Numark's crazy, fancy, all-USB DJ rig

I feel really old looking at the Numark D² Director. I have vinyl and Technics SL1200 decks which actually spin round. This thing has a USB port on the front, two on the back, a vast LCD screen which shows waveforms. You can bring your set on an iPod or a USB hard drive, then plug a USB keyboard into the thing to help you search for songs. You can record your mix back onto the hard drive. Numark say the aim is "ultimately simplifying the DJ performance experience." All this is just $799, which is significantly cheaper than a pair of SL1200s. Has the world gone mad?
Numark announced a whole load of crazy expensive digital boxes at Summer NAMM. The iCDX is a $999 CD player/pod dock, while the HD Mix is a all-in-one mixer, CD, 80gb hard drive, effects box for a slightly eye-watering $1,699.


Comments:
Funny thing about "DJ's"... I guess everyone everywhere got that *Bug*...

While living in L.A. years ago I got to see alot that were very good at what they did...

When I went back home to the Mid-West I got to see alot of them again...

It was like watching Paint Dry!!!...

The best thing Club Owners there could have done was install a Radio or CD player and just let it play...

*Entertainment* is not a word back there tho it should be... I would have felt better if I had to pay $10 to listen to a *Live Band* than sit there and wonder what the Hell that guy was doing behind that DJ Booth...

Atleast listening to the radio you get the feeling someone is talking to you once in awhile... These dumb DJ's in clubs talk to themselfs and ignore you when you make a song request...

Go figure...

I want to be Entertained for my Money...
 
Yeah keith.
I'm going out to burn those goddamn disco records right now.
 
Great. But i wouldn't pay more than 150$ :P
 
as i'm totally supporting the whole final scratch/serato thing,i am against this,as a dj and a partygoer.it's ugly,and why do we have to "simplify the dj experience"?not simple enough already?
 
Imagine squinting at that screen, trying to line up two stupid waveforms after you've downed eight vodka tonics, there's four people off their trolleys staggering around behind you in the booth, another one standing next to you invading your personal space, billowing smoke in your face and gibbering "wow! what's that mate? can I have a go?" There's another one sitting directly behind you (he's got space now there's no vinyl bag there) dropping ash and red bull into your M-audio gig bag. Then it crashes. It doesn't the like the smirnoff ice dressing it just got from the girl who tripped over your USB cable - you didn't see her as you were trying to protect your laptop.

"Ultimately simplifying the DJ performance experience."

Whatever. And let's hope they built in a locking mechanism for those ipod mixers! Using that in a club and showing that to a crowd is like saying "this is yours if one of you can distract me sufficiently."
 
Um, to the poster regarding L.A. being a hotbed of amazing DJ's and likening the Midwest scene to "paint drying" are you insane?

Everyone knows the Midwest is were it's at. What clubs were you going to? Maybe you hadn't heard but Detroit pretty much started techno and continues to have the hottest parties. Get out and look man. If your trying to be a socialite and are hip with the overtanned personalities then go back to L.A. If you want the real banger Midwest got it going on.
 
let's see someone scratch with that pos.
 
let's see someone scratch with that pos.
 
BALTIMORE BASS CONNECTION IS ALL YOU NEED! http://www.bbcsound.com/
 
As for "DJs", most DJs suck anyway, this equipment can only make it better. I wouldn't want to a talented DJ like Jeff Mills use one of these things - But it could only improve your average "buy a couple turntables and put the letters D and J in front of some obnoxious name and now I think I am a rockstar" DJs.
 
Guys, you're thinking club when this is clearly a mobile DJ product (weddings, birthdays, bar mitzvahs complete with dodgy light show and cheesy choons to get your granny on the dance floor). It's a whole different discpline to club mixing.
 
Anyone that feels threatened or uncomfortable with club DJs probably has a reason to.

I am both a performing musician, and sometimes a DJ. Sometimes one is appropriate for an event, sometimes it's not.

If I go to a dance club, I really don't want to see a band. If I go to a concert, I feel let down if there isn't a performance element to it.

But it's really funny to see so many people get bent out of shape about a tool that makes playing music easier. Personally, I gave up lugging my vinyl a long time ago when I do dj, and switched first to Traktor, then to Ableton. But I hate having my laptop with me in a club.

I applaud Numark for turning around from being a really half-ass manufacturer to pushing better quality and interesting products.

And if you don't like it, stick to your 1200s. No one is going to get on your case about it.

There are as many asshole musicians, singers, rappers, etc as there are asshole poser DJs.

If you want to change the perception of the rockstar DJ, don't be an asshole - be constructive, educate audiences, and keep an open mind. Otherwise, you are more of an asshole than someone who is actually up there, playing music for people (even if it's not their own).
 
Im drunk, so im just gonna bash randomly at this keyboard for a bit

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Ever since they announced this product, I have been waiting to try one out. I learned how to beatmix on vinyl over 10 years ago. I quickly started looking for a cd player that did the one thing I could not do with vinyl, lock the pitch but still adjust the tempo without the sample falling apart. The first one I bought was the original Pioneer Mk2. I then used a Dennon and have been very happy with my Numark red 88. No I can't scratch, but that is not my style of mixing. But I can totaly create my own live mash-ups in ways not possible with vinyl. I look forward not having to carry 1000 CDs into a club. If the sound quality on this is as good CD I look forward to using this with my iAudio drive. Expanded collection with less weight. It is just a tool. Stick of charcol, paint brush, spray can, or Photoshop, they all make great art in the right hands. Same applies here.
 
DJing has never been, and shouldn't be, about your equipment.

I'm a live musician, and a club DJ. I like both. Personally, I drag real vinyl records to a DJ gig. That works the best for me. Do I play the occasional CD? Sure. But I prefer vinyl and as long as clubs have 1200s hooked up in the booth, I'm gonna use 'em.

It would feel weird to me to walk into a club with just a book of CDs, or just a USB hard drive. But if you can do great sets that way, more power to ya.

As for the guy who wants to make "requests" to the DJ at a club -- dude, we don't have an infinite selection of tracks up here at our disposal. I walk into a club with maybe 60 - 80 records. Most of them with only one or two tracks on them. If you want to hear some top 40 crap, or some random 80s song, or Nelly Furtado, go listen to your fucking iPod. It's not my job to play your requests. I have a t-shirt that says "I am not a jukebox", and I'm not! Listen to what your DJ is doing, and try to appreciate it. You might hear something you've never heard before. And quit asking me to play "IN DA CLUB" or Nelly fucking Furtado!!!
 
you can see the gearwire video demo of the numark d2 director from german musikmesse show
 
I'm laughing my @ss off. Okay, I am a vinyl DJ. There is nothing like it; even the sound is warmer and not sanitized like most digital music, but I am waiting for the I-DJ2 which has the same engine as this unit but with a crossfader and EQs. I think its great to do lounges, small clubs and mobile gigs, but if I will be bringing out my own sound system or playing for a huge crowd, I really prefer vinyl. The DJ experience is awesome spinning records but there is room for new technology such as the I-DJ2. Now I have to figure how I'm going to burn 6,000 of my vinyl records to MP3s.
 
Can anyone tell me what size the tact switches are in the Director D2. I have spoke to about 5 different people at Numark and none of them could answer my question. I have some tact switches here and would hate to purchase more if I don't need them. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
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