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No user will doubt the S4's intergration or features, it's merely its size and weight that will mean that it isn't for some users.

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Back in 2008, our sister mag Future Music took a trip to Berlin for the launch of Traktor Pro, the coming-of-age overhaul of Native Instruments' popular DJ software. While there, they pleaded for an official controller with everything you see at your fingertips.

NI gave nothing away, but when the first incarnation of controllers dropped earlier this year, we got excited about the inevitable main event - enter Traktor Kontrol S4.

Size matters

Lifting the S4 out of its box, the first thing you notice is how light it is, considering its size. The S4 is a big beast, and is unlikely to fit in most shoulder bags or even backpacks.

"This is a true mouse-less control. The S4 is the best-implemented solution for Traktor we've seen to date."

There is a flightcase available separately that doubles as a stand for your laptop and although it's sturdy and is a complete solution, it does add a significant weight to the unit - over 8kg - and comes at a significant price of 169 Euros.

One of the first thoughts that entered our minds was, for those of us without tech riders, it's going to be tough to find a spot for this in the DJ booth. You'll more than likely have to invest in a separate laptop stand to sit over the S4, if you don't have the outlay for the official case.

That being said, you won't need an extra soundcard so once you've got the S4 in place, it's a simple case of going from the phono or quarter-inch outs to the install mixer.

Speaking of connections, the S4 boasts a hefty amount. As previously mentioned, the main outs are taken care of either by two balanced quarter-inch outputs or over unbalanced phono cable.

What adds another level of self-containment to the S4 is the option of deck three and four inputs, one of which can be sent to the software to run through the effects or for resampling via Deck C or D or can be sent 'thru' to the outputs, a la any traditional mixer.

Anyone who raises their eyebrow at the price of the S4 should definitely keep this in mind as you also get an independent two-channel mixer for your dough. What's also worth mentioning is that the S4 will support time-coded vinyl and CD control 'in the near future'. Though NI don't mention if Traktor Pro S4 will adopt the function, or whether the existing Traktor Scratch will adopt the Kontrol S4, it adds yet another feature for the outlay and could add another two decks of control.

The S4 will work over USB-power but will operate at half-brightness - quite an achievement considering the size.

Top down

Without getting too deep into every control atop the S4's panel, it's worth pointing out the sheer amount of options available to the user. NI have done a fantastic job of avoiding the dreaded shift-function as much as possible, while still making all the important functions easily accessible and all the controls clearly labelled.

Once connected, the S4 instantly maps to Traktor, without any preset loading or setups. There are two ways to load tracks via the controller, either by using the Browse knob in the centre to scroll through your tracks and Load buttons beside each jog to cue them up, or by pressing the Browser button, which instantly switches the view to 'Browse View', which makes your library full screen.

Use the jog wheels to select tracks and load them into a suitable deck using the 'Cue' buttons. We think this will be the more popular option, as Traktor Pro S4 can be a bit busy on smaller laptop screens, so seeing the whole library at once is a big plus.