Numark Mixdeck - First Impressions

Sorry for the delay guys, been a little under the weather adn no one wants to hear a sick mans mix lol....Ill be shooting it if I stay in town tonite, if not, I get a 4 day weekend this week (HELL YES!) so I can get it done then.

Anyone else having issues with conecting an ipod touch ios 4?

 

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYOGPa7TI3E"]YouTube - Mixdeck loops effects pitch percentage change[/ame]


i know its a quick video and i go fast, but I was trying to get it done before I ran out of room on the ipod and am on the way out of town lol....

 

sweet! i will definately be picking your brain some more.

 

No worries, Ill try to get a more comprehensive video done soon.

 

i played with mine a little last night and am getting to know the loop and 123 keys a little better.
the sample feature is pretty self explainitory.

 

yeah, all of it gets pretty simple in time, its just a matter of working with it. I really need to get back on it, Have been focusing on producing a lot more lately...havent touched it since I did that vid lol...

 

u have my vote to do a loop and 123 button demo tutorial, straight from the deck.
the traktor will come later.

 

Sorry to cut you guys off and change the subject a bit. As much as I have said good things about the mixdeck this one issue is I am having is beyond annoying for me and hope one of you guys can guide me to the right direction. I find when mixing 2 tracks the gains are a complete mess between one track to the other. I mean they may sound good in a headphone mix but when I record my sets and play them back they sound like crap. I mean either deck A or deck B will be so off that it sound horrible. Unfortunately there is no individual led gain meter on each channel so i can make sure both A and B are going to mix equally. I played with the EQs I played with the gains but again all my mixes sound like crap. I'll have everything nicely beat matched but one track is always louder than the other because I can't tell for the life of me which to raise and which to lower. Can someone please help? I use to mix flawlessly with my pioneer DJM 3000 now I give this a shot and it a complete nightmare. I mean how do you guys do it? Does anyone else have this issue? Or should I just toss this out the window and get a S4 which I saw has individual led levels for each channel.

 

sure, go for the s4, and pay more for a unit that does less and is too small for actual live playing....
Odds are, your headphone source is wrong, play around with sending ch1/2 to the cue or the master channel, your gonna get two totally different sounds from that.

if not, does this happen in traktor, or is it in standalone?may want to check the levels on each track and make sure they are mastered correctly, if you dl'd them from different sources, it could be it...

 

Whats up frost,

I know the tracks are not mastered good this is why I have this issue. But, again its very hard to mix with a unit which does not have individual led level indicators. As stated before in the passed it didn't matter what source I had I could always rely on my level meter to cue a song and know it will level once in the mix. I find with mix decks even when you listen to 2nd track in cue the meters are only showing you the master levels. I wish for the very least this had the ability to show cue levels when in cue and master levels when in master if you know what I mean. I don't know I was just curious if anyone else has come across this with Mixdecks and Traktor while mixing. I mainly mix trance and it's very tough to match the gains of 2 tracks for me. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I never had this issue with any Pioneer gear in the past. =(

 

lol..I dont even know how to answer that....you should be able to mix it in your headphones without levels at all...

If you dont have a good set, get some.
If your in Canada, head to hmv, or their site, look for the Aerial7 Tanks. $99 gets you killer headphones with great looks, good sound, and a detachable cable..the only set under 150 i can find with one.
Learn the tracks your mixing. Learn your set. If your playing a radio style or request set, set your levels in the headphones while the first tracks still playing, dont sit and talk like many "djs" do lol, its a job, not a social night heh heh...
Then, learn how to mix in the headphones in general. A lot of mixers don't even have level indicators. If you have your own system, you may see your levels on another source. I use the levels between the mixdeck (so I don't peak and mud out the sound) and then watch channels out my PA systems mixer, as it also has a stereo eq built in, so i can have a ton of control over it.
you can always find a 3rd party device or program to use if all else fails, but you should be able to mix with no indicators, levels etc. any good dj can mix with a set of headphones, a general 3 band eq, and a crossover with a proper curve. I started with a general controller, under $100, with a shitty app, and a 2 band eq, but still rocked some parties well enough.

Know your tracks (the set, the levels of each, etc)
know your headphones ( know what their sound is vs what the audience hears)
Know your system (know how the sound changes when clipped, know how the highs and lows react)
KNOW YOUR TRACKS
Mix in the headphones before cutting the track in


oh and get your own set of monitors, that helps a lot
Maybe tomorrow Ill try to put together a video of my entire live setup.

I'm using an hp laptop (ask for specs if you want)
traktor pro
the mixdeck
Korg Nanokontrol
running into a 4 channel mixer with stereo 8(or 9..?not at it right now lol)band eq
3600 watt amp powering 2x2000w cabs, with 2 18 inch subs, 1 mid horn, and 6 tweeters

my last piece of advice is with your eq'ing, be subtracting not additive. Don't boost levels to accentuate bass lines etc, cut the other levels. ie, track 1 is playing, you cut track 2, and want the bass line dominant, CUT track 1's bass, don't boost track 2. this will keep gains in check. if you boost your eq your boosting your overall gain on that track.

