Numark HDX Quick Start Manual

S

HDX

PROFESSIONAL HD/CD/MP3 PLAYER

Quick Start Owner’s Manual

BOX CONTENT

• HD/CD Player

• Platter Assembly

• Wrench

• Power Cable

• Audio Cable

• Fader Start Cable

• USB Cable

• Keyboard

QUICK SETUP (ENGLISH)

1. Make sure all items listed on the front of this guide were in the box.

2. READ SAFETY INSTRUCTION BOOKLET BEFORE USING THE PRODUCT.

3. Assemble unit following the Quick Assembly Instructions.

4. Study this setup diagram.

5. Place the unit in an appropriate position for operation.

6. Make sure all devices are turned off and all faders and gain knobs are set to their lowest
level.

7. Connect all stereo input sources as indicated in the diagram, your microphone, and
headphones

8. Connect the stereo outputs to power amplifier(s), tape decks, and/or other audio sources.

9. Plug all devices into AC power.

10. Switch everything on in the following order.

• audio sources (i.e. turntables or CD players)

• mixer

• finally, turn on any amplifiers or output devices

11. When turning off, always reverse this operation by,

• turning off amplifiers

• mixer

• Finally, turn off any audio sources. ALWAYS USE THE HDX’S POWER SWITCH TO

POWER OFF THE UNIT. DO NOT SWITCH THE POWER OFF EXTERNALLY (FOR
EXAMPLE, BY USING A POWER STRIP SWITCH).

12. Go to http://www.numark.com for product registration.

More information about this product may be found at http://www.numark.com

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1. Power Switch - Always shut down before removing or installing a drive caddy. The HDX has a
“soft power down” which will allow the hard drive to spin down before the power turns off completely, so
it is important that the unit is alwa ys powered off using this button first before disconnecting the main

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power lead or turning off a surge suppressor. Typically, it is recommended that the HDX is powered on
before amplifiers and off after amplifiers to avoid an audio spike to be sent through your equipment.

2. Slot Load CD Drive – Designed to play commercially available CD and properly burned CDR and CDRW
discs. Insert the CDs you wish to play here. Do not insert mini CDs (CD3”/80mm CDs) or CDs of
an unusual shape as they may be damaged or damage the slot load mechanism.

3. Eject Button - Used to eject CDs from the player. The CD will only eject when it is not playing.

4. Track/Menu Select Knob

Track – Rotate to select tracks.
Menu Select – Press “Menu” then rotate to move through menu options. Pressing selects menu options.

5. High Torque Direct Drive Platter - Utilizes a 4.7 Kgf cm motor to turn the vinyl record. The platter
should not be held in position for sustained periods.

6. Vinyl Record – Controls the playback of the music, including scratching, pitch bend and cueing.

7. Play/Pause Button – Starts and stops playback and the platter. Pressing toggles between play and
pause of the platter. Each time PLAY is pressed after pausing, a new Cue Point is set.

8. Startup Adjust – Changes the amount of time it takes for the plat ter to stop when the PAUSE b utton is
pressed. As the wheel is moved right the braking time increases. For fast braking move the wheel all
the way to the left. As you turn the wheel, the display will indicate the braking time.

9. Brake Adjust - Changes the amount of time it takes for the platter to start when the PLAY button is
activated. As the wheel is moved to the right the startup time de creases. For fast startup move the
wheel all the way left. As you turn the wheel, the current startup time is shown on the display.

10. Cue Button - Returns and pauses the music at the last set Cue Point. The Cue Point is the last place at
which the unit was paused and then PLAY or STUTTER was pressed. Pressing and holding the CUE button
will temporarily play starting from the cue point unti l you r elease the butto n. You can e asily e dit the cu e
point by turning the record while paused. As you rotate the record the music will sound. By stopping
the wheel and pressing Play, a new cue poi nt will be set.

11. Stutter Button – When pressed, the music will play from the current cue point or the last point of
pause. If you start from the last pause point while the unit is paused, a new Cue Point is set.
Repeatedly pressing this button while the unit is playi ng will restart the unit from the last Cue Point,
creating a “stutter” effect. This also works from “RELOOP”.

