Traktor Kontrol F1

A very colorful light will shine upon Native Instruments' DJ ecosystem on May 30th, and it's called Traktor Kontrol F1. The rainbow-flavored box aims squarely at the growing number of beat junkies who fall somewhere between DJ and producer. New Remix Decks in the accompanying Traktor 2.5 software cater to a more granular perspective on mixing, and the F1 is the tool that brings the new layers to your fingertips. We had an exclusive sit-down with a beta version of the adorable blinky-buttony-slidery controller/instrument-thing that we're itching to spill the beans on, so join us after the break, won't you?

Putting it simply, the F1 is a 4.7-by-11.5-inch box with a standard 16-pad interface that should be familiar to anyone who's encountered an MPC-style interface. Surrounding the grid are a host of operational effects that modify playback of sounds in the corresponding rows, or in other cases, of all the sounds currently playing back in a column: sync, quant, capture, stop, type and size. These also serve secondary functions in shift-mode (pitch, speed and color) to further shape the sound. Above each column sits a slider generally used for column volume control and a filter knob. A single Traktor-standard rotary encoder is used to adjust parameters. Those candy-colored lights -- each hue customizable via an embedded LED -- communicate which type of sample is loaded in the corresponding slot in software. The grid also serves as a 16-pixel animation display, so you're constantly treated to a deeper look at how the interface is triggering or navigating through each individual sound.


Kick ass!!!