A couple of months ago I bought the Allen & Heath Xone K2 controller as addition to my mobile setup during travelling. I wanted a small and compact controller that would still be able to do the job. At first I thought of mapping it for 4 decks as I usually work with a 4 deck setup on my DJM800 with Denon SC2000 controllers and a NI Maschine controller for the FX, but after looking into the Xone K2 documentation it meant I would need to work with the layering and I didn’t want to make the mapping to complex. After plenty of brainstorming, looking up reviews, checking other mappings and reading the Traktor Bible, I decided to go with a single layer mapping for 2 decks with all necessary transport, EQ and FX controls. Basically the controller is divided into 2 sections by drawing a straight line down the middle, left side would be used for deck A and the right side for deck B.
XONE:K2 OVERVIEW Xone:K2 is a compact, slim line universal MIDI controller – incorporating a 4 channel soundcard, for use with any DJ software. With no fewer than 52 hardware controls providing up to 171 MIDI commands across 3 layers – plus the ability to link multiple units using X:LINK, saving USB ports on your computer – Xone:K2 has the power and flexibility to put you in touch with the functions and features of your chosen software. Quick and simple mapping lets you create a unique layout that mirrors your style and puts the functions that matter at your fingertips, whilst 3 colour illuminating switches give at-a-glance feedback – allowing you to work however you decide. The high quality internal soundcard provides flexible user setup options using the Xone:K2 with headphones, headphones and a mix system or with an external mixer. Xone:K2 comes packed in a black padded case as standard.
The case doubles as a stand, bringing the K2 up to the same height as most pro DJ mixers. MIDI Control Xone:K2 is a compact designed MIDI Controller for use with any DJ software such as Ableton, Virtual DJ, MixVibes, Mixx and Traktor Pro. Xone:K2 can even be used to control lights or VJ software – if it can receive MIDI data it can take commands from K2. What each control does is entirely up to you – you can create a completely customised layout that perfectly fits the way you want to work. Xone:K2 has 52 physical controls – including 12 analogue and 6 endless rotary encoders with push switch, 4 linear faders, and 30 backlit performance switches – providing up to 171 MIDI control commands across 3 layers.
We also provide example maps to get you started out the box and information on how to set up your own.
Xone K2 Driver
The Lowdown If you’re a DJ who wants to add extra digital control to an existing digital set-up, or who wants to use a slimline device as your only controller alongside a laptop, and you’re attracted to making a mapping that suits you, the Xone:K2 has got to be something you’ll want to look at seriously. The built-in sound card is a good option to have and what’s more, this Traktor Kontrol X1 alternative doesn’t have the Traktor focus as far as labelling and control layout goes, and so will be equally at home mapped to whatever software you choose. We think it’s a winner. First Impressions / Setting up In the box are the unit, a USB lead, a CD-ROM containing guides, drivers and so on, and an RJ45 patch lead for connection to other X:LINK enabled products (more on X:LINK later).
One of the things DJs love about the Traktor Kontrol X1 – on the face of it the most similar controller to this that’s currently out there – is how practical it is. As well as being small and slim, it is lightweight, and you can also buy a lightweight carry case for it to make it easy to transport. Allen & Heath has plainly seen this and taken the concept further with the Xone:K2, which is actually supplied in a snug-fitting, custom case from the off.
The case is “semi-rigid”, being nylon with an all-round zip but padded with hard foam. This, combined with the four indentations for the feet of the Xone:K2, means that once you remove the unit from its case, the case can be used to raise it to the same height as, say, a mixer in a DJ booth. The faders are great quality, as you’d expect from a company that’s made its name selling pro mixers. The unit is built to a high standard. It is black, with a rubberised base and sides but with a brushed metal decal down the left and right bearing the Xone logo. The four feet are plastic rather than rubber, which means they are slippier than they would otherwise have been on some surfaces. The top plate is slightly textured black painted metal, firmly screwed down.
Allen & Heath made its name with pro mixers, and it shows: From the white rubberised buttons to the bolted-down pots to the quality faders, all controls scream reliability and longevity. On the front is a single 1/8″ headphones socket, and round the back are a pair of RCA audio outs, the USB socket (it takes its power from USB) and two proprietary X:LINK sockets. In Use The controls First things first: This is not meant to be a “plug and play” device. Sure, it’s class compliant (although you’ll need to install audio drivers for certain Windows sound card configurations), and it also wisely and quite cleverly comes with two Traktor mappings (a Kontrol X1 emulator and a sample deck control mapping, complete with printable mapping legends), but it’s ultimately meant to be mapped by the user to control whatever he or she is envisioning. This is good. Just like Vestax with their VCI-400, Allen & Heath wants the Xone:K2 to sell to digital DJs and producers who are past the very beginner stage, and who want to customise their set-ups to do exactly what they’re imagining.
