You may see a spec on this mixer here http://www.numark.com/products/product_vie...v=overview&n=76

A friend of mine bought one of these mixers in December and has been constantly raving about how good they are. At the moment I am in a stage of major equipment upgrade and like everyone in this situation I am in two minds about everything.

Initially I was a bit cowardly and balked at the price of this. I believe that properly implemented digital mixer technology is The Future alright but bought a DXM03 to test the waters.

There is one particular venue I play in where the sound is chronic. They have a JB Systems LAM91 mixer (or is it LAM92, I can never remember...anyway it is the huge one with 9 channels, not the small one that looks like a Numark CM100). For those of you who do not have the joy of using the LAM series of mixers I can give you a one-line review...go out and stick a nail in your ear and you will know what they sound like...

This venue also has a Behringer compressor/limiter which any member of the staff has access to if they want to change it....which frequently they do! The end result of the mixer and compressor situation is that the sound is DIABOLICAL. This persuaded the owner that he needed to replace the mixer, compressor and the budget Proel cabs that he has.

One day I decided to use the DXM03 in this bar. Because it has bass synthesis and a built-in compressor the signal was pre-processed by the time it hit the Behringer limiter and therefore it didn't activate much. The end result was that the sound improved so immensely that the owner came straight across and asked me what I had done to the sound. I explained as best I could...He ripped out the limiter at the end of the night and asked me how much I paid for the DXM03. He then doubled the cash and told me to leave it there immediately. He thanked me for saving him a lot of dosh on a system refit and cancelled the system refit....

Nice one! This left me with a pile of cash and no digital mixer....

Part Two:

The Sticking Buttons Rumour....

Having had such excellent and dramatic results from using the "baby" digital mixers in the Numark range I decided it was time to bite the bullet and seriously investigate buying the PPD9000. The DJ community is full of rumours that make buying equipment seriously nerve-racking. It is Common "Knowledge" that the PPD9000 suffers from assembly problems in that those buttons with LEDs on them "stick" when pressed down and get stuck under the faceplate. I had used my buddy Jason's mixer on several occasions when he was playing while he was nipping out to get a drink or smoke and didn't seem to have this problem. I asked him if he had ever come across it and he said that he hadn't. Before completing the purchase I examined the mixer carefully and tried to get the buttons to stick under the faceplate. I couldn't do it.

I have now used the mixer for four consecutive nights in "real world" conditions including one very frantic night where someone booked me for the wrong venue and I ended up turning up at the right venue an hour late very flustered.On that particular night I was not very careful with my new toy and everyone was coming up to me asking me questions and changing arrangements. I was not operating the equipment very carefully and frequently pressed the buttons without looking at them operating by touch while speaking to the organisers. At no stage did the buttons stick.

IF this was a real problem at any stage, the models currently on the shelves seem to have the problem resolved.

Part Three:

Tube Warmth

First a small bit of an explantion of "booting up"....

When you turn on the PPD9000 for maybe one second or so it "boots up", during this time the buttons on the mixer have different functions to normal. You can change the way the mixer operates during this time. I won't bore you with the details here. If you buy one you can see how to do this in the instruction book. If anybody wants further details about this process you can PM me and I will try to help.

The first thing I noticed is that the sound is NOT like the DXM03 when you use the mixer in its standard configuration. This surprised me. I phoned Jason cos his one does sound like the DXM03 and he told me that he had the "Vintage" style option disabled. When you buy the mixer it is enabled by default. Vintage applies an algorithm to the bass which is supposed to make it sound like you are using a "tooob" amplifier as the Yankees call them. In this part of the world we say "valve". I have in the past used toooob amps. I don't think it sounds like a toooob amp. I have also used 70s hand-built amps which were massive and heavy and used different transistor technology to today. I do think that Vintage makes the sound very like using these. I preferred the sound out of the DXM03.

I was in the middle of a gig. As luck would have it I had several scheduled breaks during the gig. During the next break I rebooted the mixer and disabled "vintage".

Several people came up to me asking me what I had done to the sound and if I could make it more bassy again. Ooops!

During the next break I re-enabled Vintage. Older people and ravers seem to prefer the sound that is produced by Vintage. Personally I do not. However, he who pays the piper calls the tune. I now operate it exclusively in Vintage mode.

Part Four:

Talkover

We all know the deal with Talkover on most mixers. You start talking and you are screaming over the music. Suddenly the mixer "realises" you are talking and viciously cuts the music down. When you finish talking the mixer doesn't "realise" that you have finished talking and the music is still low for maybe a second or so then suddenly it crashes back up. It's a nightmare, but if you want to operate handsfree in the crowd away from the mixer it's the only way of doing it.

