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Denon DN-S3500 Review
Hey guys, I got a sweet bonus last week so I thought Id go to the shop and buy the Denon DN-S3500.
Straight out of the box, you could physically feel that you just bought some serious equipment. In your hands the CDJ felt solid with its metallic finishes and added weight compared to Pioneer's CDJ-800. Just like new Technics turntables, you install the platter yourself and after that, youre good to go.
Usability (6/10): Ill be honest, this isnt exactly the type of deck that you can just walk up to at a gig and use right away. Even after 30 mins of playing with the thing, I brought it to my gig to use and unfortunately did some n00b mistakes. . . .one which was hitting the track search knob and cutting off the music. The knob on the right is used for a couple functions and if youre not in the correct mode, turning the knob could result in something you weren't intending to do.
The spinning platter to me is a novelty idea. Though Im not turntablist, Denon did a great job emulating the traditional platter feel. The motor is strong just like the traditional Technics, and is direct driven. Scratching with this thing is a pleasure and I was glad that the sound quality didnt sound so "digital" like the Technics CD player. I would however, NOT try to mix with the platter moving like you would with traditional decks because its just not gonna happen. I tried for hours and I would wreck like crazy. If you want to mix, you better shut off the platter and use the "pitch bend" mode.
Effects (8/10): The CD player comes with numerous effects for you to play with and gives you more bang for dollar compared to Pioneer's CDJs. Right away, you will see that you are given the Echo, Flanger and Filter. The knob on the left allows you to adjust how dry/wet you want the effect to be, and the knob on the left allows you change the increments from 1/8 of a beat to 32/1 depending on what effect you are using. My biggest gripe with the effects is that when you go from one increment to another, like from 1/4 to 1/8 with Echo, its not smooth. If you want to do some serious effects, your best bet would be to get an external effects unit like the Pioneer EFX-500 or the EFX-1000.
Other effects included are Brakes, Dump, and Reverse which is cool, but not really mindblowing. You also have the pitch bend buttons and you can be really creative using that.
All in all, the added effects gives you more for what you paid for and can give you some creativity in your mixes, but if you want to do serious effects with more control, get the external Pioneer effects units.
Looping (10/10): I gave this a 10/10 score not because the result is mind blowing but rather I gave it a 10 because it does what it's suppose to do. . . .LOOP. Looping on this thing is simple, and trimming the loop is quick and easy.
Sampling (N/A): I didnt spend much time playing with the sampling feature yet so I can't really give a score for it. It functions like the looping option.
MP3 (N/A): Didn't get a chance to check this option out yet.
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Overall, this CD player is solid. It gives you more for your dollar, and rocks the Pioneer on many many levels and cheaper. Not only that, but updates and patches are downloadable from the Denon website for you to install if you need to. These will take you some significant time to properly utilize all the features to its potential so if you're looking for equipment to kill time with, these are for you. If you need decks to quickly use at a gig, I would not recommend these. Your best bet would be to get the Pioneer CDJs for simplicity.
I did however found one flaw to the decks and is the main reason why I am thinking about returning these. When cueing the first beat with the platter moving, the cue point slips. Its hard to explain without showing but lets just say that no matter how far back you move the track, the beat starts the moment you move the track up. So lets say the first beat is what you want to cue and is at 9'oclock on the platter. You move the track back half an inch to 8'oclock position and move the track forward to feel the cue. Now your cue is at 8'oclock rather than 9'oclock. This however only happens on the first beat of the track.
If you want a serious setup, I would recommend getting simple Pioneer CDJ-800s or 1000s, a nice quality mixer without effects (Urei 1603), and an external Pioneer EFX-1000. Nowadays everything comes with onboard effects and is a waste of money. But to each their own!
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When you start to criticize the times you live in, your time is over. ~Karl Lagerfeld
Last edited by Greedy on May-01-2006 at 14:31
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