Numark: Pumpin' the video steroids.

In the past 2 years tons of new video oriented DJ and production products have hit the market. A few include the Edirol V-4 video mixer, and Pioneer's DVJ-X1, the DVD turntable based on the CDJ-1000 MKII. In a recent Remix Magazine e-newsletter, I clicked on a link for some new numark product- what I saw was this:

Presenting the NuVJ- DJ style mixing of images and video via a snazzy control surface that looks like a repainted iDJ:


Perhaps Numark was loosing some of its hold on the video market with their AVM01 a/v mixer and DVD player to products like Edirol-distributed Motion Dive .tokyo video performance package.

However, there was more than just one awesome video mixer for Numark...they have seven brand new products out now, abliet some like the Virtual Vinyl are just to compete with Rane's Serato Scratch Live and Traktor's Final Scratch. Here's the rundown:

• X2 Hybrid- a TT/CD/MP3 player with automatic Beatkeeper to hold the tempo steady. Cool looks, but a little late, as Gemini already released its' CDT-05 months ago.
  
• iCDX- A well designed mid sized table top CD/MP3 with a connected iPod dock for seamless integration of an iPod. I like this the best, as some might find an MP3 player mixer requiring 2 iPods etc, this only needs one, and CDs to complement it. Better yet- the drive reads DVD data, so you could have 4.7 Gigabytes of music on one disc.
  
• D2 Director- rack mountable hard drive MP3 player with USB connections for MP3s, keyboard for searching your songs on the large built in screen etc. Good improvement on somewhat of a flop that was the Peavey DAC-2 (c'mon, Shaq endorsed it). Recommended for mobile DJs or for clubs or bars when a DJs isin't playing, the simple user interface allows intuitive control with an easy learning curve.
  
• HDMIX- Remember the great CD-Mix line? meet its technoloigcally advanced decendant: An HD MP3 player with a huge 80GB capacity, a CD drive for ripping, a 3 channel mixer with line/phono inputs and XLR outputs all in a portable package. If Numark can produce this and sell it at a fair price, I think it will fly off the shelves. It is an entire backup system (and a good one at that); just add power speakers and a microphone. Also allows USB connectivity to transfer songs straight from your computer and includes a keyboard for searching.
  Numark's HDMIX
  
• NuVJ- This looks like a watered down version of the Motion Dive .tokyo video software, with more DJ-friendly controls. Probably a good product nonetheless
  
• Virtual Vinyl- After reading a bit more, this thing sounds slightly impressive- there is some video support on these high-tech decks. The i/o box has a video preview out for monitoring that crazy image/music video mashup dancefloor hit.
  

All said and done, Numark has a killer line for DJs, producers, clubs and ofcourse VJs. Just wanted to point out what they were up to, the market gets so many new music products everyday its hard to keep track of what's really out there.