Numark

In the 80s the company made its mark again, introducing the world’s first mixer with a built-in sampler, the DM1775. In 1990, Numark continued to innovate, introducing the world’s first dual-well CD player, the CD-5020. In 1991, Jack O’Donnell, the former head of sales and marketing for Stanton Magnetics, purchased Numark. As the 1990’s progressed, some DJs began to use computers for their music source instead of CDs or vinyl. Rather than running from this change or dismissing it, Numark embraced this innovative concept and built upon it by introducing one of the first DJ computer software controllers, the DMC-1. The DMC-1 replicated the two-component, rack-mount design and control surface of dual CD players like CD-5020, so DJs were able to make a seamless transition from using CDs to controlling software. The HDCD-1, released in 2003, was the first DJ playback system with a built-in hard drive. DJs no longer had to bring a binder full of CDs or even a computer with them. The HDCD-1 had a familiar rack-mount design and was able to store an entire library of music internally. Numark operates several international offices in the US, Japan, South America, the UK, Germany, and Taiwan, employing an international team of product developers and engineers that are themselves DJs and musicians.