In Depth Review
The Traktor S4 MK2 is first and foremost and upgrade to the Control s4. If you've used Native Instrument's flagship controller, the S4, then you'll feel right at the home with the MK2. The layout is similar, the design is similar, and the size is similar. Despite the similarities, the first thing you'll notice is the updated appearance. The Control S4 MK2 looks much more polished than the former. It's sleek design really stands out, and the bright colored buttons add to the visual flair. In terms of the appearance, it blows the bland looking S4 out of the water. We also really liked the construction of this piece, Native Instruments was no slouch. Nothing on it feels flimsy, and overall it feels well constructed.

Another great improvement we've noticed when playing with the S4 is the new buttons. Gone are the days of a button getting stuck in the down position, caught on the edge of it's casing when pushed hard. The MK2's buttons feel infinitely better, they respond better, they fell better, and their more responsive.

On the jog wheels, there really is no difference between the two units, other than the new shiny aluminum cover of course. As for scratching, they feel a lot nicer than before, and the act of pushing down to engage the scratch control feels a lot more fluid than before. It might take some getting use to, but it's worth it. Also, the jog wheels are placed more towards the back of the deck, preventing the accidental catching of the them when quickly switching between effects. I've talked to some DJs, and they said they sometime run they're arm or sleeve over the jog wheel. I had a few of them give the MK2 a whirl and they loved the change.

It also cleanly integrated with the Traktor IOS app. We gave it a whirl with both IOS6 and 7, both to great success. However, if you're using an older iphone, you may want to upgrade it. We tried it out with a 4, and found the screen to be too small to really work with. On the ipad however, it was a joy to use.

As expected, in integrated beautifully with it's own software. The Mk2 ships with the full version of Traktor PRO 2. The software itself is great, and you can read our in depth review for it here. The controller comes with out of the box integration with the software, and feels completely natural. You could say the controller was build to run of Traktor PRO, and you would be right. Although it's possible to get it running on other software like Serato, it's much easier to work with Traktor, and frankly, with such a good piece of software I don't see why anyone wouldn't want to.

If your into effects, you'll be happy to hear the new MK2 comes with a host of upgrades in this department. Although it's slightly limited by being a rework and not a re-design, NI did a good job with this and we found little to complain about.

Flux Mode Button- The Flux feature was not available to the S4, without a little hacking, but it comes out of the box on the MK2. There are two of them, each placed under a jog wheel.

Preview Button-What use to be the toggle button for browser mode is now mapped to play the highlighted track in the preview player. By holding down the preview button you can use the browse knob to scroll through the track and audition for energy levels and breakdowns, etc. This is a huge improvement, as the preview player is a fantastically useful feature but was fiddly and slightly confusing to work with on the Mk1.

When we got to playing the Mk2 it sounded great. Scratching was amazing, the effects were on point, and the whole experience was a joy. Out of the box, it took about five minutes to get it all set up and running, it quickly connected to the software and off we went. The sound quality was great, it sounded very fluid and put together. It was a joy to play with, and I could easily see it used in a professional setting.

The Good
Overall this is a great unit. This four channel controller packs quite a punch. It's design is upgrade and looks sleeker than it's predecessor, and it's tight integration with IOS makes it a breeze to use. It's build reasonably sturdy and is able to deal with the average DJing gig. The controller is build to cater to a large audience, good enough for pro's to use, easy enough to beginners to understand. No matter your skill level you'll find something you like from the MK2

The Bad
Price. Also, no docking station for ipod/ipad is a bit of a downside for me, but it's just a small gripe.

Conclusion:
In the end we really like this system. The Control S4 MK2 is a clear improvement of its predecessor. The addition of many features, and the tightening up of existing ones, really lends to make this a great unit. It also covers a lot of ground, I could honestly see anyone from a beginner to a professional using this. It's a little pricy, but still within range for most DJs. The big question, is if it's worth the upgrade. If your sitting with the original MK think long and hard about whether the added features are worth the price, or if you should wait out for the next line of Native Instrument controllers." -- Chi-City DJ

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