There are workarounds for this. You start off talking with a shout. Like "hey everyone". This means that when the music is loud it sounds natural that you are shouting over it. When you are finished talking you can trail off to allow the analogue talkover time to catch up with what you are doing.

Still though, normally using talkover makes you sound like Noel Edmonds on a bad day!

The PPD9000 talkover is NOTHING like this. It operates PERFECTLY.

It's remarkable. I would not have believed it myself until I tried it. You talk it ducks. You stop talking the music comes back up. Does what it says on the tin stuff.

There have been vast improvements in technology here. No more need to sound like a 70s DJ when you are operating handsfree in the crowd. Brilliant!

Nuff said!

Part Five:

Subwoofer Out

As I explained earlier I am in the process of a major upgrade in equipment.

Currently I use Behringer B1520s as full range speakers for small gigs and when I have a larger crowd I use them coupled with B1800xs. The B1800x has a built in cross-over. The result is passable, but it would be seriously better I feel if I had a dedicated x-over.

Last night was my first night using the PPD9000 WITH the B1800x. I decided to change configuration. I ran the B1800x from the "sub-bass out" of the PPD9000. I ran the B1520s full-range from the main output.

Superb!

When you use the sub-bass out and Vintage together the result DOES sound like a "toob" amp. It's remarkable. I think the PPD9000 is designed to run with bass bins for best results.

I am still not using my system at optimal configuration cos now the B1520s are running full range so I need some kind of solution to get them operating for mid-high only. I will keep you posted as to the results on this.

Conculsion: If you genuinely want the "warmth" of a valve amplifier you will get it when operating the 9000 with sub-bass out and bass bins. This really works well. If you use just the main output you do get additional bass, but it doesn't sound like a valve amp to my ears at least.

I am very happy with the sound when operated with bass bins.

Hi

I was glad to find your post! I am considering purchasing a PPD-9000 here in the States. I am not a gigging DJ but I have many sources and use a Numark mixer to organize them all and I like to frequently make mixes.

One reason I balked when I saw the 9000 was the specs; the fidelity seems very good. I use a tube amp for listening and I could possibly use the Tube Warmth setting. I would at least try it.

I also plan on archiving records. I have a pretty nice audiophile setup and I have a NAD PP2 pre-amp; a cheap but reliable and good sounding pre. I am considering just using the 9000 instead of running the NAD into the 9000 and then to my M-AUdio Delta 44 soundcard. I will be using the balanced outs of the 9000 to the balanced inputs of the Delta. If I did use the Nad in conjuction wioth the 9000 I would be getting 100db SNR instead of 92db SNR but I think the Numark's phono stages are probably quite good...good enough, and running the signal through two devices may just end up losing a little something. 92db SNR is pretty darn good to start with.

A few people have **** on me when I suggested possibly using a "DJ" piece of gear with my audiophoole setup but I think the specs look really good and hopefull the unit sounds as good as I imagine. I'l probably keep the NAD for a while and experiment.

I figure that the 9000 lists at 700$ here so it's not really cutting corners; no onboard effects or sampler to waste cost n, seems like a nice piece of gear from what I gather....so it sounds good LOL : ) ???

thanks
JOn

If I had the time and the money I would be an audiophile myself. Working with big rigs, and in the past I have worked with some of the biggest names in pro-audio has exposed me to sounds in recordings that I play that simply don't come out on most commercial hi-fis. This has made me what may be termed "audio-aware".

Unfortunately, it has been my experience that most expensive gear is tailored to a particular style of music, frequently classical or jazz. I acutally, er, quite like classical and jazz , which I am not too sure is a good thing to admit in the mass market for a DJ.

A friend of mine runs a rather posh hi-fi shop and I enjoy listening to classical and jazz on the systems of his own and those friends (non-DJs) who have bought stuff off of him. Listening to house music on these systems though doesn't work. My shopowning friend agrees with this. He recommends the use of a Numark PPD9000 or an Allen & Heath Xone mixer connected to either certain Sony, Mission or Cerwin Vega speakers for this purpose. The amps that he recommends I can't remember offhand

He has sold a number of these recommended systems to people and reports that they are satisfied. It is one of the systems that he displays in the window. For people who wish to archive a house music collection he has also sold systems consisting of PPD9000s and TTX1s, which have a direct digital output. He recommends the use of some Shure stylus whose name escapes me right now.

