(record scratching)
♪ Hear the drummer get wicked ♪
♪ Hear the, hear the drummer get wicked ♪
♪ Hear the drum drum
drum drummer get wicked ♪
♪ Hear the drummer get wicked ♪
♪ Hear the drummer get wick ♪
♪ Hear the drummer get wick ♪
♪ Hear the drummer get wicked ♪
- In this video Steve's been looking
at the Numark Scratch mixer.
You've been playing with
this for quite a while,
and I've been looking at
the number of people saying
that they are either interested in this
or who have bought it.
The kind of back story here is,
so we've only just got
round to reviewing this
for all kind of reasons.
But in the meantime this thing's
been flying off the shelves
and for lots of good reasons.
It makes compromises in some places,
but in other places it gives
you incredible value for money.
And if you're thinking about
getting into scratching,
it could be the best start possible.
For under $500 this thing gives you
a mixer which is brilliantly built
and has got all the basics on it.
Steve, could you scratch to the standard
of the very best scratch
DJs on this mixer?
- Yeah, absolutely.
I think that it's got an Innofader in it,
which we'll talk about,
which is like the defacto faders
that scratch DJs want to use.
And it's got all the right controls
that you need to get started,
especially things like crossfader
curve and stuff like that.
And it is, well, put it this way,
I can scratch to a certain
level, only to a certain level,
and this has got capabilities
beyond my talent, so.
- And just to point out,
this guy is the guy behind
our scratch training,
which takes you to the
very very top level.
So he's being modest here.
The point is that this mixer does
everything that you need
to learn to scratch,
and then adds in Serato controls.
So therefore if you want
to learn to scratch,
and you want to use Serato software,
and as you're about to find out,
it not only lets you do that,
but you don't have to buy
the software or anything.
You plug it in, it'll just
all work, for under $500.
It's brilliant, and you've
just heard that it's got
everything you need to
scratch to a very high level.
What we need to do, though,
is take a little tour
around what this has got
and what it hasn't got.
If you're watching this as someone
who's a bit more experienced and thinking,
"Actually, you know what,
that might be what I need,"
we'll cover that stuff as well.
So to start with, it's for Serato,
so that's the first
thing you have to know.
Yes, you could scratch
with vinyl on it and stuff,
but that's not the point.
You can get a cheaper
mixer to do just that.
It doesn't need an audio
interface or anything like that,
you literally plug it in.
It will even unlock the Serato software,
so you don't need to go and
buy the software as well.
So that's the first
thing you need to know.
The second thing you
need to know about this
is it's not full blown.
It hasn't got everything the
bigger things have got on it.
So I think we should take a tour of it,
and then we can cover
what it has and hasn't got
as we do that, Steve.
- [Steve] All right, so
it's a two-channel mixer,
like you said.
So it's got a very clean
area here for scratch DJs,
'cause there's a lot of
hand movements going on,
so you need to be able to
get to the faders quickly
and have your crossfader unencumbered.
So from a design point of
view, it's absolutely perfect.
Here you've got controls
for the crossfader curve,
or slope, as it's called here.
So it's either the sharp
cut or the smooth fade.
- [Phil] So you don't get a choice of,
you know, between, it's like either/or.
So there's a little compromise there,
but not a massive one for scratching.
- [Steve] But it is
fine, and you can adjust
the curve of the upfaders if you want,
in the Serato software.
- In the software itself.
- [Steve] And you do have a button
for reverse or hamster mode,
which basically means
that the functionality
of the crossfader is reversed.
Some people prefer that way of scratching.
- [Phil] So we were
talking about the fader.
Let's just quickly cover that off.
Innofader is one of the
premium brands of fader.
Feel as good as anything else?
- [Steve] Yeah, it feels
really really nice.
And it's replaceable
and changeable as well,
via a panel on the back.
- Just lift the panel up,
drop something else in
there if you want it.
So again, no real compromises there.
This is all, this is all how you would,
how you'd want it in a mixer at any price.
- [Steve] Now, as we go
up, when you start to,
when you're talking about
mixers like the Pioneer DJM-S9
or the Rane Seventy-Two
or the Reloop Elite,
you know, those mixers
have a lot of buttons here.
They have a lot more pads.
This has gone with four pads.
So this is four cue pads, or sample pads,
or controls over the loop roll function.
Those are the three pad modes
that you can access in
Serato DJ from here.
It would have been nice to
see eight pads, you know.
- [Phil] It's a bit unusual that,
because these are quite long,
I mean they don't look that
long compared to pro mixers,
but these are quite long upfaders.
And actually, scratch DJs would be happy
with an inch shorter there, right,
and another four pads of that size.
- It'd be fine, yeah, so--
- Seems a bit strange, that.
