Review Details

Numark Scratch - 2-Channel Scratch Mixer for Serato DJ Pro

Product Review (submitted on July 8, 2019):

Where to begin? Firstly, this mixer was not my first choice because I didn't even know it was about to released. My first choice was the Mixars Duo mkii, did some research on them and found out the sound cards distort after some use and they have no telephone support in the states. Worse, Muxars recommends to call you retail outlet for tech support and other help. Recently ebay has seen an influx of these units being sold, now I and you know why. My second choice was the Reloop Elite. Quick back story, pre-ordered it (reloop elite) from The DJ Hook Up and while the date kept getting pushed back, TDJHU sent me a news letter pointing out new soon to be released DJ products. Well, this is where I first came to learn about the Numark Scratch Serato Mixer. At first I couldn't believe what I was looking at, the Reloop is a whopping $1299.99, while this mixer (numark scratch) is more than half off at $499.99 and it comes with similar features and quality parts, (innofader). I quickly canceled my pre-order and was about to pre-order the scratch from them but they messed up on the refund so i decided to take my business elsewhere. Guitar Center had the item and I trust them so I ordered from there. Just received the mixer Saturday July 6,2019 and here's my Review.

From the pads/shift key/cues to the knobs to the paddles to the fader/line faders, everything feels like quality components and is buttery smooth to operate and responds appropriately to user input. The unit is light but stays put between two Technics 1200's. The two cue buttons can be operated simultaneously in the headphones, simply press one and hold it, then the other, than let go. I didn't see a way to fade between them but the sound was equal from both sides in the headphone.

Side note: (my first Gemini Scratch Mixer from 1989 had a line fader for the cue section and that feature was very hard to find on a good mixer over the years, glad this has some of that implemented).

Numark did an eloquent job of making the rear input and output get straight to the point, it's not over done and it's not missing anything I would need in such a value driven mixer. The Numark Scratch screams VALUE. It really makes using Serato Pro DJ 2.1.2 a pleasure and more fun than the software designers probably knew it would turn out to be.

It terms of playability and functionality when referring to the proper laptop or PC one should use with this mixer, I'm going to spell it out for you and make this easy. It took some good due diligence but I can confidently recommend an inexpensive laptop to compliment the Numark Scratch.
I picked up this laptop on Amazon:

Acer Aspire E 15, 15.6" Full HD, 8th Gen Intel Core i3-8130U, 6GB RAM Memory, 1TB HDD, 8X DVD, E5-576-392H

...along with an extra 4gigs of ram:
Crucial 4GB Single DDR3/DDR3L 1866 MT/s (PC3-14900) Unbuffered SODIMM 204-Pin Memory - CT51264BF186DJ

...and a SSD, any should do.
Once you install the SSD/ram and windows 10, go to services.msc in the search bar to disable Microsoft's "windows updates" but you should let the system download the first six updates before disabling, they are the drivers for the computer. Alternatively, you can Google Acer Aspire E15-576, the Acer website should come up and you can download the laptops drivers there.

In conclusion, overall, I think the Numark Scratch is a well-rounded and versatile Mixer that should help expand the users creativity. With some help with Serato from YouTube videos or prior knowledge perhaps, you'll be on the way to creating mixes the others DJ's make with their more expensive mixers, looking at you Pioneer S9. (Honestly, I so wanted the limited silver version...Thoroughly happy with the slick Numark Scratch and I think you will be too!

Update:7/8/2019
I may purchase another as a backup, this thing is smooth. inputs are so smooth. Everything functions so well, been using everyday for hours on end and cant find one fault. Hope they keep the innofader in the future. Would have been so sweet to add innofaders for the line faders but they are all ready so smooth, feels like innofaders are in there already. The paddles are a nice touch and they make me confident that this was the right purchase and not the relopp elite.
Feel free to send me questions as I enjoy providing insight.