He has sold several of these configurations and he has sold alternate systems which consist of, I think the name is Project turntables (made in Eastern Europe somewhere anyway) and a hifi-separate Analog-Digital converter, again the name I forget. It costs about EUR700.

Now comes the trumpcard in this discussion. Both of us know a Moderatety Famous big name house music DJ. He is archiving like crazy. He has bought both systems and also uses a Vestax R1 mixer. Both the hifi shop owner and the Mod. Fam. DJ say the same thing. None of the three configurations is perfect The DJ has done several "takes" of some archivings to get it right. He has to get it right. It's his bread and butter, and his butter is full clotted from Jersey cows on the money he's making.

The moral of the story is that I would suggest that for the application you suggest the PPD9000 is not perfect but it's "up there". I would suggest that properly used it would be better than your current setup. Hope I have been of help. I would appreciate your thoughts on what I say actually.

BTW, from the way you are talking, I reckon you would love tube warmth if you use it on a biamplified system.

Well, I got the PPD-9000 today and set it up.

Overall Impressions:

Build quality is top notch. Keep in mind I am NOT a DJ; the channel faders have some resistance unlike my last mixer which were very "loose". The mixer's surface seems to be very fingerprint resistant too which I like a lot. All dials and knobs are chromed out which isn't my fave but it's not an ultra shiny chrome so....I can deal.

It is not as tall as my old 19" mixer and I ended up just standing it on its face because I don't have a rack and it sits up on my desk shelf. I used to tilt my old one about 45 degrees, but it seems to be perfect vertical-for now at least. Looks are killer; red and blue leds and liquid vu's for the channels.

Now the liquid channel vu's may look cool but they are kind of ridiculous in terms of doing some exact analysing of your signal. I am archiving to a PC or CDrecorder where I can watch that VU meter there but it would have been nice to have a real discernable vu somewhere on this thing-maybe they could have used varying shades of blue.

Sound quality is excellent. At first I forgot about the preset factory settings for the EQ and such......even for a DJ these settings would probably sound like crap. I turned off all compression and made the EQ more realistic, but left on the tube warmth setting for now. I will experiment more with the other "normal" EQ setting (wider midrange) and also try the Tube Warmth off.

I am running Zaolla silverline (HOSA company?) into the mixer and it's sounding very very nice through the Klipsch Rf-35's.

The talkover IS impressive btw. I need to tweak it a bit more but it works like a charm.

I am now using the digital inputs on the 9000 for my Denon Dual CD player CDRW1500 and using digital seems to pick up the pause and track skip noises very loudly and obnoxiously. I don't know what that's all about; inherent to digital or a problem in one of the units???

So far so good...I am a happy camper.

...and happy campers is what its all about.

Ive used alot of Denon gear through digital inputs and not heard (or recorded) the clicks to which you refer.

Also, is there any way of bypassing the restriction of only being able to access the Numarks presets for the first few seconds after powering up?

Quick one for Gazza.

As far as I know alterations to preset can only be made through "booting-up".

I presume, although I have absolutely no knowledge about this, that like in a computer altering fundamentals during boot-up only makes the "system" more stable.

Perhaps if it were possible to alter during use there would be a danger of something like RFI altering a setting. As some of these settings would have significant effects on the likelihood of blowing a loudspeaker that could be pretty expensive.

I totally confess I am guessing. Just doing some "reverse-engineering" in my head.

I know that Numark CD players can rarely "crash" in use owing to stack overload issues. A crash that removed a limiter could be pretty expensive in a rave gig running Nexos...Re: Play/Pause Track Skip noises.

OK...wild stab in the dark here. For various reasons my PPD9000 and Denon 2100 are not accessible right now, BUT I have managed to mimic this effect with an ole Sony Minidisc machine and the 'puter...

Here goes: This theory is either complete garbage or bang on...

There is a databus in the CD player. It carries all kind of data, including the data that a button has been pushed. The decoding circuitry in the CD player (and MD machine) is picking up this data and mistakenly converting it into audio. This could be due either to the fact that the databus for audio and system commands is shared...or because of a wiring issue, the audio databus is picking up the system commands....

Anybody like to comment on this theory?

Sorry I must not have chosen to be ntfy'd about responses...

I talked to Denon about my CD player. The guy was very cordial and said it sounded like something was wrong; that that was not normal operation.

I switched cables around and it is definitely the cd player causeing the pops and clicks when switching tracks, on startup, and on pause.

Get this....with the Denon CDRW1500 off....the right tray (cd recorder) is sending out RF into the mixer. As I raise the fader I hear basically RF interference like a radio station ...crackling away.

