Numark's iDJ2 mixes two tracks from one iPod

When you're tearing it up at the local club, sending droves of sweating dancers into a primal frenzy with your cannon-like beats and thunderous sub-bass, the last thing you want to do is be squinting at two tiny iPod screens for track info. Luckily, the folks over at Numark have heard your cries for help and have answered with the iDJ2 -- a follow-up to the company's iDJ that improves upon the earlier model by utilizing a single iPod to mix two streams of music, and can display track information on a full-color screen in the center of the device. The new system also accepts input from other media via USB, and allows you to organize and cue songs through its on-screen Crate feature. The mixer allows mixing and scratching of MP3, WAV, and unprotected AAC files, can control pitch to plus 25 and minus 100 percent, automatically sets tempo, can visually track through songs, and accepts external keyboard input. Available this September with a list price of $799, and street price of $599.

[Via Playlist]

[MonsieurLam @ Mar 2nd 2008 10:52AM]

Same goes here : I can play with the IDJ2, but I can't install the new firmware, the mixer tells me the file is wrong.
Can't wait for a full iPhone support.

[klhoud @ Mar 2nd 2008 8:58PM]

Hey MonsieurLam, a salesperson found a solution that may work for you. First delete everything off your usb drive except the firmware update. Then drag the update file out of the folder. That way the IDJ2 can find it. Good luck.

[James @ Aug 15th 2007 8:57AM]

Nice concept but without CD support, what are you going to do when the host, club-owner, etc ask you to play their favorite song and they have it there on CD. I would not want to rely on just an ipod for the entire night. From the website, they market it as the "one stop solution" for DJs. I've DJ'd for over 8 years now and there is no way this will be taking over anytime soon. Now you have to rely on this device as your mixer and there are no SEND/RECEIVE inputs on it.

As it stands, The Serato System is currently the best option on the market. Allows you to use REAL turntables or REAL DJ CD-players with your music on a laptop. This means you can use a music CD or even vinyl at anytime. Of course it's more stuff to carry with you. I could see the Numark Ipod mixer/player being a hit with small time house party kids that are doing a party for their friends graduation, etc. But forget about it in the club.

James

[olaf @ Aug 15th 2007 9:03AM]

funny how "real DJ cd players" comes up in your posting. Some years ago everybody was saying that only "real turntables" would be used by "real DJ's" and about cdj-players they would say: "there is no way this will be taking over anytime soon".

Makes you think doesn't it?

[Patrick @ Aug 15th 2007 9:06AM]

James:

Can't you get a cheap (and they are really cheap) USB CD drive and add it on? The numark seems to support USB audio sources, in addition to the ipod.

[Mark @ Aug 15th 2007 9:50AM]

@ James: Serato is out, Traktor Scratch is in. It's totally ridiculous and I love it.

[James @ Aug 15th 2007 3:57PM]

@ olaf,

The CD players now are way more like vinyl than the first CD players that came out. Take a look at the Pioneer CDJ 1000's. I've used those at clubs and they are pretty darn close to vinyl but with the digital benefits. I used have one of the first Newmark dj-cd players and I can tell you this... It sucks now and it would have not taken off back then if CD-players were kept that way.

I never said that I didn't think that digitally stored music was not the future. I actually DO think that within the next 3-5 years, you will see more and more hard drive based systems at clubs.

JUST not in this format that Numark is putting out. This system iDJ2, although a step in the right direction, is FAR FAR FAR from being any type of club replacement. I feel that Serato will probably be close to taking over at most clubs soon. I see it more and more.

@ Mark, I will have to look into the Traktor. I used to have their program on my computer for mixing mp3's (no external controller however). Is it similar to Serato in that you can use your turntables with digital files?

IN SUMMARY:
Numark has a nice concept here that will need to be improved before it can see any club floor. I would expect Pioneer to come out with something in the $2000 range that will be a true hard drive based DJ solution. This iDJ2 is great for your average kid doing parties for fun for his friends.

[Nando @ Aug 16th 2007 3:06AM]

James: Traktor accepts time coded vynil/cd, i believe the final scratch ones.

also, you should give a try to deckadance from image-line, it also accepts time coded sources for controling your media, but it accpts any tipe of time coding through it's learn function.

[benga @ Aug 15th 2007 8:02AM]

.. and this spawns my career as a Dj.

[bl0nde @ Aug 15th 2007 8:22AM]

Wait, I swear I read about this device last year? Did it get delayed and reannounced or something?

[TDG01 @ Aug 15th 2007 10:50AM]

It's not your imagination.....this device has been "pending" forever....glad to see it finally come to market.....

[Dan @ Aug 15th 2007 11:10AM]

Note the date: March 2006

http://stuff.tv/news/id-1192/

[berryhill @ Aug 15th 2007 9:46AM]

You probably can add on a cd player, but if they only have the song on cassette you're screwed....

[Alexander @ Aug 15th 2007 9:50AM]

if they only have the song tape then they are screwed... tapes suck!

