mixtrack Pro 3 vs denon mc2000

[soundscapes]

As it would appear time has moved on since I last span the wheel of steel ( or virtual ones anyway ). Ive been looking at moving over to a controller rather than buying used cortex/hd2500 and mixer.
I anybody using one successfully for mobile work as the all seem to be slanted towards club type mixing ?
Ive looked at both the denon mc2000 and mixtrack pro 3 as im not planning on doing many gigs this time round so don't want to splash megabucks, has anybody used either and crucially what are the mic inputs like as ive heard some horror stories about mic quality.
Any other suggestions for alternatives gratefully accepted

[Excalibur]

I had an MC2000, and if my ageing laptop had got on with it, I might have still had it. It was replaced with an American Audio VMS2, and to be honest the Denon had more going for it. Mic inputs on each are nothing to write home about, and that's being generous.
Mixtrack 3, sorry no idea. I once had an old Mixtrack Pro, which seemed to work well enough, but I never used it in anger. Davesounds son Matty is currently using it to good effect, apparently.

[DJ Jules]

I looked at both, and then bought the Pioneer SB2 which is about £20 more than the Mixtrack Pro if I remember right? The Mic inputs are average on all of these units. Noise and sound quality are generally ok and certainly usable for the majority of functions, but there's no EQ on the single Mic channel on any of these units.

Principle reasons for choosing Pioneer? I don't like the Play/Cue buttons on the Numark kit and secondly the sound quality on the DDJ-SX I own was noticeably better than on my old Mixtrack Pro (1st generation) and the same is true for the SB2. Numark may have addressed this now they've got to V3!

Julian

[soundscapes]

I had an MC2000, and if my ageing laptop had got on with it, I might have still had it. It was replaced with an American Audio VMS2, and to be honest the Denon had more going for it. Mic inputs on each are nothing to write home about, and that's being generous.
Mixtrack 3, sorry no idea. I once had an old Mixtrack Pro, which seemed to work well enough, but I never used it in anger. Davesounds son Matty is currently using it to good effect, apparently.

Do you run directly from the controller to your speakers or are you running it into a second mixer ?

[Nakatomi]

Do you run directly from the controller to your speakers or are you running it into a second mixer ?

Without a proper mic channel any mobile DJ would have to resort to using an external mixer. I don't know why controllers even bother having a mic channel if

A) there's no on/off switch on the control surface
B) there's no XLR socket
C) there's only a level control - i.e. no EQ

[ukpartydj]

I looked at both, and then bought the Pioneer SB2 which is about £20 more than the Mixtrack Pro if I remember right? The Mic inputs are average on all of these units. Noise and sound quality are generally ok and certainly usable for the majority of functions, but there's no EQ on the single Mic channel on any of these units.

Principle reasons for choosing Pioneer? I don't like the Play/Cue buttons on the Numark kit and secondly the sound quality on the DDJ-SX I own was noticeably better than on my old Mixtrack Pro (1st generation) and the same is true for the SB2. Numark may have addressed this now they've got to V3!

Julian

I'd personally suggest an mc6000 over the mc2000 if nothing else the 6000 DOES have mic EQ.
Also the Play/Cue buttons are something which bugged me on my old MC6000 and on my Numark Decks & Traktor controllers before. Not a major issue but for whatever reason Poineer have nailed their buttons and other use horrible rubber ones... even Poineer's rubber buttons are loads better than Numark / Denon's!


Without a proper mic channel any mobile DJ would have to resort to using an external mixer. I don't know why controllers even bother having a mic channel if

A) there's no on/off switch on the control surface
B) there's no XLR socket
C) there's only a level control - i.e. no EQ

A & B aren't exactly essential but they are quite useful. However without EQ you could find yourself in a pickle!

[Excalibur]

?
Ive looked at both the denon mc2000 and mixtrack pro 3 as im not planning on doing many gigs this time round so don't want to splash megabucks,


I'd personally suggest an mc6000 over the mc2000 if nothing else the 6000 DOES have mic EQ.


I'm finding the 6000 at over £400, as opposed to the 2000 at £170. A price hike of 250% seems over budget to me. I would have suggested the VMS4.1 if I thought it was in the price range. I had a look at the Denon MC3000 manual, and there's no EQ on that mic either.