The unit definitely needs repair, and I should call them back and ask them about the digital output. I chose to go digital because I could use the cables I wanted and save some money since I had to be just two total for both 'trays'.

Are you guys referring to the power up of the PPD-9000, where everything peaks out and I hear a click in my headphones even though the vol. pot is all the way down??? I don't hear it through my amp since it needs to warm up being a tubed unit. I power everything on/off at once with a power conditioner switch and get those spikes on all channels and master upon power up...kind of annoying....they peak about halfway up the LED.

I can't really comment on your Denon theory because I am not qualified : )
DC

It seems that the original review of the Numark mixer has drifted a little into several issues, which would be best started up in their own threads, if theres any remaining discussion.

The whole suitability of "Digital out" for CD+G issue has explained to me by several manufacturers and in every case (in pro DJ terms) does indeed relate to anti-shock buffers not holding sub-code layers, only the audio data.

I guess the alternative would be that the CD+G audio amd video would start drifting out of sync if the anti-shock got brought into play.

Using a Citronic KD1 (karaoke decoder) and a cd walkman style unit with selectable on/off Anti~shock, the whole solution can be seen working (anti shock OFF) and then failing instantly when antishock was switched on.

Pioneer CDJs digital out sockets dont offer sub-coding data for an entirely different reason....Their "digital out" socket is connected (via an analogue to digital coding chip) to the units ANALOGUE audio output stage, not the digital stages.

As for your impessions of "Hayden labs" in the UK..you'll be interested to know that Denons recent buy-out of/merger with equally world~renowned giants Marantz has already yielded guaranteed 48 hour warranty repairs in trial areas of the US/Canada.

Its all a far cry from the 10year old Denon DJ decks mentioned earlier in this thread, which luckily have passed on no software traits to the current range of Denon DJ CD decks.

Just to conclude the earlier post about Numark CD-decks being able to offer all three layers of digital sub-code to drive a Karaoke CD+G decoder, even though they've got Anti-shock.

I contacted Numark in the states, who replied as follows:

The Numark CDN-90 & Axis 9, both of which were out at the time of your post when the PPD9000 was released, have active real digital outs fed by the internal work signal when DJing. Every Numark unit since has had that capability.

[Gary - ... I've already covered this full above. YES the older Numarks mentioned previously in the thread have a digital out socket BUT Numark confirmed in their email that "digital out" and "Anti-shock" could not work (on those older players) at the same time. The user had to use a two-button combo to switch the digital out on (and the anti-shock off), or to switch the digital out off (and the anti-shock on).]

And do you have any evidence for Pioneer CDJ units having their SPIDIF fed by an A/D converter connected to analog-out stage? A Pioneer-trained tech said on ********** there is no such output A/D chip inside the Pioneers. Can you refute this? [Gary - Remember that this thread is around 3 whole years old. The current CDJs (3 years more evolved - DO have true digital out). The older CDJs had only very very basic digital out eg: no DJ features, even pitch control, could be used with digital out. The old cdj-800 mk1 had even fewer features including (so I was told by a Pioneer rep @ PLASA back then) the A/D stage refered to above.]

I've successfully supplied the EK Karaoke Decoders (identical to the Citronic) for use with Pioneer CDJ's and they work great.

Is there a part two for this thread?

Also, anyone else have problems with their PPD9000 losing the left channel on inputs occassionally? It keeps happening to me. Channel 2 lost it permanently last week. I sent my unit back for the third time. I owned one a few years ago and got my money back because I had momentary dropouts for a split second on both channels.

Got another one last year because I remembered how good the sound was. It had to be replaced because the sound was screwed up on the master outs. Then the intermittent left channel thing started on the swap unit. Numark hot glued some connections inside they said were disconnecting. That fixed it mostly, but occassionally it's still happening. I'm thinking it may be the top input switches, because flicking them back and forth will bring the left side back for that input...until last week on 2. Pain in the booty.

Such a shame. Sounds better than any other Numark (PPD01 is decent), Xone (I've owned 2), Pioneer, Biamp (I've owned 3), Vestax, Stanton, Gem Sound (these sound surprisingly good for dirt cheap, but built like a toy and wildly messed up designs)...damn. If I buy a backup unit, I'll probably have to go full price on a new PPD9000 so I can get the 2-3 year warranty in case it has issues, too. Otherwise it's going to be at least hundred bucks each time it needs repair. The phono preamps are sooooo sweet, though. Addicting.

