The Numark Mixstream Pro controller was introduced in late 2021, and as we are huge fans of standalone controllers, we have been testing and using it for some time, so let us share some thoughts about this intriguing piece of gear.
Numark is part of the InMusic parent company which owns several other brands, such as Akai Professional, Denon DJ, M-Audio, Rane, Stanton, just to name a few.
Out of these, the Denon DJ and Numark products are aimed particularly for DJs, but both of them target different segments of the market. While under Denon DJ, it releases more premium products, and mostly standalone gear, Numark is a more budget brand that makes controllers mostly for Serato, and some entry-level mixers and accessories. Don’t let the word “budget” fool you, although they are by far cheaper than many of their counterparts, most components are decent quality. The trade-off usually comes in terms of design, with some weird choices for labeling and placing buttons, but if you don’t care too much about these, Numark is a champion when it comes to value for money, especially with the Mixtrack series controllers: the Mixtrack Pro and Mixtrack Platinum FX.
So as the overall InMusic product catalogue grows year by year, it is inevitable that crossovers appear in market segments, and the Mixstream pro is just the perfect example for this. It is the first standalone controller from the newer generation of Numark controllers, the very first one was the Mixdeck Express, which was released in 2016, but retailed in the U.S. only. Standalone means that it can run independently of a computer, and it will load media from a USB stick or an SD card.
InMusic has made an interesting, but very rational decision to have it run the same software as Denon DJ gear does, the on-board version of the Engine DJ, and this explains why the “Engine Prime” has become “Engine OS”, as from now on it is not exclusive for Denon DJ Prime gear.
Features in the overview
The Mixstream Pro runs Engine OS 2.0, and some of its most important features are:
- Onboard track analysis
- Dual waveform view
- Built in Wi-Fi for music streaming via Beatport link, Beatsource link, Tidal or for cloud access to Dropbox
- QWERTY keyboard for quick search
- Track preview (listen to a track before loading it to a deck)
- Creating playlists on-board
- Customizable user interface
- Direct recording to USB or SD Card
- Literally no need for a computer as even the software update can be done via Wi-Fi
The Mixstream brings standalone mixing in general to an unrivaled price point, given the fact that it has a large 7 inch multitouch display with almost all the features just like the Denon DJ Prime 2 or the new SC Live 2, not to mention that the on-board software packs almost the same features, and it is super-responsive. Tracks load instantly, and they can be analyzed on-board, so you only have to copy your media to your USB stick and the magnificent Engine OS will do the rest. This is one of the biggest time savers ever, as constantly updating your folders and analyzing every single new track is a huge nuisance.
First impressions
Build quality is decent as we would expect from Numark. The housing is made of hard plastic, while the pots and buttons are made of metal, and have a very nice feel.
The 6 inch (15 cm) jogwheels are on point, they are smooth enough and at this price point they fall into a fairly large category. Their sensitivity can be adjusted from the Engine OS, however this will only adjust how much does the joghweel bend the pitch on a given portion size, not the stiffness of its rotation. It is better than no option for adjusting the sensitivity, but we always found the Pioneer DJ workflow to be far superior, where you can adjust the physical resistance to the jogwheels, although this is a feature available only on higher end controllers and players.
The deck section has 4 pads that can be used for the standard HOT CUE, SAVED LOOP, AUTO LOOP and ROLL functionality, found on most controllers. The pads are very responsive, and although there are only 4 pads per deck, they are dual-layer, meaning that when you press the MODE button, you can toggle a secondary function for each button.
The pitch fader is very short, and disproportionate to the mid-size jogwheels, and given the fact that the Mixtrack Pro and the Mixtrack Platinum have spoiled us with fairly long pitch faders, we really didn’t like the Mixstream’s pitch fader at first, but thanks to Engine OS, it can be adjusted to a +/- 4% pitch range, so we were able to do smooth and long blends, without using the SYNC, although you will still find it inconvenient when mixing two tracks with very different tempos, where the 4% range is not enough, but in most cases it will work just fine.
Beside the CUE/PLAY/SYNC buttons there is also a round SCRATCH button that switches from standard scratching to Smart Scratch - a feature that continues the track from where it left off before you started scratching.
Filter section in the overview
The large Filter knobs are unexpectedly positioned on the deck section in the upper right corner of Deck 1 and upper left corner of Deck 2.
Coming to the mixer section, the EQ has similarly awkward positioning on the left and right side of the volume faders, but this is totally acceptable as the large display occupies a lot of space in the middle.
Speaking of faders, the two VU meters next to the faders not only show the levels for tracks playing on each deck, but from the settings you can make them show the master output level, a feature that we only get on professional controllers.
The crossfader is decent enough to pull off some basic scratch techniques, and its cut-off range can be adjusted from the settings.
There are only 4 effects available: ECHO, FLANGER, DELAY and PHASER. Each of them can be toggled with separate physical buttons and can be set to ON, OFF and on HOLD with the pedal switch on each channel. This is one trade-off compared to Denon DJ controllers, where we get a wider spectrum of effects.
Connections
The connectivity is spot-on for a controller at this price, as there are:
- 2 headphone inputs (3.5 and 6.3 mm jack)
- 1 MIC input
- 2 USB ports - this allows smooth back 2 back sessions without the need of copying both DJs folders to the same USB stick
- 1 USB B port for connecting to a computer
- 1 SD card slot
- 1 XLR master output - for clear sound quality when connecting to large speakers
- 1 RCA master output - convenient if you use smaller speakers
Integrated speakers
The Mixstream also has built-in speakers with 2 drivers on each side. Don’t expect these speakers to rock a party, as they are very small. At best they are going to aid you during your practice sessions or if you do a small party, you can use them as booth monitors, but they still deserve credit as they can go reasonably loud without any distortion. It actually makes sense to include these, so you can practice anywhere with just a pair of headphones as long as power is available.
Conclusion
The Mixstream Pro as the name suggests is made for the new standards in wireless music streaming, with all the options available via Beatport Link, Beatsource Link and Tidal, however this is not the main reason for which we would buy it as we think that streaming via Wi-Fi is just not stable enough at this point to do full-scale DJ gigs.
On the other hand, it has the fabulous multi touch display and the best of the Engine OS functionality, a nice set of jogwheels and all the essential DJ features. It is made for those who want to be able to DJ and to practice anywhere, with the convenience of USB sticks, and without the need to plug in a laptop. You can even practice with it while on the road if you have a large enough power bank to connect your power adapter, as you can listen to your mix on the built-in speakers. When you get to hook it up to a larger sound system, the sound quality via the balanced XLR outputs is more than enough to deliver clean sound to your public.
So as we said earlier, Numark has already been holding the trophy if we are talking about value for money, and the Mixstream Pro is a product that secures it until someone comes up with something better, which is currently very unlikely, due to the shortages in components. The Mixstream Pro is a fresh and wise addition to the Numark line-up and hopefully they will continue on this path and we will see even some more advanced controllers in the future.
