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Today's Bonus:
- Premium 4-channel digital DJ controller with rugged metal chassis and High Res MIDI
- Comprehensive input array: USB audio, (2) 1/4-Inch mic inputs, (4) sets of stereo RCA inputs, (2) selectable turntable inputs
- Touch-sensitive 6-Inch illuminated platters with industry-leading 3,600 ticks of resolution
- Strip search song navigation for blazing fast workflow
- Dedicated hardware FX controls and 3-band EQ and gain for each mixer channel
- Integrated 4-Channel 24-bit digital mixer
- Standard MIDI protocol for use with Serato and nearly any other digital DJ platforms on Mac or PC (Serato ITCH included, upgradeable to Serato DJ)
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My background is dj'ing with vinyl, then Serato Scratch Live, and most recently moving to controllers. I'm self taught, mostly from trial and error plus some group time with friends who dj'ed. While years ago I was highly interested in dj'ing, due to space and time, my gear is collecting dust in storage. I really enjoyed dj'ing and wanted to get back into the hobby, so I checked out the market for controllers. Last time I checked the market, the controllers were very toy like, jog wheels the size of Oreos, and faders were awful. Basically they were not up to my requirements of something I could actually scratch with, also have something at least close to Serato Scratch Live, or any digital vinyl system (Traktor included). What I really wanted was something I could get the same performance but replacing the turntables with a smaller item.I pretty much gave up for a few years and most recently looked at the market again, starting with some research and buying a Native Instruments Audio 2 DJ with Traktor LE. I was impressed enough with Traktor 2 LE enough to buy Traktor 2 Pro, plus a Vestax VCI-400SE (Ean Golden edition from DJ Tech Tools). But what I found was the controller jog wheels didn't have the response I wanted out of the box. The delay wasn't huge, you could still beat mix using the jog wheels but they didn't have performance close to a digital vinyl system that I was looking for. A few people mentioned that this is a tuning issue, where you can manually adjust the jog wheel settings but I wanted something more basic, just plug and play.
After debating and researching some more, I took another look at the Numark NS6. From many Youtube videos, the Numark NS6 had many positive reviews, was more solid feeling at the store, plus this was using Itch over Traktor (more on this later). I decided to order the Numark NS6 and use it with my Apple MacBookPro 13" base model (late 2011). Receiving the controller I found a nice surprise that the box mentions "Made in Taiwan" instead of China or other countries. It's a moot point but I rather see USA or Japan but these days it's rare to just see something not made in China.
Opening the controller, first thing I noticed is the weight. It's not a bad thing but the controller weights more than other controllers, giving a very solid over feel. If you're coming from turntables, it's going to feel feather light, if you're new to dj'ing, it's going to feel like a stack of magazines. Checking the hardware, I really liked the crossfader (very light like a Pioneer mixer) and the knobs all felt solid with just a slight amount of slack. The jog wheels are larger than the normal sized jog wheels (larger than the Kontrol S4) and have a nice weighted feel to them. Overall they are plastic but very solid, I hardly felt any play in the wheels when I pressed down on one edge. If you're used to vinyl, this helps with the transition, as with these jog wheels you can back spin the wheel for a few seconds. If you're used to CDJ's like the Pioneers, then this may not feel as natural. One of my favorite features of the NS6 is the long pitch controls, these are not as long as the Technics 1200 pitch adjustments, but much longer than on other controllers.
As mentioned earlier, this controller works with Serato Itch, software from the markers of Serato Scratch Live, but designed for controllers. If you're new to controllers in general I would highly recommend you decide if you like Itch or Traktor as they are very different in design and function. Just to give you a very very short summary (based upon my short experience), if you want something basic go for Itch, if you want extras go for Traktor. You can use this controller with Native Instruments Traktor 2 but reviewers have mentioned it's a rough change and not a tight integration as with Itch. Also at this pricing, if you want to run Traktor, the Kontrol S4 is a better choice.
The installation of Itch went very smooth on my Mac, I also installed this on a Windows 7 Professional 64bit machine with no issues. A slight problem I had was running the install program as "Administrator", I noticed this problem installing Serato Scratch Live as well. After installing, I plugged in the controller to the laptop, and updated the controller firmware as recommended. Since you can download Serato products without any registration, I would recommend going to Serato first, download the latest version of Itch instead of using the CD. After a few minutes of firmware updating, I was able to use the controller by loading up tracks.
From Itch, the interface is very simple, if you're moving from vinyl dj'ing, or a new dj, this will be a recommended choice. It's hard to describe the application in words but you get a clear view of the tracks playing (up to 4), a waterfall graph showing multiple tracks playing next to each other (great for beat mixing), a effects section showing current settings, and finally a music browser. Since Numark designed the NS6 to work with Itch, integration is done extremely well, the browser feature of the NS6 is nice, access to the effects is clear, also you have dedicated buttons for cue points, and Sync/Cue/Play buttons. There is also a not often mentioned button which I found extremely helpful, the two buttons below the pitch control which allow you to slight bend the pitch of a song very slightly. If you ever mixed on a pair of Technics 1200's, you could do the same trick by holding down the "33" button, then tapping the "45" button to push the track. Another nice feature is the strip search, basically a laptop style touch pad that allows you to scroll through a song. This works very well and you can somewhat pin point the drop where you want.
Moving to the jog wheels, they are very easy to work with. These are the dual mode wheels, where the top can be configured in scratch mode (emulating vinyl, music will stop), or pitch control (music never stops, pitch is changed upon movement). The sides of the jog wheels allow for small adjustments, and I found it was very easy to transition to this from vinyl. I would highly recommend which ever controller you buy, look for one with these type of jog wheels, cheaper controllers usually have single mode jog wheels where you loose the ability of touch the side for small adjustments. Another nice plus is the rotating LED on each platter, which is also color coded if you're using deck A/B/C/D. Very handy.
