DN-X400... any good?

[azzurro]

I can't afford a rane or an allen&heath or even a pioneer mixer. I'd love the Zone:V6 but I think we all know the price will be veeeery high.

Anyways, the Denon looks good on paper, and I definately need a 4 channel mixer right now. The price is very good, but does that mean it has other shortcomings? Like soundquality... I need something that sounds good, and has an abundance of cueing options, because i hate single-ear monitoring. I'm not concerned with durability or build because I'm very nice to my stuff. And I don't care about the crossfader cause the last time I used that was never. Maybe some nice line faders and good VU meters would be a plus though.

In case it makes any difference I have two technics M3D's, two pioneer CDJ100's, and two electrix eq-killers. Would the DN-X400 fit my needs or is there really a noticeable difference between the denon and the rane, a&h, or pioneer?

Thanks

 

[Mp~]

For the price the DNX 400 is great. It comes loaded with options, although most you'll probably never use, and the sound quality is very good.

It does have a few shortcomings though:


1) The setup is very tight - tiny EQ knobs right next to the f aders. The mark in button (sets up track ids when recording directly to a CD recorder) is easy to hit accidentally. Pretty much you'll have to just be careful when tweakin the mix.

2) Only two phono inputs and they are located on channels 3 and 4. Designed to be used with CD players mainly.

3) Hard to visually monitor the levels using the decibel/VU meters. You can either monitor the program or the cue, but not the individual channels at the same time. You'll have to rely on your ears. You can switch between the cue and program easily to visually check the levels though.



It does allow for split cue monitoring in the headphones (both channels at once). Although, I wouldn't recommend doing it that way. A lot of club setups only allow for single ear monitoring - I learned that the hard way.

If you record on your computer, it has both optical and s/pdif digital outs, so if you your soundcard has a digital connection you can record direct to digital, plus it has a separate booth out.

I'm not sure it the fader starts will work with your CDJs - I don't think that's a big deal though, I've never used them with my Denon 2600.

I think the Pioneer mixers are better, but not nearly enough to justify the extra cost. They both sound great, but the layout of the Pioneers give you more room to work. As for the Ranes and A&Hs - that's a whole different ball game. I've never used an A&H but I've used the Rane MP2016 and it blows away everything else I've ever used. So damn expensive though.

Overall, for the price and sound quality, I think its a great mixer and have no problems recommending it. The tight layout bothered me at first, but its taught me to be careful when tweakin the mix - this has come in handy when working with mixers I've never used before.

Hope this was helpful.

Mp

 

[PaulieUK]

Fo
3) Hard to visually monitor the levels using the decibel/VU meters. You can either monitor the program or the cue, but not the individual channels at the same time. You'll have to rely on your ears. You can switch between the cue and program easily to visually check the levels though.



It does allow for split cue monitoring in the headphones (both channels at once). Although, I wouldn't recommend doing it that way. A lot of club setups only allow for single ear monitoring - I learned that the hard way.

Did someone say Denon???

I posted before that I put one of these in a club where I work as I hated their mixer.
As it is there for other DJs to use and paid for by me, my requirements were a good, solid but straightforward mixer, at the best price. I haven't been disappointed, and the other guys are happy with it too.

With respect to the above totally accurate points I would add that I use the split cue set up - I only ever mix with one earphone. This then splits the VU meter between program and cue, so it's easy to match up. This may not suit everyone's way of mixing.

If I was to be really picky I would have liked a little more volume on the headphones, and a bit more available gain on the channels, but that's it really.

I haven't found the compact size a problem at all.

I didn't approach it looking for a Denon, I just looked at them all and there just wasn't anything that came close in the price-quality-specs trade off. Buy!!

 

[azzurro]

Thanks a lot for the informative posts I was a bit skeptical because the price seemed too good to be true, but my worries have gone away now

The tight layout won't bother me, plus I also have eq-killers for eq work. Also, the two phono inputs isn't a big deal because the eq-killers convert phono to line level automatically. I'm not concerned about the fader starts, I'd rather do it manually. And I won't be recording to a cd burner directly, so hitting the track marker button accidentally doesn't worry me.

Thanks again!