Numark NS7 – DJ Delight

By Paul Dakeyne

March 12, 2009 | Posted in DJ

Technology for digital DJ’s just gets better and better. New kid on the block is definitely this rather dope, bad-ar*e, sic (or whatever the current term is for ‘bloomin’ excellent!) hardware and software combo showcasing a new collaboration between Numark and Serato. Enter the NS7…

Whereas the EKS Otus and it’s handshake with Traktor Pro seemed the perfect combination for House/Electro/Dance DJ’s, this new offering from the Numark camp looks like it’ll take all the current and next generation of Urban DJ’s by storm. For scratch/battle style jocks this thing is truly awesome. The 7″ platters transmit a new protocol that evidently is 100 times faster than normal MIDI is capable of – so now true, zero latency response time is a bonafide reality! The included Serato software is the new ‘Itch’ application which should be instantly familiar to ‘Scratch’ users (‘Itch’ being a version specifically designed for full MIDI control and only available with partnered hardware) So.. let’s look at some of the NS7′s main features:

• Instant hot cue buttons which give ultra fast selection, triggering and deletion – in action, quite amazing.
• Loop length selectors (eg:1/4,8th, 16th beat), to focus emphasis on certain dynamic moments in a track.
• Crate/Song selection buttons to quickly navigate, select and load tracks from playlists. Timeline Search Strip which emulates the current web trend for online DJ music stores using ‘Needle Drop’ technology. This finger touch, instantaneous search facility is ultra-cool and efficient in action.
• Key Lock with Serato Pitch ‘n Time algorithm. Serato’s real tour de force input gives quite probably the world’s most ‘close to perfect’ pitch lock at adjustable BPM’s.
• Master Torque Adjust switch to emulate the action & feel of a Technics Sl deck.

The list of great features could turn this blog post into a full on review, but check the video below to get a further insight into this very desirable unit.

About Paul Dakeyne

Paul Dakeyne has written 589 post in this blog.

Paul Dakeyne is a DJ/Producer who has dedicated the past two decades of his life to dance music production and DJ'ing. For six years, he toured globally for the world famous Ministry of Sound and has played DJ sets for the likes of U2 and for the legendary, Kraftwerk, Although remixing around 250 records in his career, as an artist in his own right, Paul landed one of dance music's seminal crossover moments with his "18 Strings' monster hit by Tinman - scoring a UK top ten in 1994. He also co-wrote and produced the music for BBC's Watchdog and Crimewatch when they were both revamped in 2001 and '06 respectively. His other career highlights have included an A&R stint for Mercury Records, lecturing in 'DJ culture and music technology' and creating mash-up mixes for Radio 1's, Chris Moyles. Paul joined the DV group in 2003 leading to his role as blog and feature author here at the DV Mag.

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Tags: DJ Gear, NS7, numark, scratch DJ, serato, serato itch

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