I've played with one briefly in a store and although the options and possibilities are great, it had me thinking twice about actually trying to use it in a club; It's well laid out but I just don't think it will survives the rigors of touring/lugging in out of booths. I got the distinct feeling it was a studio/bedroom build quality piece of kit - it did not feel rugged.

i also didn't like the just_a_tiny_bit_too_short faders and the EQ were spaced very close together. I know if I'm drunk I'm going to turn the wrong knob, I will say the waveform displays are great as are the trigger pads, I'm just not sold on it for rugged DJ use.

5kg, big, need a fair amount of space.
Plus, engineers will absolutely hate you for bringing that thing and wanting to wire in a master AND a booth output, especially in smaller or, shall we say, less flexible, venues. The booth output is the problem- you could get away with plugging the master into a channel on the main mixer, but that kinda defeats the point of bringing it then and its not ideal sound quality wise.

I would suggest getting a pair of D2 instead - basically the same, minus the mixer part, and easier to setup - you just need space either side of the mixer, and as they can be hot plugged you can wire in one at a time or gradually, so as not to interfere too much with the act either side.
The X1 were (well, they still are) superb- the D2 is the next evolution of that control but still retaining the portability and ease of setup.

2 x D2 and specify a XONE 92 would be my suggestion.

Well, I have had a play on a S8 now, managed to get the DJ store to plug in vinyl decks, CDJs as well so I could see how the mixer on the S8 handles those... which it does fine, quite impressed by the sound from it, the faders are however slightly to short on travel for my liking and as Rann mentioned, the EQ knobs are to close together.

So no problem with the split/cue either, I could hear what was going on through the headphones with no problem.

So onto Traktor itself.. problem straight away, it crashed as soon as I loaded the first track, the problem I found out is that because my laptop is multicore, the S8 did not like it, you have to go into settings on the laptop and assign a core for Traktor to use.
Never had this issue with Traktor before using CDJ 2000s in HID mode as controllers.

so back up and running and go to mix the first track... the mixer sounded different from when I was using CD and vinyl... so a quick discussion with the store guys I find out then when using the software, the mixer uses the mixer emulator in the software itself and not the hardware one on the unit.. it just did not sound as good, the quality was less than that of the hardware mixer and you can not switch this off, the software will only use the software mixer, not happy about that.

Using the touch strips for beat matching was not the best but I guess its something you get used to with time.

The other issue I have is that the S8 is meant to be able to do away with looking at the laptop.. all very well and good if you are mixing in the same tempo all night.. to use tracks with different tempos you are back on the laptop..

Overall, it appears a decent enough unit, I think I would be happy using one if a club already has one in place, or to have one at home but as for carrying it round and setting it up in different clubs, no!

However as I already use CDJ 2000s in HID mode to control Traktor at home, there is no point in having the S8 as part of my home set up, it would be wiser to get one of the D2's as a controller just for the remix decks plus I can take the D2 very easily to a club and set it up.

Result... I did not buy the S8 lol

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quote:

Originally posted by Freak 5kg, big, need a fair amount of space. Plus, engineers will absolutely hate you for bringing that thing and wanting to wire in a master AND a booth output, especially in smaller or, shall we say, less flexible, venues. The booth output is the problem- you could get away with plugging the master into a channel on the main mixer, but that kinda defeats the point of bringing it then and its not ideal sound quality wise. I would suggest getting a pair of D2 instead - basically the same, minus the mixer part, and easier to setup - you just need space either side of the mixer, and as they can be hot plugged you can wire in one at a time or gradually, so as not to interfere too much with the act either side. The X1 were (well, they still are) superb- the D2 is the next evolution of that control but still retaining the portability and ease of setup. 2 x D2 and specify a XONE 92 would be my suggestion.

interdasting.

