A Little Advice...
A Little Advice... Posted on: 04.07.2012 by Tameika Sicuro Heyo,I'm new to the NI community and I'm quite excited to finally and hopefully get some answers that have been burning my brain. So here goes... Naturally I'm a DJ, not a producer but what I would like to find out is the complexities of adding either Maschine or an F1 to my setup. How hard is it to start using these products with no production background and is it even worth it? I also have a Kontrol S2, would it be better to get an S4 if I get either Maschine or an F1? Basically, I would like to start producing tracks on the fly, can I stick with the S2 and just add another piece of gear or should I upgrade to the S4? ANother thing I would like to know, can you daisy chain the hardware? Or does it all plug straight into the laptop? I hope these questions make sense. | |
| Tameika Sicuro 04.07.2012 | Heyo, I'm new to the NI community and I'm quite excited to finally and hopefully get some answers that have been burning my brain. So here goes... Naturally I'm a DJ, not a producer but what I would like to find out is the complexities of adding either Maschine or an F1 to my setup. How hard is it to start using these products with no production background and is it even worth it? I also have a Kontrol S2, would it be better to get an S4 if I get either Maschine or an F1? Basically, I would like to start producing tracks on the fly, can I stick with the S2 and just add another piece of gear or should I upgrade to the S4? ANother thing I would like to know, can you daisy chain the hardware? Or does it all plug straight into the laptop? I hope these questions make sense. |
| Tameika Sicuro 16.07.2012 | @DJ Abide. Thank you so much for your advice, I really appreciate it. I can't wait to get the F1 and I'm considering the Maschine Mikro as well, just to get a feel for the production side of things. I was wondering the other day, I bought Traktor Scratch Duo initially and it came with Audio 6 and then I upgraded to Traktor Pro 2 when I got the S2, if I wanted to use Scratch again would I need different Timecoded CD's and would I need to purchase Traktor Scratch Pro 2 or would Scratch work with Traktor Pro 2.5? I do apologize if these questions are menial. |
| Lashay Walchak 05.07.2012 | F1 |
| Garfield Scheurich 05.07.2012 | F1 or Midi Fighter? |
| Lashay Walchak 04.07.2012 | There are a only two real reasons to go S4 and those are Scratch Upgrade to incorporate a Turntable or CDJ into your setup, (although they will not play audio if Traktor crashes, BIG downfall) and the Mic-In on the S4 is built into the soundcard to allow you to record it. There are workarounds for the latter that don't use the S2's mic in, but possibly your computers stock mic input if you have one via Virtual Audio Cable and ASIO4All, but those can cause some headache's as well. |
| Lashay Walchak 04.07.2012 | Also you can map the S2 to gain control over things the F1 may or may not have (EQ's?). I use a shift modifier to gain control over decks C&D's EQ and Volume as well as editing the intentionally limited Sample Deck mode's to include control over those features as well. I've actually remapped the Sample Deck Volume knob as the Loop Recorder Dry/Wet and had Loop Recorder controls built in as well until I picked up Maschine Mikro and moved some of my controls to that to make the S2 not quite as tricky. |
| Lashay Walchak 05.07.2012 | Yeah if you're looking to "Remix" the F1 does offer a very unique solution to doing so on the fly. Take your time to really figure out a good "preparation" or file naming process so you can utilize the decks without scrambling to look for a loop. Think categories like percussion, bass, synths, hats, etc and name the loops you extract from tracks with some kind of intro to the name that places the loop into a category. Then make playlists and store them accordingly. Can't wait to get a F1 myself. Coming very soon! |
| Charline Dye 05.07.2012 | Your welcome. |
| Tameika Sicuro 04.07.2012 | Thank you so much for the response. That's exactly the advice I needed, I wasn't sure if the F1 or Maschine would better suit my needs. I do enjoy actual DJing more, so the F1 does make more sense as it is designed around Traktor. Great, thank you again. |
| Charline Dye 04.07.2012 | Adding an F1 is adding a controller for Decks C and/or D (really you could assign it to any Deck) so you wouldn't need to change to an S4 for any reason I can see. The controllers would need to plug into your laptop or a USB hub as they don't have additional ports themselves. The F1/ remix decks are a very light version of production software (sort of). They are ment for live performance. Machine is a beat/groove maker sequencer product that is geared toward production but can be used for live performance. To use its software and capabilities it would have to be synced up with Traktor. There are a few places to find info about this if you do some searching. You can also midi map Maschine to Traktor, or use a map already made by some one, but that would be a waste to just use it as a controller. I would suggest the F1 from what I gather from your post. I would also suggest doing some reading and YouTube watching on both items to see which one best suits your needs/wants. That way you will know what they can/can't do and can make a good decision. |
<< Back to NI - Native Instruments S4/S2 Controller talkReply