"Why should I buy a Kontrol S4?"

An excellent question. I hear this A LOT whenever another DJ sees I use an S4, and they have never come across one before. Immediately I am required by geek with toys code to give the 20 minute sales pitch, which includes a complete breakdown of what everything does as well as a demo of a few of the niftier things it does. If I am having a good day I can actually work the demo into whatever else I am playing. It sounds like overkill, and it is, but Music types are oddly not a techno-venturous bunch. They don't seem to open up to things they don't immediately "get". But once they see it, once they "get it", then they begin to ask questions about traktors capabilities and remapping options, they begin to expand their minds into a realm they may never had entered before.

As much as I like doing the demo, I am not getting paid by Native Instruments to sell their product, so why should I keep this doing these demos?

Things on the Internet about the Kontrol S4 you should see before you buy one!

First this: This is the video that started the whole thing, this was our first glimpse at it:

Originally this video had most of the good views of the controller blurred out.

Then when the S4 was released we got to see this introductory look with DMC champion and all around interesting guy: DJ Shiftee. It showed the ins and outs of some of the features of the then new Traktor S4 software, a special version of Traktor which included features that eventually went mainstream in Traktor 2; Sample Decks and the Loop Recorder.

Mmmmmm S4 Goodness

Now that you've seen these videos I know some of you already have you credit cards out and are preparing to purchase the S4 purely for the amazing software features STOP RIGHT NOW. All the features that were exclusive to Traktor S4 are readily available in Traktor 2, so if all you saw that you liked there was the software I am happy to let you know Traktor Pro 2 can be purchased separately, and for several hundred dollars less than the complete S4 package. If on the other hand you saw a control surface that could suite your needs AND really killer DJ software then let's move on.

I think it important to once again note there were no special hardware only features in that performance. There was nothing there that couldn't have been done with any controller. But the S4 makes it pretty easy. It's well laid out, with quick access to all the needed performance functions. So while you could do it with any other controller, it would have required mapping, and the result would likely not be as elegant as using the S4.

On a side note, I seem to get these a lot as well:

"You don't even need to know how to DJ anymore! Just sync and it does it all for you! Anyone can just step up and do it!"

Bullshit. Were it so easy anyone would do it. Let's be honest with ourselves here for a minute. $900USD is at the end of the day not THAT much money. Traktor's system requirements are not exactly steep. And the time it takes to get tons of music from the internet decreases by each passing day. DJing is a far more accessible hobby than it ever used to be, so accessible literally anyone can try to do it. But to say there are no barriers to being a DJ left with the the removal of several pretty significant skill barriers is still quite a stretch. For one all the autopilot in the world doesn't help if you have no clue where your trying to go. But more to the point of this tangent, even if you don't have to manually cue records or pitch and time match, does that mean you can mix any 2 songs you throw together? NO of course it doesn't. And does it mean that if you utilize these ease of use features you're some how less skilled as a DJ? NOPE. And I put forth this as proof:

Pretty good, but let's see what Craze can do with more buttons and Traktor 2

Even Craze is proud of nailing that one!

So the question still remains: Why buy the S4? Well all matters of theory aside I would say it comes down to 2 simple questions:

1. Do you want complete tactile control of Traktor? Plenty of controllers will control Traktor, but the S4 is the first one that in my opinion does it well. If your looking for a more general purpose controller I'd look elsewhere. The Kontrol S4 does do midi, but the mapping experience is less than optimal. This controller was really built for one purpose and that is where in excels.

2. How much do you want to spend to go controllerist? At $899USD you can't really say no if your a budget conscious gear buyer. With the purchase of Traktor Pro 2, there are virtually no controllers that match the economics of it. If the sky is the limit with your budget you could easily get into a lot crazier setup.

I guess the overall point I am trying to make here is simply that the Kontrol S4, won't make you amazing. It isn't going to immediately make your sets better, once you understand the capability of the tool it'll certainly up your game. But that has more to do with you than it, and more to do with Traktor as a whole than just the S4. What it is, is a great controller with full featured software and a great price point,

I'll leave you with this: