Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol Z2

The Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol Z2 is a 2+2 channel USB HID mixer/controller with an integrated audio interface. It has two full channels and two further channels with limited controls The Traktor Z2 is intended for a DVS systems and is provided with Traktor Scratch MK2 timecode Vinyls and CDs.

• Manufacturer’s product page

• Virtual DJ Hardware Page

• Traktor Kontrol Z2 Manual (ZIP-file)

• Driver/Firmware-Updates Download Page

New in version 2.4.0.

Drivers

You can download the latest Windows & MacOS drivers and firmware from the manufacturer’s website. Since the Traktor Kontrol Z2 is a USB class compliant HID and audio device, the device is plug-and-play on Linux.

Warning

Parallel installation of Traktor software on Windows If you have a parallel installation of Traktor on Windows, there will be a NIHardwareService.exe process that takes control of the Traktor Kontrol Z2’s LEDs. To make the them work reliable with Mixxx, you either need to uninstall the Traktor software, or stop the process by opening the task manager, selecting Show processes from all users and kill the NIHardwareService.exe process.

Audio Setup

The mapping relies on the following channel assignments:

Output Channels	Assigned to
1-2	Master
3-4	Headphones

Input Channels	Assigned to
1-2 (Mic/Aux)	Microphone 1
3-4 (CH 1 Line/Phono)	Vinyl Control 1
5-6 (CH 2 Line/Phono)	Vinyl Control 2
7-8 (Recording)	Record/Broadcast

The microphone and auxiliary inputs are mixed with each other in the hardware together in input channels 1-2, so Mixxx can record and broadcast them.

The knobs for MASTER, BOOTH, HP VOLUME are controlling the hardware mixer of the built-in audio interface. Hence, turning the knobs will not change values in the Mixxx GUI and you’ll need to set the Mixxx knobs to their default values when using the controller:

• Set the master/booth/headphones levels to 100% (knob center position)

• Set cue/master mixing to cue-only (leftmost position)

Note

You should assign the Vinyl Control input channels even if you do not intend to use timecode vinyl.

Controller Mapping

The control numbering in the schematic drawings matches the those found on the specified page in the Manual.

Shift button states

Shift button state	Shift button LED	Action
unshifted	Off
SHIFT hold	Bright	Press and hold SHIFT
SHIFT locked	Dimmed	Short click on SHIFT to toggle lock state

Browse Section

Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol Z2 (Browse section)

No.	Control	Function
1	LOAD/DUPLICATE A (left) button	Load song into deck A.
2	LOAD/DUPLICATE B (right) button	Load song into deck B.
3	SHIFT + LOAD/DUPLICATE A (left) button	Duplicate track and play position from deck B to A
4	SHIFT + LOAD/DUPLICATE B (right) button	Duplicate track and play position from deck A to B
5	Rotary Selector	Turn to move tracklist cursor up/down. Press to toggle the selected item.
6	SHIFT + Rotary Selector	Turn to move sidebar cursor left right/down.

Known Issues

• The two Traktor buttons on top are overruling the software. This can result in a state, where one channel of the hardware mixer is in external mixing mode, but Mixxx is expecting internal mixing mode.