as awesome as these controllers can be they're a real pain to lug around especially when playing out ( it's only my personal experience and opinion).

I would highly recommend the Xone K2 it's an Allen and Heath Controller.
Should be coming out in february.

Compact, many buttons and knobs. And has a sound card(which some will say ain't good enough because it's 16 bits/44.1khz).

I am waiting to get it after having considered getting the Traktor X1 for a long time but not being fully convinced.

As you know there's no "best" option out there. It's always a compromise

i have the s2 and its pretty awesome, and i bet the s4 is even more fun. before deciding on the s2 i was considering a A&H K2 + a NI X1 combo, which would give you pretty many tools to be creative, and also outside of Traktor, and it would've been about the same price as an S2.
Worth a thought at least.

I'm in the same situation myself. I am leaning towards Traktor, so for that I am looking into the S4/S2 and the Denon 3000/6000. The 6000 and S4 are older but have more features and channels. Between the 3000 and the S2 the S2 has no external inputs...so if the system crashes u have silence. No iPod back up which is kinda scary, but you have the advantage of complete compatibility with Traktor. There is no dedicated filter knobs on the S2 BUT you can map them to the gains to get it back which is pretty sweet. I can't makeup my mind and I'm ready to purchase something

Mind you I have a pretty nice setup already with a Rane Empath mixer, 2-CDJ 1000MK 2's and 2 Sl1200 MK5's which will start to collect dust after I get a new controller. I almost bought the S4 today but it's such a huge beast and pricey to boot.

Last edited by KiNeTiC ENeRgY on Jan-07-2012 at 22:57

Do you have a preference on software? Serato, Traktor? That's the first place to start before the controller.

I have the S4 and I love it. The thing I like about the S4, it gives two line inputs for adding cdj's or tt's. Just having those inputs sold me. However, I dunno how many clubs would allow you to bring in the booth.