Pioneer and Native Instruments Tease Controller Updates
Today, both Pioneer and Native Instruments unveiled updates to their DJ controller lines, with the […]
Today, both Pioneer and Native Instruments unveiled updates to their DJ controller lines, with the former introducing the two-channel DDJ-SR (pictured above) and the latter officially announcing updates to its S2 and S4 Traktor controllers.
First, news came of Pioneer’s DDJ-SR, a more compact, two-channel version of the company’s DDJ-SX controller. In the press release that came with the announcement, Pioneer states that the DDJ-SR “inherits many of the same functionalities and controls of the larger DDJ-SX introduced in 2012, offering large aluminum jog wheels, integrated performance pads, and a new ‘Pad Plus’ feature that adds four additional audio effects to the performance pads.” Furthermore, all units are optimized to be used with Serato DJ, and come with a free download of the program. The new controller will see a release beginning in October with an MSRP of $699. The accompanying DDJ-SR demo video can be viewed below, and more details can be found here.
Native Instruments also announced updates to its S2 and S4 Traktor controllers today, adding eight color-coded RGB buttons for triggering FX and samples, jogwheels with even higher resolution, and dedicated Flux Mode and Remix Decks controls to the updated units. Perhaps most important of all, though, is the fact that the new versions of the S2 and S4 can now either work with Traktor on a laptop/desktop or with NI’s Traktor apps for iPhone and iPad. A demo video featuring DJ TechTools‘s Mad Zach using the new units can be seen below, and more information on each controller update can be found here. Both the S2 and S4 are expected to be in stores by the end of the month, with current pre-orders pricing the two-channel version at $499 and the four-channel version at $799.