Customer Reviews

Numark OmniControl Professional Computer-DJ Controller

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The first thing you will notice is that the Omni Control is built like a tank. If you are doing mobile gigs construction quality is a must. Numark does not exactly make the best quality gear, but they certainly try to keep up with new features. The omni control is great for the bedroom DJ and those wanting to see if they will like this hobby and don't want to make an investment with traditional gear. If you try to start with two CDJs and a normal mixer, expect to pay twice as much. If you get Pioneer equipment expect to pay over a thousand for just a basic setup!

I already have Traktor DJS 3.4 so I was able to change the midi map, but the included Traktor LE should be fine for beginners. My only complaint is that the jog wheel is too close to the line faders, but this is also a problem with the Vestax controller. And by the way, the Vestax VCI is $500 but the quality of the build is not that much better. Knobs and caps are plastic but what do you expect at this price point.

This is my first dj unit and i did a fair bit of research before getting it so i feel i can give you a few pros and cons for it. First of all, my reasons for getting the Omni Control (OC): I wanted to get a midi-based unit as i'm wayyyyyy too lazy to burn CDs and, well, they are way too convenient to resist. This narrowed my choices down to a few as i was a small budget as well. Next i decided to go for a Numark because of its reputation. I got the Omni Control because it looked like it was built solidly and the other cheap midi units looked a bit dodgy (might not be true in real).

My first impressions were that it was a lot smaller than i had imagined. Oh well. Secondly, the buttons were a bit stiff, but you get used to them so that's not a big problem. Other cons (if they can be called so): you can't set loops more than one bar, at least not with the LE software that comes with the OC and you can only adjust pitch up to + or - 10%. i am confident that these things vary with the software you are using but i haven't tried it out myself so i can't say for sure.

Other than that, the unit is everything a beginner DJ needs. Its got all the basic functions plus auto pitch and key adjustment whcih makes life very easy. Also has 4 effects usic the stock software which are OK, i guess. It's built solidly (full metal casing but blastic knobs and buttons which are a bit of a dissapointment) and can stand a fair bit of abuse at gigs and by enthusiastic bedroom DJs.

If you are new to DJing, this unit offers great value for money. You'll be using it for a while.

Yep, this is a fun product. Right price, for the right hardware. I'm not a pro, but I do like to mix music. The feeling of having a crowd pleased, dancing, and watching people bob their head at the tracks I play is a good feeling, in fact is a feeling like no other. I think DJs have the best job in the world. But like I said, I'm not a pro, so this is the closest I can get to the pro feeling, not too complicated, but not a toy. Software that comes with it is a bit lagging. I had to upgrade to the latest version of Traktor to get that pro feeling going, (oh yeah, it it was not easy to configure the MIDI to get to work correctly, eventually I got it done) and that's the only reason why I won't give it 5 stars. I think that it should come with more capable software for recording and mixing your tracks, ready out-of-the box.

Looks great too, I've taken this thing to a few parties, along with my laptop and I plug right into their sound system, it looks like a real DJ setup. It is heavy duty, sturdy, sound quality is great. This is actually an upgrade for me, I had the MK2 which was more of a toy that I quickly outgrew. This one is just right, price and quality are great.

The Numark OmniControl is a fairly good piece of kit for beginning bedroom dj's or anyone looking for a simple tool to do some basic mixes for a house party. Its of very solid build and has a good feel to all the moving parts. The built in sound cards actually perform quite well, and I've gotten great sound quality on everything I've hooked it up to. From surround sound systems to the hi-fi to a set of studio monitors. High volumes are a little iffy when hooked to my larger Cerwin Vega pa system, but its barely noticeable even then.

A great intro piece for an aspiring dj, or a cool little mixer to sit next to your desk/laptop. For a small party I can have everything I need to mix in just a messenger bag. My only complaint is that while it functions great with Traktor LE,(which it comes with) it has some mapping problems in Traktor pro. Effects dials and buttons don't do what they are supposed to without some mapping. Its frustrating to not have my reverb come on when I hit the button to activate it. But all in all for the price, you can't go wrong.

I would recommend this for starting djs to see if they actually like djing without investing 1k+ on pro level gear. To the mobile DJ that wants to supplement the gear already owned with a midi controller. Or to the bedroom or pro dj who wants a small functional midi controller that has great portability.

this is built like a tank, its heavy and performs perfect.

If you are a DJ and are thinking about going digital, this is a great way to get started, I actually used it at clubs without problems, cant tell the difference. I use timecodes now but this mixer is always part of my setup, very useful and really easy to map and work with.

I've had this product for about 6 months now, its very sturdy, good design, knobs work as designed, internal I/O.

cons: the platters are EXTREMELY sensitive, don't expect it to be anything close to a CDJ in general.

Wrap up: its good to practice your mixing skills, but don't count so much on BPM matching using the platters!

I saw the Numark Stealth controller at Guitar Center and was very impressed by it's rugged metal housing. Someone on here pointed out that it has plastic knobs. Everything on up to muti-thousand dollar equipment has plastic knobs. That's just how they make 'em, but these do seem a bit cheap. If you want better plastic knobs or even metal ones, replace 'em. There not that expensive. Find 'em at Digi-Key Corp., Electronic Hardware corp., or somewhere else. All shaft sizes are 6mm. Spec's for the small ones are: diameter - 10mm with 12mm skirt, height - 20mm. The single large one is: 15mm with 19mm skirt, height - 23mm.

