After much speculation, Native Instruments has finally announced the next generation of the Traktor Kontrol S2 and S4 controllers. In addition to new aluminum jogwheels and upgrading the controls to match the advances in Traktor Pro.

The new Kontrol mixers wield color-coded cue point, sampling, and loop buttons, aircraft-grade aluminum jog wheels, freeze and flux mode, and an increased output and dynamic range. Both the controllers are now compatible and are designed to easily integrate with the Traktor DJ app for iPhone and iPad, as shown in Mad Zach’s routine below.

UPDATED DESIGN + CONTROLS

In terms of physical differences between the MK1 and MK2 generations, much of the design has stayed the same. There’s no touch-strips or jogwheel-less design like some had imagined – and all of the I/O on the units remains the same. NI has limited their updates on the unit to a few key areas:

• color-coded RGB buttons (four on the S2, eight on the s4) for cues / loops / samples – the colors are dictated
• jog-wheels made of aircraft-grade aluminum – this will likely fix a lot of the wear issues that S4/s2 owners had. The resolution has stayed the same, but the magnetic braking system on the jogwheels is gone in place of the heavier wheels themselves.
• Flux Mode button for each deck, above the tempo fader
• Filter and Browse knobs now in a silver/gray color to match the jogwheels

While it’s not the nextgen, revolutionary MIDI controller we were all hoping for from Native Instruments, it’s definitely an upgrade from the current S4 & S2. The S4 MKII will launch with a price tag of $799 on October 1st, with the S2 MK2 going for $499. Stay tuned!