Numark Orbit pre-review

[Sambo]

Got a great deal on one of these, £50! Toy price for a toy controller. I've not heard much furore about them after they came out but it was my birthday yesterday and I decided to treat myself to one.

Buld quality is sturdy, feels like it can take some abuse, pads are chunky with no "feel", just rubber blocks made for pounding and karate chops really. Knob in the middle is actually a knob, not a loose platter, so if you're wondering about scratching, let me quash that dream right now: No chance. It's more like... You know in sci-fi films and they're like "TURN IT UP TO FULL POWER" and they turn that huge dial in the middle of a sea of knobs? Like that.

Connected almost instantly from what I can see, going to give it a bash mapping to Traktor now and get back with a more full featured review.

[Sambo]

Well it connects flawlessly, I've never had a MIDI device (Wired or wireless) device connect as flawlessly as that. The mapping editor is a bit half-baked, very basic functionality. It could have put in a multiple select or easier way to choose colours/CC values, as it is it turns into a bit of a click fest.

Device is great, sturdy, but I find the battery life is actually more 4 hours from full to dead rather than the 6 hours advertised. Maybe it has to do with how much page switching/LEDs are on and how many commands are set.

Buttons are really responsive to say they're so chunky and rubbery (Akin to the first launchpad). Exactly as I expected, the accelerometer controls are absolute horse****. I do like that you can double click the shoulder button to latch it, and I also like that the shoulder button has it's own CC value, however the accelerometer controls are so jerky and unpredictable it makes them pretty much useless.

Absolutely great addition to a set, just for the wow factor (It does look really impressive). I made a basic 4-deck mapping and used my Laptop/Traktor plugged directly into a DJM-850 and it was really cool to use it in that way. Definitely something I'll do more often as it is reliable, fun and looks good.

Well done Numark. Well done.

[synthet1c]

you can actually set the led colors from traktor just by changing the send value, The stock implimentation of having the hardware control the color is pretty useless but being able to map it make the orbit a worthwhile additional controller.

[alientek]

Got one of these when it came out. A whole lot of fun if used as a sub controller for Fx or hot cues.

Even sweeter when you use the strap and put it where your belt buckle is. (KIDDING)

Although I bet this has been done by quite a few...

[djkoold45]

i have this orbit and I must say it is a pretty handy controller.i use it with my traktor scratch pro 2 software.however I have been trying to remap the fuctions and im just not understanding how to do this.is there anyone that can help me.i would greatly appreciate it.thanks