Numark’s BeatKeeper tool helps get
the beats in line for beginners
TECH
USB port on the front
provides quick access
One of the biggest screens
on the market provides
unique track preview
DIGITAL DIAMOND
The new media player from Numark is put through its paces
THED2 Director is a digital media
player. It has no storage for music itself
and instead relies on the user connecting
devices containing MP3, AAC or Wav
audio files.
moment), and again to see an overview of
the actual audio.
The very bottom row of the screen displays
formats with only read-only limitations for
SPECS
the NTFS format.
As with most media players, the D2 needs to
PRICE
menu choices. These are selected using four build a library of the device’s contents
£449
soft keys directly under the screen, and a
pair of left/right direction keys give access
to further menu options when available.
On either side of the screen are menu
buttons to access different views, utility
modes, the library and the D2’s unique
before all features work properly. This can
be done on the D2, but it’s much faster to
use a computer.
The D2 joins the Cortex HDC-1000 and the
Denon DN-HD2500 as the third player of
this type on review. Similarly, it will play
tunes from USB memory sticks, hard drives
and MP3 players (such as iPods and even
CONTACT
01252 341400
numark.com
Numark provide Librarian software, which
is now PC and Mac compatible. Other than
speed, the advantage of using the Librarian
software is that is creates a Profile View.
The D2 is the first DJ media player available
to offer an overview of the peaks and
troughs of the music. The tracks appear on
top of each other, with the different volume
levels represented by different shades and
thickness.
The DJ can then compare the play position
of the two audio files in the view mode on
the D2’s screen. It’s even possible to jump
to breakdowns and the start of sections
using the parameter dial, but this is a bit
sluggish to do regularly.
TECH
mobile phones) — practically anything with Crate feature. The console is designed to
a USB port or USB cable interface.
Plays practically any
*
keep the menu and navigation separate
from the audio player controls, so playback
USB memory device
USB connectors front
*
The D2 console is overwhelmed in the centre is not accidentally interrupted by using the
by its massive screen. This area is dedicated jog wheel to scroll menus.
to navigating music and controlling the
player’s functions. There’s loads of space to UPLOADING TRACKS
permanently keep an overview of the two
decks, with track text and ID3 tag
information, plus pitch settings, a progress hold more than an album, but it’s useful to
bar and times.
Below is the main window. Hit the view
button to reveal full tag info for each track
(there’s no Wav Meta tag support at the
and rear
Large backlit display
*
Seamless looping,
*
stuttering
The D2 comes with a 128MB USB key to get
you started. There’s not enough room to
Scratch and search
*
Beatkeeper™ BPM
*
technology with tap
Track waveforms
*
upload firmware updates and play fresh
content.
Keyboard and USB
*
memory included
Tracks can be copied to any memory device
XML playlist support
*
on Mac or PC. The D2 can read most file
104
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