Review: Traktor Kontrol S4 MK2 And S2 MK2

Reviewed: Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol S4 MK2 and S2 MK2
Price: S4: $699 (MSRP) S2: $399
Communication: MIDI over USB, with high-resolution jog wheels
Ships with: Traktor Pro 2, power supply, USB cable, iOS 30-pin cable, keyboard shortcut chart.
Weight: S4: 7.5 lb. (3.4 kg); S2: 5.7 lb. (2.6 kg)
Dimensions: S4: 19.7 x 13.3 x 2.8 inches, S2: 17.2 x 12.1 x 2.6 inches

The Good: Dedicated Flux Mode buttons. New multi-colored backlit pads for Remix Deck control. Plug-and-play support for iOS Traktor DJ. Same great 24-bit/96 khz audio interface and build quality as before.

The Bad: Some noise on the audio output when using USB bus power. Not working with iOS 7 yet at the time of publication.

The Bottom Line: The Kontrol S4 and S2 were already excellent options for Traktor users. The new features catch the hardware up to where the software has been going. They may not attract massive throngs of new converts, but they undoubtedly make two really nice controllers even better, and for the same price as before.

he S4 MK2 and S2 MK2 have been slightly refreshed, with the same great build quality with aircraft-grade aluminum face plates and the same audio interface features with NI’s renown 24-bit/96 khz sound quality and high output levels. There’s a little more spit-and-polish to the design: shinier jog wheels, updated surface finishes, etc. The size dimensions and weight are nearly identical to the older versions, and the layout of controls looks just about the same, as well, with a few important distinctions.

The first thing you notice that’s different about the S4 MK2 and S2 MK2 are the fully backlit RGB LED buttons. They not only look more beautiful than the old partially lit buttons, but they also stand out visually much better, whether in the dark or in daylight conditions. The restyled buttons give better visual feedback for the color-coded Remix Deck samples that they can launch.

While the original Kontrol S units didn’t have direct access to the Remix Decks, the S4 MK2and S2 MK2 were built for it. That’s what the slight refresh of these units was about: providing better access to some of the most important recent Traktor features. That’s also why the new units come with USB-to-iOS-30-pin cables and work with Traktor DJ on iOS of the box.

The S4 and S2 MK2 both sport redesigned jogwheels that are now topped with aluminum instead of plastic – they’re just heavier enough (see image above) to allow their use to feel signifiantly more solid than the MK1 platters ever did. Traktor is clearly responding to some of the praise around the jogwheels Pioneer’s DDJ-SX and making their own jogs feel more significant.

Finally, both new controllers have crucial Flux Mode buttons above the pitch faders of both decks. These Flux Mode buttons replace the Reset button from the S2 Mk 1 and the S4 MK2 replaces the old Offset ± buttons with Flux Mode and Reset buttons. Flux Mode is a recent Traktor addition that lets you fiddle with performance features like loops and hotcues while the song continues playback in the background. When your fingers come off the controls, the song picks up at the spot it would be at if playing continuously. The dedicated button on the new Kontrol S units makes it so easy to jump into Flux Mode and start playing away on spontaneous loops with the Loop Size/Set push encoder

As before, the S4 MK2 sets that flagship standard for NI’s Traktor Kontrol series. It’s a full-fledged 4-deck controller, while the S2 MK2 controls 2 decks along with some limited access to the Remix Decks C and D.

Above and beyond the S2 Mk2, the S4 Mk2 has two additional channel strips; dedicated center-detented Filter knobs for all four channel strips; vital Snap, Quantize, and Master buttons; a very handy Mode button in both FX decks for toggling between Single and Group effects; a dedicated Loop Recorder section; and four extra Remix Slot buttons for launching clips from a Remix Deck.

All that extra stuff adds up to some extra size and bulk, but not all that much. The S4 Mk2 adds a few centimeters to the length and depth of the S2 Mk2 and weighs 1.8 pounds more. The S4 Mk2 can be a bit of handful both to carry and possibly to make room for in a DJ booth. However, all of its extra hands-on control can make a world of difference. The S2 Mk2 is a worthy compromise for anyone with size or budgetary concerns, or who simply won’t use all the bells and whistles of the S4 Mk2.

REMIX DECK ACCESS

The new controller versions basically swap in Remix Deck controls (as DENON DJ DS1 )where the old versions had Sample Slot controls. The 1-4 pads on the S2 Mk2’s two decks can double as Remix Deck controls when you have Traktor Deck’s C and D set as Remix Decks. To switch the pads to Remix mode, you turn on the A and/or B buttons in the center Remix section. From there, you can either trigger any of the upper sample slots in the Remix Deck with pads 1-4, or if any of those slots are empty, use the buttons to capture samples from a live deck or load samples from the Library. The knob in the S2 Mk2’s Remix section controls the volume of both Remix Decks.

