A few short weeks ago after NAMM 2013, I was invited to NYC to meet with the Native Instruments team for a top-secret product reveal. This new product has now been released to the public today and DJ’s everywhere are already clamoring for the download. The new Traktor DJ App for the iPad is here and for the small fee of only $20, anyone with a shiny iPad can venture into the Traktor realm of DJ control.
This new Traktor DJ App for the iPad is perfect for current Traktor DJ’s who want to sync the app with their desktop experience by preparing their tracks via enhanced Beatgrid adjustments, playlist settings, cue points, loops, and other all BPM data via a free dropbox account. For DJ’s that are on the go, the app is capable of two deck mixing, scratching (by simply grabbing the waveform with your fingers and sliding it back and forth), looping, navigate through tracks, set cue points and much more. There’s a 3-band EQ and filters along with effects which are also at your fingertips.
There’s also a new Freeze Mode which is somewhat like a slicer found on the Serato DJ controllers where the music is sliced up into equal parts and the user can use their fingers to manipulate and play different slices of the music at different times. The auto tempo and sync engines are excellent and make it very easy for users to sync the two tracks together for seamless mixing. The Traktor DJ app also has a new Recommended Compatible Tracks list that will show the user which track in their library would “mix-well” with the current track that is playing.
Although this was a very fun app to use and everything works well in principle, the App doesn’t allow users to work with both the Traktor Pro full software and the Traktor DJ App simultaneously. For example, I wish there was a way to use the Traktor DJ App in conjunction with your current Traktor Pro setup at the same time to view currently playing waveform data or to send tracks directly to live DVS or controller decks similar to Denon’s Engine or Pioneer’s Rekordbox. Furthermore, there is no way to sync the huge library of music on a Traktor Pro computer with the library of the iPad. It would be nice if all of the users’ music can be accessed via both the full software and the DJ app, but this is not yet possible.
Remember that this is just the first iteration of the App and eventually I’m sure a lot of these functions will be added to the list of improvements one day soon. For now, this is still a great DJ app and anyone who loves Traktor and has an iPad will definitely be a fan… Check out the full press release, purchase links, and more below.