Numark is back with two new entry-level controllers – the Party Mix II and Party Mix Live. With them comes a number of features that open doors for amateur DJs to sharpen their chops, expand their skills, and play tunes easily without the need for a full music library or, even… speakers.
The features
The Party Mix controllers blend together a few aspects that provides the tools to learn to DJ, while also allowing you to play tunes out loud (whether for yourself, or for friends) and with your own mini club-light setup easily – without needing to spend more money on a sound system or lights (though, you’ll probably want those down the road). The major features include:
- Built-in speakers – on the Party Mix Live DJ controller only, you don’t need to connect to external speakers to start playing tracks. How do they sound? For the price and size, we don’t expect too much, but it’s still a cool addition.
- 3 multi-colored, wide-range LEDs – available on both controllers, these lights can be turned on & off with a switch on the side. They’ll sync to the beat and provide a basic light show for your sounds.
- Essential hardware & software features – including Sync, Play/Pause, and Cue buttons, touch-sensitive jog wheels for scratching, Filter effect knobs for each deck, pitch sliders, performance pads with Effect, Cue, Loop, and Sampler modes, library controls for finding tracks, a 2-band EQ on each deck, and 1/8″ headphone & main output jacks.
- A controller designed around connecting to steaming libraries– newer DJs may not have the vast library of tracks that more experienced artists do, but it’s not a roadblock when using these controllers. The Party II and Party Mix Live connect to Serato DJ Lite (Mac and PC) or djay Pro AI (Mac + iOS only). These softwares have streaming services integrated, including SoundCloud GO, Beatport, Beatsource LINK, and TIDAL – and thus, play their libraries on the controller. Worth noting: you’ll need subscriptions to these services in order to do.
A solid tool for new DJs
The pandemic has brought out a new wave of amateur artists that want to explore the world of DJing, and the Party Mix series could be a nifty solution for those looking to learn to DJ, play tracks without spending the hours to build out their library, and be able to play out with their own lighting setup.
Though we haven’t tested out the speakers on the Party Mix Live ourselves, we’re intrigued by the concept – it’s a great way to test tracks out if you’re putting a set together and don’t have external speakers at your disposal.
The Party Mix II and Party Mix Live are on-sale now at $129 US and $179 US respectively. You can find where to buy them on the Numark website.
