Are the D2’s worth it if you’re not using Stems? and can you change the tempo on each deck? I know it’s missing faders and jogs which could be a deal breaker for the purists.. I was considering sticking with what I know and going for the modular Denon SC2000 jog wheel but with the price drop of the D2 it might be worth considering.
I think it’s something i really want to try, but hoping it’s not a case of ‘ooo shiney’ and then regret my purchase.
Has anybody else here switched to the D2/S8 and regularly plays older music/non stems?
How does the remix decks hold out compared to the F1? do you miss the extra 4 buttons? I own an F1 as well which I love and trying to remix up my older music.
You can adjust the tempo of each deck. I hardly play stems (haven’t gotten around to it, but they are fun).
It does keep you away from the laptop. Although, I still am not used to the browse functions. I find myself going back to the laptop every so often.
They are usable for remix decks… I like the F1 better but I can see how I’d get used to it.
The extra hub on the back is very helpful. I sometime bring an F1 with me if I want to play remix decks extensively.
It is all about your workflow and if you can adjust (as with anything). For the price, they are worth it. Worst case, you can sell them for more than you paid (if they don’t bring out new models after or during messe).
I come from a traditional turntable background and use the D2 exclusively now (I migrated from turntable to cd, to S2, to X1, now the D2). I play mostly house and tech house, so it works for me.
I’d consider it for the price if you play must that is mostly sync able.
Thanks mate, yeah I love the F1 it’s something I want to use more.
I was going to buy some SC2000s but on the fence as i’m over beatmatching, been Djing 10+ it’s not really important to me anymore and when I seen the D2s i’m thinking if they are a good replacement for the F1 and I can live without jog wheels they would be a good shout considering the massive price drop they’ve just had.
But if the F1 is still better for remix decks then its probably a non starter as i’m not too bothered about stems.
The price drop got me pretty intrigued about this as well. It’s tough justifying money on something I don’t really “need” but more like “oh this would be cool”.
I don’t have the unit and nor have I been able to use it, but I like to think of it as a CDJ for traktor. I was using a CDJ setup for about a year (a xdj-r1) and I loved being able to take my eyes away from the laptop and get closer to the music, but I felt myself missing the huge library list that my laptop had and I felt limited without waveforms. Since I’ve moved to a DVS setup, I sometimes miss the “rawness” of being away from my laptop.
This seems like the perfect midway point to satisfy either agenda. Add it on to a DVS setup and you essentially have turntables with waveforms, add it to the Z2 and you have a perfect mobile and modular setup, add it to the S4 and you get even more flexibility then a S8.
But again, $600 is steep for a pair of screens. Especially given I don’t use stems, and what little remix deck functionality I use, which the F1 is more then capable of running one-shots. Decisions… I’m hoping to snag something cheap from CL after this price drop
I’m in the same boat mate, luckily i’ve got a lot of controllers I can shift to fund this experiment.
I’m thinking either..
Two Kontrol F1’s, one Kontrol X1 and a Denon SC2000
or
Two Kontrol D2s and a Denon SC2000
Both give similar results… The setup is a little more bloated than I would like but i’m thinking it’s the required setup to focus on Stems/Remix Sets but still have the SC2000 for tracks I feel need tempo adjustment… I’m not sure how it would work in practice.. I’d probably stick with a 2 deck setup and have the Denon controlling the same channels as the F1/D2s
haha same here : do i need it? Nope … would it be cool to have ? Hell yeah! and for the price i can really say im thinking about it. Right now i was just thinking of finding a better screen for my dn-s3700. Love traktor but i would love to loose the computer screen.
This isn’t really a “for sale” post, but i have pair of Denon SC2000’s with CaseLogic cases that i may consider selling. I’m not really using them, so could be tempted to let them go.
I’ve got two D2s now and I find that they’ve rendered my X1 Mk2 redundant in its standard form, apart from a custom remapping to control decks C and D of my Z2 mixer (gain, high, mid and low for each of the FX sections in conjunction with the Z2 volume knobs for C and D) when I decide to dabble with 4 deck mixing. I’ve pretty much minimized those decks on the laptop screen and just use Traktor on the laptop as a library management tool. Being able to quickly toggle between hot cue banks, looping and freeze mode is also a bonus as well.
I still haven’t purchased anything as I can’t decide, i’m looking to make a move by the end of the way. Definitely want to try Traktor on screens, but also love the jog wheel. Damn you NI.
I feel like i’m going to end up with 2xD2s, 2xSC2000s and a mixer… This whole exercise was to downsize
I picked up a pair of d2’s over the weekend, I have been using traktor for about a year but have not had any native control over it until now, I was using an APC40 with a custom mapping it worked well enough but it felt like I was just pushing buttons with no connection to the music at all. In regard to the d2’s I have to say im impressed, it has brought me a lot closer to the music than the APC ever did. The units are very well built and are very intuitive to use. The one thing I did pick up on through reviews and word of mouth is that the workflow is not for everyone, for me personally I have control over everything I need to and then some, and they do suit my workflow. It took me a while to get my head around gridding tracks with them - its no deal breaker for me as I prefer to beatmatch manually (I never used the x1’s but the touch strip does the job well) but I like to have things gridded properly for looping etc. The browser needs some tweaking, the info you can see on your collection is quite limited, you cant see comments or Camelot keys so every now and then i’m going back to the laptop screen, but still not nearly as much as before. I had been toying with the idea of getting a pair for about 6 months but it was the price drop that sealed it, I have busted a gut on overtime this month so I had some cash to play around with, worse case scenario if I find further down the line I don’t like them I can sell them for more than I paid. When I was buying them the guy scanned them then started messing with the till, eventually he excused himself and brought the manager down as they were not showing the correct price, the manager put him right and he couldn’t believe the discount on them I ended up walking out of there with 2 for £438, a bargain in my eyes.
I just picked up one D2; I don’t really have the space or money for 2 (and even the one seems huge to me). Will be toying around with it in the coming weeks; my goal is to replace the X1 in my setup with this and bring it to gigs alongside my VCI-100 primarily to use the remix decks. So far it looks like you can switch between A/B or C/D with it if you need to, but I’m not sure this would be so useful as a primary controller if there’s just one.
I’ve finally purchased a pair, managed to get them for £340, absolute bargain!!! I’ll hold on to them for a few months and if I can’t fit them into my work flow I should make a decent profit on them.