As such, the unit will be a good companion to all kinds of software. The rear of the Allen & Heath Xone:K2.
Note the X:LINK connectors for daisychaining. You could map it to Ableton Live, Traktor, Virtual DJ, MixVibes and so on, you might use it for VJing, for controlling lighting even. Midi mapping is not difficult and once you’ve created a mapping that works for you, you’ve effectively made a custom DJ controller for yourself. What you get here, then, is a lot of built-in flexibility. There are four faders, 12 standard pots, six continuous stepped rotaries with push switchers, 28 standard pushbuttons, and two large pushbuttons.
Both the layout and the sparse labelling do, however, suggest certain uses. There’s a button labelled “layer”, for instance (we’ll look at layer options later). There’s another labelled “shift”. There is a set action for entering set-up mode. And the four “lines” suggest control of four channels, tracks or decks, complete with associated functions. As we’ll see shortly, the LED feedback is also skewed to help you use the unit in certain ways.
But basically, it’s as blank a page as any hardware can realistically offer: Free for you to do what you like with its 171 Midi commands. Understanding the configuration options Not only can the Xone:K2 be used to control any software that can receive or transmit Midi, the built-in audio interface means that, unlike say the Traktor Kontrol X1, there’s no need to carry a separate audio interface with you. This is one of its big attractions.
Two could be used together to double up (it’s possible to aggregate audio), or you could use one or two of them with an analogue mixer. If you do the latter, you can either use it with your headphones plugged in the front and take one channel of the analogue mixer, or plug both the headphones socket and the RCAs into separate channels of the analogue mixer, using it effectively as a set of transport / looping / FX controls for your DJ software and using the mixer to provide, well, the mixing bit of the equation. In order to better understand how one or two of these units can work with each other or with either analogue or digital mixers, Allen & Heath has provided several simple set-up videos covering the possibilities on its website. If you’re considering the unit, it is a good idea to watch them, if only to familiarise yourself with what’s possible using it. You can find them. Working with layers Imagine being able to press one switch on a Midi controller in order to move away from the current set of controls and activate a whole new set. If you’ve ever used a two channel / jogwheel but four-deck DJ controller, you’ll know what I mean; that’s basically an application of the concept of layers. It’s like a lockable “shift”.
The Xone:K2 has three layers, and to make things easy, the LEDs light red, amber or green to show you which layer you’re currently on. But you get more flexibility than just that, though.
You can cycle between layer “modes”, something Allen & Heath calls “layer latching”. The layer button is just underneath the matrix buttons. Layers can be backlit in three colours. In the first such mode, you can layer only the 16 (4 x 4) “switch matrix” buttons under the line faders. Everything else stays the same no matter what the layer is set to.
This could be useful if you’re using the matrix to trigger samples or audio clips while the rest of the device controls four master channels of audio, for instance. The second mode adds in the switches under the pots, and the top four endless encoders, but leaves the pots and faders unaffected. This gives you more options while still keeping a modicum of basic controls untouched.
Xone Controller
Finally, it’s the all-out mode, where the layer button switches every single control to a new layer. Effectively, this is the virtual equivalent of three of these things all sat next to each other.
Sending and returning Midi This will sound a bit complicated if you’ve never got involved with mapping controllers before, but really it isn’t – or at least, it’s as easy or difficult as the way mapping has been implemented on the software you’re using it with. Allen & Heath provides clear, colour charts in the manual showing the exact Midi note implementations for all controls, so for instance when you want the aforementioned lights to come on and off to indicate the states of buttons, it’s not difficult to look up what to tell your software to send to the unit. By the way, it’s simple to change the Midi channel too with a two-step setup routine.
