There are so many controllers available nowadays. the choices are just staggering. This is Denon’s offering to the DJ table. When I first got into mixing with CDs, I bought the best of the best then, a Denon DN-2000F and I loved it. It seems that Denon has carried the functionality that was so popular in their CD players over to this controller.
According to Musicradar.com:
It’s basically a two channel version of the MC6000 controller, which was praised for its plethora of I/O options and amazing build quality, so expected the MC3000 to be relatively rich in these values too, albeit with a cut-down 2-channel, more compact design.
I might get this when my Hercules controller croaks but so far, it seems to be holding up just fine. I have always had a soft spot for Denon products and this one, priced at about $800 seems to be pretty good!
I was DJ’ing in a club for a couple of nights and this Denon DN-X500 was the main DJ mixer there. It looked pretty good, was in a 19″ rack format (something I personally love about mixers, DJ or otherwise) and the sound was pretty good. A description of the mixer from the webpage here sums it up:
The DN-X500 is a professional 4U 19″ rack-mountable analog matrix mixer that has eight line and two phono inputs which can be freely assigned to any of four channels. Four smooth 60 mm VCA channel faders provide level control, and a responsive 45 mm VCA crossfader with contour adjustment. Independent PFL channel meters help DJs to optimize and match levels for each source, ensuring a smooth transition between sources when crossfading.
One big problem I had with the mixer was the press-to-talk button on the microphone section. The bloody thing just would not come on and it looks like it is worn out. I know most things get worn out after constant use but I have seen my fair share of DJ mixers that can hold up to this abuse, simply by having buttons of better quality. The faders were good and the output superb. I would get this if I did not already have my Tascam, which, I might add, is still working fantastically.
I was using this combination of Pioneer DJ equipment last night at the club I was spinning at and frankly, I am quite impressed with their build-quality and the features put into this product. The CD platyers were the CDJ-350s and the mixer was a DJM-350. I mean, I like Denon and I can see myself getting a new Denon CD player soon but until then, I am still amazed by these babies. Given the fact that lots of DJs are making the move to MP3s and controllers now, I might even get myself a controller. But if you have CDs, honestly, the build quality of this DJ combination cannot be beat.
My fellow DJ friend, Patrick, had one of these in his house in Toa Payoh when I visited him in 1993. One major turn-off for me was the plastic covers on the CD player. I can safely say that these were one of the first few DJ CD players available in the market then. The problem is that dust could enter too easily into this unit, coating the lens. That would take its toll on playback. There was a joystick on the player too and it was supposed to be hooked up to a mixer. I do not know how popular this was but I must say that the Denon DN-2000F was the most popular. Still, when it came to DJ mixers, Vestax was one of the best
