Reply to Help getting my head around a DJ setup (Traktor + DB4 + X1)

Hi all,

1st post so please be nice! I've been slowly getting myself into DJing over the last 18 months after a friend started teaching me on his setup. I learned the basics on his totally analogue vinyl setup which I love, but I haven't the space for it. I also spend a lot of time travelling with work between two cities, so I tend to take my kit with me wherever I go, which makes vinyl a no no.

So when I decided to start myself, I bought myself a Traktor S2 and started tooling around with mp3's and my laptop. I outgrew this fairly quickly and traded up for a Traktor S4 which has served me very well for just over a year now; its very portable so I can take it with me on my travels, and has all of the functions I want to make a decent mix (mostly drum & bass but I'm branching out).

The S4 however is starting to get a bit worn from travelling, and some of the buttons are starting to get a bit iffy in their operation so I'm believeing of upgrading and branching out a bit more. My friend has an Allen & Heath mixer, and frankly the feel of it, and especially the sound of the filters (especially in DnB) are a massive draw and so I would love to get myself one, and have been believeing about a DB4.

To retain some of the functions I've come to love from the S4, I'd also like to combine this probably with a pair of Traktor X1s, so I can still travel with these, and plug them into a mixer wherever I happen to be with my laptop & Traktor.

I'm a little unsure though of how this setup would plug together. Particularly, I'm not sure how the Traktor software interfaces with both the DB4 - Do I require the Scratch Pro box, or can it be plugged in directly via USB? In which case, is this an easy thing to set up? I imagine then that the X1s also plug in via USB and all are managed by Traktor.

My thought is that for my core setup at home, I'd do this, but if travelling, I'd probably need the scratch pro box and the X1s, and can then use that scratch pro box as the sound card and use whatever mixer is available to me. Is this correct? I'd love at some point to have a go with CDJs just so I would be able to use a club system if (when) I pluck up the courage to do some evening s at bars etc so I guess this is the right way to go. Finding this stuff to go and actually try in person seems quite hard though. There is a shop near me that does a lot of DJ gear but they're not well versed to offer advice or demos so I thought I'd try here..!