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Denon DN-S3500 Review
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| Greedy |
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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do you still have these? does anyone else have any comments regarding them? comments other than pioneer is better get them (from people who have never used these).
i'm having real trouble deciding between these and the cdj-200's. i'm upgrading from the cdj-100s'. :nervous: |
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| Spoonz |
i have a pair of s3500's... the first cd decks i've ever used which may explain y i'm still below the water in my learning curve. i wouldnt say i am struggling or have difficulty using them.
altho there are a load of buttons/features u can play with the basics are easily identifiable - me being new to cd decks, i still had no problems picking them up and playing them - it's just learning to use the extra features well within ur mixes that is where the main learning is... but afterall, isnt that wot cd decks are about? added creativity?
the build of them is solid, they sound great... the effects r nice and are easily changed. i dont know if i need to read the manual, but i'm not sure how/if there's a way to change the fx parameters before hitting the "send" button (flange/ech/pass) |
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| skip |
| quote: | Originally posted by Spoonz
i have a pair of s3500's... the first cd decks i've ever used which may explain y i'm still below the water in my learning curve. i wouldnt say i am struggling or have difficulty using them.
altho there are a load of buttons/features u can play with the basics are easily identifiable - me being new to cd decks, i still had no problems picking them up and playing them - it's just learning to use the extra features well within ur mixes that is where the main learning is... but afterall, isnt that wot cd decks are about? added creativity?
the build of them is solid, they sound great... the effects r nice and are easily changed. i dont know if i need to read the manual, but i'm not sure how/if there's a way to change the fx parameters before hitting the "send" button (flange/ech/pass) |
can you comment the looping feature (that is going to be on of the main features i'm looking for in new cd-players, so it has to be good). is it easy to make a seamless loop that really stays on time (a 16 or 32 beat loop preferably)? |
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| Spoonz |
| looping isn't difficult to do with them, but u're best reading about that in the manual as i havent really touched on it that much... there no videos on youtube or similar sites? |
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| i got big pants |
when i worked at guitar center...i played around with it seeing as though i was upgrading my cd decks from some denon dn-s1000.
it was a toss up between the 3500 or the 800. i didnt mind the s1000 so i took at look at the 3500, but in my personal preference...i hated the thing. it was not very acurate. the spinning platter was worthless. you couldnt get away from using it if you were using scratch/vinyl mode. that was the biggest deal for me, so i opted for the 800.
one thing i do like are those rubber buttons. dont know why...but they feel quite nice. i think i like the squishy-ness of it. lol |
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| Spoonz |
lmao - great review... get the 3500 - it has squishy buttons!
i find if i have the source set to platter, i up A LOT due to catching the platter by mistake - if i just use it to pitch bend it's great.... more accurate than pitch bend buttons (on anything i've used) - i believe the spinning platter will only be useful to u if u are a scratcher |
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| orangejuice |
| i thought the cue slippage problem was fixed in the new update denon released?? |
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| a.chan |
i have the 5000's
and i hate the cue slippage :whip: |
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| Spoonz |
| quote: | Originally posted by orangejuice
i thought the cue slippage problem was fixed in the new update denon released?? |
it was :P |
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| orangejuice |
| well it wasnt for greed cause when u buy new the newest update is already installed, i was thinkin of grabbin the 3500s too but the v9 update is still causing problems |
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| funaki |
I own 2 dns-3500 for close to an year now. and they are solid. took me 30 minutes to get a hang of them guaranteed i dont use much of their options like sampler and looping etc but i can look into them if someone wants me to.
After i got the player i updated to the latest version at that time which was 94 or so i believe, and then waited for the new version 99. have 99 installed for couple of months and didnt had any problem.
Took them to the gigs with me and had non stop playing on them for 8-10 hours. i've also used pio 800 and 1000, and it comes down to the personal preference. the F****ing pioneer dealer in my country had close to 1800$ price of 1000 and i got the 3500 for 530 or so 1 year ago. i was going for the 1000 but when i saw the price i picked up 3500 and have never looked backk.
If you are use to the 1000, u can change the 3500 to cue like pio and stuff.
overall its a solid player and i have no complaints here, i have added torq to the setup now along with 1xtech 1200mkII and im loving it.
Any more questions just ask.
Cheers
P.S. i dont scratch much, but i had a friend of mine whos djing for close to 10-15 years scratch on them and on pio and he loved 3500. i use the player with the spinning platter on and use the platter itself for pitch bending and slowing down etc. touch the sides rather then the plastic disc. |
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