The Numark NS4FX is a large four-channel DJ controller for Serato DJ. It's equipped with two six-inch jog wheels, and two circular displays located inside the wheels provide at-a-glance information about BPM, track length, and more. For perfect mixing of up to four decks, the NS4FX offers switchable layers so that each jog wheel can control two tracks. Each deck also has eight cool performance pads for hot cues, loops, fader cuts, pitch play, roll, slicer and scratch banks, as well as the Serato sampler.
Serato DJ Lite comes as standard with the Numark NS4FX, so with nothing more than a laptop and some headphones, DJs are soon ready for their first set. Installing Serato DJ and analysing the existing music on the laptop is what will take longest, because the NS4FX is automatically recognised by the software, so it's ready to go straight away: This is truly plug-and-play. All the controls and components are located where any DJ would expect them to be, so beginners and professionals alike can get to grips with the console straight away. Finally, for anyone who finds they don't have the right tracks actually on their harddrives, there's the option of simply streaming the music directly from one of the four major streaming providers Beatport, Beatsource, Soundcloud Go, and Tidal. Streaming is quite simply the future of DJing, and the Numark NS4FX is ready for it.
The Numark NS4FX is a significant upgrade on the popular Numark Mixtrack Platinum FX and simply offers more of everything: A total of four mix channels, an additional Booth-Out, an RCA input for external devices, and a second microphone input for intense MC battles. And speaking of battles, the two FX toggle switches, which offer intuitive access to the effects section, will already be familiar to pros from the Numark Battle mixers; indeed, many elements from the manufacturer's more expensive products have been incorporated into the NS4FX. The controller is well-made and easy to use: The jog wheels are perfect for near-effortless pitching and scratching; the pair of on-board displays give an immediate overview of all the most important info; and the 10cm pitch faders – together with the often unfairly maligned pitch bend buttons – allow precise manual beatmatching.
Numark, based in the US city of Cumberland, Maryland, was founded in 1971 by Harry and Robert Kotovsky. Numark's professional DJ equipment became popular from the outset and the company instantly gained the reputation of being a leading manufacturer in the DJ industry. Numark quickly proved what the company's focus would be: Innovation and technology. Many of its now older products, such as the DM1775 mixer or the CD5020 dual CD player are still prominent in the industry today. Their conception already reflected Numark's ability to be a pioneer in terms of functionality and design in the DJ sector. Following in these footsteps, the DMC-1 was the first DJ software controller to hit the market, and was soon to be followed by many more.
The Numark NS4FX is the ideal controller to get all of the four channels available via Serato DJ rocking. The two double-layer jog wheels give access to all four software decks, the four mix channels ensure clean mixing, and the 16 pads will add unique flavour to every performance, whether it's beatmatching, looping, or scratching. Thanks to the professional connections such as the XLR main out or the additional Booth Out, the NS4FX can also be used out of the box in the club or at open-air parties, and the AUX input can also be used to quickly connect a mobile device to fulfill a request that can't be found on any of the four streaming services Beatport, Beatsource, Soundcloud Pro, and Tidal, all of which are integrated into Serato DJ. All this makes the Numark NS4FX the ideal entrypoint into the world of professional DJing.
The Numark NS4FX has four mix channels to mix the four decks of the Serato DJ software suite – but only two jog wheels. Four control wheels would be beyond both the physical size of the unit and the financial scope of many DJs, so Numark, like other manufacturers, works with double-layer technology. This is where the 'layer' button comes into play, allowing the two wheels to be switched from deck 1 to deck 3 and deck 2 to deck 4, respectively, enabling full control of four tracks at once with ease. The displays in the jog wheels clearly show which deck is currently being controlled.