Numark HDX

Numark HDX DJ Equipment Review

by Paul on May.12, 2009, under DJ Product Reviews

HDX – vinyl controlled, CD/MP3/HD playing

As my last post was about the history marking CDX digital turntable from Numark, it only made sense I made my life easier this post and talk about what seems to be a hardware upgrade for that CDX, the HDX by the same Numark. Needless to say HDX preserves what made the CDX famous and keeps doing it the same way, except now it’s already been done, so it’s not new anymore. But don’t go yawning just yet, because Numark has some extra bells and whistles on their HDX that set it apart from CDX or, more importantly, from the rest of the DJ industry pack.

First of all, with the success the CDX had, it was normal for Numark to try and capitalize on that, maybe listening to the DJ masses and improving accordingly, so the HDX is maybe 90% the same CDX digital turntable, vinyl controlled but CD/MP3 playing, making a dream come true. However, the DJs have spoken, and an often asked question was "why no USB?" for the CDX, since it’s almost fully digital anyway, except for the vinyl control feeling, of course.

The CDX was improved in many ways by its firmware updates, but the HDX is a wholly rebuilt CDX with some added functionality for the new age DJs. First, the looks. My God, the looks! If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Numark has had a top fashion designer working on the HDX. Switched the CDX’s mostly black color to a modern, eye catching silvery hue that’s worthy of the next Aston Martin, and with the added neon blue lights on, the HDX would be a killer chick magnet if it had wheels and could honk…

Numark HDX digital turntable CD/MP3 player

But enough outer appearances already, let’s see what’s the HDX got new or improved over its CDX predecessor. Mainly, its USB capabilities, of course, and even more than that, a fully working laptop style hard-disk included, that’s bound to hold any DJ’s entire music library in its spacious 80 Gbs of space.

The HD fits in nicely into the HDX body, it’s non-protruding and it offers the option of transfering an holding tracks on the HDX itself, so it becomes a walking library. The downside (although improbable) is that the HDX doesn’t work at all without the HD strapped on, so you may need a back-up, just to be sure, although laptop HDs aren’t very susceptible to cracking up that often. Also, a nice thing is that you can fit any same physical size HD into your HDX, so if by any chance you want a larger capacity, go ahead and stick in more than the included 80 Gbs. Though I personally don’t know any DJs who would even come close to that HD space, unless they only work with losless format or other encoding tracks, which may outsize the tiny MP3s.

Also, since we’re talking huge music libraries with the HDX, Numark added some very simple and easy steps to help working DJs find their tracks when they want it. First, an on-board GraceNote database on the HDX which automatically recognizes and tags audio CDs, so you don’t have to, thus making finding the right track easier. And of course, working DJs are not expected to browse through 80 Gbs of music using just the HDX’s jog wheel, so a very nice addition is the included PS2 keyboard, sort of just like the one on your computer, with which any working DJ in the heat of the moment can easily access the search options on the HDX and find what they’re looking for by artist, track, album, genre or even BPMs.

The HDX improves a bit on the CDX playlist creation capabilities, being able to actually store (even after it’s turned off) user-made playlist which working DJs can then access by pushing a button and be right on their way rather than going through the whole searching process. So let’s look at what else is worthy of mentioning about the HDX, besides all those things mentioned about the CDX in my previous post, which all stand here as well:

same great quality music as the CDX with added functionality, as the HDX now plays MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG or FLAC
you can load tracks onto the HDX both from the CD loading slot (now neon-illuminated), which now recognizes DVDs as well, as well as from your computer, transfering them to the HDX HD
USB 2.0 connection for easy syncing with computers
both PC and Mac compatible
custom user-made playlist saving option for easy file access and a built-in GraceNote database for automatic tagging
the HDX is also upgradeable through firmware downloads over the internet, so keep an eye out for what comes out new
a PS2 keyboard included, which makes searching for tracks as easy as it in on the computer

The Numark HDX capitalizes on everything great about the CDX and DJs will appreciate the same vinyl controlling options and the all those great features and quality that the CDX had. The HDX has pretty much the same size as the CDX, weighting 10 kgs as well, only now it’s better built and feels like it could handle more, the high-torque motor and all the turntable specifics are unchanged, but the HDX brings them into the new age by adding active USB support, portable storage for your music and by streamlining the searching. All in all, the 200$ difference (from the 700$ for the CDX to the 900$ for the HDX) justifies the upgrades and maintains the same CDX quality that made so many working DJs into loyal users.