On the S4 Mk2, the four dedicated Remix Slot buttons let you trigger samples from the top slots of Remix Deck directly from a track deck. However, you have excellent alternatives in the Traktor Kontrol S4 preferences to use the Remix Slot buttons as either Hotcue 5-8, Direct Loop or Beatjump buttons, all of which can be enormously useful.

No matter what behavior you choose for the Remix Slot buttons when on a Track Deck, when on a Remix Deck they will behave the same, which is to trigger and re-trigger the top four slots of a Remix Deck. Also while controlling a Remix Deck, the S4 Mk2’s 1-4 pad buttons work to mute/unmute the four Remix Deck slots, and the bottom row of transport control buttons work globally on all four Remix slots. Just like with the S2 Mk2, you can use the S4 Mk2’s Remix Slot buttons to capture samples or load samples to empty slots.

CITIZEN ECO DRIVE BROWN LEATHER MENS WATCH BM8475-26E

With the colour combination that is something very unique looking, you’ll absolutely struck by this CITIZEN ECO DRIVE BROWN LEATHER MENS WATCH BM8475-26E. The black anodized stainless steel case which measure 42mm diameter by 11mm thick cuddles the black dial that features an orange hands and hour markers powered by the Eco-Drive movement. The dial also offers Arabic numerals 12, 3, 6, and 9 with orange accdents and a date/day display beside the 3 o’clock position. The 24-hr markings along the outer edge of the dial were very nice touch too. The stated features were all protected by the scratch resistant mineral crystal window that is fastening to the stationary stainless steel bezel. A 2mm width high-quality brown leather strap, assures for the comfortable wearing to your wrist as it reaches to the moulded buckle clasp. For a more durability this BM8475-26E Citizens military series timepiece is a water resistant of up to 100m. Definitely for real, you feel in love with the Citizen BM8475-26E awesome appeal!

Delivery and returns


your order should be completed before 4:00pm (Monday-Friday) for us to despatch the same day or before 11:30am on Saturday for delivery Monday. Please note that all orders must pass our security policy before they are despatched and we must be able to take payment successfully, if this is not possible we will email or send an SMS with further instructions. For queries and delivery questions please feel free to call us on 01926 298499.
FOR OTHER ITEMS,a delivery estimate will be shown where possible. If we feel we are unable to adhere to the timescale after you place your order we will contact you to make you aware and allow you to change your order if necessary. Items will be sent by your chosen delivery method once they are back in stock and payment will not be taken until the items are despatched (NB. PayPal and Amazon orders are charged immediately).

RETURNS POLICY
In addition to our 30 day returns policy all items purchased from October 1st 2017 may now be returned up until January 16th 2018, terms apply.

We aim for you to be absolutely delighted with your purchase and therefore offer you 30 days to change your mind on any item purchased from this website. You may do this by using the form provided with your order or otherwise. We will provide a refund of all payment received (not including delivery upgrades), usually within 48 hours of receipt of the product. This will be made to the original payment method. For most payment methods it will take 3-5 working days for this to show on your statement.

You will need to bear the cost of return unless we are at fault. We recommend using an insured and tracked service which covers the item value in case the item is damaged or lost in transit. Please ensure the watch is returned to us in an unworn, new condition with all the original packaging (manufacturer's manual and guarantee if applicable). Please ensure items from your order are suitable before wearing as we are unable to accept items which have been worn under our returns policy. We reserve the right to make deductions for unnecessary damage caused to the product by yourself.

We are also able to offer an exchange to a different product if required, please specify this when returning your product.

If you’re looking for a traditional RAID enclosure, the Drobo Mini probably isn’t for you. If you’re looking for a fast multi-drive enclosure, the Drobo Mini reallyisn’t for you. The Drobo Mini is geared toward people who don’t know, and don’t want to know anything about RAID, who might have a handful of drives they’d like to put to use.

With a Drobo Mini you don’t have to use identical drives, or even drives with the same capacity or speed. You can throw a 80GB drive and a 500GB drive in a Drobo and it’ll give you as much protected storage capacity as it can without you having to do anything. That said, the Drobo doesn’t always act as you might expect, and the extreme ease of use comes at the cost of performance.

Before you can use your Drobo Mini you have to install the Drobo Dashboard software and put some drives in the Mini. Drobo Dashboard is easy to find and install; other than being a little slow to find our Drobo I didn’t have any major problems with it. The dashboard can warn you when you’re running low on space and can email you alerts, as well as format and restore your Drobo.