Midi mappings take time, but thanks to the clear guides provided with the unit and the nice, intuitive LED feedback, mapping the Xone:K2 is likely to be a fulfilling experience. X:LINK – what’s it all about? We said that this was a Midi controller and audio interface with a few cool features. Layering is one, and we consider X:LINK to be another major one. At its simplest, X:LINK joins up two K2s meaning only one of them has to be physically USBed to the computer. If you’re using a two-USB laptop and have another type of controller plugged into your other USB, you’ll instantly see the benefit of this. The Xone:K2 next to the Xone:DB2: By using X:LINK, the DB2 can power the X2. Another use for X:LINK is to connect one or two Xone:K2s to a Xone:DB2 or Xone:DB4 mixer.
Here, you can X:LINK two K2s together, and X:LINK one of them to the DB mixer – and that’s it. No USB, and both are powered by the mixer which effectively acts as a hub. Of corse, in this instance as the DB mixers have built-in sound, you’ll only be using the K2s ad Midi interfaces, not as audio devices at all. In fact, under no circumstances will the X:LINK join or aggregate audio devices – for this to happen you still need to USB both units into your laptop. Furthermore, while you can create aggregate devices easily on a Mac, you’ll have to use third-party software to do so on a PC.
So if you want to feed all audio outputs of a pair of K2s into a mixer to give you a four-channel stereo setup, X:LINK isn’t going to be part of your solution. Creating mappings Using the Traktor mappings is simple; you grab them from the website (they didn’t seem to be on my CD for some reason) and import to Traktor, set your audio output routing, and all works. Allen and Heath has helpfully provided printable mapping information to keep to hand, and it is a canny move to provide an X1 emulation as well as a sample deck mapping, at least to get people started. I am not going to go into too much detail about these specific mappings, as the whole point of this controller is that you map it to do what you want. Instead, I decided to power up Algoriddim’s djay software, mainly because it is ridiculously simple to map Midi controllers to.
Within 10 minutes I had basic control over two decks, including pitch, and all EQs and channel faders mapped too. Assigning the bottom endless rotary to crossfader completed a basic mapping. With a day or so, I am confident I could get everything else mapped and have a great little custom controller for that software, using at least one of the layers for effects (for instance). Sound quality I don’t agree with arguing over whether 16-bit or 24-bit audio is best – this is 16-bit audio, but other factors (rest of equipment chain, quality of recordings, understanding gain staging, venue acoustics, more esoteric technical info such as frequency range and response, signal to noise etc) have a much bigger bearing on sound quality from an audio interface than arguing over digital bitrates. Plus 16-bit has always sounded fine to me. Instead, I’ll say this: I trust Allen & Heath not to put sub-standard audio interfaces into their gear.
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Xone K2 Mapping
They’re a mixer company, after all. Suffice to say that the audio from the unit is perfectly passable, and crucially, it’s also loud enough for both headphones and feeding either straight to powered speakers/PA or into an external mixer. Good enough for me. Conclusion Kudos to Allen and Heath for taking the best parts of their nonetheless now dated and bulky Xone:1D and Xone:2D devices, seeing the success of the jogwheel-less Trkator Kontrol X1, and bringing it all together in a new device with built-in audio. Of course, it suffers from an inherent characteristic of this type of device: One size will never exactly fit all. You’ll always want a control where there isn’t one, or the ability to label up things once you’re happy with them (a wipe-clean overlay would be a nice accessory, guys). The fact that it comes with a case shows that Allen & Heath expects it to appeal to working DJs.
But the flipside of this is that, assuming you can master the intricacies of mapping to whatever software attracts you, you can craft a controller that’s customised pretty much to how you want it to be. The built-in sound card is a good option to have as it saves you taking an extra one, but it does mean that if you’re pairing one or two of these with a digital mixer, you’ve paid for a sound card you’ll never use. I guess it’s the price you pay for flexibility. Speaking of flexibility, the X:LINK and layer options are for me ultimately what stand the Xone:K2 apart from some other Midi controllers, and coupled with its pro build quality, what make it a controller that could quite possibly do really well for the Allen & Heath. I’m sure we’ll see some really cool mappings appearing for it in due course, and Allen & Heath would do well to foster an eco-system around what I am sure will become a fervent user community once these hit the streets in numbers. Overall, then, if you’re a DJ who wants to add extra digital control to an existing digital set-up, or who wants to use a slimline device as your only controller alongside a laptop, and you’re attracted to making a mapping that suits you, the Xone:K2 has got to be something you’ll want to look at seriously. Likewise, if you play in cramped DJ booths or in places where you never know how much space you’re going to have, and aren’t prepared to switch to CDJs in such circumstances, you’ve now got an alternative to using a Traktor Kontrol X1.
