My DN-SC200 just arrived this afternoon and the short of it is it’s a damn nice controller. The unit itself feels very sturdy and because of the steel case is surprisingly solid and weighty. The tsi from Denon’s site works well and w/in 5 minutes of unpacking I was having a go. Furthermore, all of the controls have a nice quality feel akin to NI’s Kontrol X1 and are sensibly arranged. The jog wheel is not flimsy and has a decent level of resistance so as not to feel as if it will fly away.
So far the only issues I’ve had is LED feedback in Windows causes audio distortion in certain instances. Namely when changing decks and activating autoloop. This is not really any fault of Denon and from what I understand will be addressed by NI in a future update. There is no obvious way to turn the unit off via switch or button combo. Though I purchased the 2000 with many considerations, compactness was a, ahem, big issue for me as I’ll be traveling overseas in the near future. Nevertheless, I would love to have the same functionality on a larger controller in the future.
Likes:
-Buttons have the same rubber feel as an X1 but with slightly less “click” on press (which I really like)
-LED feedback is superb (Windows users may experience audio distortion)
-Size is compact and the height is exactly the same as an X1 w/o the carrying case.
-Super solid, level and plum. Absolutely no teeter-tottering with the unit on a glass table top. Steel construction this things feels more solid than my Audio8.
-Jog and Pitch slider feel ace. Don’t think this will be for hardcore scratchers though.
-Overall design
-All the knobs are push button capable! Finally someone is listening
Dislike:
-Notched EFX knobs. This will take some getting use to…good for some FX but clunky for others (iceverb anyone?)
-Compact design makes FX knobs slightly cramped for those with troll hands. Maybe replace with taller knobs
-Jog is a bit small. Not a big deal for me but others may experience circumference envy.
-Filter knob is also notched which makes getting back to center (0) nigh impossible. Don’t use filter anyway may remap…could be an issue for some though.
I would like to emphasize how well the 2000 pairs with the X1 in both appearance and feel. Regretfully I only purchased one for 193USD and should have jumped on another at that deal.
You say you have feedback from the LED’s. I also have the SC’s, and get no feedback/popping. I think thats more to do with the audio settings than the Denon.
I have normal sized hands and i find the layout perfect, the notched rotarys are a little weird, but i know why they are like that, they give you confidence where the are set. I do use iceverb and problably will map a super knob to combine it, i din’t have any issues using it though.
I gigged with them for the first time last Friday, 6 hours non stop and they were brilliant I even had the confidence to do some live juggles and crazy 4 deck mashups.
I don’t have a problem going back to zero on the filter, in fact i would advise just pushing the button to turn it off for zero’ing.
I personally think this one of the best controllers to be released …it’s just so simple to use. (oh an it feels so much better than the X1 IMHO)
Hey JSM question for you, are you running 4 RCAs from the A8DJ to the mixer in order to have 4 independent channel EQs, faders and gains?
Ive been flirting with the idea of a similar setup to your 2xSC2000 + A8DJ + DDM vs an MC6000/S4 and so far the all in one is winning just because of portability and easy of use, although the modular design has its own advantages.
I have a lot of options, but generally yes, i use 4 channels from the A8 into the DDM. My gig last Friday i took the SC’s out for the first time and used the clubs mixer (i knew they had a DJM800).
I had a VMS4 and wanted the practicality of the “all-in-one”, but it just wouldn’t work ! So i returned it and bought the denons. I’ll probably get the MC-6000 in the new year for that purpose …I already had the A8 and an A4, so i din’t need to buy a lot to get full control over 4 channels.
My advise is go and try the SC’s out .. you will be pleased … everything fits into a large laptop bag !
That’s the setup I have, 2 DNS2000’s out 4 channels of the Audio8 to my mixer. Works great so far although I haven’t been able to really have a go at it for a long set as I’m totally new to Traktor and still gridding many of my tracks.
While I LOVE these controllers so far, the only thing I have a slight issue with is how close the pitch fader is to the jog wheel. I have to keep aware not to bump it when I’m manually beat syncing
I’m on an HP DV9000, 2GB Ram, Windows XP, minimal HW profile (i.e. no wireless etc…)
Audio8 to Xone:92
Kontrol X1
DN-SC2000
This has happened with every controller I’ve used with send monitor state for LED feedback: APC40, NDX800 and now Denon’s. Fortunately there is a fix that Str8upDrew created. I was just hoping the Denon would not be affected. Not a huge deal though, just an extra step when setting up.
The filter issue is not biggie for me. I have the Xone for that. The FX knobs are too close for me because on any clockwise turn my middle finger gets pinched on the neighboring knob.
Whilst i had that reservation about the pitch fader, i didn’t have any bother in a busy club and i wasn’t exactly professional this time, a little too much Jamaican rum and a lot of jumping around … i tend to use the left side of the jog for “nudging” the track. And if all fails, hit “sync” LOL ! :eek:
I suppose it’s just a learning curve as with any new kit.
Perhaps in the near future Denon will ask one of it’s users to help in the design layout of the SC-2000 Mk2, perhaps a little bigger (ie longer) the transport controls placed at the bottom, the jog shifted left, leaving the fader and the jog a decent distance away from each other.
Has anyone used the Reloop “contour” yet ? I see thats as the only real comparison to the SC2000…
If you are using the X-session, then you will be “internal mixing”, therefore all you will need is the A2 …one RCA pair to the amp, and headphone monitoring from the A2.
If you want 4 “real” or external channels then its a 4 channel proper mixer and an audio 8 is the only way forward (and you get to use timecode if you want.)
If you are happy with just two channels then an audio4 with a 2 channel proper mixer.
You CAN’T combine the 2 ADJ2’s without using ASIO4ALL and then you are bypassing the ultra low latency drivers that NI provide, and you’ll never get the smoothness that other DJ’s get with their setups.
What is it that you want to do, whats your budget, where do you want to play ? These are questions you need to ask yourself first before buying anything.
the VCI is indeed a wonderful machine, i don’t think you’ll ever have a problem with it …it’s 2 channel of course, but with the correct mapping, you can get a four deck solution (and again you will only need an ADJ2 as you will be internal mixing). Just make sure that your lappy can handle all decks and effects before spending your money …
have you considered the weird TR1 from Vestax its less than $500 and can control 4 decks …
Why? I am not been sarcastic here, is it for scratching, because the only real way to get good scratching is TCV and a pair of turntables, jogs can’t really “cut it”.
However if its for seeking/skipping through tracks, you don’t need them at all, mapping takes care of that (even the SC2000 has a mapping to skip through the track very quickly by holding shift and using the filter rotary) and i found i used that feature this weekend on more than one occasion.
If I were to get 2 Dn-sc2000’s and a DN-X120 would that make a good setup? What else would be missing if I want to use it for traktor? What kind of audio interface would I need?
