New Version of Traktor to Integrate Final Scratch

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS is proud to announce that they have formed a strategic alliance with STANTON MAGNETICS, Inc. to produce an innovative line of products in the growing digital-DJ market.

STANTON MAGNETICS, Inc. has recently expanded into computer-based DJ-ing with their revolutionary Final Scratch system. Final Scratch lets the DJ physically control the playback of digital files such as MP3s and WAVE on a laptop computer using special vinyl records and standard turntables. The DJ can mix, pitch, and even scratch files on the computer the same way as with records: physically and immediately.

With broad experience in music instrument software, NATIVE INSTRUMENTS developed TRAKTOR DJ Studio to be a professional, software-only DJ-ing system for Mac OS X, Mac OS 9, and Windows.

The first result of the two companies' collaborative efforts will be TRAKTOR Basic FS -- a new version of Final Scratch based on TRAKTOR's playback engine. A working system was demonstrated at the Winter NAMM 2003 in Anaheim, USA. TRAKTOR Basic FS will bring the Final Scratch system to Mac OS X for the first time. All users of the current Linux version will be able to update to a Linux version of the new playback engine. A Windows version is expected later this year.

TRAKTOR Basic FS will bring an important series of improvements to Final Scratch, such as an enhanced search function, pre-listening directly in the browser, and a structured view of the musical archive that can be organized by drag and drop. For clearer track visualization, the graphical waveform is split into two colors to make it easy to distinguish bass from treble. Additionally, the sound quality has been radically improved. A sophisticated de-emphasis modeling, combined with a high-end interpolation algorithm, delivers warm, full bass sounds and smooth, realistic scratching.

TRAKTOR Basic FS will be available in the beginning of April 2003. Later this year, the full version of TRAKTOR DJ Studio will also be controllable by the Final Scratch system. NATIVE INSTRUMENTS and STANTON MAGNETICS, Inc. are working on further products that merge intelligent software with hardware control to satisfy the demanding needs of the DJ.