Native Instruments on Tuesday announced Traktor DJ Studio 3, a new version of its mixing software for DJs. The new software is coming in November for US$279, with upgrades available for $99.
The new version of Native Instruments’ professional DJ software features support for up to four playback decks, twice as many as the previous version. Now integrated into the software is support for Beatport, the online club music store. Also new in this release is a four-channel mixer modeled after the Allen & Heath Xone:92 — modeling not only the layout and signal flow of the Xone:92 but also its 4-band-EQ and filter sections, channel fader and cross fader behavior. Each mixer channel can also be switched to emulate the EQ sections of the Ecler Nuo4 or the Pioneer DJM-600.
Beat-synchronized DJ effects like filter, beat masher, flanger, delay and reverb can be added. Each effect parameter can be assigned to external hardware controllers, and different effects can be inserted on individual channels and the master section of the mixer.
A new customizable user interface can be resized to any screen size and aspect ratio, and users can configure a modular section themselves, including control elements for looping and cueing, mix and input recording and more. You can “pre-dial” parameter changes for knobs and faders, then activate them by pressing a button; you can also adjust the sensitivity for each on-screen controls. A new “Snap-to-BeaT” mode assists precision cueing using waveform displays.
The track browser now features Context Selection and a new Category Search function, to look for specific artists, tracks, labels and Beats Per Minute (BPM) ranges. Other improvements have been made too.