[Dan @ Aug 15th 2007 11:05AM]

Oops - irony alert

[Mark @ Aug 15th 2007 9:56AM]

@ olaf:

There's always something new around the corner, yeah. But this is basically utilizing a storage medium instead of a record crate and then slapping a chit mixer on it. Traktor Scratch / Serato already fill the first need as they leverage a laptop as a storage medium and DJ's can use their existing mixers, which far surpass this most of the time.

Anyway, this could open up some possibilities for entry level people getting into DJing (said above), but that's basically it. The "future" of DJing involves utilizing software (now, it's software such as Ableton Live and such) to enable DJs to have more flexibility in live performances. There are also some cool new applications / hardware based on multi-touch displays, interactive hardware which creates new enviornments.

[koopa @ Aug 15th 2007 1:11PM]

I agree, this (and most digital based DJ setups) are good for the beginner dj or the hobbyist. I still prefer my 1200s (vinyl turntables) mainly because cd tables and ipod tables take away alot of the skill aspect which I enjoy. The bpm counters, effects, multi-cues, etc. make these things user friendly, again, great for the newbie, sucks for the pro. And BTW if I walk into any club here in Miami where the DJ is playing with that thing, I'm walking.

[Don @ Aug 15th 2007 3:29PM]

@ Koopa
I've been a club DJ for several years, and the fact is that 90% of club goers don't give a crap what you use to play the music. They are there to:
a) Drink
b) Pick people up for sex
c) Listen to good music while doing so.

Vinyl is king, but is mostly due to its control format than any "betterness" of the product. Two years ago, I went all digital with the Numark CDX, and frankly it was the best decision I made as a DJ. Having thousands of available tracks rather than a couple-hundred max, as well as being able to get to them faster, made my sets much more creative. And as for multi-cues, effects, etc being for beginners, that isn't the case either (seeing as all the world's top DJ's have digital pieces to their kits). The fact is that the "I'll only use or listen to the 1's and 2's!" people are slowly being supplanted as products like Traktor, Serrato, Ableton, and others are integrated into a DJ's arsenal to allow them to be less of a record-playing machine and more of an on-the-fly remixer.

For the five guys in the club who are aspiring DJ's and are still impressed by a 3-table analog setup, there are a hundred semi-drunk horny guys and girls who could care less.

As for "What if they have a CD they want to play", I don't ever get this because it isn't my sort of gig. However, anyone with this thing would also likely bring a laptop along. They could rip it and plug a USB key drive into the back of this unit. Frankly, I wouldn't trust my set to some dodgey CD that was sitting on a bar table in a club owner's back room anyway.

[GDUB @ Aug 15th 2007 9:58AM]

Oh man what if the club owner hits me up with his fav 8 track's what the shizzle am i going to do?

we need usb tape player/minidiskplayer/hi def cd player/laser disk player/8 track player/record player/ reel to reel player ect ect.

[manny @ Aug 15th 2007 10:11AM]

sweet

[Ed @ Aug 15th 2007 12:42PM]

Numark products in general are shit. This one won't be any different.

[Don @ Aug 15th 2007 3:53PM]

Actually, I sold my Technics for TTX's. They are superior tables in almost every respect. Their old product line was terrible, and they do still make some bad low-line equipment, but their new (past 3 years or so) higher-end products are wonderful (and reliable).

[kuzu-b @ Aug 15th 2007 1:37PM]

Wow, I invented this 5 years ago and everybody said I was an idiot, but as usual I was right.

[WildCat @ Aug 15th 2007 2:05PM]

@ Ed.
Basically, yea.
Serato Scratch Live is already the industry standard for DJ'ing anyway, so who cares about this.

[Frank @ Aug 16th 2007 6:13AM]

The IDj2 is already on the market for some time - but with a B/W display. This one has a color display.
I've some hands on experience with this one and the problem with the idj2 and the d2 director is that the resolution of the displayed waves is way too low. You cant compare it to Traktor or Ableton.
Second big problem is that the quality of the knobs is bad. I think I will break them in my second set.
Third - the responsiveness of the knobs is very low. I think that they use a slow processor inside.
Comparing all offers I finaly went for a pc based system with a behringer bcd3000 which is despite its very low price a lot sturdier and very responsive.
Its a shame because if Numark improves the quality of their products - they could get a decent market share.

[Phrenzy @ Aug 17th 2007 4:01PM]

Frank, you've shown yourself up slightly - iDJ2 has never shipped until now. There were just a few prototypes of the b&w model, nobody ever got one in the field. One reason for the production delay was to improve the pots and faders - for example the x-fader is now the superb D-Type VCA part. The mixer is analogue so there is zero delay on any of the controls. The transport controls are

[Phrenzy @ Aug 17th 2007 4:05PM]

The transport controls are

[Frankg @ Aug 17th 2007 4:40PM]

