For aspiring DJs who want to start spinning their digital tracks on vinyl and CD, TRAKTOR SCRATCH DUO is the complete solution that provides both the software and hardware to perfectly fuse the worlds of analog and digital DJing. TRAKTOR SCRATCH DUO comes with the powerful TRAKTOR PRO-based TRAKTOR DUO software, the professional AUDIO 4 DJ interface, ultra-precise control records and CDs plus many more valuable features to get you spinning in no time. -NI

Part 1 -
Unboxing
Included in the box: installation cd, 2 control vinyl, 2 control cds, Audio 4 audio interface, cables, and paperwork.

First thing that jumped out of at me was the build quality of the audio 4 interface. The design of the interface is definately slick.

The quality of the cables deserves mentioning as well.

Installation
Installation of the program was straight forward. Insert cd and follow the walk through guide.

Configuration
After the installation was complete, I configured the Audio4 interface along with the midi mappings for my SCS.3d and I was off to explore Traktor scratch duo. (note for SCS.3d users, you will need to use the Traktor Pro midi map)

Program Overview
Below is the fullscreen image of traktor scratch duo, even when using the internal mixer the layout manages to stay uncluttered. The FX and Master gain controls are located on top area. The two track players, and internal mixer are located in the middle section of the layout. The track browser finishes off the layout at the bottom. There are 4 layouts in which you can choose. Internal / External Mixer, Internal External Cover. The cover layouts allow the album art to display in the players.

Player 1 Shown in Internal Mixer Cover layout.

Effects
The preset effects allow you to select between beatmasher, filter, flanger, delay, reverb, and gater. All work as intended. The one thing to note, I felt it easier to control through midi rather than clicking on it with my mouse.

Internal Mixer
The featured internal mixer has a built in 3 band eq, which clearly indicates how the EQs are set, levels of the playing track and the cross fader setting. While mixing in internal mode everything is right at the center of your screen, easy to read, and easy to control.

Music Library Area
In the track library area, you can search or explore though folders. The track collection folder also allows for orginazation by artist, releases, labels, or genre. One unique feature was the ability to bookmark folders, I found it easier to add the quick bookmarks to the top instead of using the area on the left.

Midi
Once I got the mappings loaded, the Stanton SCS.3d was ready to go. The features I can see myself using the most would be the FX and EQ controls while running in DVS mode.

DVS mode
Coming soon in Part 2

Overall
Coming soon in Part 2

Manufacturers Top features

• Control up to 2 decks using turntables, CD decks or MIDI controllers including advanced looping and cue points
• High-end 24-bit/96 kHz low-latency audio interface with Cirrus Logic® AD/DA converters; USB 2.0 bus powered
• 4 high-gain outputs, 4 inputs with optional phono-pre amps with high impedance input mode for perfect audio through quality, 8 individual LEDs for full visual control, high power 1/4″ headphone jack with independent volume knob
• 2 control vinyl records and 2 CDs with high-resolution 2 kHz signal for ultra-precise track control
• 2 Multicore cables (patent pending) for easy plug and play connectivity
• Stylish interface utilizing the same engine as the industry leading TRAKTOR PRO-designed for high visibility in club environments
• 6 first-class DJ effects (delay, flanger, reverb, filter, beatmasher, gater), groupable into chains of up to three per channel
• Advanced DJ software based on TRAKTOR PRO includes high-end internal mixer, automatic beat-gridding of tracks, advanced beat detection and Sync Lock for perfect mixing
• Realtime track management with incremental search, Crate-Flick browsing, iPod® and iTunes® compatibility
• Supports multiple USB controllers and assignments and includes ready-to-use mappings for almost all industry-standard controllers

Manufacturer link: NI Traktor Scratch Duo