I didn't realize that you had to plug both the master and booth. That, combined with the footprint it needs, makes me think as you said that the house engineer will hate you, and that's never a good start to set. And fuck lugging around 5kg in a flight case.

quote:

Originally posted by Sarah H Well, I have had a play on a S8 now, managed to get the DJ store to plug in vinyl decks, CDJs as well so I could see how the mixer on the S8 handles those... which it does fine, quite impressed by the sound from it, the faders are however slightly to short on travel for my liking and as Rann mentioned, the EQ knobs are to close together. So no problem with the split/cue either, I could hear what was going on through the headphones with no problem. So onto Traktor itself.. problem straight away, it crashed as soon as I loaded the first track, the problem I found out is that because my laptop is multicore, the S8 did not like it, you have to go into settings on the laptop and assign a core for Traktor to use. Never had this issue with Traktor before using CDJ 2000s in HID mode as controllers. so back up and running and go to mix the first track... the mixer sounded different from when I was using CD and vinyl... so a quick discussion with the store guys I find out then when using the software, the mixer uses the mixer emulator in the software itself and not the hardware one on the unit.. it just did not sound as good, the quality was less than that of the hardware mixer and you can not switch this off, the software will only use the software mixer, not happy about that. Using the touch strips for beat matching was not the best but I guess its something you get used to with time. The other issue I have is that the S8 is meant to be able to do away with looking at the laptop.. all very well and good if you are mixing in the same tempo all night.. to use tracks with different tempos you are back on the laptop.. Overall, it appears a decent enough unit, I think I would be happy using one if a club already has one in place, or to have one at home but as for carrying it round and setting it up in different clubs, no! However as I already use CDJ 2000s in HID mode to control Traktor at home, there is no point in having the S8 as part of my home set up, it would be wiser to get one of the D2's as a controller just for the remix decks plus I can take the D2 very easily to a club and set it up. Result... I did not buy the S8 lol

Do bear in mind that NI just released a 64bit version this week that now properly handles multicore/threading and I think it was to deal with that crashing issue. Still won't make a difference due to the other problems you mentioned. I have no idea why NI would not just use the hardware and uses a mixer emulator. Seems bonkers to me and as the unit is really meant to do away with a laptop (but fails) I find it completely defeats the point.

I really can't figure out what the fuck to do with my setup;

I want to use a DVS but I absolutely detest the loud 1khz tone that the control vinyl makes with either Serato or Traktor, and I really don't want to have to buy HID compatible CDJ's just to use downloaded tracks.

Any suggestions?

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Sarah H However as I already use CDJ 2000s in HID mode to control Traktor at home, there is no point in having the S8 as part of my home set up, it would be wiser to get one of the D2's as a controller just for the remix decks plus I can take the D2 very easily to a club and set it up. Result... I did not buy the S8 lol

Wise.

Also as an alternative to the D2 perhaps look into buying an older F1 or X1 mk2 and getting custom maps for them from midimonsters/mike henderson (endo) which will totally transform them - especially the F1 mapping

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN I really can't figure out what the fuck to do with my setup; I want to use a DVS but I absolutely detest the loud 1khz tone that the control vinyl makes with either Serato or Traktor, and I really don't want to have to buy HID compatible CDJ's just to use downloaded tracks. Any suggestions?

Buy regular 12 Inch. Remember? vinyl sales are on the rise.

What I do is buy tracks from 90's and up that still sound good today and I don't mind playing them no matter who plays before me.

Or

Buy a cutting machine.

quote:

Originally posted by Innocence Lost Buy regular 12 Inch. Remember? vinyl sales are on the rise. What I do is buy tracks from 90's and up that still sound good today and I don't mind playing them no matter who plays before me. Or Buy a cutting machine.

Dude, I don't buy tracks form the 90's anymore.

Because in the 90's I bought all the tracks I liked and still have them, and I like to still play them.

Vinyl sales are on the rise but sadly, my closest record store (only really sold house, hardly any prog or schranz) closed down last month.

Now it's really only Ameoba in Hollywood and it's a pain.

I suppose I should look for vinyl mail order companies, but that still doesn't solve the problem of digital format only music and it's less hassle to burn a CD than buy a cutter and blanks.

Fuck it, looks like I'm going to use traktor and hack it to work with my interface.

Let me know how that goes.