Phrenzy,
I went to the Frankfurter Music Messe especially to choose me such a device. I realy wanted to buy one until I got the time on the German music fair to try these. There were enough devices available to try out - not just one prototype. I guess that they asked at least a small production run. I think there were at least 4 d2's and 4 idj2's available. They didnt look or feel like the prototypes I saw a year earlier on the same fair. In fact - I've spent a lot of time with the all mp3 devices on the fair - because that's why I travelled 4 hours to get there - and both the d2 director and the idj2 were the worst of all devices I tried. The mechanical build quality is comparable with the original idj. The build quality of the d2 was a bit better but the processor was way too slow and the screen was worthless. (if your used to traktor). I went there with rather negative expectations about the bcd3000 and I must tell you that I was realy amazed about the responsiveness about that cheapo looking tool.
To numark: please try your new stuff first with a product testing panel before you launch something to the public. This can realy harm your reputation. I've seen other brands with a cheap 'imago' on the show and they did it differently: Gemini created a new brand (Cortex) and had a different booth and their mp3 players felt realy professional (their prices were a bit too professional for me).
If you need a product panel, I'm more than interested to organise that for you.

[klhoud @ Feb 26th 2008 7:43PM]

I have an idj2 and I haven't been able to use it yet. I'm unable to install firmware version 1.09a nothing I've done even with the help of Numark tech support has worked. Please help. send me an email at [e-mail]

[Phrenzy @ Aug 17th 2007 4:08PM]

OK so you can't use the less than sign because it gets interpreted as html - oops! Transport controls are less than 6ms latency, and around 3ms for cueing. That's as good as any PC + controller package. There's no waveform view - the beatkeeper replaces that. You're thinking of the Profile view, which is unique to Numark and helps to locate good mix points. For CD playing use a USB CD or DVD drive - both audio and data discs are supported. Just wanted to set a few things straight.

[Adam @ Sep 19th 2007 2:52AM]

I was a "vinyl only" DJ for ten years but needed to take a break from clubs for a while and reluctantly sold my decks/mixer. Since then I still get the odd pang to get behind the decks and have a mix and in particular I miss the interaction with the music that comes from DJing.

When I saw this announced last week I (rather impulsively) bought one. And my thoughts so far?

Well, let's get one thing straight first up, these aren't a PRO piece of equipment by a long way - sure it has balanced outputs but as one poster mentioned, the EQ are rather poor and the the layout of the mixer is rather cramped.

Having said that it's lots of fun and in the context of having a mix up with a few friends over at your house or a small party it couldn't be better. Personally I don't have the room in my house for a full decks set up and even after all these years I still HATE cd's due to their vulnerability to scratches etc. So this little unit does the trick - I can now create playlists within iTunes and select from those whilst DJing without messing around with CDs etc.

No doubt this is just the beginning of hard drive / iPod media driven mixers. I'm sure the likes of Pioneer will be taking a look at this unit and figuring out how they can integrate similar features on their pro range of mixers and most likely Numark will look at taking these features and adding them to their Pro range too.

So for me it's hat's off to Numark for introducing a great little unit at a very competitive price. For the money they're asking I don't think anyone could expect much more. For those wanting a professional solution just sit tight - I'm sure they're coming.

Cheers,

Adam

[zachary @ Sep 21st 2007 1:48AM]

I was a huge fan of the iDJ, it allowed me to play local little bars and house parties and was a really nice intro into DJ'ng for me. I actually play some pretty big gigs at clubs and no one even notices (or cares) about mixing.

I used to use turntables, but I just got too lazy. The bars and parties I was doing, people didn't give a shit what I was using, the majority of people out there have no idea what "pitch control" and "beat matching" means anyways, they want good tunes, drinks, drugs and sex, period. I believe sincerely that being a great DJ is 90% song choice, 10% playing ability. Unless of course you're some sort of techno-ecstacy DJ or a DJ at some DJ club where DJ's jerk off to Mix Master Mike etc.

That being said, I was really excited about the iDJ 2. I thought it would be a great improvement to my gigs and I could add some cool features to my sets. Not only and I not impressed with this product, I"m going to ask for my money back. For starters, the tutorials and guidance for this product are beyond pathetic (they should have tutorials on how to find the tutorials), secondly I've been playing with it for two days and it's already frozen on me twice in the middle of my practice sets. I know we are all familiar with what happens when all the sound goes out during a set, it's like being punched in the balls and then everyone staring at you.

I now have zero confidence in this product now that's it's conked out on me twice. Each time it went out on me was during a mix-match of intro beats (one with Big, one with Gang Starr for those curious). It's such a terrible feeling to drive hours and spend a ton of money on something only to realize it's just not strong enough.

I"m going to switch my entire set-up over to a new system, is there something someone can recommend for a dude that has his whole library of music on a macbook pro in iTunes and has some pretty legitimate gigs lined up?

[Payam @ Oct 29th 2007 10:51AM]

The iDJ2 a worthless product, DO NOT waste your money on this. The features are great, but the unit is completely unstable, it shut down on me in the middle of a gig, and left me with nothing. It has all kinds of bugs and glitches, and when you contact Numark they say that there is nothing wrong with it, even though it kept freezing, shutting, etc. Save youself the headache, time, and money, DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT!