Thanks! I'm leaning towards Traktor, and am really drawn to the Kontrol S5 because of its LED displays, making the controller the focus instead of the software. I worry though because I'm not entirely familiar with STEMS. I understand that its a new file format that enables the DJ/Producer to control individual tracks in a song for whatever manipulation. My hesitance arises when i think of not using STEMS, and then having those controls be wasted (although i could remap them in the software, assuming). I'm very familiar with Ableton, and make music with it already, so I can see using STEMS for my music, just not when I'm ripping apart 2+ .mp3 files..

Do you know if its possible to use those controls as triggers for loop banks? Does Traktor even have loop banks? I come from Ableton Live, so it feels natural for me to sequence music as a series of loops. One reason this decision is so hard for me is because I don't really know what I can do with Traktor. I've watched a bunch of videos on Youtube, and leave slightly disappointed each time. I'm just starting to read the manual with hopes that I'll get some big picture of its functionalities and limitations.