Then you’ll be able to specify the Hue (color/tint), saturation (fade between full-color and white), and Brightness (the intensity of the light) via MIDI Messages.

The F1 can be configured to work in standard MIDI mode, but you only get a single layer of control – so the K2 has an advantage there – but considering that Traktor is such a powerhouse in the DJ software world, and for a lot of users a single layer of control is all that will be configured, the F1 just squeezes this one.

I would specify that this is not a gap of the controller since any other software actually fully support HSB messages over midi. What I mean by that sentence is that the F1’s full scale RGB lighting can only be accessed in Traktor’s ‘F1’ mode, though, as opposed to being able to specify basic lighting parameters via MIDI CC value in ‘MIDI’ mode. Perhaps this is a different folks, different strokes issue, but both lumps of gear have their own incentives for purchase. On the one hand, the K2’s layering system gives it lots of options when configuring it to work with just about any software, but on the other, the F1’s super tight integration with Traktor is a huge feather in its cap.

Both the F1 and K2 are well built, sturdy units; it’s quite difficult to choose a victor in this area.drivers are currently available for Windows XP 32bit, XP 64bit, Vista 32 Bit, Windows 7 32bit, Windows 7 64bit and OSX 10. So just to echo the review, I can’t help but think that it you want the most up to date features with seamless Traktor integration, the F1 is for you. Actually, you can obtain complete RGB control of the Pads via MIDI, it’s simply not the default mode for the controller when in MIDI Mode.

With both installed you can now map them in Traktor making sure to set both XONE devices to transmit MIDI on different channels.

The K2’s extra controls and layering mean it’s probably the better choice if you use other software or just want to control standard Traktor functions… and that’s about as much of an official line as I think you’ll get out of me, guys! The Kontrol F1 has pinch style, short throw faders, the Xone K2 has longer, looser faders with studio style caps. Whilst the F1 has RGB lights (although they only work properly in Traktor mode right now) and slightly bigger and nicer buttons, the K2 has more knobs. The bottom line is that because both units are so good, and their added extras are worth roughly as much in ‘real money’ as each others, I’m declaring this area a tie as well. Download the latest driver and connect both Xone:1Ds, run the installer, when this has finished, restart OSX then once restarted, check the OSX MIDI device window to ensure 2 instances of the Xone MIDI Device (direct) icon are present and not greyed out, this indicates the installation was successful.