The magnetic front panel is super easy to remove (almost too easy at times), it just sort of comes off. Behind the panel are four slots for 2.5-inch drives; all you have to do is push the drive in till you hear a click. It feels like you’re inserting gigantic SD cards. You can start with just two drives, but I put four in right away.

Once your drives are installed and the front cover is back on, plug in the power cord. The power cord has a locking mechanism you can use by twisting the plug in the back of the Drobo—this way the power cord won’t slip out of your Drobo accidentally.

When you connect your drive to your Mac or PC with Thunderbolt or USB 3 and follow the prompts to format it, don’t be surprised that it shows up as a 17.5TB volume—Drobo is just making sure that when you add capacity, it won’t have to recreate the volume visible to the OS.
Using the Drobo

The most compelling feature of Drobo Mini is its ability to take drives of varying capacities and render a large chunk of protected storage space back to the user. In a traditional RAID setup, your storage space is limited to the size of the smallest drive. Mixing drives of varying capacities limits the usable space on each to the size of the smallest, and you lose the extra capacity. So with three 1TB drives and one 500GB in a traditional RAID, you can only use 500GB on each drive.

Of course, there are still some limits to the usable space you get when mixing drive capacities in a Drobo. For example: I had four 480GB drives, and the resulting 1.33TB of usable protected space was running out. I rustled up another drive from somewhere in the lab and swapped one of the 480GB drives with a 960GB drive. Back at the Drobo Dashboard it was still telling me I was low on usable space, and instructed me to replace yet another drive. Oh yeah, and I didn’t get any more usable space.

It’s not a glitch or an error—Drobo just can’t protect that space yet. Providing redundancy for your data is Drobo’s whole deal, so the Drobo Mini isn’t going to let you use space that can’t be protected by the other drives currently in the enclosure. Drobo puts that extra capacity aside until you swap another one of your drives for one with a higher capacity. This leads to some strange happenings: when all your drives have identical capacities, you actually have to swap two of them to get any increase in usable space.

Drobo has capacity calculator online that helps you get a feeling of the storage space you’ll have available with different capacity drives. So be very, very sure to check the capacity calculator before considering a Drobo, and before buying any new drives that might go into your Drobo.
Performance

Don’t expect blazing fast speeds from your Drobo Mini, even with SSDs. The way it manages your data behind the scenes makes it incredibly easy to use, but does end up cutting into performance.

Writing to the drive, I saw speeds up to 242MB/s when dealing with large files, and up to 171MB/s when dealing with a collection of files and folders. Reading from the drive, I saw speeds up to 346MB/s when dealing with large files, and up to 236MB/s when dealing with a collection of files and folders. Remember, that’s with four 480GB SATA III SSDs.

I also tested the drive with four 1TB 7200-rpm 2.5-inch drives, which gave me 2.67TB of usable space. Writing to the drive topped at 197MB/s with a single file, and 90MB/s writing a group of files and folders. Reading a single large file maxed at 316MB/s, but reading a group of files and folders was a lot slower, topping out at 66MB/s.

To help put this in perspective, I took one of the drives out of the Drobo Mini, put it in a Seagate Thunderbolt Adapter, and ran the same tests on the drive by itself. Alone, the SanDisk X300s posted write speeds of 343MB/s and read speeds of 384MB/s in our in-house tests. This isn’t comparing apples to apples, since there’s no data protection on the single drive.

Looking at those numbers it almost seems ridiculous to use SSDs in a Drobo Mini. You’re simply spending more money than you get back in terms of speed. If you’re looking to invest in a Drobo Mini, stick with rotational drives unless money isn’t a factor to you—or you just happen to have a bunch of 2.5-inch SSDs lying around usused for some reason.

The Drobo Mini is marketed as portable, and even comes with a carrying case that fits the drive, power supply, and cables. However you still have to tote around the bulky case—it weighed 4.24 pounds with SSDs and 4.69 pounds with HDDs) and find an outlet before you can use the Drobo Mini in the field.
Bottom line

The Drobo Mini isn’t meant to compete directly with traditional RAID options. The drive is intended for people who need protected storage rather than fast speeds, and don’t want to learn about RAID. If you’re using some old drives you have lying around to create some protected storage for a technophobic relative, it can be a compelling choice. If you want something customizable or with blazing fast speeds, you might want to read an article on RAID.

