Numark CDN22

The best in their class, by far!

The CDN22 was my first ever piece of DJ equipment and was bought with the simple intention that I could mix all my dance CDs together. At the time it was the only way I could afford two CD players, and thus my choice then was purely financial. Three years down the line, and these fantastic decks still hold pride of place in my now far more professional setup.

As my mixing became more confident, I began to play out at parties and bars, and everywhere I went, I lugged my faithful decks with me. Of course this meant that they received a fair deal of bumps and scrapes, but they never once let me down, performing admirably, sometimes for more than 12 hours continuously in smokey and grubby environments.

Admittedly, there is now far more choice on the market when it comes to budget CD players, but I still find the CDN22 extremely hard to beat. Ive played on plenty of other budget makes, including Pioneer, Kam and Gemini, and out of all of these I can still honestly say I would rather play on the Numark.

The build quality of the CDN22 is nothing less than art. From the moment you take it out of the box you can feel the class, oozing from the metal casing, the tight yet responsive rubber buttons and the silky smooth jog wheels and pitch sliders. This may sound over the top, but honestly, no other piece of budget kit will ever feel more professional.

Because they don\'t cost £1000 a piece, there are a couple of downsides. Firstly, there is no instant start, although it\'s usually within about a quarter of a second from the time the play button is pressed. Beginners may find this a little tricky at first, as you have to start the track, then use the jog wheel to make up for the lag time. However, the lag is very consistent, so after a few hours you learn to compensate and hit play ever so slightly early.

Secondly, there is no anti-shock, which means care must be taken when placing the drive section of the unit to avoid skipping. In reality though, you have to give the player quite a knock before it will actually skip. Ive had these players on flimsy fold-out tables at house parties with people dancing inches away, without any trouble at all. And lets face it, if your CD does happen to skip once or twice during a night, who is really going to care?

Obviously, the CDN22 is just a basic DJ deck- there are no flashy FX, but in the middle of a mix, you\'re unlikely to need any of these anyway. If you\'re desperate for FX, it\'s better to keep the players simple and have a mixer or separate FX unit to handle the extras, as it\'s far less confusing, especially if other people are also going to play on your decks. If you\'re on a budget, go for the best simple deck you can afford rather than the cheapest flashy FX deck. You will still be reaping the benefits long after the cheap deck has been surrendered to the binmen.

If I was in the position again, I would not hesitate to buy another set of these. They have proved themselves to me in every way, and the fact that even alongside my scratch CD player and my Technics 1210s they still form a vital part of my setup is proof of their value. If you\'re reading this review then you\'ll be thinking about getting one. Do it. You will not find a better way to spend this amount of money.