- [Steve] What that decision is based on,
I'm not entirely sure.
Maybe it's to try and keep the price down,
but I can't imagine just a few more pads
would have made, you know--
- [Phil] Or maybe to differentiate it
from more expensive mixers
up the group of, family of brand names.
But anyway, an extra four pads
each side would have been good.
That said, you can do
an awful lot with this.
You can control four cues,
which is more than a lot
of people would ever need.
You can also trigger four samples.
Again, you can do quite a lot with that.
And the loop rolling is probably
the most limiting for me,
as a kind of a DJ that comes
from a non-scratch background.
But for scratching, are you
ever going to want to loop
big long chunks of a tune, or--
- [Steve] No, you've only got,
I'll just quickly show you
loop roll here, we may as well.
So go into loop roll function, so.
(electronic music)
Then switch loop off.
So you can see on the screen there.
(music stuttering)
- [Phil] Up looping very very small
fractions of a beat.
- And there I've got
1/32 of a beat, a 1/16 and
an 1/8 and a 1/4 of a beat.
So that's all I've got on
these four pads at the moment.
But by changing the loop encoder,
I can change what appears
in those top four slots,
like you can see on the screen.
And so now I've got an 1/8,
a 1/4, a 1/2 and a beat.
(music stuttering)
So you're only going to have four
of those available at one time,
and you have to learn
to use the loop encoder
in order to change those four slots.
- [Phil] And you can't go
much higher than that, right?
If I try and get that
higher, that's kind of like,
that's what we started with.
- Then it goes to two beats.
- [Phil] Okay, so that is a limitation.
- Yep.
- Again, not a huge one.
- No, and there's another use
for this loop encoder as well,
which is, if you hold down Shift,
you can actually scroll up and down
in your currently selected crate.
And you can also load
a track onto that deck
by pressing down on it
whilst you've got Shift down.
- Oh, that's pretty cool.
Some people, even a bit
with top high-end mixers,
still use their keyboard to load tracks
'cause it's just easier.
But it's nice to know you've
got it there if you need it.
But again, there's a compromise
'cause you can't switch
from files to playlists and stuff.
But generally you wouldn't do that
in the middle of a scratch performance,
anyway, would you?
- No.
- You'd have all your tracks
in one playlist anyway, so--
- Exactly, yeah, quick way is
to just scroll to the
next track and load it,
you've got it there.
- Awesome.
Let's move on to the effects,
because the effects here
look similar to something
like a Pioneer DJM-S9,
where you've got the big
paddle for hold and momentary,
and you've got all these effects here.
But these are software effects,
unlike that mixer which controls
Serato's built-in effects,
and it's got hardware effects.
This is purely software.
This is controlling one
of the effects units
on the software for each side.
So again, this is a limitation
but a limitation that is kind of knowing.
Who cares, you know, they're
there, you can use them.
If you want to plug vinyl in, you can't,
because it's, they're software effects.
So you can't unplug the
laptop and use the effects,
as you can with more expensive mixers.
However, as we're going to find out,
you can use the filter without
the computer, which is nice.
But anyway, let's talk about these ones.
- [Steve] So as you said,
these are selecting,
these are changing the
effects in one effect slot.
So you can see that on the screen,
Echo, Delay, Flanger, Reverb,
oh, I think that's called Version Echo,
probably got that wrong, and Phaser.
So they're changing the
effect in that slot.
You don't have any control on the mixer
to be able to change the
beat value of the effects--
- So this is how quick an echo
or how quick a delay
will echo or delay out,
for instance.
- So if we get the--
♪ Wicked wicked wicked ♪
(music stuttering)
- That's a 1/4 beat,
but in the software I can
change that to one beat.
♪ Don't stop it, don't stop it,
don't stop it, don't stop it ♪
- And you have to make those
changes in the software.
So quite a lot of the time
you're needing to either
look at the screen
or actually do stuff in the software to,
you know, compared to other mixers,
where you may have more control
on the mixer.
- And there's
no displays on here or anything,
which you do find on
higher-end mixers as well.
So let's have a listen
through the effects.
I know people will have heard
Serato effects before, who use Serato,
but people thinking about
buying one of these who haven't,
maybe just don't know
what these effects are,
let's just have a listen to what you get.
♪ Dance dance you're dancing bobbing ♪
- [Steve] So the echo.
♪ Dance dance dance dance dance ♪
♪ Dance dance dancing dancing ♪
And then of course the post fader,
which means the effect carries on
when you bring the fader down.
We've got delay.
(music echos)
Echo and delay are kind of like similar,
but a slight tonal difference.
which we could go into but we won't.
Okay, flanger.
- We have flanger now.
♪ Let's keep it ♪
- [Steve] Reverb.