Alexa and Voice Search Review

Any openings in the Amazon Fire Stick jailbroken with Kodi are made up for by the potent voice assistant and search functions. By holding the mike button down on the remote, you can search for movies, shows, and apps by simply talking into it (you can not use it hands-free my saying "Alexa," like you can with Amazon Echo goods). As it's connected to your Amazon Fire Stick unlocked and is not simply a speaker such as the Amazon Echo, the Amazon Fire Stick jailbroken can provide you visual data in answer to your Alexa asks, like the Amazon Echo Show (although without the touch screen controls).

Alexa can search based on show and movie titles, actor and director names, and genres and topics (though the vaguer your requests are, the less reliable the results will probably be). The voice hunt feature crosses across 90 distinct programs and services including Netflix and Hulu, and the Amazon Fire Stick with Kodi keeps tabs on any subscriptions you might have and also front-loads search results to emphasize content on these services. Search results nevertheless lean toward Amazon's own on-demand and instant video libraries when they are available, but it's a handy and thorough method to search for whatever you may want to watch.

Besides voice hunt, you can acquire useful information and even have the Amazon Fire Stick Kodi perform certain tasks with your voice thanks to Amazon Alexa integration (the exact same voice helper used in the Amazon Echo, which really adds lots of conveniences the voice search performance on Roku devices does not offer. It is possible to check the weather, find out sports scores, and bring up Wikipedia info, and also add items to your shopping list. You might also add skills to Alexa for additional features, such as ordering a pizza through Dominoes. Third-party skills vary tremendously in functionality and usefulness, but they really add to what you could do with the Amazon Fire Stick jailbroken for sale. See Amazon's highest-rated Alexa abilities in every class for some ideas.

Alexa also enables you to command smart home devices with your voice. A huge variety of connected lighting, locks, thermostats, and other home automation equipment works with Alexa. Holding a button down and talking into a distant is not quite as easy as the hands-free voice activation of the Echo devices, but it's still a useful method to bring down the lights when watching a picture, or correcting the temperature of the house without getting up.

Voice recognition is exceptional. Despite my voice sounding hoarse from a cold, the Amazon Fire Stick for sale understood all of my requests. It attracted up search results for Agents of Amazon Fire Stick free channels, Gundam, and Voltron with no matter gave me a weather forecast for the coming week and informed me when the forthcoming presidential debate would be. It's impressively accurate and responsive to get a $40 streaming device.

Performance is aided in part by a quad-core processor that significantly speeds things up over the previous version. Navigating menus is not quite as fast as it is with the 4K-capable Amazon Fire Stick hack, along with the rod can only output to 1080p video, however, it's an appreciable update (with a much more reasonable price compared to Amazon Fire Stick fully loaded). I had no difficulty switching between different programs and quickly loading movies and shows.

Like most of the media streamers, particularly ones that just use Wi-Fi, video quality depends on the rate and signal strength of your system.

Metal Roofing Contractor Selection

Locating the Perfect roofing company to install metal

Having done a little research, you have come to realize that there were quite a couple of metal roofing contractors and companies offering to roof, and you also now had the choice and burden of choosing the finest possible roofing contractors NYC that you could locate. The selection process was pretty straight forward, but it was important to follow it to the T. The pre-screening procedure would entail a possible roofing contractor coming over to your home and giving you an estimate. At the bat, you realized that there's a lot of potential NYC roofing contractors fraud going on, when one of the contractors came up to look at your roof, also then quoted a roof price which has been only half of what the 2 guys have quoted before him, and he requested cashiers check for the full amount upfront.

This gentleman was clearly roofers New York scam artist preying on older and uneducated people. Fortunately, not everybody in  roofing company NYC is a scam artist and there are some trustworthy roofers. One of these ended up giving a quote which was almost four times the amount of asphalt shingle contractor that gave a quote before him. But, despite the greater first metal roof prices the benefits he outlined made a great deal of sense. The long and the short of it was that metal roof would be the last roof you have to set up, and you get roofing companies NYC which not only looks good and lasts you a lifetime, but also helps you along with energy saving, and raises the value of your property. Isn't that a bargain? Of course, the cost alone, high or low, isn't the sole criteria in making a choice as to whether or not you should hire any particular roofing contractor.

A far more important factor is the characteristic of the work, which merely be checked by asking for references, looking at the quality of their work and possibly event talking to individuals to see whether they are quite satisfied with the roofing project a contractor has performed. It's also, a fantastic idea to carefully find out more about the metal  roofing contractors NYC that a contractor concentrates on using, the kind of roofing underlayment they want to work with and find out about how they intend to ventilate the roof.

Important questions to ask your metal roofing contractor NYC.