What’s more, this alternative doesn’t have the Traktor focus as far as labelling and control layout goes, and so will be equally at home mapped to whatever software you choose. We think it’s a winner. I think this was a great review as always but the thing that strikes me is the fact that I don’t actually see the onboard sound being that useful, these will fit ideally with a Timecode setup and as such I would still need a sound card to provide the inputs to my laptop, this then makes the soundcard a non entity and if you have the ability to map in Traktor or other software then you would be able to map an X1 just the same, if only it had the inputs aswell, it really would have been a Read more ». I ordered mine.
Planning to use it with a launchpad, to imitate an apc 40 setup (minus cross fader). I already own a launchpad I LOVE, and really don’t like AKAI’s customer service, ac adapter necessity, and the fact I had purchased one before during a bad run and it BUZZED!!! AKAI wouldn’t acknowledged the defect despite EVERYONE HAVING IT HAPPEN in that 4 month span. I could go on about the rest of their unorganized software downloads and lack of support for some of their products (had to find software once that was only on the Japanese site). This Read more ». Man vs wild episodes torrent. You dont have to buy the carry case it comes with it btw. My main concern about this unit is the output stage.
Novation Twitches out put, bc it is USB powered, has caused many complaints, mainly bc even when boosted buy a mixer it didnt generate enough gain to compete in clubs to djs that had been red lining the system, i.e a lot of djs lol. I really want to know with all those lights, whether the output level has been compromised as it is USB powered to. Nobody seems able to give me an answer to that, Read more ». Thanks for getting back Phil. I’ve never used the twitch so it seems there are a lot of conflicting opinions on it. I think the K2 is what I’m really after, it would be great if that could hold up in clubs, I may take the plunge, its that or a Faderfox FT3, the Faderfox looks like it is built like a tank, and an external Soundcard.
I’m going to be trying out traktor as I have always dj’d with Ableton and bypassed cdj from vinyl. But I can see myself going back to Live tbh, if only bc Read more ». UPDATE It is early days, but I just got my Xone K2 through. It is simply the best built midi controller I have used that isn’t (boutique) It make my APC40 look like a Fisher Price controller ? The sound output is excellent, and the 44.1 out should be of no consern to a dj. I can honestly say it gets loud and punchy, if you’re looking at this controller, soundcard quality and sound is not an issue atm.
The encoders feel very good indeed, infact the best I have felt, upfaders/encoders are sturdy too. Would feel totally confident using Read more ». Dear Phil, Thanks for the interesting article, very informative.
In the original “Allen and Heath” videos of this product they mention the “analog rotary knobs”. Can I ask whats “analog” about them? I mean they are just controllers that send digital commands to the host, right?
Another question is about the sample rate (SR). If I play “crazy” files on my host (Traktor or Abelton), like a “96KHz, 32 bit” file, the host will do the conversion to support the “A&H K2” soundcard as a 44.1KHz, 24Bit resolution? The file will play via the analog out RCA’s. Am I correct? Dear Phil, Thanks for the interesting article, very informative.
In the original “Allen and Heath” videos of this product they mention the “analog rotary knobs”. Can I ask whats “analog” about them? I mean they are just controllers that send digital commands to the host, right? Another question is about the sample rate (SR). If I play “crazy” files on my host (Traktor or Abelton), like a “96KHz, 32 bit” file, the host will do the conversion to support the “A&H K2” soundcard as a 44.1KHz, 24Bit resolution? The file will play via the analog out RCA’s. Am I correct?
I’ve been using the K2 for almost 6 months now, and it’s an absolute winner for my setup: laptop + k2 + club mixer. I also use it as a standalone mixer in my micro setup for small parties. It hasn’t failed me once. Great sound quality, great build, and once you get around the mappings, great fun to play around with. At first I didn’t like the faders on the K2, being used to the normal ‘slab’ like faders but the more I use the K2 the more I realize I have a better grip with one-finger fading by Read more ».
Hi to all, First of all i have to say that i updated my OSX to High Sierra and seems that Taktor and Xone K2 are working ok till now. So, i have a question and a problem with my new map. My question is if i can make a hotcue blink red if it is a cue and green if it is a loop as you can find it like that on X1 MKII. And my problem is that im trying to make Play/Pause button green when the track is not playing and red when the track is on. I did that on Deck A but its not working on Deck B (red is working, green not).
Do you know why this is happening?