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Traktor Kontrol Z2 mixer


Steve

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The part where he talks about the controller editor is pretty big news I was unaware of, being able to add midi maps and features without disturbing the default map is must to get different curve settings out of them lines. There's always a way round things inside Traktors midi engine but it sounds like they've made it a whole lot easier.

 

If my debit card wasn't still smoking after last weeks BPM ness I would be pre ordering that Z2 shit right now

Edited by Dubba Dutchdj
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Watching that video definitely makes me want it more. I still can't decide what to do though, haha.

 

BTW man, how would changing the line fader curve in Traktor work? Would you be able to map that to a knob on the mixer or something?

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whole article

http://djworx.com/bpm-2012-ni-kontrol-z2-demo/

 

'Fader update – all 3 are mini Innofaders, but the line faders have a decidedly stiffer feel. The cross fader however is nice and smooth and eminently scratchable. But it turns out that all 3 can be replaced by full long-bodied Innofaders. At your expense of course and under your own steam, but if you must have that level of fader performance, then that avenue is open to you.'

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Watching that video definitely makes me want it more. I still can't decide what to do though, haha.

 

BTW man, how would changing the line fader curve in Traktor work? Would you be able to map that to a knob on the mixer or something?

 

is it something you can have play with and then send back? you seem to know alot of buyers rights and that.

if you know you can get on with it, you're saving yourself quite abit of money.

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Watching that video definitely makes me want it more. I still can't decide what to do though, haha.

 

BTW man, how would changing the line fader curve in Traktor work? Would you be able to map that to a knob on the mixer or something?

 

 

Sadly traktor doesn't have an actual virtual line curve adjust for its virtual fades but a way round this would be to fiddle with the pot sensitivity settings when mapping the control and then create different settings that are accessed via different modifier states. So in one mode moving the physical fade up a few mm would make the virtual fade jump to the top creating a sharp instant curve. Then it's just a case of trial and error to create different curve modes.

 

Mapping an actual knob to work like a normal line curve adjust seems virtually impossible in my mind but maybe it just needs a bit more nerdery to suss out a way.

 

The idea I've got in my head at the mo is to hold down the flux button to activate a modifier which will then shift the loop encoder in to a curve setting selector for the channel side it's on. Then I was possibly thinking of some sort of light show on the hot cues to display which curve preset is active. Once the flux button is released then all mentioned controls will go back to default. If the new controller editor options work as described in the djworx vid, this map shouldn't be to hard to implement.

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Haven't' you bought it yet steve ?

You've been harping on about it for what seems like 4 days now :)

Go buy it and post a 15 minute video of you scratching on it then don't upload it and send the mixer back :)

 

Haha, I can't make my fucking mind up mate! You might have noticed.

 

It's so close to what I want, but it's not quite there. I'm not sure whether to just live with that, given that it's only £629 compared to £1,799 for a Rane 62. I'm also dubious about the quality, cos if one of the buttons stops working in a year or so for example, will I be able to easily buy and fit a spare?

 

@Paul - Cheers. Hopefully someone figures out a way to map a virtual line fader curve adjust to one of the knobs or something.

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if I e-mail them a pic of my jacket, u think they'd give me one?

 

also finally been able to get some more time on the 62 and it's growing on me even more than it was. Faders seem slightly nicer than the 57 (I opened it up and the faders are a bit different, no spring anymore), but I'm still wondering about the fader/knob durability. Obv knobs shouldn't be a huge issue but honestly with the 57 I went through literally a knob every 2 weeks, went through 7 or 8 before I was like fuck it, getting innofaders before I drop 100s more on knobs. That's how hard the knob-ball was dropped. The 62 knobs are much different, have a different layer of plastic inside and an extra notch that the fader stem sticks into that seemingly keeps them tigher. I'll probably know in 2-3 weeks if my knobs gonna fall off. Pause for all the knob talk. In before someone misquotes part of this.

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True, doesn't have anything to do with what mixers they're using, the relevance to this thread did amuse me though.

 

I do reckon that the combo of one deck, the Z2 and the F1 that Excess is using would be really good fun. I'm definitely gonna order the mixer as soon as I've sold my 05, especially now djworx have confirmed that full innofaders will slot straight in on all three faders.

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I do reckon that the combo of one deck, the Z2 and the F1 that Excess is using would be really fun.

 

As a Traktor gheyboy it's nice to see Excess giving that set up a bash, I think I'm right in saying he normally runs Ableton and SSL, well for the rock hard bastards tour any way. 64 scratch-able clips via the f1 has to be a big draw for the shit they do.

 

full innofaders will slot straight in on all three faders.

 

Looks like I'll be re claiming that innofader from skinz twitch sooner than planed

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The article on DJTT's talks about how theres a little lag on the crossfader cut when using traktor as opposed to an analog source.. thats an interesting side effect of this "hybrid mixer" concept. Like they said, it wont matter to most people unless your a "hardcore scratcher". I mean really, if its good enough for craze, is it really something people would notice?

 

im in the same boat as steve, but the fact that the 62 has an effects board built in (so you can use post fader effects on vinyl), the fader issues and the build quality (plastic pots on the z2 yet they claim they built it so you can throw it against a wall? lol) have me swayed in the 62's favor at this point.

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if its good enough for craze, is it really something people would notice?

 

I think that's kinda what NI counts on people thinking when they decide to sponsor someone like Craze, lol. If that's the case I'd really wanna try it out, like they mean lag as in it cuts a fraction of a second slower than it should right? I could see that being super annoying, I've cut on setups where there's a really long RCA going from mixer to mixer or something that causes everything to play a tiiiny bit after you do it, and it's almost unbearable to cut on, even though you can't really tell when listening to someone else cut.

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a long rca wouldn't do anything unless it's about 50 miles - electricity moves at almost the speed of light...

 

the latency on the fader response will be half of the latency on the turntable, roughly, I suppose. With timecode there's an ADC>process>DAC and with just the midi message there's just process>DAC, because midi transfer doesn't really generate much latency. sub 1ms, anyway... and I think the proprietary message that NI send is even quicker.

 

Out of interest is is the feeling of nylon shafts or the longevity that people are worried about on the pots?

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Aye Vekked, I'm always dubious with celebrity endorsements. I don't really trust blogs/websites that review gear much either, because they sell advertising and get free products which may sway them in a particular direction. I would much rather read the opinion of a DVer that owns the product in question.

 

I wish Elliott had expanded on what he means when he talks about that slight bit of delay. If he was talking about the latency that every DVS suffers from, I don't see why he would have brought it up.

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