My only criticism is the knobs are the same color as the surface. In a dimly lit nightclub, a contrasting color would've been the smarter choice. I'll probably replace the knobs at some point in the future.

I like the fact that the jog wheels spin when you spin 'em. Most of the other manufacturer's wheels stop dead, apparently from dampening.

Unfortunately, Traktor LE isn't compatible with Mac OS 10.4 (Tiger); only 10.5 (Leopard) or newer.

The Omni Control should fit nicely in a Pelican laptop briefcase for safe transport.

Easy to plug and play. Just 1 problem, the jog weel is rotates too much when you just touch it.

Don't buy one.

Mine just broke after a year and Numark doesn't consider it a mixer and it isn't covered by the same warranty. I think they consider it a joystick or something.

The USB plug has a loose connection and will cause a fatal system error WHILE YOU ARE PLAYING which forces you to reboot the computer. Also, my channels for the eq have some sort of bled which cause the levels to drop while you are playing.

Besides you will spend months trying to sync it with Traktor because there is almost no documentation. There are custom TSI files out there but you will not find them on the Numark site and you will have to install and uninstall a bunch before you find one you like. There is no documentation for setting up the mixer to use Traktors 4 turntable setup.

I was playing out last Saturday (10/23/2010) and the unit would play for a minute then crash. It did this repeatedly for almost a hour. I had to tape it down like a loose earbud on a pair of headphones and I'm terrified of trying to play out with it now.

I want to caveat at the start of this review by saying that this review could change pending a response from the Native Instruments tech support.

I have a Core i7 2.67 ghz, 6gb ddr3 ram, Nvidia gtx275 card, and on board sound. had to get that out of the way. Also have a seagate 500gb HD.

Right out of the box my reaction was "wow this omni control was built like a tank". It feels rugged. Completely covered in aluminum or steel or some sort of metal. All the knobs feel secure and twist easily with the exception of the gritty feel with the EQ controls. That is a different story because they are click knobs, completely acceptable. The sliders are a little loose in my opinion and feel a little cheaper.

I purchased this unit based on other reviews on here and because the software included with the Vestax Vc-100 does not work with Core I processors.. FAIL.

First go at installing Traktor Software... Drivers on the CD ROm are not 64bit. Had to go to the website for that.. Kind of annoying because the requirements say that 64bit is ok.... minor setback. So I install the drivers and the controller editor. First load of Traktor gives me an exception error saying DRIVE NOT READY. This continued to crash my hard drive completely, and on reboot my bios was not able to recognize my hard drive at all. This has never happened to me before, my computer RARELY if ever crashes. So I power down and go back into bios to confirm that the HD is recognized. All is well.

2nd try... I uninstalled everything but the Traktor software will NOT UNINSTALL. I get an error saying there was some sort of exception of line error. I searched the NI forums of which they call the Knowledge base. It is pretty hard to navigate with no real way of searching. I finally found some guy with the same problem. He said he tried everything and somehow after deleting his user account in windows and reinstalling under a new admin account, he was able to get traktor running.

3rd try.. Created new user account (which makes no sense to me), disabled my floppy drive per the NI trouble shoot (makes no sense as I dont have one installed), then uninstalled everything... ERROR uninstalling TRAKTOR. This is about 3 hours into the process I am extremely frustrated at this point and being rational is out the door. Finally I get the software running. Then it asks me to update my software. Im thinking to myself, great this would fix everything. WRONG. The updated version crashes with the same error.

While I was able to use it for about 5 minutes before the update, the controller worked as advertised. All the buttons and whistles worked with the software. I have an email to the tech support looking for some kind of insight.

If I didnt have the software issues I would definitely recommend this to anyone, but given the current circumstances I cannot recommend anyone buy a controller that uses Traktor LE. It is also a little bit misleading on the Amazon website because it says Traktor 3 and not Traktor LE which I have come to learn that even Numark calls them different names. I almost feel fooled by all this. Waiting for someone to pop out and say GOTCHA!

Update to review (9.2.10)

Native Instrument support told me that simply disabling my floppy drive (which I dont have to begin with) would fix all my problems. I told them I had already done that and it still crashes my computer. Their response was "It sounds like this is a driver problem". How is it a driver problem if Traktor wont open? What horrible customer service. I actually reduced my review from a 2 start to a 1. After jumping through hoops I was able to get everything working but this rating is mostly due to the terrible customer service I have received. I know most people don't have many problems. If you can afford it, go with the Vestax vc-100. The customer support for that product is bar-none the best. I know they would work with me. The only reason I went with Numark was because the vestax does not work with a corei processor.

Update to review (9.6.10)

I retract all my previous comments. Apparently the root of all my problems was windows vista 64-bit. Somehow the operating system just fails completely. I am from here on out going to suggest that anybody still on vista just spend the 119 dollars to upgrade. It fixes every problem that I had. I now give Traktor and the omni control a 5 stars. Everything is mapped perfectly the first time and I am banging in my studio as we speak!!