Controller Clinic #33: Best Portable Traktor Controller For Travelling?

New Digital DJ Tips subscriber Andy writes: “I’m just starting up and will be looking to get a MacBook with Traktor Pro 2. I will be travelling around Asia and want to have a controller that would be suited for this trip. I suspect there is a good chance it will be stolen and think a Traktor Kontrol S4 would be to big and maybe a little more advanced for a beginner.

“I’m just happy to have the music I like and be able to mixing it flawlessly, and want a controller that can do this which is light, relatively cheap in case it’s stolen but also does the job to control music through my laptop. Any thoughts would be appreciated.”

Digital DJ Tips says:

Some of the best designed little controllers for Traktor Pro 2 are the Faderfox range of which the Faderfox DJ3 would seem a good choice; the mappings are ingenious and you’ll find you can do pretty much all you want to with one of those. You may also want to consider the Traktor Kontrol Z1, which unlike the Faderfox controllers has a built-in sound card (meaning you don’t have to purchase one separately – here are some ideas – or use a DJ splitter cable for headphones monitoring). However, the Kontrol Z1 is only the “mixer” bit of the controller equation, so you’ll be using keyboard shortcuts for deck controls (not such a bad thing in a minimal set-up). If you feel up to a bit of mapping, you could use something like the Allen & Heath Xone:K2, which again has a sound card to save you needing a separate one.

Also, don’t forget that there are loads of truly budget controllers out there (go to any DJ store online and sort the controllers “low to high” by price and you’ll find piles of them) and for travelling, where you’re scared of it getting stolen, they can make a good choice: the little Numark DJ2Go has lots of fans as a second/travelling controller, although again a separtae audio interface (sound card) would be required, and you’d have to find or make a mapping. To be honest, though, it sounds like your MacBook is the thing you’re going to want to be protecting the most! And finally, don’t discount buying an audio interface and just DJing with keyboard shortcuts – many do…

Do you use some kind of minimal or ultra-portable controller with Traktor? Let us know your solution to this problem in the comments!