Numark Mixdeck - First Impressions

cool frost where are ya from? im in Sudbury, about 3 1/2 hour drive upwards of toronto.

It's the case without the laptop deck. I tried to get it working on my laptop a couple days ago with no success but I dont' mind because I prefer CD's anyways.

 

Hi guys, am new to this forum and wanted to post a reply to a post more relevant but they're all closed.

7 months after I bought the numark mixdeck with traktor le (installed on my macbook snowleopard) I FINALLY got it working last night, settings finally worked, switched on today, now can't get any master or booth audio out via rca. when I try the set up wizard again, there's sometimes problems with the software even seeing the device.

Yes, I tried the same set up methods as the day before, but nadda, only monitoring through headphones.

Traktor isn't seeing the mixdeck at all sometimes, the perameter of 'usb-midi' is no longer appearing as an option on channels a & b on the mixdeck, and all I get on the preferences is a nice big red box down the bottom saying 'please connect and select audio device'

I did have problems when it was working yesterday of no led metering or perameters on the blue screens (like time elapsed/time remaining etc) not displaying, but heck, I was just happy for it to work in its limited capacity as it was...

does anyone have any answers? would really appreciate someones help, and by the long list of this thread, it seems like I'm not alone!

thanks,
D

 

basically to recap what needs to be done:
1. update the mixdeck firmware from numarks website, it loads on a usb stick and takes 5 minutes tops.
2. install updated drivers for mixdeck
3. update Traktor, 1.2.7 is the latest i believe

on the mac
1. reset smc and pram
2 check your sound settings
3. run software updates and keep running them over and over until you get otld your software is up to date

hope this helps!
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yeah i know Sudbury, spent some time up that way and in Elliot Lake. Currently in Peterborough, if your ever coming down this way, let me know and Ill hook ya up with a show, I have one with spots every other weekend..
if your on facebook look me up D.J. Frost with PTBO Sub-Culture

 

when playing from a pc, whats the best source? the hdd in the laptop, a hdd connected to the laptop with external power, or does it matter.

what runs the best?

 

I love this question. Depends. External, usb or firewire? mechanical or solidstate? IMO as a producer, I always split the load, let the drive traktor is installed on run traktor, and run your tracks off an external or thumbdrive, I use both depending on what im doing for the night.

The other benefit of having the external drive or thumbdrive is that in the event your pc completely screws you and dies, you can still pop it into the usb port on the mixdeck and keep going....

on the other hand, keeping them on the internal drive means less things to carry and keep track of....

When producing or recording, ALWAYS go to an external or another internal drive then the one the apps on. This is a MUST.

 

what r the specs of the pc or mac u dj off of?

 

frost,
do yu have any issues with latency as far as lagging? what latency level are you at?

 

No Latency at all. Ill get a vid done tonite or tomorrow and walk through my specs and my settings and go right from the start, just way too tired to sit here and type it out lol

But
its an hp, 3gb ram, and a 2.5ghz dual core and i think its about 5.5 ms latency at moment

ill post the vid tonite or tomorrow dpends on when i get it done, and If I remember, Ill try to tape some of my set you guys can see my setup and this **** in action, when I drop through this 4000w system of mine, its pure bass heaven

 

4k watts, good lord man!

im looking at a 4gb 2.4ghz i5 with boost and a 250-500gb hdd.
i always wondered how the boost effects the programs that are running, like if there were any pauses or hickups. but i havent heard of any.
im drooling over the macbook pros but man you can get so much PC for your money.
but i just want something that WORKS, and everyone says the Macs just work.

 

So I bought my Mixdeck last week. I originally had the Omni Control, which pretty much satisfied my needs for a good year into DJing, and then I found I needed more. MOAR I SAY. Herm..

Anyways, is it just me or has anyone else had a slight problem with bass levels? My master out and headies out both seem to not want to push out bass for me. I mix mostly jungle/dnb with the occasional interest in minimal/progressive or hardstyle.. so I know what I mean when I say there's a lack of bass coming out. I'm just starting to notice it but I swear something is off here. I really haven't looked into it too much but I am almost positive it's nothing as simple as a half-plugged cable or knob notched down I didnt notice before.