Of course, a big use of this
type of paddle, you know,
a momentary trigger of an effect,
is often used with reverb.
♪ So dancing mama go back ♪
♪ Let's do ♪
- On deck's the opposite of--
- Yeah, the old classic
reverb out.
(electronic music)
- [Steve] So that's that echo
with lots and lots of
feedback coming through it.
And then phaser.
- Assume that's a flanger,
the old plane-taking-off effect.
So okay, cool, yeah, so is this--
- I actually really like that they've
gone to the trouble of doing this,
because this is very very
similar to the Pioneer DJM-S9.
So again, for this price,
to have that kind of,
you know, to learn how
to use effects like that
in your scratch DJing means
that if you do step up to a Pioneer S9,
you're going to know how to do it.
- [Phil] Okay, so we've got control
over Serato's effects there,
done quite nicely with a big
knob for wet and dry as well,
which is just the amount of the effect.
Metres for master and cue,
they are are only five-bar
metres, but that's enough,
that's enough to keep you
out of the red, so to speak.
Tell us about, talk to us
about the loop encoder,
seeing you're pointing to it pointedly?
- [Steve] Yup, so--
♪ Hear the drummer get wicked ♪
- [Steve] So on the screen,
as I've already said,
this changes the loop value
so if I get to one beat,
push it down, then I have my one beat
and by turning it--
(music stuttering)
♪ Hear the drummer get wicked ♪
- That is the best way of
doing looping on controllers,
in my humble opinion and in our opinion.
- Yeah.
- It's simple,
it's on one knob, you can set a loop,
and by the time it does something,
you can set the value you want on it,
and you can change the value
without turning it on anyway.
It's just the easiest way to do looping,
and I wish more people would do it.
It's good to see it on here.
- And of course, just again,
in terms of needing to
refer to the screen,
before you trigger that loop,
you do just have to have
a cursory check of what
your loop value is on screen
in case you've actually
got it set to like 116
for an effect that you would use.
- [Phil] You might get used
to just going like that,
and then going 32, 16, to eight,
you know, there's actually
four clicks if you.
Some people will do that over time,
but some mixers have a display on it,
means you don't have to do that.
Okay, so the looping's good
but looking up to look at the screen,
is kind of a common theme here.
It's a hybrid between doing it on here
and checking what's
going on on the screen.
Let's move on to the--
- Filters.
- Filters.
Big big big filter knobs,
that's nice to see.
(tinny electronic music)
Serato filters, so it
sounds as good or as bad
as your filters do with Serato.
But it's the one thing that does work
when you unplug the computer as well.
So if you're DJing with vinyl,
you've got the filter there.
Three-band EQ with gain,
nothing unusual there.
You like that, it's all
working as it should?
- [Steve] Yeah, great
for blend mixing as well,
you know, got everything you need there.
- [Phil] Standard headphone stuff,
standard microphone stuff.
You do get a microphone
socket on the back,
with tone and volume for the microphone.
So that's reasonable on a
mixer of this kind of level.
We have got all the inputs and outputs
you would expect on the back,
so you've got a booth
output and a master output
and you've got balanced
output as well there.
So there's nothing missing from there.
And then just around the front
there's 1/4 and eight-inch headphones.
The thing about this
is no one else has got
a scratch mixer for Serato
at this price point.
And no one else has got this nice feature
where you plug in a lead
and then you plug it into your computer
and it unlocks Serato.
You don't own that copy of Serato.
You try plugging something
else into your computer,
it won't work.
So you're kind of buying
a hardware-specific
Serato licence as well with this,
which is just nice if this
is going to be your setup.
Hey, you've effectively
got Serato as well.
For $499, that is a great
price for everything there.
It does pair with some Numark turntables,
which are also great value.
We'll give you details about
those underneath as well.
And that setup, that setup
for a full scratch setup
branded Numark across the
whole lot, is great quality,
and as Steve says, it
will let you do everything
up to a very very high standard
without ever missing
the stuff, the setups,
that cost literally three
times the price can do.
- So what I love about this,
it's kind of democratising
scratching to a certain extent.
It's, you know, people are going to
be able to convince their parents
to maybe buy them this and the setup,
you know, a third of the price of another
type of setup.
- Especially
if Daddy's got some decks in the loft
that have been there for 20
years that can be dusted off.
So this, this--
- I think it's going to give
birth to a whole new generation
of scratch DJs.
- We think it already is,
because this seems to be
flying off the selves.
Certainly our mailbox is showing us
that people are buying and loving this.
So it's the Numark Scratch mixer.
It's great value, we really like it.
It doesn't do everything
the big high-end stuff does,
but it does everything you
need to, not only start,
but get very good in scratching.
There's a full written review as well,
and if you've enjoyed this,
please like, follow, share.
We'll see you next time.
