Native Instruments Kontrol X1 impressions
source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/native-instruments-kontrol-x1-impressions/?s=t5
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We don't typically do a lot of coverage of music gear here at Engadget because, by and large, it's an entire world unto itself -- a universe of specialty products that require unique knowledge (and often, talent) to use, let alone review -- and ultimately, we're only writing for a limited subset of our readership. There are, of course, countless exceptions to the rule; mixing gear in particular has really come into its own, technologically, over the past several years as a whole new generation of would-be DJ superstars come into the fold. A skill once dominated by turntables is... well, still dominated by turntables, but everything surrounding the spinning vinyl is changing: nowadays, you've got a PC that can serve as a virtually bottomless pit of tracks, state-of-the-art software for synchronizing and manipulating those tracks, and dedicated external controllers to help you control the software. Once an art form, modern DJing is now half art, half science. It's exciting, it's cool, and even if you don't know the difference between a crossfader and a high-pass filter, it's a lot of fun to see how this stuff works.
To that end, today we're taking a quick look at Native Instrument's Kontrol X1 -- the first official, dedicated controller for its Traktor series of apps, one of the world's most widely-used DJ suites.
Handling the X1, you'll notice that this might not be up to the same level of over-engineering as your average club mixer, but it probably doesn't have to be -- it's an incredibly simple device with a bunch of lit buttons and knobs, that's it. That said, it's still solidly-constructed plastic that's neither too heavy nor too light, and we'd be comfortable throwing it around a bit without fearing that we're going to pull it out of our bag in three pieces. And really, the X1 is still over-engineered where it has to be: both the buttons and knobs have a great, positive feel to them without a hint of wiggle or flimsiness. The absolute knobs in the FX sections glide smoothly, and the relative knobs down below have firm, solid detents that ensure you're not going to change a track or loop position unless you absolutely mean to.
To that end, today we're taking a quick look at Native Instrument's Kontrol X1 -- the first official, dedicated controller for its Traktor series of apps, one of the world's most widely-used DJ suites.
Handling the X1, you'll notice that this might not be up to the same level of over-engineering as your average club mixer, but it probably doesn't have to be -- it's an incredibly simple device with a bunch of lit buttons and knobs, that's it. That said, it's still solidly-constructed plastic that's neither too heavy nor too light, and we'd be comfortable throwing it around a bit without fearing that we're going to pull it out of our bag in three pieces. And really, the X1 is still over-engineered where it has to be: both the buttons and knobs have a great, positive feel to them without a hint of wiggle or flimsiness. The absolute knobs in the FX sections glide smoothly, and the relative knobs down below have firm, solid detents that ensure you're not going to change a track or loop position unless you absolutely mean to.
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