Other than that, I love the mixdeck to death. I started working on my own tsi file, cutting out all the loop functions and turned shift into a cycle for hot cue points for beat juggling. Loop in / out / reloop = 1-3 Hot Cue now

Also working on a better setup for the effects, I really don't care at all for the default layout , but hell that's the beauty of traktor, being able to customize your mapping.

Out of curiosity, what are you guys mapping your bleep and reverse toggle for? I have my bleep set to toggle off/on effects to deck a/b and reverse to toggle filter off and on.

 

you know, if your looking for reliability, and funcitonality, go mac. I work with them everyday, and must say, its the way to go. The only reason I have the HP was leasing options lol....

macs have fewer hardware configs making them a sinche to troubleshoot drivers and such, the os is a freaking lightspeed fast system when handles properly, and its easy to keep in control of whats running on there.

Not only that but, it comes with an app called bootcamp that allows you to install windows and run it on the mac no issues. no point not to go with one if you have the $

 

im looking at a refurb'd macbook pro, and i might go with it.

and stupid question, is traktor a one use software or can i put it on my two pcs with out issue?

 

well I think I was only able to register the LE version twice officially, but I've reinstalled it a few times after really wiping it from my system a few times, but give it a shot, all it can do is say no lol..

Refurbs are a great way to go if your not worried about being picky about the hardware config, thats the only downside to them, go to the apple store site to get them , nowhere else, they will come with a fill warranty and Applecare's still available for them, and you should NOT go without applecare. It ives you a full 3 years of warranty and phone support, which is WELL worth it for any mac..

Feel free to message me or email me, I may not reply really fast but I know my stuff about macs, I can pretty well answer most questions...

 

Numark Mixdeck Completely Unreliable

Since Musician's Friend deleted my review of the Numark Mixdeck, I'll have to share my experience elsewhere. Truth is, I feel the need to share this everywhere I can so people have an accurate idea of what kind of built quality and support they can expect.

In the first 30 days of use, the Numark Mixdeck froze up on me twice in LIVE situations. I'm a working DJ. I do weddings, and in the off-season, fill in at local bars & clubs. This is unacceptable. The unit was released at over $1000 retail, has balanced outs, and spec-wise is a professional piece of gear. Unfortunately, the implementation is not up to par. Aside from the “freezes”, some buttons are buggy and non-responsive at times, for instance the scratch button, even on the new replacement unit I got… Just like the last unit, sometimes you have to push it multiple times for it to engage. Also, sometimes when you disengage it, it’s still on, even though the light is off. So you touch your platter to speed up the tempo and woops, scratch is still engaged.

Thankfully Musician's Friend's great 45 day guarantee saved the day, or I'd be shipping it to Numark for 6 weeks like another reviewer. I emailed support regarding this, and another issue, and never heard back at all. The worst support (or lack thereof) I've ever received. That's how you treat people who give you money for your undependable buggy equipment? Ignore them? Sorry, but there are way too many choices out there, and from companies who value their customers, and wish to continue in business.
If the Mixdeck was dependable, I'd give it 5 stars all day. It's a great concept, the functionality is great, it looks great, nicely mapped for Traktor etc. That’s all worthless though, when you have a packed dance-floor during someone’s wedding reception and not one button on the mixdeck will respond, or worse, your music stutters and goes off completely.

Some would argue that Numark’s NS7 is their flagship, and therefore their “professional” DJ system. The fact is, it’s not for the same market at all. I rarely need to scratch, I don’t need spinning platters, and I’d point out that Numark quietly recalled many NS7s because of issues. My advice would be to steer clear of anything from Numark at all. Every polite and professional email I sent them was ignored completely. That's your HUGE red flag. Buyer beware.

 

Sorry to hear the bad experience Katee. I can't say I will trust this unit for a big event alone never mind a wedding.

But, if anyone has been following NI you all know the new Traktor Duo is around the corner April 1st to be exact. I been doing a lot of reading about it and also looking into many screen shots. By the looks of it its seems the mixdeck is not going to able to work well with it with just the standard defaults mapping. I know few have mentioned customizing the TSI file and remapping keys. Can anyone who's good at this hit me up and send me some info on how to do this. I am gearing up to get Traktor Duo 2 as soon as it hits stores so I want to be ready =)

Thanks in advance.

