NUMARK iCDX
May 1, 2007 12:00 PM, BY ROBIN SMITH
PITCH ‘N’ MOAN
The iCDX calculates a track's bpm ahead of time, but it will occasionally make bpm corrections as the track plays. Unfortunately, the bpm-detection engine is not incredibly accurate; more than half of the tracks I played required correction of some kind. Curiously, they were often calculated between 3 and 6 bpm too fast. That is surprising given the excellent performance of Numark's BeatKeeper engine used in products such as the HDX. This wouldn't bother me that much, except the effects section uses bpm to set the “correct” value for most effects. Echo and Chop both sound particularly horrible if the calculated bpm is incorrect.
Mix DJs will love the iCDX pitch, tempo and key features. Pitch can be set to ±6, ±12, +25 or ±100 percent. Pitch resolution varies based on the setting, allowing tweaks as fine as 0.05 percent when set to the ±6 percent range — very precise. Key lock can be enabled, allowing you to adjust the tempo of the song without changing the key, and it sounds better than that of many other digital audio players, provided you don't change the speed too much. By holding down the pitch button and adjusting the parameter knob, the iCDX also allows you to shift the key up or down in semitones while keeping the tempo constant — a nice inclusion.
THE LOOP SCOOP
The looping controls use the familiar three-button In/Out/Reloop layout. The buttons are responsive, and the looping controls work well. The iCDX also includes a three-way Shift toggle that can be used to adjust the loop length by half or double increments, which allows for some handy remix-on-the-fly looping effects.
One great addition to the iCDX is the Multi-Mode buttons that can be configured to one of three modes. In Loop-2 mode, they act as a second set of looping controls. While you can't play the two loops simultaneously, you can switch back and forth between loop points, allowing for some further creativity. In Hot Cue mode, the buttons can be used to set three “instant-jump” cue points within a track. Press the Mode button until Hot Cue is displayed, and then press the Rec button to arm the recording of a cue point. Press one of the three Multi-Mode buttons during a song to store the cue point, allowing you to jump instantly to that point in the song at any time. In Sample mode, the trigger buttons allow you to record a maximum of 5 seconds of audio per button. Using the Mode button, switch to Sample mode and press Rec to arm recording. Press a trigger button to start recording and again to stop (a maximum of 5 seconds). To play back your recorded sample, simply press and hold the relevant button. The audio will play for as long as you have the button pressed.
The iCDX also includes six onboard effects that can be applied to the audio: Echo, Chop, Pan, Phaser, Flanger and Filter (a high/mid/low/bandpass filter). Numark thoughtfully included a Wet/Dry fader to adjust the effect level (the percentage of which displays on the LCD). Rotating the Parameter knob allows you to adjust the setting for each effect; pressing that knob also allows you to sync the effect to bpm for all but the Filter effect. For remixing, the effects section is a great addition, and the wet/dry fader enhances its usefulness further.
THE PORTS OF NO RETURN
To use the iCDX as a controller for iPods and other USB mass-storage devices, simply plug the USB cable from your device into the USB Master port, press the SRC button and select USB Master. The iCDX will recognize your device and load the music found there. The iCDX can load only 999 tracks at one time, so if you have a folder filled with thousands of tracks, you'll have to split them into subfolders. iPod integration requires you to first create playlists in iTunes, likewise limited to 999 tracks each.
Navigating through songs on external devices can be a bit of a pain, simply because the LCD displays only the ID3 tag track name. Playlist navigation could be improved, and load times are even slower than CD, typically because the playlists are bigger. These beefs aside, the implementation is flawless. Everything you can do with audio on CD, you can do with the audio from an external device. I tested both my 60 GB iPod and a USB flash drive and had tons of fun mixing, looping and scratching songs I may never have burned to CD for DJing purposes. One side benefit of using an external device is that the CD drive stops spinning, eliminating vibration.
Completing its trinity of uses, the iCDX also functions as a software controller for a Mac or Windows computer. Officially supported are the popular Serato Scratch Live and the new Numark Cue. Unofficially, the iCDX will also work as a controller for Atomix Software's Virtual DJ or any other HID-compliant software package.
To enable, connect a USB cable to your PC, plug the other end into the iCDX's USB Slave port, press the SRC button and select USB-HID. Initially, the iCDX displays “PC no link,” which misled me into believing something was wrong. However, once you run the software and enable iCDX remote control, the link will activate. I tested software control with Numark Cue (a co-development with Numark and Atomix Software, developer of Virtual DJ).
Cue is Numark's professional DJ software that can mix and scratch audio and video files of multiple formats. There is no MP3 limitation here, since the iCDX simply functions as a control interface. Cue includes the typical DJ software features: two decks, bpm detection, automated mixing and playlists. More noteworthy, however, are its 12-bank sampler, built-in effects, VST plug-in support and video mixing.
Most of the iCDX's features translate logically to Cue; however, there are some subtle differences, such as the lack of the start/stop time setting and the functionality of the secondary looping buttons. Once you are familiar with Cue, you can easily use the iCDX to control everything you'd want to without having to touch your keyboard or mouse. You can even switch between decks by pressing the Eject button.
Latency was my primary concern, and I am happy to report that the responsiveness of the buttons and accuracy of the scratching was comparable to similar packages on the market.
The iCDX is an attractive jack-of-all-trades audio player that should nicely fill many items on the modern digital DJ's wish list. With its versatile range of audio sources, software controller option and well-conceived design, there aren't many major faults with this compact, solid package.
NUMARK
iCdx > $999
Pros: Versatile audio sources and data DVD support. Pitch, key-lock and key-shift features. PC software-controller integration. Well thought-out design and general manufacturing quality.
Cons: Slow load times and MP3-only support. Vibration when playing optical disks. Poor bpm-detection performance. Fader quality.
Contact: www.numark.com
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