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The Lowdown The Traktor Kontrol F1 introduces something completely new to the world of DJing, but it won’t be something that appeals to everyone. The F1 can be used as your only controller for both the Track Decks and the Remix Decks, with a useful overlay for the former workflow, and there’s even a Midi mode for mapping to other software entirely. A whole new concept of DJing, controlling banks of samples which act like a single track for crossfading, tempo control, scratching etc. It’s well executed and there’s a learning curve, but if the idea inspires you, it’s worth investigating further. First Impressions / Setting up Releasing a new version of Traktor alongside accompanying hardware has given NI the chance to offer a greater leap forward for DJs in one go than just a hardware or a software Just like when the Kontrol S4 was released with the Sample Decks and Loop Recorder, the big new feature of Traktor Pro 2.5 – the Remix Decks – really make sense when combined with their intended hardware controller, the Kontrol F1.
The Traktor Kontrol F1 in a DVS set-up. Like the X1, it’s designed to slip unobtrusively between mixer and decks. The hardware is a similar size and shape as the Kontrol X1, and has simply one USB socket as its sole I/O.
It’s designed to sit alongside your existing set-up solely to unlock the Remix Decks (although there is an overlay and user-editable mode that turns it into a controller for “normal” or “Track” decks). It’s all standard NI in look, feel and construction quality. Plugged in, the red two-digit LED will feel familiar, the 16 multi-colour LED pads being bright enough (with two brightness settings) to induce an immediate “wow” factor when plugged in. In Use The first thing to note is that one Kontrol F1 controls one Remix Deck. Let’s remember how you’ll have Traktor set up: You’ll probably be DJing with two “Track Decks” and two “Remix Decks”. Each “Remix Deck” has four slots (like the sample decks of old) corresponding to the four faders and filters at the top of the F1.
The pads, meanwhile, control the 16 individual samples in each slot. (You can scroll down through four “pages” per channel, with a deft white line that moves horizontally up or down to indicate scrolling. I liked this.) Now, while it is easy to switch your F1 between two (or indeed four) remix decks, it is not possible to control your Remix Decks simultaneously with one unit.
A bit like controlling two deck layers with one set of transport controls, you’ll have to deftly swap layers to achieve something close to this. Four remix decks Traktor Pro 2.5: Add four F1s, and you’ve got in theory got 16 parts to play with simultaneously! How practical this would be in real life is something I can’t even imagine, but I’d guess: Not very.
Of course, you could just buy a second F1, and I suspect that is what power users will do. If you were a total power user, and beatgridded EDM was the name of your game, a powered USB hub with two X1s and four F1s would give you transport and sample control over four remix decks for a complete sample-based performance. The mind boggles More likely, though, your transport will be handled by your existing Midi controller for all your decks, Track or Remix, as befits the paradigm of the F1 unlocking the internal elements of a “Remix Deck” that is treated as a single, complete track by your main DJ controller. As such there are no dedicated transport controls on the F1 – but it does have individual mute/stop buttons for each of the four lines, which are right at the bottom of the unit. Having said that, the aforementioned controller or “User Map” mode is accessible by a simple two-key action and does lets you control the track decks, making this mode similar to the control set you’d get on an X1. As this switching can be done “on the fly”, I can see the F1 appealing to minimalists or indeed to digital vinyl users, for roughly the same reason: one single slimline unit could control all of your Remix Decks as well as offer rudimentary transport controls.
Maybe NI was right to not open mapping up just yet Once you dig deeper into the features, you can sympathise with NI’s assertion that the hardware/software mapping of the F1 is too intricate to open up to everyone via the mapping configuration panel quite yet. For instance, you can map individual samples to colours on the F1, and these colours are reflected in the sample slots on screen. (Having colour sets for percussion, vocal, bass and stabs, for instance, would help you to keep everything visually organised.) You can also adjust individual sample pitch (speed), key, volumes (absolute and relative), quantising, type (one-shot, loop, single play) and a handful of other characteristics. I guess NI decided that opening the ability to program all of this up to the masses was a step too far at launch, and even if you don’t agree, you can sympathise with such a position, especially when you consider the improvements needs in Traktor mapping in general.
Conclusion The F1 can be used as your only controller for both the Track Decks and the Remix Decks, with a useful overlay for the former workflow, and there’s even a Midi mode for mapping to other software entirely. Just like the X1 took on a life of its own after launch, with DJs putting it to all kinds of uses that nobody could have envisaged, I suspect the F1 will again grow into itself, with certain workflows becoming dominant and other ideas maybe ending up being non-starters. The beauty for NI is that it can now build on the platform with software and even firmware upgrades to suit how people end up using it. As a product bridge between between NI’s own Maschine and the world of Traktor, Traktor Pro 2.5 and the Kontrol F1 fits the bill nicely.
