Numark CDX (published in DJ Times Magazine) [Back to HOME page]

Vinyl or CD, CD or vinyl, the debate has raged since the introduction of the first DJ "friendly" CD player more than 20 years ago. With diametrically opposed interfaces and controls, the only thing a CD DJ and a vinyl DJ of that past had in common was that they were both playing music. One focused on the manual manipulation and visual aspect of the art, while the other maintained that the medium was less important than playing good music. Club DJs and turtablists, scoffed at CDs as a cold, impersonal medium. What could a person standing behind a console, pushing a few buttons have in common with a performer scratching, back spinning and working a slab of vinyl? Across town at the local function facility, Mobile DJs boasted of their "all digital" libraries and ability to have 10,000 songs at their disposal. Lines were drawn and camps were divided.

Thankfully, manufactures didn't settle for status quo and have continued to push the boundaries of digital technologies. Looping, hot starts, master tempo and the availability of CD recorders changed the game and prompted many vinyl purists to take notice and begin considering CD players as a viable addition to their arsenal. The ability to work in the studio in the afternoon on a track or remix, burn a disc at the end of the session and play it later that night, added a new twist to the CD vs. vinyl equation. Club DJs, lead by people like Danny Tenaglia and Eric Morillo, began to take notice and include CDs in their sets and the "stigma" of being a club jock and playing CDs began to fade.

With club jocks beginning to slowly embrace the gear, manufacturers began to try and address the concerns of battle DJ, turntablist segment of the industry. While vinyl emulation has drastically improved over the past few years (with Pioneer and Denon making strong contributions to the market), many aspects of conveying the authentic, hands on feel of vinyl were still lacking. Enter Cumberland, Rhode Island based Numark and their brand new, CDX, to try and change all that.

Styled after their highly regarded TTX turntable, the Numark CDX is a full sized, robust digital turntable. A rotating 12" platter driven by a high torque, direct drive motor gives the unit stability and feel that is miles ahead of anything on the market in replicating the vinyl experience. A 12" vinyl record and neoprene slipmat, cover the platter and are meant to duplicate the movements and manipulations of spinning vinyl to the letter. You can drag the platter, push the vinyl and even twist the spindle, and the unit responds exactly the same as your trusty vinyl turntable.

Basic controls are easy to reach and straightforward to operate and you confidently be up and mixing on the unit in a very short time. However in order to take real advantage of the power of the Numark CDX, you need to take a few moments to read up on the impressive list of available features.

While all the requisite trappings are here (key lock, adjustable pitch range up to 100%, changeable turntable start and stop), the CDX has several features that really stand out, the first being the rotating platter. Not a flimsy, half sized platter, this is a full 12", direct driven platter with more torque than any other turntable on the market. The resistance is strong and true and the pick up time is remarkable. While my scratching skills are far from impressive, I was able to do all the basic scratches with amazing results. The table was very responsive to each movement and felt like I was cutting up my favorite battle vinyl. Another extremely impressive part of this exercise was the actual sound quality of the emulated scratch. Unlike so many other units in this category, the implementation was spot on. There was nothing digitized in the sound replication and other than really fast scratching and back spinning, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between a scratch performed on an analogue turntable or the CDX.

While you can do manual editing of any in and out loop point, the real gem of the looping section of the player is the smart loop feature. With a strong, accurate bpm engine and a tap button (just in case it falls off), the smart loop is able to automatically grab a perfect loop and then make that loop expandable or retractable, in perfect time. For example, say you grab 4 beats of the track that is playing, with the smart loop technology; it will make sure that the beats are in perfect synchronization. No pops, no clicks, just clean useable beats. Now this in itself isn't a groundbreaking feature, but you then are able (at the push of a button), to reduce that loop to 1 beat, 2 beats, or increase it to 8 beats. The ability to loop and play with the loop on the fly makes this a truly superb feature.

Another fantastic feature is the bleep/ reverse switch. While the reverse feature is much the same as those found on other DJ oriented players, the bleep is extremely cool. Designed to add that reversed beat effect that is often heard on radio edits of explicit songs, this switch is able to accomplish that temporary reverse, while keeping the track moving in a forward direction. For example, you can reverse every other word in a phrase, without taking the track off measure. It is so much fun to take well-known songs and totally twist them, without losing the flow of the track or the movement on the dancefloor. This feature is a keeper.

A further note worthy features is the ability to turn off the movement of the platter (so no one can reach over and stop your song that is playing.) There are some interesting on board effects (sonar, slide, chop, echo, auto pan) and the capacity to make the platter spin at 33 or 45 rpm is functional for battle DJs who like to slow tracks down to half speed for effect. There is also a feature that emulates the spinning of a 12" that was cut at 45 rpm (like with many imports), for those who prefer to work with a faster moving platter. There are Midi I/O slots for use with drum machines and other devices, 48 seconds of anti shock memory, a user replaceable CD drive (for quick in the field repairs) and a whole list of other handy features (remote start and relay play and 3000 cue points to name a few.) The CDX is also user updateable through Internet downloads, eliminating the need to send the unit back to the company for upgrades.

Having used DJ oriented CD players for more than 16 years; I can honestly say that the Numark CDX is the best player I have yet to encounter. Vinyl DJs can finally put their head (and hands) around a unit that is solidly built and provides the best of both words. You can scratch, cut and backspin till your heart is content and the responsiveness, sound quality and overall feel will have people doing double takes. The CDX will also add a new twist to the world of CD DJing, as no long will you be perceived as a person behind a podium "pushing buttons." Your performance will take on a decidedly more interesting and exciting visual angle, while still retaining the convenience of using CDs as your medium of choice.

While I consider myself a vinyl junkie and will never grow tired of walking into a record shop and coming home with a bag full of new wax; I have to admit Numark is making things a lot more difficult. They have clearly put a ton of thought and research into the CDX, and the results speak for themselves. It has every advanced feature you could ever want, yet is capable of seducing even the most hardened vinyl junkie. Insert a disc, start the platter and before you know it, you actually forget you are spinning a CD. Pushing the records, squeezing the spindle, scratching and manipulating your player with ease, you are free to concentrate on the art of DJing and moving your dancefloor. And in the end that is what it is all about.