Guarantee details - Find out if it's just the material guarantee from a product producer, or in the event the contractor actually warranties the task to be flow and water tight.
Underlayment type - various studies have revealed that commercial roofing NYC shouldn't be installed over artificial vapor barrier insulation since it will trap the moisture and might cause deck rotting. Therefore it is recommended to utilize breathable ventilation system.
Ventilation - New York roofer that is not properly ventilated can fail prematurely due to moisture trapping and ice dams formation and harm in a trapped hot air. Ask how New York roofing intends to ventilate your own roof.
Representative fix - if commercial roofing NYC is going to require a tear off; Request your roof contractor if they are going to correct any possible deck damage, and put it in writing. Written Proposal and contract.
Get a written proposal or contract and study it in detail before you agree for some other job. Request your contractor sets all the guarantees in writing, otherwise, you will have no means to get what you were assured if your contractor fails to deliver upon their guarantees.
Eventually, use your own judgment.

Excellent luck!

Since 1998, metal roofing's market share increased from only 4% to some whopping 11 percent. Metal is a quickest growing New York roofer now. Learn about benefits and advantages of roofers New York for residential houses, commercial buildings, commercial buildings, and industrial pole frame buildings. This source provides a regularly updated guide to metal roofing prices and free roof calculator. Additionally, there is step by step guides instructing house owners how to quantify and gauge their own roofs before they hire roofing contractors to re-roof their property. Knowledge is power, so set yourself in a position of power and find the benefits that modern roofers New York may provide to your homeowner like yourself!

GOAL ZERO SWITCH 10 MULTI-TOOL KIT

I won't take something on my kayak or pack it for a camping trip unless it serves multiple purposes. For a long time, my solar panel kit was the only exception to that rule, because what else can you do with solar chargers than charge things, right? Not anymore. GOAL ZERO SWITCH 10 MULTI-TOOL KIT  opens the multi-use doorway and gives you both power and function.

Once the Switch 10 arrived, I stuck it in my truck and it was amazing how often I used it, even often the water. Nearly everyday I'd charge things with the Switch 10, either for a quick recharge of my phone in the afternoon, or a between-locations charge of my action cameras. The solar-capable power source isn't the only reason why the Switch 10 is so cool though, it's way more than that.

The entire kit includes a solar panel for endless charging off the sun, a lightweight fan attachment, usb charging cables and best of all, a crazy useful flashlight attachment. All of that and it's still small enough to fit into a PFD pocket (sans panel, which can hang on the back of your seat). Fish all day and store enough power to charge up your device at night, either on your way home or back at camp.

The flashlight attachment is so handy, I can't imagine life without it anymore. There are two settings to the light's beam, capable of putting out 110 Lumens. The wide angle setting let me light up the trail and see what I was about to step on, while the tighter beam let me look deeper into the night, piercing the darkness. There is also a high power mode for maximum light, or a low power mode to extend the battery life.

The fan attachment is going to be great for those hot days or long portages between fishing spots. It's easy to use and runs quietly, instead of buzzing in your face. This is a powerul little fan that you'll be relieved to have in your pocket or PFD for fast heat relief.

Powerful Specs:

Replaceable Lithium Ion Battery Replaceable (3,000mAh/11Wh) lightweight, high power density battery. Instant-on technology for easy, plug-and-play power. LED battery level indicator and pass-through capability.
Quick Charge USB Port Intelligent Charging for any USB-powered device. (1.5A Output) Delivers smart power without overcharging or discharging.
Device Specific Cables USB & Micro USB tangle-free charging for phones and tablets. Certified cables for efficient charging.
Solar Ready Built-in charging tip. No extra cable to lose. Charge up in 4 hours from any USB port - in 4 hours of full sun from the Nomad 7 Solar Panel
Switch Flashlight (110 Lumens) Wide angle for lighting up the trail or piercing the darkness. High power for maximum light, low power for extended runtimes.

5 Valuable Business Tips from Celebrity Entrepreneurs

Every entrepreneur has their own journey, story and words of wisdom. In honor of Global Entrepreneurs Week, we’re sharing our favorite pieces of advice from the celebrity entrepreneurs who spoke at QuickBooks Connect. Take them, use them and grow your business!

Earvin “Magic” Johnson

Magic shared his view on how to best engage with potential customers if you want to take your business to new heights. And we’re talking heights well beyond Magic’s 6'9" frame.
“In the marketplace, it’s not enough to just deliver, it’s about over-delivering. Your business will grow if you over-deliver to your customers”

Martha Stewart

Martha listed the ingredients needed to be successful as an entrepreneur. Trust us, if anyone knows ingredients, it’s Martha.
“If you continue to utilize your passion, curiosity and strong work ethic, it will lead to long-lived business success.”