After spending countless hours and days over the past few years looking at dj gear and the way companies have been changing it to suit us, I have come to the conclusion that there is nothing these companies can¡¦t create and that time is their only restraint.
Numark is a company that has been associated with DJ's and audio gear for more than 30 years. Their latest offering to the DJ market is a range of digital products including the product under review today, the Axis9 CD Deck, plus the TTX1 turntable and the PPD01 digital mixer. Now, If you had asked me about Numark 5 years ago, I would have suggested that they had great middle of the range products for Mobile DJ use. After a week with this new toy, all I can say is Wow!
When I caught my first glimps of the Axis9, I was surprised to notice the very simple layout considering the complexity of the machine. Numark have supplied effects and functions such as multiple scratch modes, cue/loop/effect memory and even midi (use your Axis9 as a master or slave midi instrument to take care of the beat syncing while you concentrate on entertaining with the range of effects).
The Axis9 is a digital hybrid unit that is becoming ever so increasingly popular in todays DJ market. Its first and foremost task is playing cd¡¦s which it does with prescision, equipt with an instant start cue system, pitch bending via either the jog wheel or pitch bend buttons and digital display with tonnes of information. Within the unit, you will also find an effects processor, 2 looping controllers, a midi interface, internal memory for saving your settings and an interactive platform ie the jog wheel to make it all happen.
The Axis9 has audio out (RCA) to connect to a mixer or line input of a stereo system. If you wish to midi sync the Axis9 you will need midi leads and obviously other midi instruments to act as the slave or master. A digital connection is also supplied for those with studios.
The Axis9 in my opinion is a fantastic unit for a range of DJ purposes. The Mobile DJ will be very happy with the midi and effects supplied because it means they can get everything from the one box and a cheap mixer, just to channel the sound so to speak. This is a medium learn unit, meaning that it doesn't take much to be able to use it, but to use it to its potential will take some practice and getting used to. Great for mobile companies who want to offer something one step up from a standard player, at a cost difference of only a few hundred dollars per set. It is also a great first unit for beginners as you can not only learn how to use a DJ cd unit, but also teach you about the use of effects over your music, the art of scratching and even how to use a sampler layered over your music.
The features of the Axis9 are comprehensive as they are varied. Lets look at them a little more closely...
In the 90's the jog wheel technology was first used by Pioneer on the CDJ500. Since this seemingly large step into a perfect control surface for the digital DJ, product companies have pushed to make their own wheels work in their own special way. The top of the Axis9 jog wheel is conductively touch sensitive. What the hell does this mean in dj terms? It means that the touch sensitive pad on the jog wheel is driven by the touch of your hand and will not operate if suddenly a pair of headphones or a glass or cigarette lands on it! This new feature is highly precise and effective way to create changes within the track, even with the smaller style jog wheel platter Numark have opted for in the Axis9.
The side of the jog wheel is not touch sensitive and provides a place for you to push forward and pull back the music pitch temporarily while you match the beats. The top of the jog wheel is also used to adjust all of the effect parameters (also referred to as DSP). This means that you can change the range or frequency of the selected effect to create your original sounds. When you adjust the effects via the jog wheel you are also given the details of your changes through the effect parameter selection section on the display.
Numark have loaded the Axis9 with 4 different scratching style modes. By pressing the Program Key at the top left of the player, while also pressing the scratch button, you can scroll through the 4 different options then execute with the touch sensitive touch pad.
Option 1 will allow you to scratch and release the track where ever you like, just as you would on a record.
Option 2 allows you to stop and scratch the track, but will not resume play until you push the jog wheel forward.
Option 3 is something that has truly blown my mind. This scratch option allows you to scratch and when you are done, the track will commence where it would be if you never touched the player at all. This means that with the midi technology Numark have also included, you can keep two tracks in sync and playing, while scratching either one, without skipping a beat over a standard 32 bar progression.
Option 4 is a cue release function whereby pressing the wheel will stop the music and lifting your hand will activate the track to start from the last set cue point.
The Axis9 is equip with a massive memory for users to store information about the way they like to play certain tracks. A great use for this is if you find a great loop you have done on the fly or you have found the perfect cue point for a particular song, then store it into the memory so it can be recalled next time you wish to do that trick again! It holds up to 3000 cue points in memory, transferable via midi to other Axis Cd Units.
