5 Original Press release
Comprehensive revision of TRAKTOR range introduces free updates, new price structure and special offers
Berlin, April 2nd, 2012 – Native Instruments today announced TRAKTOR REMIXED – a comprehensive revision of the TRAKTOR range to coincide with the imminent arrival of TRAKTOR PRO 2.5. Due for release on May 30th – the same day as the TRAKTOR KONTROL F1 add-on controller – TRAKTOR PRO 2.5 is the catalyst for many important changes in the TRAKTOR portfolio that aim to simplify the TRAKTOR product range for DJs.
Free updates for TRAKTOR PRO 2 and TRAKTOR DUO 2 users
All users of TRAKTOR PRO 2 and TRAKTOR DUO 2 will receive a free update to the latest PRO 2.5 software as soon as it is available. The updated software version introduces the innovative Remix DecksTM, which allow DJs to creatively remix and rearrange tracks before and during their actual performance. As of today, users of TRAKTOR DUO 2 and TRAKTOR SCRATCH DUO 2 will receive a free upgrade to TRAKTOR PRO 2.
TRAKTOR PRO 2 software comes free with every TRAKTOR hardware
From today onwards, every TRAKTOR hardware item will automatically come with the latest full TRAKTOR PRO 2 version free of charge, which can then be comfortably updated to PRO 2.5 on its release. This applies to all TRAKTOR audio interfaces, controllers and scratch systems and is especially attractive to new customers. TRAKTOR PRO 2 previously retailed for $229/199 EUR and is now available with the TRAKTOR AUDIO 2 interface, for instance, for just $119/99 EUR.*
Special upgrade offer for old TRAKTOR versions
Users still running pre-PRO 2 versions of TRAKTOR software can upgrade to the latest version, thanks to a time-limited offer. Owners of software- only versions (TRAKTOR 1 to 3, TRAKTOR PRO and TRAKTOR DUO), as well as DJs using TRAKTOR SCRATCH, TRAKTOR SCRATCH PRO or TRAKTOR SCRATCH DUO, can update to the latest version for $44,50/39,50 EUR until April 30th 2012.
Changes to audio interfaces and scratch systems
The audio interfaces TRAKTOR AUDIO 10 and TRAKTOR AUDIO 6 are now exclusively available with their respective digital vinyl systems. TRAKTOR SCRATCH A10 (renamed from TRAKTOR SCRATCH PRO 2), features the 10-channel interface, and is now available at the new price of $559/449 EUR. Similarly, TRAKTOR SCRATCH A6 (previously called TRAKTOR SCRATCH DUO 2), contains the 6-channel TRAKTOR AUDIO 6 and can now be purchased for $339/229 EUR.**
New pricing for other products
This “remix” of the TRAKTOR range also means permanent new price points for a number of products. The TRAKTOR PRO 2 software can now be purchased at the NI Online Shop for $89/79 EUR (previously $229/199 EUR), while TRAKTOR KONTROL S2 now costs $559/499 EUR.
Further product information and press material
Additional information on TRAKTOR REMIXED is available at
So just to clarify a few things:
- • Traktor Pro 2.5 comes in at the cheaper price of $89/€79
- • Any Traktor branded hardware gets the full 4 deck version of Traktor Pro 2.5
- • You’ll get a free upgrade if you own any version of Traktor Pro 2 or DUO 2
- • You can upgrade from just about any pre-Pro 2 version for $44.50/€39.50 before 30th April.
- • Audio 6 and Audio 10 are sold only with Traktor Scratch Pro.
And this is the newly rationalised Traktor product range:
Traktor Pro 2.5 – £65/$89/€79
Traktor Audio 2 – £84/$119/€99
Traktor Scratch A6 – £253/$339/€299
Traktor Scratch A10 – £423/$599/€499
Traktor Kontrol F1 – £211/$279/€249
Traktor Kontrol S2 – £423/$599/€499
Traktor Kontrol S4 £762/$999/€899
UPDATE 2: Euro prices for A6 and A10 corrected.
It’s worth mentioning as ever, for those who actually read the whole story, that these prices are recommended retail prices. The actual street price is likely to be cheaper.
At last, the mess of different versions is sorted into a single unified product with different hardware differentiating it. At this price point, it makes little sense for NI to even bother with LE or 2 deck versions anymore. While I don’t know this for a fact, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if future non-NI controllers didn’t come with the full Traktor Pro 2. And if they don’t, they really should NI.
UPDATE: One small caveat here that I need to clarify – Traktor Pro 2.5 and Traktor Scratch Pro are still different versions it seems. So that’s two versions rather than one to rule them all.
Given the free upgrades, super cheap retro upgrade and price slashing, it would appear that NI are gagging for you to have the very latest version of Traktor installed. It makes sense really, given that NI are pinning a lot on the new remix deck method of working. And it makes development and importantly product support a whole lot easier too.
