Traktor users who dream of rolling up at standard (read: Pioneer equipped) DJ booths, plugging in their laptops and – you know – just playing, will be fascinated by the news and video we have today.
The news first: Pioneer’s latest CDJs (the 2000, 900 and 400) now work seamlessly with Traktor, meaning any club equipped with the above is also now truly “Traktor ready”.
That means that cover art, waveform display (CDJ-2000), cue points and track browser (CDJ-2000 and CDJ-900) and general transport control behaviour (all models) are now practically identical in use with Traktor as they would be were you using CDs or Pioneer’s own Rekordbox software: It’s plug and play, and there’s no need for an external sound card.
Plug in the DJM-900nexus mixer to utilise its Traktor Scratch-certified built-in audio interface, and the whole Pioneer DJ booth set-up thus becomes effectively a gigantic Traktor DJ controller. All you need is to USB each device into your computer (using a hub if necessary – there’s unfortunately no compatibility with Pioneer’s Pro DJ Link, which seems an opportunity missed for just one cable for the lot), no audio cables required, and you’re good to go.
Why it matters
This is an interesting development because it means a DJ could have an all-in-one portable DJ controller for home practice, as a back-up system and for smaller gigs, but when playing in clubs they could leave their controller at home and just plug their laptops in to the club’s Pioneer set-up, while still getting the best out of the CDJs. Thus it could equally appeal to CDJ DJs wanting to take the leap to Traktor, or Traktor DJs wanting to master DJ booth equipment.
Of course, NI would also like you to add a Kontrol F1 for sample triggering and on-the-fly remixing – exactly the kind of thing that marks software DJing apart from using a USB/Rekordbox set-up with the same Pioneer gear, but still meaning all you need to find room for in the DJ booth is your laptop and the relatively small footprint of you extra controllerist weapon of choice.
Video
While this stuff has all been available since Traktor 2.5.1, which is a few weeks old, the reason we’re covering it today is that Native Instruments has just released a performance video that does a good job of demonstrating the new compatibilities in action:
Good move by both companies? Is this going to bring controllerism and pro DJ booths closer together? Does it make sense for Pioneer to be pushing the Traktor route while at the same time releasing the XDJ-Aero controller, for its own (DJ booth enabled) Rekordbox software? Please share your thoughts below…
Phil Morse
