I’ve wanted a computer DJ system for some time now. That’s why it was so nice to get this completely unexpected Christmas present this year.

It’s a Numark Mixtrack Pro 2. It looks like it would be a perfect starter unit for any would-be DJs and good enough for what I wanted it to do. But looks can be deceiving, even from a respected brand such as Numark.

After playing with this unit for an hour, I asked my best friend to take it back to the store. I have never returned a Christmas present before and feel bad that I had to do that. But there is no sense keeping a unit that is pretty much useless.

I’m not being over dramatic here either. I can’t understand why a self-contained computer DJ system wouldn’t work directly out of the box. It’s ridiculous.

The hardware comes with a free download of Serato Intro, a DJ program that lets you mix, adjust tempos, scratch, loop, cue up songs, and anything else that you would need to do to deliver a great DJ mix live.

It does everything EXCEPT the one thing a computer DJ system should do. It doesn’t let you record your mix to the computer. At least not in the free version of the program. I’m not willing to spend close to $200 for that upgrade either. The unit costs that much to begin with. For that price, it should just work. Period.

I also don’t like the fact that the crossfader is not replaceable. It can be damaged fairly easily when doing scratch routines.

This unit is definitely not worth the money, is extremely limiting, and pretty much useless for anyone other than a wedding DJ (and I’m not in that business anymore)

So I am still in the market for a computer DJ system. I hope to get one some day (just not this unit)