12. Position Marker – Used as a visual reference of platter position.

13. Target Light – Illuminates the platter surface.

14. Record Button / Record Light – When recording from the audio inputs this button will blink to indicate
you are recording. Pressing this button will take you to the record screen and arm the HDX for
recording. See the section on recording for more information.

15. 33/45 RPM Button - changes the rotation speed of the platter and the music. The default mode is 33
RPM, so when 45 RPM is selected the speed and pitch increase 35%. The default platter speed can be
set from the “Playback Options” menu.

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16. Reverse/Bleep Switch
Audio Reverse – Changes the direction of the platter and the music until it is returned to the upright

center position.
Bleep – Temporarily reverses the music from buffer while the unit co ntinues forwar d motion. When the

toggle is released the unit resumes playing fr o m the poi nt whe r e the song wo uld be no rmal ly if it had not
been reversed. This is useful for “b leeping” out certain lyrics without interrupting the flow of the song.

17. Scratch Mode Button – Changes the way the music reacts to movement of the record.

18. Pitch Button - Adjusts the range of the pitch fader. Pressing this button w ill cycle thr ough p itch range s

19. Pitch Fader - Controls the overall speed of the music and platter. At pitch settings of -80% to -100%,

20. Key Lock – Holds the music at the current key. If the pitch slider is moved, the speed will change, but

21. Jog Wheel - This wheel is used for searching, adjusting the parameters of e ffects, trim, and key. When

22. Search - Changes the mode of the “Jog Wheel” search mode. Search will remain active whi le the wheel

23. The Beatkeeper™ - Utilizes the latest patented Beatkeeper™ technology. The Beatkeeper™

Scratch – Allows the record to act just like a typical record on a turntable.
Scratch+FWD - Allows the record to act just like a typical re cord on turntable but only plays

forward actions. Hold “Scratch” for 1 second to get in the FWD mode.
Scratch+CUE – Moves the to the last set cue point each time the record is moved, allowing you to

scratch from the same point every time you move the record.
Scratch+CUE+FWD – Moves the to the last set cue point each time the record is moved, allo win g

you to scratch from the same point every time you move the record, and only plays audio when
the record is moved in a forward direction.

of 6, 12, 25, and -100/+50%. Holding this button for 2 se conds will deact ivate the pitch fader . Pre ssing
PITCH again will reactivate the pitch fader.

the platter will deactivate and the mu sic will be controlled by the slider. By moving the slider toward
“+”, the music speeds up. By moving toward “-”, the music plays more slowly.

To match the speeds of two units, you can either monitor the music of both units by ear, or use the
automatic BPM readout and adjust the speed to match. When the tempo of the music of the song you
wish to match is slow compared to the tempo of the o ther song, mo ve the slid er towa rd the (+) end an d
match the BPM. When faster, move the pitch slider toward the (-) end. B y making this adjustment the
speeds can be matched, though the beats may not yet be aligned.

the key will remain the same. By adjusting the pitch to -100% you can actually slow the music to a
complete stop while playing the last heard tones of the music. This works very well on vocals and can be
a very cool effect. If the unit has Key Lock active after the track has been changed and befo re Play is
hit, the unit will lock to a key based on the current pitc h fader position. If “Key” is deactivated during
Pause, the unit will reset to match the current pitch po sition. If “Ke y” is deacti vated durin g Play, t he ke y
will remain at the new position until the track is changed.

To change the key of the music press and hold “Key Lock” while moving the “Track/Menu Sele ct Knob”.
The key can increase to 1 octave above normal, or up to 2 octaves above normal when the Slide effect is
used. The key can decrease up to 5 octaves below normal. The display will limit to 19 half steps above
or below the normal key.

the motor is off, this wheel is used to control pitch.

is being moved and for 8 seconds after. Mov ing the wheel clockwise rapidly moves forward through the
music. Counterclockwise moves backwards through the music. Search will a utomatica lly turn off after 8
seconds of non-use.

automatically tracks beats based upon a combination of frequencies and rhy thm patterns in the music.
It shows BPM in the display and outputs 4-count (a.k.a. one measure) info rmation about the music in a
marching bar graph.

