News of the Traktor X1 Mark 2 came to me via a short Tweet from the great guys at Dj Tech Tools. Although not yet 100% confirmed, it certainly looks like the real McCoy.

Is it really the Traktor X1 Mark 2?

The Traktor X1 has been the staple controller for many headlining techno and house DJ’s for a long time now and I can say it surely is my favourite controller to date. It would be the perfect time to update this controller and announce something such as the Traktor X1 Mark 2.

DJ Tech Tools noticed the ‘leaked’ post on a DJ equipment website called Pssl; one of the biggest Dj suppliers in the United States. PSSL had allegedly even put up a specification sheet and write up about the device, something that DJ Tech Tools Managed to scrape from their site before they removed it. This could be an honest mistake by PSSL, but if it wasn’t is sure was a genius marketing tactic by PSSL, or even maybe by Native Instruments themselves. Controlled leaks are an excellent way to build support. Look at what Daft Punk did with their iTunes Streaming ‘Leak’.

Either way, I don’t want to spend to much time on this particular topic, as I am sure now that a leak has emerged, the device is likely to be announced imminently, as Native Instruments is likely going to want to ‘own’ this launch. I’m sure the staff at NI are now scrambling with this in some way.

Features of the ‘Traktor X1 Mark 2’ Worth Noting

As the spec sheet mentioned:

• “New multi-purpose touch strip keeps you in direct control without ever having to reach for your turntable or CDJ”
  • Note below the 2 loop control encoders, 2 small strips, similar to the strips on other controllers and CDJ’s, often used to scrub through a track, negating the need for pressing shift and turning the encoder to scan through your tracks.
• Advanced, touch-sensitive browser and loop controls deliver ultimate performance possibilities
  • I would like to imagine that the touch sensitive part of the browser function might indicate a browse button that scrolls at different speeds dependant on how hard you squeeze or press. The central button above the loop knobs certainly looks quite elevated, maybe this would be an excellent feature in the new X1.

Aside for these 2 points, if we take a further look at the controller we can see a few other interesting additions:-

• In the button section they appear to have added a Flux Button, a much needed feature since the introduction of the Flux Mode back in 2.6.1
• FX buttons above the loop encoders indicate a much more streamlined way of switching on and on the effects for each deck and seeing visual feedback for the on state of each.
• The Blue buttons either side of the shift key; to me seem like the ideal way to move through the browser tree and folders, or even through the effects.
• Multi coloured Hot-cue buttons are said to offer ease of distinguishing between hot cues. For this we should expect a Traktor Update hitting our Service Centres Pretty soon.

Dj Tech Tools have a few more pictures and a little bit more of the specs if you want to go take a look – they are also saying that the Shipping date was August 1st and the price being $199.

I’m pretty confident this is happening folks, if it’s not – I’ll eat my hat – Live on YouTube! 😉

Let me know in the comments what you think about these new features…