New mixer (Denon DN-X600) lesson learned

I am a big Denon fan, so you won’t hear any bad-mouthing Denon from me 😀

What I can say however that the market for regular (even midi supporting) mixers is fading (and rather quickly). That is why it’s a steal. Most people have or will move(d) to all-in-one controllers (or their modular brethren). When playing out they will use club standard gear which still bears the Pioneer logo most of the time.

So good for you that you are happy with your choice and what you describe as pretty straightforward drop-mixing (not judging, just saying) allows you to do it that way.

At the end of the day it’s what works for YOU that is important. If you are happy/confident with your gear, you can make it work to bring the audience what they expect. Who are we (or anybody else) to fault you for that.

If you ask me honestly if it’s a setup I’d ever recommend to a DJ off the bat, I’d have to say no.

For me personally, not having transport buttons (Play/Cue) would already be a dealbreaker, as would doing all that stuff with my fingers on the laptop keyboard all night long.

I can add whatever I want to my SX2. Or if I already had an MCX8000 I could play it without anything (including laptop) attached or with DVS, regular vinyl, two more controllers, CDJs. I don’t see the added value in a midi-supporting 2-channel mixer. The only place those still have a serious role to play, imho, (without the midi btw) is in the area you justly identified, vinyl/scratch. But even with a resurgence of turntables (and the advent of HD vinyl), I am pretty confident that this will never (again) become the mainstay of DJ-ing. It will, therefor, stay in a niche. It can be a sizable niche and certain hardware vendors may continue to produce and even develop products there, but if you take a look at all the major mainstream DJ gear producers, it’s pretty evident that for every “traditional” mixer they produce/develop several controllers (all-in-one or modular). The modular mixers are nothing like the X600, but are purely the mixer parts of all-in-ones.

I had an X1600 too, with two SC2900s for a while. Let’s say I got them in addition to my controller setup and for sentimental reasons. At the end of the day, I found too many things missing from my workflow as I had gotten used to with my MC6000 and the gear too bulky, too cumbersome to lug around (my DJ coffin for that set was huge). I traded it for my current DDJ-SX and haven’t looked back since.

Clearly, as we have stated here many times before, if it works for YOU, that’s the most important if not the only criterium.