Oh, and I hate the tube warmth feature...what you guys called "vintage". Synthetic and weird sounding, not to mention has way too much bass. I put compressors on the channels, hard limiter on the master out, and the master volume at a hair past 3 o'clock. DACs are a bit glossy sounding and the digital out is only 44.1, but you do get an improvement with outboard digital to analog conversion...or at least a change in the tone if it's not matching with the sound system.

And don't use the digital out from a TTX into it when using vinyl. Total waste of the premium phono op amps and 24bit A/D converters.

I had that problem and replaced all the toggle switches, which are neither expensive nor (I think) used
just for the PPD9000.

Problem disappeared.

5th time I just got it back. Well, technically not the same one. The first unit went back twice to get replaced.

Unit A = Authorized B-stock purchased with Numark warranty.

Unit A First time returned: They said there was nothing wrong with the unit when clearly it was totally screwed up from the moment it arrived.

Unit A Second time: They get it back and say it's too burned out internally to repair. They apologize. Replaced.

Enter Unit B

Unit B First time returned: The B-stock unit they send doesn't have the burned out board, but starts having intermittent channel input issues quite early. They paid both shipping this time and/or maybe the next.

Unit B Second time: They hot glue a ribbon connector inside. Lasts about a month without even being gigged.

Unit B Third time: Numark touches up the solders to some of the switches and ensures the ribbon cable is secure. This doesn't last long, either. Again, still not giggled.

Unit B Fourth time: They replace all the top input switches. Effective, except that on CH1 only the phono input has both L & R channels working. CH1 Aux is missing one side and the CH1 Line is missing the other. Crazy. CH1 phono in the middle is stereo, though.

Unit B Fifth time: Reno, NV repair facility is used to replace some input board. It returns to me last night after the expected (!!) 8 weeks turnaround missing one of the foam packing braces around one of the 19inch mixer's wing/leaf sides and that one side of the mixer was literally up against the cardboard. The other side's foam lift/brace was there and some airbag packing things on top and deflated ones on the bottom. I shipped it with both braces on either ends as it arrived to me. The original thick box was in tact. Headphone jack is wiggling and has no right channel, and CH 4 is completely out. CH1 works, though! Yippee!

Seriously, WTF?!

i dont understand why youve let this go on so long

ask for a refund, accept nothing else

Because I don't know of any mixer under a grand that sounds as nice (verses Pioneer, Biamp, Rane, Xones, Stantons, and other Numarks), and I got it for a really good price warrantied direct from Numark.

I get to chock up yet another go-around. Unit got repaired again in Reno, fixing the headphone jack and channel 4, but now channel 1 has no right channel on any input ever and both channel 1 & 3's rear input selection switches are also intermittent.

Again they emailed a shipping label and are trying again. I packed it in an insane amount of bubble wrap, and a box within a box with a foot of popcorn stuff this time...to match the level of insanity I'm feeling, no doubt. At least the repair center returned it this time in "most" of the packing I used. I hope they do the same with the extra stuff. But have I smelled pizza on the mixer and boxes the last few times? Pepperoni?

This mixer must be about the most fragile and easily shorted-out thing I've ever used. No, correction. There's an Edcor 2020 headphone amp I have that's worse. The L/R channels are swapped, the signal is 180 degrees out of absolute phase, and it burned out three wallwarts when it arrived. Yes, Edcor one-upped Numark on that one as it's defective right from the circuit design…and it still hisses even if I use my emu 1212m’s minus signal from the balanced outs to drive it. Awful.

One day, hopefully in the not-too-distant future, my (or should I say "a") PPD9000 I paid for a year ago (or one comparable to it) will have more than a month's worth of usefulness...dare I dream, years of use like my old PPD01? I've done rain dances, chicken dances, square dances. I'm about ready to do a blood sacrifice of a chicken any day now. Can you believe I haven't even been able to take it out of the house yet? Except to ship it back.

It's back. So far so good. I am a little scared to try the SPDIF ins, as I have an icky feeling using them might short some switch out. They solved the ticks and clicks from the digital ins from the one I had in 2006 that got sent back to Musician's Friend, only to have the top channel and digital/line switches start going out on the new one. This sounds ludicrous, but I can't help but feel there is a ghost in this machine... and it does not like me. So I will pet it, and talk nice to it, and be its friend. Namely, I'm afraid using the SPDIF ins might cause another cascade of failures since I always tested them upon arrival before. They claim it should be fine, but do I really need to use them? My CD decks don't have SPDIF outs that function when djing and I'm not that big into DVS stuff. I'll quit while I'm ahead. At least the digital out won't hurt anything. It sounds gorgeous. An Allen & Heath cannot produce basslines or lower mids this pure.