Do you run directly from the controller to your speakers or are you running it into a second mixer ?


Without a proper mic channel any mobile DJ would have to resort to using an external mixer. I don't know why controllers even bother having a mic channel if

A) there's no on/off switch on the control surface
B) there's no XLR socket
C) there's only a level control - i.e. no EQ

Justin's pretty much said it all. I suspect that these two channel controllers are aimed fairly and squarely at anyone other than mobile DJs. For the reasons he's given, I and everybody else I know feeds them into a small Behringer/Alto mixer for the mics, and a line channel for the music.

[soundscapes]

Think ill give them a miss then. Might as well keep feeding the laptop directly into the mixer and perhaps look at a rackmount midi controller

[Excalibur]

Do you run directly from the controller to your speakers or are you running it into a second mixer ?


Think ill give them a miss then. Might as well keep feeding the laptop directly into the mixer and perhaps look at a rackmount midi controller

In that case, two options.
1) El cheapo. USB soundcard, withDJ2GO. Not pretty, but works.
2) Something like the Denon HC4500 Pretty, and it works. Not terribly cheap perhaps.

[Nakatomi]

I'm finding the 6000 at over £400, as opposed to the 2000 at £170. A price hike of 250% seems over budget to me. I would have suggested the VMS4.1 if I thought it was in the price range. I had a look at the Denon MC3000 manual, and there's no EQ on that mic either.





Justin's pretty much said it all. I suspect that these two channel controllers are aimed fairly and squarely at anyone other than mobile DJs. For the reasons he's given, I and everybody else I know feeds them into a small Behringer/Alto mixer for the mics, and a line channel for the music.

There's also the MC4000 now, but it's not that much cheaper than the 6000. So if you'd be tempted by the 4000, just go for the 6000. Another thing on my 'want' list.

[Excalibur]

There's also the MC4000 now, but it's not that much cheaper than the 6000. So if you'd be tempted by the 4000, just go for the 6000. Another thing on my 'want' list.

If I remember right, there's an 8000 as well! :eek: I think we're due a demo of them at Liversedge at the end of the month.

[soundscapes]

Or I could stick either a cortex or numark cdn77 with my mixer since ive still got all my cds and would likely want a cd deck for backup in any case.
The mind boggles. It was never this complicated before. You either had cds or a laptop and that was your lot

[djdj]

If I remember right, there's an 8000 as well! :eek: I think we're due a demo of them at Liversedge at the end of the month.

I am hoping so
I like the mc6000 and the price tag on the 8000 is high, so will be good to see what the improvements are!

[mattydj50]

It was never this complicated before. You either had cds or a laptop and that was your lot

Before that you had vinyl, old pennies and very long arms.

[ukpartydj]

Or I could stick either a cortex or numark cdn77 with my mixer since ive still got all my cds and would likely want a cd deck for backup in any case.
The mind boggles. It was never this complicated before. You either had cds or a laptop and that was your lot

Depending on your priorities prehaps the following setup may be suitable:

Laptop controlled by Traktor X1
Mixer + CD player

I used a Traktor soundcard also, that setup was rock solid and excellent sound all round. I only changed because I thought it'd save time... which it does! But now I've got to live with not having exactly what I want in a setup... and it cost more... as I type this I'm starting to wonder why I ever did it? haha

Also I was able to replace almost anything in my old mixer ... now it's about 100 screws everything's soldered on (faders) and the faders seem to cost twice as much!

[mrrawuk]

Depending on your priorities prehaps the following setup may be suitable:

Laptop controlled by Traktor X1
Mixer + CD player

I used a Traktor soundcard also, that setup was rock solid and excellent sound all round. I only changed because I thought it'd save time... which it does! But now I've got to live with not having exactly what I want in a setup... and it cost more... as I type this I'm starting to wonder why I ever did it? haha

Also I was able to replace almost anything in my old mixer ... now it's about 100 screws everything's soldered on (faders) and the faders seem to cost twice as much!

+1 for a Traktor Soundcard. I still use one at my Friday resident gig as no room for a controller.