Last year Numark produced the must-have for every wannabe superstar DJ with an iPod. The iDJ was an iPod based mixing console with cross fader and some rudimentary controls for the iPod. This was a good first try but there were some problems that limited its popularity. First, you needed two iPods to use the console to its full potential. While you could hook it up to other turntables or CD players, that would kind of defeat the purpose of buying an iPod console. Secondly, this unit didn't come close to meeting the needs of the DJ. While the "wannabes" might have been happy with the simple mixer, the lack of pitch control was a deal breaker for even the most novice of DJs.

To their credit Numark has listened to the concerns and come back with a product that very simply looks awesome. The iDJ2 may be exactly what bedroom DJs everywhere have been looking for. There have been so many upgrades from the first iDJ it's almost unfair to call this the iDJ2 as this really is a completely different unit. It has as much in common with the original as a Model T does with a Prius.

The first thing that strikes you is the styling. Numark has broken away from the iPod white aesthetic that seemed to plague everything a few years ago. These new units boast a black and blue motif that's reminiscent of Numark's own TTX turntable. More importantly there's plenty of room on the unit for mixing as the footprint of the iDJ2 got significantly larger. Part of the reason for this was the inclusion of a large LCD screen in the middle which displays what Numark calls a "revolutionary user interface." This screen will show track information and wave forms.

A major attraction of this new unit is the ability to play two songs off the same iPod at the same time. I don't know how many people have multiple iPods but using only one will undoubtedly make things simpler for managing the music library. In addition to iPods, the unit also has a number of USB ports that can be hooked up to USB memory keys, or hard drives. These external drives can be used to access more music or can be used to record your mixes. Numark has also been wise enough to keep the line-in function to allow hooking up of mics or other turntables. This function coupled with the easy recording may make this unit very popular among podcasters.