Its in the box mixing sounds good, its filter sounds good, and its inputs and outputs are all there should someone want to run a Rane Serato box or simply mix on vinyl/CD/external controller. Without Traktor, the Z2’s still a good mixer. If, for instance, you’re not fussed about wet/dry levels of effects, always simply adjusting the effect directly, you could always remap those controls to effects three and four (it’s a shame that mic/aux level and tone are hardware only controls, as they tend to be my go-to knobs for a couple of extra mappings when it’s possible). There.Ī final addition to Traktor 2.6 is something that all Native Instruments gear will benefit from, and it’s the ability to override factory mapped functions to allow NI defaults and your own tweaks to play in harmony. Just as with everything else I’ve mentioned in this section, Flux isn’t confined to Kontrol Z2 users but the benefit of foresight has allowed NI to create the ergonomics of the Z2 around all these new features which makes it feel slick as… hm. This finally brings things like loop roll to Traktor, and I may just have to look into retooling an old mapping I did that approximated Itch’s Slicer mode in Traktor as Flux more or less makes it totally possible. Pioneer’s slip mode is the obvious comparison as functionality is more or less the same engaging Flux splits the playing track into two timelines, the original timeline pushing forward regardless whilst the Flux timeline is available to be manipulated freely, with things reverting to the original timeline when flux is disengaged. They’re not specific to the Kontrol Z2, but it’s the way that the Z2 mixes purely internally when in Traktor mode that makes them feel so flawless.įlux mode, akin to post fader and macro effects, isn’t so much NI pushing the envelope as implementing existing ideas from other corners of the DJ world. Post fader effects routing doesn’t really take much explaining, but I’ve been waiting for them ever since Traktor started to really show that it was where it was at for in the box DJing all those years ago and until now the lack of them has been a real thorn in its side. There’s perhaps a chicken and egg situation between this feature and the stripped back controls of the Kontrol Z2 that only NI can answer are Macro FX a way to facilitate the streamlined nature of the Z2 or is the Z2 that bit more streamlined because of the new approach? In any case, if you do have a hankering for advanced FX control then a dedicated controller (Novation’s Nocturn, perhaps) will fit into the Z2 workflow perfectly. I’m really happy to cosign this move away from complicated mappings for multi effects (which tend to either require external translator software to be really powerful anyway) and multiple knobs that do confusingly different things, as I think that it will hammer home to more DJs that a little goes a long way and neither mapping the living daylights out of a controller nor constantly tearing a track apart with eight effects does a DJ make. You don’t have to use Macro FX, of course, but they’re a great way of making sure that when you are using effects in the mix that they remain interesting whilst removing a bunch of knobs from the fascia of the mixer. It’s disappointing that there’s no way to manually create your own Macro FX (we do hear whispers of something along these lines in the future) but the 11 included all sound great. ![]() Macro FX are very similar to super knobs, as seen in Serato’s Scratch Live, in that they are single dial controls that do lots of things at once. None of them are specific to the Kontrol Z2, but without them it would be nowhere near the beast it is. The additions in Traktor 2.6 compared to the ones introduced in 2.5 don’t have the POW factor of an entire new deck concept, but there are three very important ones: Flux mode, post fader effects routing, and the new Macro FX. ![]() ![]() Just like the Kontrol F1, The Kontrol Z2 doesn’t tout features so much as control for new features in Traktor.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |