Most DJ's know that Numark has been making well products for the price ratio. But the cool designs and sharp looks shouldn't draw you to these products. Some are actually over priced and less dependable then you may expect.
More and more DJs are appearing. Now almost more turntables are being sold then guitars and guitar amps put together. This is why more and more DJ products are coming out. At the last DJ convention in Atlantic City more than 20 new products debuted. Most of the new products were redesigns of past models with few minor changes but retail prices keep going up. Every new model gets more and more expensive.
This has drastically been noticed with Numark. Their products are changing but not exactly for the best. Numark has started to use many cheap plastic components such as bolts, screws, and even levers on the new mixers.
We tested several Numark products and ones that showed the most problems were their mixers, dual CD players and their direct drive turntables.
Numark cross faders on their mixers just plane suck. All of them!
Don't let your local Guitar Center fool you with their huge variety of Numark mixers because they all are very poorly made. As you use the cross-fader more and more you will begin to notice static in a very short amount of time. A lot faster than an average Stanton or Gemini cross fader. Also you don't want to travel with a Numark. Parts fly of and the thin metal bends way to easily.
We recommend buying an after market cross-fader for your Numrak mixer if you don't want to experience problems in the spot light. Also a word of advice, get a carpeted case for your mixer to prevent parts from damaging.
Not always do you have to buy an anti-shock dual CD player. Many dual CD players wont skip too easily even if they don't have anti-shock. But let me tell you something, when you notice that your dual cd player skips from little tiny ground vibrations, you have a major problem.
No one at a party likes hearing from the DJ "Don't dance so hard to the Cotton Eyed Joe because my cd players will skip." If you want to avoid many situations like this, plain and simple, don't get a Numark dual CD player.
Don't get us wrong, Numark makes terrific "Anti-Shock" dual CD players, but they can't make a solid none anti-shock CD player like Denon, Pioneer, or even Stanton.
When shopping for CD players you will notice that Numark CD players work fine and aren't as sensative as we are telling you they are. But we are telling you from experience that after walking out of the store with your brand new Numark CD player and a few short months, you will notice problems. Trust us!
Now the turntables might look the best and play the best in the store but once you get one and use it frequently you will notice problems. The direct drive that Numark uses is the worst out of the leading DJ names. It takes the longest to accelerate and also takes the longest to come to a complete stop. Even after pressing the stop button and you think the table may have stopped you should watch out, you may get some feedback as the platter will start to slowly rotate.
These Numark turntable problems are caused by the extremely heavy components having the average Numark turntable weigh 25lbs. These heavy turntables are supported by scrawny legs that wear out way too quickly, start to squeal as they move, and sooner or later they may even fall off.
Price cutting is what Numark and other big DJ companies are doing. Its not exactly known why but it definitely has been noticed in the market as products with less value have a heigher price tag.
By Art Leontiev,
DJ Junction Magazine Editor in Chief