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Everything a digital DJ could ask for.

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Where Native Instruments are concerned, we’ve come to expect a certain high standard. Now the team have stepped it up with a new version of their award-winning Traktor software. This time, however, the software is accompanied by the Audio 8 DJ - an audio interface designed with the serious DJ in mind.

It also comes bundled with two pairs of timecode discs - one pair for vinyl and another for CD turntables. It even comes complete with a set of multicore connection cables, making integration as simple as possible.

In fact, the system is designed to be dropped into an existing DJing setup, so you will need your own hardware DJ mixer to use Traktor Scratch, since the virtual decks are piped straight to the soundcard outs, with no software mixing.

On closer inspection it soon becomes apparent that this particular package has a lot more to offer than you might expect from a two-deck mixing setup, however. Thankfully, NI have endeavoured to cover every base, with a feature set that’s guaranteed to raise a few eyebrows.

Low-latency

Let’s face it, latency has long been the arch enemy of DJs. Any DJ will appreciate how difficult it can be to do your job when there’s an obvious lag between what you do and what you hear. In the realm of digital audio it’s almost taken for granted that there will be some signal delay, so how does Traktor Scratch perform in this most important area?

First of all, the Audio 8 DJ USB 2.0 audio interface comes with a set of low-latency ASIO drivers as standard. Within the software preferences are convenient templates with configurations to suit a range of different computer setups. We found that some of the lower latency settings worked very well, even on our modest test machine. More important than the numbers, though, is that it feels exceptionally tight, even at pretty high latency settings.

You’ll find pulling off a tight mix or scratching with your digital audio files is no hardship for Traktor Scratch at all. The supplied vinyl timecode discs are pressed on high quality, lightweight 12¨ slabs, with a deeper groove on one side for a very comfortable scratching experience, and you can set the discs to respond in either 33rpm or 45rpm modes.

Notable is the Beatjumper feature, which enables you to skip a number of beats backwards or forwards according to the detected BPM or Beatgrid - perfect for those situations when a fine dancer catches your eye, causing you to miss your cue.

Tricks

Have you ever wished to mix two records that can’t be beatmatched within the pitch range on your decks? Traktor Scratch boasts an adjustable range of pitch scales - plus or minus 8%, 35%, 50% and 100% - that are separate from the actual speed of the timecode disc. That means the digital audio file plays at the speed of your timecode disc plus the additional range of the software itself. It also comes with an adjustable Pitch Lock option so that playback speed and tuning can be altered independently.