Much better mixer than the Matrix 2. Very underrated. Great for digital material. Great for more esoteric, higher-end DJ cartridges that vinyl heads love. First optical crossfader. -Ret

Sound
Curious sound. Seems dependent on the input stage and the output stage. Output stage gives the mids a very detailed, layered sound with a euphonic sense of expansion...as opposed to compression. The line-level inputs are a bit boomy and soft, which actually helps CDs. The phono preamps are very low pF and a bright, delicate tone, which means many cartridges will sound bad but some will sound better than you've probably heard before. Interestingly, the higher-end carts from audio technica, stanton, and grado improve the most. External phono preamps only seemed to help Whitelabels and Ortofons. Some slight tonal and L/R balance differences per channel. Zero sound leakage between channels. The kill assigns degrade sound quality, so I usually keep them on the center channl (2). I'd love to bypass them.

Features
Good metering, which shows the amount of distortion you can expect. Small amount of peaking into the red is insignificant. Continuous red, especially at the top reds, will eventually produce significant enough distortion to be audible. This might be confusing, because the input, eq, and mixing bus stage has a different amount of headroom than the output stage. So you don't want to match the channel meters… read more to the master meter, since they actually distort at different volumes. Thus, you're unlikely to distort the individual channels unless you have the gain cranked up, the eqs in use, and the gain-faders below unity. The correct spot for the master/booth volumes is about 45 degree to the upper left to give you the same s/n ratio as the rec outs. Your amp can be cranked up to max unity/zeroed and just use the volumes, if you'd like, though the master meter obviously will show a lower spot with powerful amps. Weak amps that don't clip on their own higher, you then need to worry about peaking on the mixer past the first red led on the mixer.

Ease of Use
A wonder of ergonomics. Curvy. Everything's in the right place. I don't like the 'gradual' X-fader curve, since there's no dip. Optical CF works well. Mid and bass eqs are good. High eq band is a bit off from what I'm used to, though. Good curves on those pots, though. The upfader curves are a bit abrupt near unity, but the resistance and feel is as good as it gets. I prefer using them at their top as full faders most of the time considering how much headroom is available on the mix bus. You get better sounding blends that way. Also, with 5mV cartridges, full fader, and full gain, even my quietest records get just into the red on master meter at the proper master volume setting. Only a few records are loud enough that I simply put the gain at 12 o'clock and the gain-fader at less than max. Since this is an analog mixer, don't subtract gain below 12 o'clock and then go over unity on the faders. When I mix privately late at night on headphones, I mix to the unity on the faders due to the way split cueing works. It's really up to you.

Quality
Aside from the slight tonal and L/R imbalance between the channels, I really don't have any complaints on quality. The Matrix 3 does not have the Matrix 2's BNC lights defect.

Value
Given the price these can be had for, it's a steal. I know two other people that still consider it to be one of their favorite mixers, even compared to Pioneer and Vestax.

Manufacturer Support
Numark will work with you. They also still have the service manuals for all these products, should you need a local tech to repair it.

The Wow Factor
I think it looks sexy, but that's just me. I also think the Vestax 275 looks sexy, but that has more to do with the hotties usually leaning over them in club ads.

Musical Background:
DJ and trained studio & film sound dude

Musical Style:
Anything but country, though I tend to spin prog house, tech trance, breaks, ambient techno, and downtempo. read less