Hope this helps, and if you already know everything I just wrote, then your smart/good/experienced enough to know that quite simply, with this unit, your outta luck for individual level indicators, but, as I mentioned in the start, should be good enough to not need them
---
I should also mention, I normally mix DnB along with variations of it, jungle, breaks, ambient, trance, house (ugh), Ive also mixed top 40 with other styles, even mix metal at a bar ever other week. I also produce those genres along with heavier metal, and just odd beats and such...these tips should be applicable to all genres, and producing as well..I hope it helps you all, and if anyone wants to add on please, do!

Even Im still learning, I always will, you cant know it all, and if you think you do, your gonna be spinning weddings and high school dances for a long long....looong time lol.

 

Sup Frost,

Thanks for the good follow up.

No way its my headphones. I use Allen and Heath Xone XD53's. But, you may be right about monitor speakers. I live in a not to music friendly condo so I dont use monitors. Again in the passed I've always mixed in headphones while practicing and my volume levels never had issues.

It's not really the EQ either. It's more about track 2 always being lower then 1. I know if I had monitor speakers i could fix this. I guess this is what I get for getting a unit without individual channel levels. I'm missing my pioneer greatly right about now.

You're write up makes sense though if I had monitor speakers I could solve this issue. But, those of us that dont are pretty much screwed. Which sucks because even recalling my old Numark mixers when you went in monitor mode it still showed the cue channel's LED levels. I dont know I'll figure something out in the mean time I'll keep giving this unit 3 out of 5 stars.

Those that own the S4 is the individual levels on each track read accurate?

 

now at times i thought that one side of mine was louder, not by much but i thought i heard a difference.
is it always the same side?

 

again, is this in Traktor, traktor has seperate gains for each channel, make sure they aren't tweaked wrong, also, check your cross fader, i find its really sensitive when coming off center, it can really drop the gain with little movement....

if its with the mixdeck, get en external source, even an ipod or mp3, runa 1/4" to rca into the line in and test the levels of each channel, that will tell you if its the hardware or not...

 

mine was all from the mixdeck, but i need to troubleshoot more like u said. and i will try the ipod to rca test.
in your opinion are the $200 beats headphones overkill for the mixdeck?

 

Not necessarily the sound quality, but the price is definitely overkill for what they offer, its all just a name your paying for. I have tried several popular DJ headphones, Pioneers, Shure, Sennheisers, and they are all great, but, not cheap. I found Aerial7 Tanks at HMV for $99, www.aerial7.com/product/tank/

Great headphones, comparable to the Shure SRH750 Djs and the Sony v700DJs. Great looks (I have the midnight model, great rubberized look!) great sound, sturdy construction and cheap, also have replaceable cables, and are NOT worn by everyone and their so $2-400 for a dre set or $99 for a comparable set, you tell me lol....

If its with just the mix deck, its possible you have a bad unit, I don't notice anything wrong on mine, definitely give the inputs a test and that should tell you...I hope you have a warranty, just go get it replaced lol, im considering doing it with mine, just to try and get the black model hahah

 

If your PLAY button breaks:

So, I've been using my Mixdeck for about three months now, and I've got to say, I couldn't be happier with an ~800$ system. I've taken care to be gentle with the buttons, and otherwise loving it so much. I haven't had any more problems with a high pitch hum on the Booth channel, Although it does make kind of a fuzzy noise when it is reading the CD, and for some reason it gets transmitted to the main output but it's only really audible if there is nothing playing, and it's turned up very loud.

I figure, also if the Play button does break, even though it shouldn't, if it does and theres nothing we can do about it, then theres still three spare hidden play buttons, so to speak, the second row of loop buttons you can use as Cue buttons, for three different Cues, and it essentially does the same thing as the play button. I tried a few mixes using only the Cue, Pause, and "cue point 1" buttons, and it works the same as Play.

Shouldn't have to be forced to improvise like this, but if this happens to you, where your Play button breaks, or caves in, and you can't get it repaired than you can do that. Mine's fine, hopefully it stays like that. Like I said, I've taken care to be gentle on them and to only press the buttons as hard as they need to be pressed (i smell a metaphor)

I just ordered an Odyssey flight case for it, because I transport it twice a week to a radio show and use it for at least two hours solid, some times three.

So on average, I use it 5 hours per week of live on air performance, and maybe 11 hours during the week split up, moreso on the weekends than during the week..

So I use it on average ~16 hours per week, being gentle on it, it's been treating me good! still works like the day I bought it.

Also until I receive my flightcase for it, I have been and will transport it twice weekly to the radio studio and back in it's original packaging too. It does a good job but damn awkward to handle. Also I tried installing the software that came with it, first installing the drivers CD, then the traktor CD but then traktor didnt work with the mixdeck in midi mode =S it's weird. No biggie, I prefer spinning CD's anyways.

 

yeah i had the case they market with it, makes the whole thing 30 lbs...kinda bulky to be honest, but handy i guess....the box it came in is fine, but Im still looking for a lighter case. let me know how that oddesy works out, and it you can let me know the final weight, that would be cool too...was this the case with the built in laptop holder?

 

they have the weight specs on the odessy site, so just weigh ur mixdeck and add it together, i want that all black one with the laptop shelf. sick!
u guys know anyone out in VA with mixdecks?>

 

lol, I never noticed the weight, thanks for the tip!

and I am up here in frosty Ontario, though I once was told I sound like Im from Va, I know no one there heh heh...