Novation Twitch In Use
Novation Twitch Review
Setup with Twitch is a no-brainer if you are using Itch. And Twitch is bus-powered, so you can pair it with a laptop and have a complete rig.
Traktor & Ableton Live are also supported, but require an extra step or two to get configured the first time.
For Traktor users, Novation includes 2 and 4 deck mappings for Traktor Pro, and a faceplate overlay that’s labeled for Traktor. Controls are mapped to the Touchstrips, knobs, faders and buttons on Twitch.
Here’s the official intro for Twitch with Traktor:
If you want to use Twitch with Ableton Live, Novation supports it with a Live set and Twitch Translator.
Here’s Novation’s overview of setting up Ableton Live to work with Twitch:
The Twitch is clearly designed with controllerist style DJing in mind. Here’s an example – Edison doing a live mashup jam with Twitch and Ableton Live:
See the Novation site for details on the Live downloads.
The most unique feature of the Twitch is probably the twin touchstrips.
The touchstrips are not really a replacement for turntable-style controllers – but it would be a mistake to think of them that way. Some of their functionality overlaps turntable wheel controllers, but most users would probably agree that wheel controllers have their strengths and the touchstrips have their own strengths. Touchstrips allow for instant jumps, for example.
How much you like the touchstrips may depend on how much time you’ve got invested in platter-style control. No matter what you think of them, though, kudos to Novation for trying something new.
If you’re interested in the Twitch, we’d strongly recommend digging into the detailed info and demo collection at Novation’s site.
Combined with a laptop and Serato Itch, NI Traktor or Ableton Live, Twitch proves a comprehensive ‘digital native’ DJ solution.
Great controller – but I wish they’d include some sort of overlay for Live. They might have to include some blanks for a few controls that you could fill in.
Not really necessary, but would be nice.
This controller is so very powerful and yet under-sung. The amount of energy poured into this controller clearly shows through it’s tight integration with Itch, Traktor and Ableton. Many people will simply dismiss this as a toy but when you compare a jog wheel to the touch strips, you’ll find that the touch strips are more capable (A Jog wheel cannot make the pinch/expand expressions that the touch strips can). If you’re looking for buttons, it’s important to note that (in Traktor Pro), there are 8 buttons per each of the 4 modes per each of the 4 decks (that’s 128 assignable buttons).
Within Itch, the Twitch is a 2 channel mixer, but within Traktor Pro, the Twitch is a virtual 4 channel mixer (meaning that each side can toggle decks via a single button push). It’s very nice to see that Novation planned ahead when they created this controller noting that each of the pad buttons has two LEDs (one Green, one Red) which can combine to make at least 4 discernible colors (with various levels of brightness) for each pad (this behavior is not locked to one color per bank either), each button can be assigned any color (in the available pallet).
In Itch, the up-faders can double as effects (the toggle uses a soft-take over so you won’t have to worry about accidentally changing the volume when switching back from the effects. This level of thinking seems to be everywhere on the Twitch, it clearly rivals (and often beats) the best of the other controllers on the market for HALF the price of the most expensive. This is one of the very few controllers which is designed to be used in Ableton, Traktor and Itch.
Nothing is perfect… Two major concerns about the Twitch are: it’s “USB only” powered so you can’t use it without a computer and it’s sound card. While it sounds great, it doesn’t generate the output power that powered controllers do… that being said, I’ve never been accused of playing too softly in a club.
I’ve been eyeing this for quite some time. Can anyone tell me if you can bypass Twitch’s onboard audio out when used with Serato? (I heard the master out is kinda weak) I’d rather use my Motu ultralite’s outputs.
No problem with the outs being weak here. If you’re going into a relatively noisy system, maybe it would be a different story.
fantastic DJ controller in my view, should be a strong consideration for anyone looking to perform seriously with serato itch or traktor. especially lovin’ the 8 trigger pads and their multiple uses, as well as the touchstrips!
Can you add other devices to this, such as run a vinal, drum machine, sampler, or anything like that along side, or would that be difficult?