Native Instruments have new Traktor hardware and software coming in 2018
The German company have also doubled their Traktor team...
Native Instruments have completely rebuilt their DJ software Traktor from the ground up, as well as doubling the size of their Traktor team. In an email message sent out to tech media, NI’s Director of Products (Traktor) Pedram Faghfouri set to reassure users after a long period of dormancy from the software, explaining that new hardware and software will be coming in 2018.
“The digital DJ market is fast moving and increasingly cluttered with competition. At Native we are passionate about leading genuine change and taking our time to ensure we blend quality, innovation and user functionality.
In 2018 we will unveil new Traktor hardware and software that we believe achieves this goal, and further empowers our global community of professionals and hobbyists.”
It’s been a quiet time for Traktor – besides a small update last week – and NI are clearly biding their time, taking a step back from the busy DJ market to see where they fit in. A lot of what brought users to Traktor – the ability to store thousands of tracks, playlists, analysis and advanced cue and waveform features – were all matched by the CDJ-2000 range, meaning Traktor became more of a ‘performance’ software, for those looking to use four-deck mixing or to expand on the usual A-to-B style DJing.
Although they introduced Stems in 2016, they failed to make the impact NI had hoped, no doubt leaving the company questioning their role and what DJs want from their products.
With Denon and Pioneer DJ both continuing to expand the performance aspects of their product range, it’s no surprise NI have taken their time with the next major Traktor update. The next Traktor will be a complete re-write, moving on from the ‘Pro’ tag, although we’re assured that the current version will continue to be supported. “We will maintain and improve Traktor Pro for several more years until the new Traktor is mature enough, also for our Pro users. There are more updates to Traktor Pro planned in the coming months.”
What Traktor’s new software and hardware will look like is anyone’s guess, but considering they’ve moved away almost completely from jog wheel designs on their most recent controllers, we’re guessing the new versions will be a performance-led unit, with sequencers, MIDI outputs and be designed to be the heart of your electronic music performance, not just DJing.
We’ll have any major news for you as it breaks.