I’m sure I speak for everyone when I make the following suggestion – go one step further and lose the service centre. The whole online method of validation is just annoying and frankly unhelpful. Need to reinstall but not online? Exactly.
Life just got a lot easier and cheaper for buyers. One version of software simplifies that decision, leaving hardware as the deciding factor. Happy? Inclined to make that purchase now? Let us know.
So the time has finally arrived: Traktor Pro 2.5 is downloadable. We’ve spent a few days mucking around, and wanted to pass along some of our thoughts and concerns. Obviously Remix decks are there, in all of their remixy glory, but we’ll be saving that for the full review of 2.5 and the F1 to come later. There are a number of improvements, a few changes, and a number of fixes that were not yet implemented; rest assured that we’ll be pushing Traktor Pro 2.5 to breaking point in the name of research over the next few days, but for now we’d like to share our first thoughts and a brand new video from the guys at NI…
Oh, as a quick note, when upgrading please be sure to back up your current collection and TSI files, just to be prepared (see, we care about you guys!).
Our initial thoughts on Traktor Pro 2.5 were:
What We’re Excited About
Jared: As a hardcore, mildly insane, MIDI mapper, the improvements made to the Controller Manager make me super happy. Outputs can finally be “learned”. Like, finally. My heart sang at that moment that I didn’t need to fight with the message selection window. Also, when you select the Output menu in the Controller Manager, the selected Input will be right at the top. When you click it an output message is dropped in with the same output MIDI signal. It’s about damn time.
The FX section has been shrunk to not require Chained or Advanced modes, instead just being one set of messages. Also, finally. And they have dug in and seriously reorganized the Controller Manager’s setup. Things aren’t where they were, but once you learn their organizational method it makes a lot more sense.
The improvements to the beatgridding and analysis can only be good things. While Traktor, in my experience, already had one of the best analysis engines available, any improvements make it a better tool. Being able to replace the existing Auto Gain levels is also pretty cool, as I can leave my grids as they are, but take full advantage of a better gain structure.
I noticed a bunch of changes in the preferences revolving around Remix decks that do make me excited about implementing the new workflow into a standard sample deck style, which was my major concern for any user who doesn’t have an F1.
Chris: Perhaps the most pleasant surprise for me, because I don’t recall reading about it and certainly didn’t expect it, is that loading full songs into remix deck slots is finally possible. This will come in very handy for mixing stems, and – considering remix decks are scratchable – may even allow remix decks to pretty much make track decks obsolete for me; rather than loading a track and then loading samples, you can now save your favourite samples with your tracks as a remix deck set.
This workflow will allow a hybridisation of party rocking and technical routine that I’ve been trying to achieve with hacks and workarounds for years, so it’s definitely got me a little hot under the collar.
It’s nice to see CPU usage go down with a new update, too – I can go back to running in high sample rate again, after 2.1 forced me to drop back to 44.1KHz.
What We’re Concerned About
Jared: Well, first, as far as I’m see it, the Controller Manager is still the Controller Manager, in all of its glory. The improvements they’ve made are great, but they don’t go far enough to make me truly happy, more just accepting that I won’t be as miserable.
After digging through the Remix Deck controller manager section, just poking around the Controller Manager, I’m worried that established methods of DJing with Sample Decks are going to be turned upside down for a lot of users. It’ll be an adjustment that can be made, but without an F1 it might be a little more confusing to set up a good, effective workflow.
Chris: Time will tell how well legacy mappings will fare with 2.5, and I’m a little bit worried that, in the short term at least, there may be a fork of users that stick to what they know rather than update complicated mappings. I could just be scaremongering, of course, and fingers crossed the transition will be pretty smooth for the majority of mappings.
Also, not to drag it up all over again, bitching and moaning isn’t going to get us anywhere, but I want to see fully mappable remix decks as soon as humanly possible. That’s when the fun’ll really begin.
Wrap Up
Jared: Remix Decks, improved Time Code support, better beatgrid and song analysis, better browser management… all great things. There are still a metric ton of features Traktor needs improvement on, but for an upgrade offering this much there’s a lot to look at and be excited about. We’re hoping to have a review of the Remix Decks, the F1 and the 2.5 upgrade as a whole together sooner than later for all of us to peruse and discuss. Until then, what are your thoughts?
Chris: Time will tell how much I love Traktor Pro 2.5, and I’m just as eager to see how other developers take to the implementations as I am to get to grips with it myself. What Traktor is potentially doing here is revolutionising the DJ software market, and I don’t say that lightly; a lot of developments have led to it (Ableton Live’s workflow contribution is pretty obvious), but there’s finally a true paradigm shift emerging away from the classic ‘wheels of steel’ mode of DJing, and the onus is on developers everywhere to help facilitate a new era of DJ performance.