Getting to the overall performance with the NS6, it's a great controller to work with. The jog wheels feel very responsive and have near vinyl performance. The weighted feel of the jog wheels reminds me of the feel of vinyl. Sound is excellent with a good loud headphone amp, master and booth outputs, something rare these days. The buttons are made of a harder plastic (feels similar to buttons on a gaming controller) but I didn't have any issues with the feel, it's very solid and clicky. The pitch adjustment is done very well, I noticed better pitch tracking than on other controllers, which is great if you're not using Sync. The eq section has a nice cutoff as well, it's not 0db but enough to kill the levels as needed.
In a few minutes without reading the manual, I was able to get myself going with a few mixes and playing with the effects as well. After reading the manual I experimented further with the effects section and looping using the buttons on the controller. Basically, every function in Itch is hard mapped to a button on the controller. While it's a simple interface, there's enough to get really deep into mixing or making new cue points. Also if you're frustrated by controllers and trying to find a certain part of the song, the strip search feature is great, and works very well.
On to the not so nice issues of the NS6, and this was hard to write. First off, off all the controllers I played with, this is a very impressive item. But I felt there could have been some improvements. One issue is the master levels, I could not figure out how to display the output instead of volume output. The problem is it's set to output, so if I increase the volume, so does the master levels. Normally, the master levels are showing the output before the volume, so there's no effect on how little or lot you adjust the volumne. Now this isn't a big deal with the auto gain feature of Itch but still annoying. Another item is when you cue up one channel, it will automatically enable that channel on the jog wheel. Now this is handy but I could not find any way of disabling this feature.
A down side I also found was the effects in Itch, which I personally felt they are a few steps below the effects in Traktor. I mention this as most likely you'll be using Itch with the NS6. I tried all of the effects with various types of music but I could never find something that worked, most of the effects sounded too processed. I also tried to add a smaller amount of mix, as you have a nice wet/dry control, still getting this weird "hall" effect.
This brings up an important difference between Itch and Traktor. With Itch, it's very simple to configure and use, think of this like the Apple iPhone, it's not designed to change the settings internally, it designed to work out of the box. The down side is if you want to reassign a button, that's not possible. With Traktor, you have more options with the configuration, like an Android phone but also there's more customization issues that may have a problem with. The big difference here is that Itch only supports Itch approved hardware, but Traktor can be configured with different vendor midi controllers. Personally this is really a preference for your needs. As mentioned before Itch is a simpler interface if you're looking for basic features, where as Traktor allows for great customization but with a slightly larger processing performance hit.
If you're looking for a near vinyl feel, or used to Serato, I would recommend a look at this controller. It's smaller than two turntables but also big enough it doesn't feel like a toy. If you're new to dj'ing, this is a great starting point, it's simple enough to get started but no over complex where you're goingt be lost. Plus there's room to grow when you move to hot cues and other features. The NS6 might not be best controller, but really there is no best controller, just what fits you're needs the best. The effects are a low point of the NS6 but the build quality and important features work well which makes this a great choice.
Buy Numark NS6 Professional 4-Channel DJ Controller with Serato Now
I was completely satisfied with the Numark NS6! It was a great piece of hardware, and worked perfectly with the included software. The included version of serato itch is very user friendly and easy to understand. The platters are amazingly responsive feel great to use. The NS6 includes a feature that helps you to match the beats of multiple songs without even looking at your laptop. The effects area, and library navigation are very useful and helpful. It is an overall wonderful piece of equipment! I would recommend it to any and everyone, of all DJing levels.Read Best Reviews of Numark NS6 Professional 4-Channel DJ Controller with Serato Here
Wow. Just, wow. The NS6 is amazing. There are so many features on this thing it's ridiculous. It's built like a tank, the buttons are made to be mashed on, the platters are spot on for scratching, the crossfader is customer replaceable, it works perfectly with ITCH, you get free access to WhiteLabel.net... It's just wonderful. If you are thinking about getting a mixer/controller, then look no further, this has it all and in a weeks time you will be making studio sounding mixes like a pro.Have fun!
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It's a wonderful dj controller but i'm having to much issues with windows 7.The sound is very very good, the scratchers are so responsive, the mixer is wonderful!! The controller is heavy and it is so powerful, I'm so happy with it. The effects are very nice and with this mixer/controller you can Mix music like a Pro Dj or Club Dj.
Notes:
It seems that this controller works with serato but works better in a Mac than a Pc with windows 7 or vista.
I recommend this controller/mixer if you are a club dj or pro dj.
the interface is awesome, perfectly laid out. i'm only a week into it and i've mastered loops, cues and beatmatching (i refuse to use the sync button). most of my quick success is due to the ITCH software, also fantastic for a beginner. i have read several reviews it isn't the greatest software available, and the Numark struggles with other midi software, but i'm totally satisfied with it. it does all i need for my level. by the time i'm qualified to produce my own tracks from scratch i'll be long since upgraded. but for now, this thing is awesome.
there's also tons of tutorials on youtube and even more articles. plenty of resources to get you going. the instruction manual is only 3 pages per language and i love it. basically like a newborn baby, figure it out for yourself. and i have done just that. in less than one week.
craftsmanship is amazing. it's solid. i've read some complaints about the weight but i simply don't see it. the thing is light but not too light. easily transportable.
i'm running win7 x64 and have had zero issues with skips or latency, even with many other programs and services running.
great, great buy.
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