Let’s be honest, many DJs use Maschine as a glorified sample trigger device. This is going to appeal squarely to such people. Taken together, Traktor Pro 2.5 with the Kontrol F1 represent a bold move for Native Instruments, shifting the company’s DJ solution into a new space. This is definitely something to be commended. How much DJs choose to take the whole new set of possibilities offered to them to their hearts, and where they decide to run with it, are two things that remain to be seen.
I am currently working on the next version of the Lemur template for the remix decks. The version I have now can also capture loops from any track deck to any cell of a remix deck.
And setting the quant value is working now. It is not reliable enough yet to make it available, but I see a good chance that I will manage to get it done. Then basically almost all remix decks features are available without the F1. And for the Xone:K2 a solution is in the make as well. If I got that working, the concept and Read more ».
I have had the F1 since launch, it’s already hard to think of going back to the time before having it. I have noticed some general wonkiness when the software is in BEAT SYNC, but as long as the remix decks are in QUANTIZE everything should launch well.
With the F1 I grab sections of songs live, implement them with my extra elements, bounce back and forth between the track and bang!! Remix but not a distracting remix that stops the floor. The added elements to the songs, the crazy transitions that can occur, and how well the controller works Read more ».
Noyou can blame me on that one. I wrote the commentary on how I can see this new thinking in remix decks and such as probably going to anger the anti-sync crowd. I wouldn’t be surprised if some will then speak of how Serato Scratch Live is “keepin it real” and the thing “real DJs” should useyadda yadda yadda. I agree with you btwas I imagine Phil would. The point to these comments and the way I worded things on Traktor Pro 2.5 is to pretty much send out the testament that DJing is evolving way beyond the old thinking. I completely agree This new F1 makes me really excited, because I love the idea that DJ’ing is moving towards being a performer and not just a human jukebox. I have all respect to the old school and their perfection of keeping things beat matched whilst doing some pretty amazing stuff on just a CDJ and mixer (E.G: The DJ “Laid Back Luke,” go check out the amazing skills he has) however, the future of DJ’ing lies within the hands of the new crowd, who are experimenting with these types of new gadgets.
I say there is no more time Read more ». Phil, Good review and excellent video. I am thinking about getting an F1 and I like the idea of dropping samples in a compatible key. Forgive my lack of musical knowledge but how do you know what key you are currently playing in, does Traktor tell you this anywhere? I think if you play something that is in Am when pitched at 0, but then speed it up to if you to say +2 the key changes. At the moment I just use my ears when cueing to tell if something sounds right, but if I want to be samples Read more ». I think elastic beatgridding would really make all these new features shine.
I want to loop old soul records, hip-hop and disco. I think live remixes are most exciting when it’s an old song over a new beat. However I’m discovering (sadly) that most music before 2000 doesn’t have reliable beat grids.
So I think four loops would get pretty chaotic quickly. Seems like I’d have a lot of grid prep work to avoid chaos That takes the ‘on the fly’ fun aspect out of it for me. I’m more of a “let the song play” DJ. I also have Read more ». Gotta agree with you +100 on that,I only play 87-92 stuff anyway,although i have found that the beatgridding in traktor up till now has been the main drawback for me. I like everything really tight & i just cannot face putting 8000+ tracks through ableton to warp then grid. Up to now i have been using tempo sync & manually adjusting pitch,but i think i am really gonna have to get over my ‘beatgridaphobia’ and get my grids supertight if i wanna take advantage of the remix decks potential.
For the record i am propper old skool all the way,i Read more ». I’m having real issues with the variable beatgridding with this new version. Tracks which I had gridded manually (and checked with a metronome) with the old version are completely out of time with tracks gridded with the new despite being the same tempo. When I manually beatmatch to get it spot on I notice that the phase meter is always out. To double check I had an identical track mapped with both the old & new version and synced both to play it was noticeably off.
Is anyone else having issues with the beatgridding? I hate to prospect of Read more ». I can’t wait to get my hand on this a little later in the year once they work out all the little kinks in the software with 2.5. I do have a question though. The NI website says that the F1 can switch into midi mode while traktor is running. Does this mean that if i map it in midi mode to control for deck d and/or some other functions, i can switch between controlling the remix deck with the F1 and using midi mode to control other functions that i map? If yes then will be seamless should i Read more ».
