DJ controllers are the most hot items of this moment. And with every new one they start more and more to look alike. When Native Instruments (NI) announced their new Kontrol S8 they said it was ‘The future of DJing’. Quite the statement, so you expect something very interesting. They did deliver something interesting. NI put displays in the unit and removed the jog wheels. The latter caused some uproar amongst DJs regarding it as a vital part of a controller. Many ‘Sync’ DJs are fine with it. We tried the S8 to see if in fact this is ‘The future of DJing’.

The new generation of DJs uses controllers, especially the DJs playing at home. They don’t buy an expensive CDJ set anymore but start out using a controller and a laptop or tablet. In the stores these controllers are the big sellers. Advantage of this is that there is an abundance of choice. Budget wise, style and possibilities you can make the choices you want. Especially for the people that start out you can start with a modest budget because playing can be an expensive hobby. So the majority of manufacturers will enable this like for example with the Beatmix4 of Reloop with recently a reduced price. Does the Reloop Beatmix4 give value for money or should you save money for something else? Our opinion about this controller with a limited price tag will follow.