How the Axis9 effectx the soundz
Numark have loaded up the Axis9 with a range of both commonly used effects such as Phaze, Slide, Pan, Chop and Echo. In addition to this Numark have made some great changes to ensure their effects or DSP section is even more powerful. They have added a few new effects such as the bleep (which will reverse the track but still keep in time. This means if there are expletive words you need to erase, simply push the button and it will play what ever comes next backwards, but still end up at the same point on the cd if you had played it forward¡K. If that makes sense! You can also use a combination of effects on the Axis9. There is a value system for the effects in as much as each effect is assigned a numeric value. You can use up to the 4 effect values at any one time. The Phaze and Sonar and Slide are all worth 2 effect values each. Echo, A.D, Chop, Pan, Iso and Kill are all worth 1 effect value and the Scratch, Bleep and Reverse have an effect value of 0 meaning you can use these freely at any time over other effects.
Pitch Range and Key Lock
The Axis9 has 4 different pitch ranges to choose from. 6%, 12%, 25% and 100%. This allows the user to have a lot more control over the music, being able to speed up the music up to 100%. There is also a Key adjust function so you can not only beat match all your tunes but Key mix them also. This is also a great function so you can speed up slow funk accapellas to mix in with dance music, without them sounding like the chipmonks. The only advancement here that I would have liked to see is a breakdown to 2 decimal places for the 6% for the artists that wants to keep a very tight and exact beat running over a long period of time.
Built in beatkeeper
This thing is really, really cool. As a DJ teacher, I can confidently tell you that one of the hardest things to teach a new student is how to count in time while you have two tracks running through your head at full volume. The Axis9 comes with a feature that offers the user a visual representation of where you are in the bar, either beat 1, 2, 3 or 4. This also works as the midi syncing tempo master allowing you to reset the midi sync tempo and its place in the bar.
Display ¡V Blue Screen
The Axis9 has a bright blue digital screen that matches the whole new range from Numark. It is a huge screen and really needs to be. It contains information such as the BPM, pitch shift percentage, effects area (where you will find information about the selected effect and its parameters) and of course the time in either elapsed or remain mode.
MIDI
The MIDI connections on the back of the unit are one of my highlights of the Axis9. MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a computer language. Think of it as translator that allows digital musical instruments to talk to each-other. This technology is used mainly in studios and live setups in order to keep everything in time. Numark takes advantage of this technology with their range of Axis CD units, which I personally think is an awesome move.
6 years ago, I bought a midi controlled dj mixer and drum machine and always wished there was a way of syncing my recorded music with live beats and loops. This also brings up another thing I have always wanted. Since this technology is available within these units, don¡¦t you think it would be great to see An AxisDigital, that has no cd unit or effects, simply a midi controller with a conductive jog wheel. This unit could be the cd decks that link in with other awesome technologies such as Traktor and Final Scratch.
Once you have two Axis units linked together in a loop from Midi Our on each player to Midi in on its opposite player, you can sync the tempos of the two players simply by pressing the program button and the bpm button, activating the slave (whichever unit is started second) to follow the pitch of the master (whichever unit is started first).
This is cool for many reasons. MIDI is not the be all and end all of syncing beats, but its a great tool to give you an almost exact reading of where the pitch of the track you wish needs to be in order to be in time with the track already playing. It syncs within seconds and then allows and if you use it in this auto sync mode it then leaves time for you to adjust the effects on both units. Combining this technology with the scratch function on its option 3 mode, also allows you to scratch and then throw it back in, ensuring the timing will stick thank to MIDI.
How Much and where can I buy this?
The Numark Axis9 is just hitting our shores in Australia (May 2003) and will be available for a RRP of $1899. Stockists around Australia include -
VIC - Manny¡¦s Music, Pro light and Sound, Billy Hydes and Allans
NSW - DJ Warehouse, Bondi Intermusic, Black Express Light and Sound
QLD - Music Worx, Allans
SA - Derringers, Allans, Holden Hill, BSS Light and Sound
WA - Kosmic Sound, DJ Factory.
Summary
I believe this new range of tools from Numark will open up their place in the DJ market. This is due to their obvious commitment to raising the standard of their products both in look and useful funtions, while still keeping a lower entry level price of AU$1899 as the recommended retail price. Make sure you ring around for the best price as usual from all of the local stockists in your area. The Axis9 is also being bundled here in Australia in a pack that offers users 2 Axis9 units plus a PPD01 digital mixer for $3899
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