![]() ![]() Touching the effects and Stem slot knobs instantly brings up their parameters on screen, similar to how things work with Maschine Studio and the S8. ![]() So you don't need a D2 or S8 to use Stems, but you won't be able to visualise the individual waveforms without them.įor D2 owners, though, the screen more than adequately displays each element in full colour. I did this with the F1's faders and it worked as expected. However, it's possible to MIDI-map Stem volume and effect slots manually in the Controller Manager. No timeframe has been given for when that might happen. ![]() A rep from NI told me this is because Stems was essentially coded on top of Traktor, and the base software would have to be re-written to accommodate the change. This means that unless you own a D2 or an S8, you won't be able to visualise individual stems. Once Stems are in, only the D2 displays all four waveforms Traktor's display just shows a single waveform. Stems must be analysed in advance, and analysis takes quite a while, seemingly more than the four times longer you'd expect given the MP4's contents. Supplied with a selection of Stems, I opened a few in Traktor only to find they cannot be loaded on the fly. Having said that, controlling Stems and Remix Decks is the main purpose of the D2. And as you can't manually re-map the D2, you'll never be able to use them if you're not interested in Stems or Remix Decks. The only problem is that if you load a non-Stem or Remix Deck file, these buttons and knobs are rendered useless. It's a clever signal path and offers a lot of flexibility with minimal control- another bonus for live use. With this control, you could, for example, choose to send only a track's vocals, effects and synths to the global effects and keep the drums dry by reducing the effects send amount. Once you've used the screens on either the D2 or S8, it's almost impossible to go back.Ībove the display are four knobs and buttons for effects, and below are four for Stem and Remix Deck filter/FX control. More than that, though, the screen's GUI is well-designed and feels like a separate piece of software in its own right, as it responds quickly without lag. (To be clear, I was testing two D2s.) The experience was preferable to squinting at a busy laptop GUI from a distance, and I wondered if the D2 could be the beginning of the end for floating Apple logos and lit-up faces in the booth. In fact, I turned my laptop screen off and never felt the need to check my computer. The Kontrol range historically excels in this area, and the D2 is no different, thanks largely to the built-in display. When reviewing a controller, I like to spend my first hour away from the manual to see how intuitive it might be-an important trait for live use. NI have also included a double-headed power supply, meaning you can power two D2s with one plug. I ran a Kontrol S2 and a Kontrol F1 through the hub with a separate interface for audio without any problems, giving me three controllers on one USB cable. A two-port USB hub makes it easy to add extra devices, though NI recommend chaining controllers and not audio interfaces. Give or take a few buttons, it's identical to a single deck section of the Kontrol S8 that came out earlier this year.Īround the back of the unit, you'll find a few clever additions. Eight knobs and buttons surround a full-colour display, and volume, performance and transport sections make up the rest of the unit. While it feels like it’ll survive in the booth, it does have a plastic feel similar to the Kontrol S range. The D2 is significantly larger than any of the other standalone Kontrol devices, boasting a 37-by-19 cm footprint, 6 cm height (with the built-in legs retracted) and 1.5 kg weight. As with Remix Decks, Stems have arrived with their own hardware associate: the Kontrol D2. The new Stems format-a multichannel audio file capable of splitting four elements of a track, allowing for individual manipulation within a single Traktor deck-is another shift in the program's MO. Capable of loading up to 16 loops, one-shots, samples or full tracks in a single deck, Traktor became an increasingly individual, performance-led software. Traktor Pro 2's initial two-to-four decks-and-a-mixer architecture evolved with the launch of Remix Decks and their hardware counterpart Kontrol F1. ![]() And although the software's GUI has remained fairly intact, its potential and principles have changed radically. It's been five years since the Kontrol S4, NI's first dedicated, pre-mapped, purpose-built Traktor controller. ![]()
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