The Bar Graph: Most dance music and rock is set up in 4 beat increments called measures. Many
of the features within the unit use this information for incredible results. It’s important to
understand the basics of how the Beatkeeper™ works to effectively take advantage of other
advanced features in the unit. The bottom LED is for the 1st beat or “Down Beat”. Typically, most
music starts on the downbeat so the unit sets the first beat to where the music begins.
Occasionally this may not be correct or you may wish to reset it. To reset the downbe at simply ta p
the “TAP” button at the new downbeat location as the music is playing or while in Pause.

TAP: This button is used for resetting the downbeat and also re-calibrating the BPM. The
Beatkeeper™ is considered by many to be the most accurate automatic beat counter on the market
today; however, it occasionally may have trouble determining the correct BPM. This can happen
when the music contains complex rhythms, or if it starts without a beat at all. If you know th e
BPM showing in the display is incorrect, or if the be at LEDs are not flashing with the beat, you have
2 options to reset the Beatkeeper™.

1. Press the Tap button on the downbeat and hold for a second. This will tell the unit to
re-calculate and display the next BPM it finds.

2. If holding the “TAP” button doesn’t work, you can manually hit the “TAP” button on
the beat and the display will indicate the ne w BPM. The BPM will be based upon the
average of your last 8 taps. The Beatkeeper™ will the n know which beats in the
music it should be using to determine the correct BPM and it will track them through
the song.

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Occasionally, the unit will be tracking the wrong be at but have the correct BPM. To reset the
downbeat, simply hit the “TAP” button once on the downbeat.

Storing BPM Information: BPM information can be stored for each track, which allows the
Beatkeeper to quickly lock onto the correct tempo whe n playing the track. The stored track BPM
can be updated manually by editing th e BPM field on the track info page, o r semi-automatica lly as
follows:

1. The BPM will be stored every time the beat is tapped in using the TAP button.

2. The BPM will be stored automatically when the track plays through its entirety under
the following conditions:

A. If no BPM has been stored for the track previ ously.
B. If the user tapped in the b eat during playback of the track using the TAP button.

Please note that this stored BPM value, if present, is used to speed the convergence of the
BeatKeeper algorithm. If a grossly inaccurate BPM is stored (via TAP or manually), the
BeatKeeper may not converge to an accurate result. This situation can be corrected by entering a

24. VFD Display - This is the main display, which shows all menu options and the current play status.

25. Display/Back Button - When navigating through the menu system this button is used to step back to

26. Store/Recall Button - Holding this button for one second will store all cue points for the curre nt track.

27. Menu – Pressing this button will allow you to use the track knob to navigate thro ugh the various menu

28. Single - Toggles t he unit to play back just one track at a time (Single) or play continuously thro ugh all

29. Loop In - This is the point where you would like a loop to start. By default, a “loop in” point is

better estimate of the BPM by any of the methods mentioned above.

the previous menu level or it is used like a backspace when entering text. During play, press this button
to toggle between elapsed time, track remaining time and remaining time on the entire playlist or
running order.

Pressing and releasing this button will recall the cue points for the current track.

options on the HDX. Pressing the track select knob like a button will choose the selected menu item.
Many options will be stored and retained on unit power off. See the section “Navigating the Me nu” later
in this manual for an in depth description of the menu opti ons. When selectin g a track holding th e track
select knob for 2 seconds will let you view information about the song without selecting i t. On the track
display screen holding the track select knob for 2 seconds will show and allow you to edit the track’s
information.

tracks and then start over repeating the running order infinitely (Continuous).

automatically set at the beginning of the song. To de fine a new “loop in” point, just pr ess the LOOP IN
button when the song reaches the desired point where you would like a loop to begin. The LOOP IN
button will light, indicating a new loop in point has been set. The RELOOP button wil l also illuminate
indicating that you can now press RELOOP to immediately go back to the loop in point and begin playing.