Hi everyone, For the moment I use traktor 2.5 with an external soundcard and a controller (M-Audio x-session Pro). I plan to buy a portable 4 decks controller including a soundcard for a good quality/price. I was thinking about the Kontrol F1 because of its unique avbility to fully control the remix decks. However, I see a major advantage with the Xone K2 from Allen & Heath: it has 3 knobs for each deck to control the low/medium/high knobs and a possibility to “kill” each if needed. It might sound anecdotical.
It isn’t for me. So the remaining problem Read more ». Hi Guillaume, At the moment the remix decks are NOT fully (officially) mappable. You can only map 4 sample slots, which basically give you the same functionality that was there prior to the 2.5 version. You could map all the other functions of traktor on the K2 but since you are already planning on buying a portable controllable im not sure why you would need that.
As phil said in the article NI will probably open up the remix decks to be mapped with other hardware at some point. But for now the remix decks can only be used to Read more ». I have been salivating at the thought of getting 2 of these to go with my S4 since i 1st saw it. Now I’m new to DJ’ing.but I love everything about the creativeness of this art.and this piece of hardware is amazing.
I ESPECIALLY love Phil’s idea about taking bits of favorite parts of diff records and putting them on the buttons in diff musical keys! That’s exactly along the lines of what I was thinking when I saw it. Even though I’m fairly new to DJ’ing I’ve used the remix decks a lot in diff creative ways.did a remix Read more ».
Xone:K2 – Application Example: Single Setup – External Mixer You can use your K2 to route the output from 2 separate virtual decks, into 2 channels of an external mixer. This means you can use your K2 to control your chosen DJ software and also use the features of an external mixer. Start by connecting your K2 to your PC or Mac with the USB cable provided.
Using a 3.5 millimetre jack to Dual RCA Phono lead, connect the headphone output from your K2 to 1 channel of the mixer. Using a Dual RCA Phono lead, connect the audio out RCA connectors from your K2 to another channel of the mixer. In your chosen software application, set one of your deck outputs to soundcard outputs 1-2, and set the other deck output to soundcard outputs 3-4.Traktor Pro (Mac) Setup: From the preferences window in Traktor, click on Audio setup — and select audio device. Choose Xone:K2 from the list. Now set your Output routing.
Make sure your mixing mode is on External, and set deck A and deck B to: Deck A L 1: Front left Deck A R 2: Front Right. Deck B L 3: Front Center Deck B R 4: Low Frequency Effects.
Ableton (Mac) Setup: From the preferences window in Ableton, select Audio — and select Audio Output Device. Choose Xone:K2 from the list. Now set your Output Config. Make sure 1/2 (stereo) and 3/4 Stereo are enabled. On Channel 1 set the “audio to” section to EXT. On Channel2 set the “audio to” section to EXT.Traktor Pro (PC) Setup: From the preferences window in Traktor, click on Audio setup — and select audio device.
Choose Xone:K2 USB ASIO driver from the list. Now set your output routing. Make sure your mixing mode is on External, and set deck A and deck B to: Deck A L 1: Out 1 Deck A R 2: Out 2 Deck B L 3: Out 3 Deck B R 4: Out 4. Ableton (PC) Setup: From the preferences window in Ableton, select Audio — and make sure the driver type is set to ASIO. In the audio device list choose the Xone:K2 USB ASIO driver. Now set your Output Config.
Make sure 1/2 (stereo) AND 3/4 Stereo are enabled. On Channel 1 set the “audio to” section to EXT. On Channel2 set the “audio to” section to EXT. Importing Maps (Traktor Pro): To import the Traktor MIDI map known as a TSI file: In the preferences window in Traktor, select Controller manager. Choose import.
Browse to the saved location of the TSI file you wish to load. Select and open it. In the categories to import window select OK. Make sure that the MIDI device in port and out port are set to Xone:K2 – for both devices in the K2 map.
![Mapping Mapping](/uploads/1/2/5/4/125448262/738818046.jpg)
Importing Maps (Ableton Live): To import the Ableton MIDI map known as an ALS file: Select Open live set from the file menu. Browse to the saved location of the ALS file you wish to load. Select and open it. You will see the layout change according to the ALS file you have chosen. Open the Preferences panel. Choose MIDI/Sync tab, On the MIDI ports, set the Xone:K2 input track on and remote on. Then set the Xone:K2 output track on and remote on.For more detailed information please ensure you read the latest version of Xone:K2 User Guide, available to view and download.