Numark Fusion 494 CD DJ Package

Feature:
Definitely good value for money here. No, you're not going to get vinyl emulation at this price, but DJs have been spinning with CD's for years using stutter-cue. Honestly, it's not nearly as bad as it sounds like it would be. 2 loops per deck, which can also double as hot starts (just set a loop-in point, no loop out, and punch the loop in to jump there) is nice. The mixer has treble and bass EQ's - no mid, but the T&B are fairly wide, so it's ok. Oh, and one more thing - the mini crossfader for the cue channel is awesome. Great for previewing mixes, or for setting up a mix when you want to boost the incoming track a bit in your cans.

Quality:
Mine have just sat in my bedroom, but have had plenty of use, and they're solid. No worries about bits falling off or anything like that. My only two issues quality wise would be the stutter thing (see 'ease of use'), and the cue/play/loop etc buttons are rubber rather than hard plastic, so sometimes require a bit of a hard hit to get accurate timing for a start. Oh, and I've never had any problems playing self-burnt CD's in them, even when using cheapo no-brand CDR's

Value:
I bought this setup as a 'my first decks' kit, and they've served the purpose beautifully. I didn't want to spend too much until I was sure I'd take DJing seriously.. I can't remember exactly what I paid for them back then, but I know it was a fair bit more than this site is currently charging. Bargain, I'd say

Desirability:
Hardly as sexy as Pio's latest and greatest, but it's also a lot lighter on the wallet. Looks are rather utilitarian, but at least it doesn't look like a toy - and my friends all seemed to think they're pretty nifty

Sound:
No complaints about sound quality. Of course, I don't really have much to compare it to, but I have pretty sensitive ears and tend to be rather picky. I guess probably the main issue which would come up here is if the crossfader in the included mixer had started to bleed or anything. I've been using mine for about a year and a half now, and not even the faintest trace of any bleed, so I'm happy!

Ease of Use:
Not much of a learning curve, definitely pretty easy to use. There is one issue with the Axis 4's which you should be aware of though.. Ok, so you're cueing up your track, and you know roughly where the first beat comes in. You spin fast to around that point, that's fine. But then, once you're turning the jog slooowly to try and find exactly the start of the kick, it starts getting a little weird. Once in a while when you do a small movement it'll play from a little further ahead than where you actually are - you'll hear the kick once, but then it'll stutter on the silence before the kick. It's a little hard to describe exactly what I mean - it's not that the jog wheel is inaccurate - it moves you forward or back exactly the right amount, it's just that once in a while it'll play a single 'stutter' from a bit further ahead than it should.. but it'll immediately go from that to stuttering the correct part. It's really not a big deal once you get used to it. I've been using these for a year and a half and haven't had any real issues with it, but it's worth being aware of. Note that it is possible there's been some kind of firmware upgrade that fixes this or something, I know some CDJ manufacturers do that, but honestly, it's never been a big enough deal for me to check.

Support:
No idea - never needed any support.

Overall:
Great no-frills setup for a beginner DJ. Sure, you don't get USB/MP3/Vinyl/etc, but you can mix a perfectly good set with 'em.