I've been playing clubs and weddings out of Brooklyn for over a decade, and I've learned that a DJ controller comparison is really two comparisons wearing one coat. The first is hardware: how the jog wheel feels under your fingers with your eyes closed, whether the faders survive a year of aggressive cuts, how the whole thing holds up across a four-hour set. The second is the bundle. A controller is only as good as the software it ships with, and great platters wired to a subscription-only ecosystem are a worse deal than decent platters wired to software you already own.
This comparison covers four products: the Numark Mixstream Pro+, the Roland DJ-707M, the Hercules DJControl Mix, and one item that is not a DJ controller at all. Three of them are built for three different rooms. The fourth is for the ribs.
The short answer: the Numark Mixstream Pro+ is the best all-round pick of the three controllers here, the Roland DJ-707M is the one to buy if you stream or create content on camera, and the Hercules DJControl Mix is the cheapest legitimate way to find out whether you actually like DJing. Which one is right depends entirely on which of those three people you are.
Related: DJ Controller Setup Checklist for Beginners
The comparison at a glance
Numark Mixstream Pro+ DJ Controller
Standalone-first thinking for DJs who don't want a laptop in the booth; the strongest all-round pick of the three controllers here
Costs more than a beginner should spend before they know they'll stick with it
Roland DJ-707M DJ Controller for live streamers and content creators (DJ-707M)
Built specifically for live streamers and content creators, so the workflow matches the job
Overkill if you never record or broadcast; you pay for a job you don't have
Hercules DJControl Mix, Bluetooth Wireless DJ Controller for Smartphones (iOS and Android), dJay app, 2 Decks, White
Bluetooth, phone-based, dJay app included, two decks; the lowest barrier to entry in this group
Wireless and phone-first is a design choice with consequences; not a booth controller for a paid gig
SMOBOT WiFi Kamado Grill and Smoker Temperature Controller - for Daisy Wheel
Holds pit temperature on a kamado with a daisy wheel, which is genuinely useful on an off weekend
It is not a DJ controller, and no amount of wishful thinking puts it in a booth
Prices and availability were captured from Amazon Creators API and may change.
How I judge a controller before I trust it
Four things, in this order.
Jog wheel feel, eyes closed. The platter is the soul of a controller. Cheap plastic wheels with no resistance make every pitch bend feel like a mistake, and you cannot fix that in settings. Touch it before you buy it, or buy from somewhere with a real return window.
Fader life. Faders die. The question is whether they die at a gig or after 500 hours in the studio. A crossfader that gets smashed through a wedding season is a different animal from one that only sees gentle blends, and this is the most common failure point on any controller in this price range.
The software bundle. This is half the value and almost nobody factors it in. Whatever ships in the box decides what you can practice on tonight and what you'll be paying monthly for later. I won't recommend a controller whose basic features sit behind a subscription.
Gain staging headroom. Setting levels so your mix doesn't clip is the skill nobody buys gear for, and a controller that forces you to fight its output stage makes that skill harder to learn. Two solid channels with clean gain beat four channels you can't level.
There's also the hour. The first hour of a set, where you read the room and the gear reveals itself. Nothing on a spec sheet survives that hour if the fundamentals are wrong.
Numark Mixstream Pro+ DJ Controller
The Mixstream line is Numark's standalone-leaning series, and the Pro+ is the version aimed at DJs who would rather not have a laptop in the booth at all. That's a workflow decision, not a spec, and it's the reason this is my pick of the three controllers here.
I've been blunt about Numark's budget Mixtrack line in the past: fine for bedroom DJs, faders made of hope. The Mixstream Pro+ sits in a different price class and a different conversation. The thing I'd want in my hands before committing is platter resistance, because that's where a controller either earns its money or doesn't. If the jog wheels give you something to push against, you can play a real set on it. If they spin like a toy steering wheel, you can't, no matter what the marketing says.
Who it's for: the DJ who wants one box, no computer, and a setup that goes from car to booth in one trip. Who it's not for: someone who hasn't decided yet whether DJing is their thing, because you'll spend real money finding out.
Roland DJ-707M DJ Controller for live streamers and content creators
The name of this one is the entire pitch: it is built for live streamers and content creators. That's a specific job, and if it's your job, this is the controller on the list designed around your day. If you record sets, run a stream, or publish mixes on a schedule, the workflow around broadcasting matters more than a fourth channel or a prettier crossfader.
Roland's DJ line has always been the odd one out in a good way. The DJ-505 is weird and wonderful, and if you want drum machine integration there's nothing else quite like it. The DJ-707M carries that lineage into a box aimed at people whose audience sits on the other side of a screen.
The honest trade-off: if you never broadcast, you're paying for a workflow you won't use. A DJ who only plays rooms should put that money into platters and faders instead. Buy this one for the camera, or don't buy it.
Hercules DJControl Mix
This is the beginner's door, and it's the one I'd point a curious friend toward. Bluetooth wireless, built for smartphones on iOS and Android, the dJay app included, two decks, and a white finish that looks better on a kitchen table than most budget controllers.
The bundle is the argument. dJay on a phone you already own means your total cost of entry is the controller and nothing else, and at this level that matters more than any hardware spec. The mentor in me says the same thing every time: gear is not the bottleneck, practice is. Start with what lets you practice every night, and this one lets you practice on the couch, on a train, wherever you are.
What to plan around is that wireless and phone-first is a design choice with consequences. Bluetooth is convenience, not a guarantee, and I would not walk into a paying gig with a phone-based setup as my only rig. As a learning tool and a second setup, it's excellent. As the controller you trust at a wedding, no.
The one that isn't a DJ controller
I have to be straight with you about the fourth product, because pretending otherwise would be dishonest. The SMOBOT WiFi Kamado Grill and Smoker Temperature Controller is a temperature controller for a kamado grill with a daisy wheel. It has nothing to do with jog wheels, faders, or software bundles, and it does not belong in a booth.
It stays in the table because it was part of this product set, and because a lot of working DJs I know run a grill on their off weekends. If you want to hold pit temperature through a long cook while you're loading in or out, that's the job it does. Just don't buy it expecting to mix on it.
The trade-offs nobody puts on the spec sheet
Standalone versus laptop. A standalone-first controller like the Mixstream Pro+ removes a computer from your setup, which is one less thing to fail at 1 a.m. It also ties you to its ecosystem. A laptop rig is more flexible and more fragile.
Wireless versus wired. The Hercules proves you can DJ from a phone over Bluetooth. It also proves that convenience and reliability are two different purchases. Use wireless to learn, wire up to perform.
Two channels versus four. You don't need four channels to start. You need two solid channels and a brain that plans transitions. The extra channels are for when your sets get complicated, not before.
Streaming-first versus room-first. The Roland is the right answer to a question the Numark and the Hercules aren't asking. If your audience is on camera, buy for the camera. If it's in the room, buy for the room.
The bundle tax. Software subscriptions quietly cost more than hardware over three years. Check what ships in the box before you fall in love with a jog wheel.
So which one?
If you want one controller to learn on and you're not sure yet, the Hercules DJControl Mix. Lowest cost, real software, and if you quit in six months you've lost very little.
If you're serious and you want a box that doesn't need a laptop, the Numark Mixstream Pro+. It's the pick of this group for actual DJing, and the one I'd expect to still be in a booth in three years.
If you stream, record, or publish content as part of your DJ work, the Roland DJ-707M. Buy it for the job it was built to do, and don't buy it for anything else.
And if you need to hold a kamado at temperature through a long cook, the SMOBOT. That's the whole review.
None of these decisions are really about specs. They're about which room you're playing in and what you can practice on tonight. The hour will tell you the rest.