You can email me at djhike@live.com

 

Learning how to customize your midi mapping is simple enough. You can virtually set up the system to be perfect for your own style, and really compatibility wont be an issue unless your dead set on having the mixer being mapped, since the mixer is not midi controlled.

Really anyone can map their mixdeck to the specifications they desire, all you need is time and patience ... trial and error and eventually you'll have what you want.

 

So where do I start ? I never made a TSI file. I'm sure its trial and error and few testing will help me perfect the mapping that desires me best. I just need a good roadway of where to start and how to put this file together.

It seems you know what you're doing =) If you dont mind just give me a jump start and I'll get started on this file and mapping journey.

 

The best way to start, like I said, is with the default .tsi file for your hardware. So load that up by using setup wizard. then go to preferences and controller manager.

select your device (mine for example is Numark.Mixdeck.Deck A)

you'll see your assignment table with all the configs loaded in it.

click add in to grab a feature you want to add to your controller

ex. add in > mixer > filter on.

then choose what button you want to assign it to by clicking learn and then clicking the button on the controller. any current functions already assigned to that button will then become highlighted in the list as well, so you can go to them and delete them.

Basically this is how trial and error works. essentially doing this for a while and figuring out what to assign and the options for each assignment and you'll get it eventually, this is how I did afterall. My recommendation is to take it slow and try to assign easy stuff, and export your own tsi file every time you make a successful change. that way if you accidentally mess something up, all you have to do is load your tsi file instead of having to start all over again from the default tsi.

 

WOW. not even sure what to say to this. I use this all the time, and since following all the steps listed on the support page and int he forums (Ive written the list several times in here alone) i have hd 0 issues. The problems you had seem to indicate you probably didnt do the proper updating with the firmware.

as for listing at over $1000, I have yet to see a mixdeck go in retail for over $800. seems like you may have been taken a little by the sales person who helped you out.

As a tesh support advisor myself (not form N.I. at all) I can understand how some emails can be looked over and even basic ones ignored, theres only so many times you can repeat steps that are listed right there on the products support page.

and besides, as a professional DJ, I ALWAYS prepare for that kind of situation, NO computer will run 100% with no crashes all the time, and if you want to stay using that kind of setup, you must have a backup in place. I use a rack mount cdj unit with basic controllers, but you can go tabletops, decks, or even just an ipod with line in....
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Adding mapping to my video to do list lol...I have the mixdeck remapped for advanced effects adn got rid of that stupid load track button on the bottom right of the cdjs on it. Im not doing much tonite, if Im feeling better then I have been lately, I should be able to finally get the vids done lol...cheers guys

 

Firmware was definitely update correctly, and my computer is a fine tuned machine. When the mixdeck was introduced, it retailed for over $1000. I didn't say I paid that. I didn't pay nearly that, but that's not the point. I did have a backup in place, but that doesn't help when a husband and wife are having their first dance and the music stops completely and they have to start over, now does it?

Do you use the mixdeck for 4-6 hours at a time? If so, I guess you got a good one. I however, did not. Twice. I got one that froze on me multiple times, then I sent it back to musicians friend, and got ANOTHER one with bugs and glitches. Junk. Period.

I'm happy to hear not everyone has had the same experience.. But then, I'm wondering if you're depending on it to get you through gigs for several hours at a time. Do your search and scratch buttons faithfully go on and off when you push them without ever having to go back and push them again and again? Mine do, on both units I had. Whats worse than turning of search, and thinking you can touch your platter only to find it's not off at ball, just the light went off. Junk. Thing is a toy. I was completely open minded about it too.. I was on this forum actually defending the mixdeck under another user ID (i forgot the login so I created another)... And here I am, after just a couple months realizing the guy who called it a toy was dead correct.

And by the way.... EMAILS TO SUPPORT should not be "missed". I emailed to enquire about purchas ing a cross fader from another email address and got an email within 24 hours... My MULTPLE emails to support regarding any number of issues with the mixdeck were NEVER responded to ONCE! That's just poor. I'll never buy anything from Numark again. If you release products that can't be relied on to work right, and you don't respond to customers in need of support.. What kind of business are you running? That says it all.