Native Instruments Teases the Traktor Kontrol S8, DJs Everywhere Start Drooling

After months of speculation and rumors floating ‘round the interwebz, Native Instruments has finally let cat out of the bag: the new Traktor Kontrol S8 is set to be a jog-wheel free controller with a pair of displays that pull all the relevant info directly from Traktor Pro.

So what can we actually tell you about it, other than the exclusion of jog-wheels from the new setup and twin screens?

The screens look incredibly crisp and clean, which is nice in a mostly dark environment with lots of sudden flashes. Whether or not this holds true once the product goes to retail remains to be seen. They also show each screen as capable of displaying two decks simultaneously on each screen.
The grouping of four faders underneath each of the screens seems to indicate that the Kontrol S8 will put a lot of focus on the remix decks. Those four faders really do look like they’re integrating remix deck controls as a standard part of the their controller setup a la the F1.
The effects filters look like they’ve got dedicated on/off switches for each channel.
The touchpads have full-color RBG backlights and no labeling, indicating they’ll be mapped for cue point or remix deck samples and clips.
Like the Kontrol Z2, there are Traktor buttons beneath the gain knobs, so the best bet is that this’ll be a standalone mixer with the ability to bring in external input lines. This means turntables are doable, and that means the S8 will likely be Traktor Scratch-certified.
The jog-wheels look like they’ve been replaced with touch strips, which in and of themselves lend to all sorts of gesture control functionality.
The decks feature touchpads with switchable modes including hotcue triggering, loops, freeze and remix.
The Capture and Edit buttons give the impression that the Kontrol 8 is going to have some serious recording and remix deck functionality, much like the Kontrol F1.

We should qualify all of this by saying that, until the actual piece of kit drops, it’s all speculation and guess work on our part. But stay tuned, we know this one is going to be big.

Peep the video teaser below and keep your eyes on the Traktor Kontrol S8 product page for more details, which Native Instruments is promising plenty of in the near future.