Note: Changing tracks will always clear the current loop settings.

C. If the user pressed and held the TAP button to resynchronize the BeatKeeper.

If you wish to change the loop-in point, just press “Loop In” again.

30. Loop Out - Sets the end point of the loop. The first time you press LOOP OUT while a song is playing,
the LOOP OUT button will blink, and the song will begin playing in a seamless loo p, starting from the
“loop in” point and ending at the “loop out” point. To release, or end the loop, press LOOP OUT a second
time and play will continue forward when the song passes the pre viously set “loop o ut” point. The LOOP
OUT button will then be continuously lit, indicating that the loop is now in memory for “reloop” purposes.

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31. Reloop - Repeats play or “stutters” (if repeatedly tapped) from the “loop in” point. If a loop has
previously been set, it plays and repeats that loop, until the loo p is released by pressing the LOOP OUT
button.

32. Smart Loop – Allows the Beatkeeper™ and loop buttons to work toge ther to create loops that are
synchronized to the beat. First, properly align the Be atkeeper™ to the beat. After this has been done ,
all loop points and stuttering will be synchronized perfectly to the beat of the music.

33. Trim – Allows the loop-in and loop-out points to be adjusted. To adjust a point, press TRIM followed by
the button of the point you wish to a djust (LOOP IN, LOOP OUT, RELOOP), then rotate the s mall jog
wheel. When used with “Reloop” the unit will shift the entire loop by moving both the loop-in and loop­out points at the same time. When used with “Smart Loop”, the unit will adjust all points in 1-beat
increments.

34. < shift > – Adjusts the loop length by half length or double length increments. If the “Smart Loop”
feature is on, this will be limited to a minimum loop length of 1 beat.

35. Length LEDs – Shows the length of the loop based upon the Beatkeeper™ setting. The middle LED is 4
beats.

Effect Buttons 36-40 are used to activate and deactivate a desire d Effect. Holding an Effect button for 1
second will place the effect into a “hold” or alternate e ffect mode depe nding on which butto n you press. O nce
an effect is active, rotate the jog wheel to get the desired effect so und. The parame ter value w ill be shown on
the display. You can preset a desired value by holding the button and rotating the wheel.

36. Sonar – Creates a metallic hollow effect to the audio. Pre ssing and holding this button will keep the
sound from automatically returning to normal when movement of the jog wheel stops. Tapping the
button will turn the effect on and off at the desired setting.

37. Slide - Smoothly changes the key of the music. In the key display you will see the ke y change as the
jog wheel is moved. Pressing and holding this button will keep the sound from automatically returning to
normal when movement of the jog wheel stops. Tapping the button will turn the effect on and off at the
desired setting.

38. Echo - Adds echo to the music also based upon tempo
reading of the Beatkeeper™. The start parameter is no
echo “0”. If you move the wheel clockwise, the numbers
will go 1-64, 1-32, 1-16, 1-8, 1-4, 1 -2, and 1-1 indicating
the amount of echo added to the audio. If you move the
wheel counter-clockwise you will create negative or
preceding echo. This essentially plays an echo ahead of
the music. At 1-1 the music will echo 1 full measure or 4
beats of music. If you turn off the effect then back on
again it remembers the last set parameter. (Note: a

preceding echo requires the unit to play from buffer memory. If the buffer becomes unavailable the
effect will stop until buffer playback is restored.)

A.D. (hold the Echo button to activate) - stands for “Auto Decimation”. It reduces the bit rate of the
music, creating increasing distortion. To activate this effect, hold the “Echo” button for 2 seconds.

39. Filter – An isolation (band pass) filter that lets you p lay only a spe cific freque ncy of the m usic. R otatio n
of the wheel moves the filter frequency. If you turn off the effect, then on again, it remembers the last
set parameter value.

Kill (hold the Filter button to activate) - This elimi nat io n (b and sto p) f ilte r lets yo u play all b ut a specified
frequency. To activate, hold “Filter” for 2 seconds. Rotation of the wheel moves the filter frequency. If
you turn off the effect, then on again, it remembers the last set parameter value.

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