Denon DN-HD2500

[Tom]

I know there are quite a few dj's on here who use one and my quesion is for you.

Have you had any problems with this at all. It can be anything from a small silly thing to quite a major thing.


The reason i ask i that i have been seriously looking in to one of these. I need to know that this piece of hardwear is soild and is trust worthy. If thre are no problems i will be buying one at the end of the month.

I have downloaded all the video clips frm the denon website and im quite amazed what this thing can do. Very impressed so far.

I have found a deal where i can get the controller and the matching dual cd drive to go with it for £923 which i think is quite good.


What are views on this product???

[Corabar Steve]

The only issues I've had with mine were caused by the external HDD. A defrag & it was sorted.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

I must admit that I have been looking into this too. Didn't think I would this early but I am kinda running out of patience looking for particular tracks. What I may do is get the unit and use the HD on it and use my CD players too.

All I have seen is people going straight to this after what I should imagine is a painstaking task of transferring and tagging, and not using CD players at all. Maybe they take them in the van as back up?

What I want to know is....(and this will probably be a stupid question as I guess I know the answer already)...If I have a 4 input mixer...surely I could use the Denon HD on inputs 2 & 3 and CD players on 1 & 4? That would save me spending money to get the CD drawers for the Denon....wouldn't it?

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

There were issues when it was very first released, but they were sorted out with a firmware update.

I'm just about to put a 120Gb hard drive in mine.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I must admit that I have been looking into this too. Didn't think I would this early but I am kinda running out of patience looking for particular tracks. What I may do is get the unit and use the HD on it and use my CD players too.

All I have seen is people going straight to this after what I should imagine is a painstaking task of transferring and tagging, and not using CD players at all. Maybe they take them in the van as back up?

What I want to know is....(and this will probably be a stupid question as I guess I know the answer already)...If I have a 4 input mixer...surely I could use the Denon HD on inputs 2 & 3 and CD players on 1 & 4? That would save me spending money to get the CD drawers for the Denon....wouldn't it?


What players do you have?

[Danno13]

What I want to know is....(and this will probably be a stupid question as I guess I know the answer already)...If I have a 4 input mixer...surely I could use the Denon HD on inputs 2 & 3 and CD players on 1 & 4? That would save me spending money to get the CD drawers for the Denon....wouldn't it?

Yep, and that also means you can be playing from all 4 at once, since the HD2500 needs a reset to switch from Cd->HD and vice versa....

[Shakermaker Promotions]

A few but the ones I would use with it would be the Pioneer CDJ's.
I don't think the unit would stay in my flightcase as they are the CDJ500MKII Ltd Editions (the big ones), so it would be a case of getting a new flightcase (coffin at the moment) or just take it in the box and unpack it everytime.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Danno has answered what I was going to say.

[Tom]

Yep, and that also means you can be playing from all 4 at once, since the HD2500 needs a reset to switch from Cd->HD and vice versa....

You serious :eek:.

So you cant mix cd's and mp3's??? I was under the impresion that if i got both then i could mix a clients cd they bought in to a mp3 on the hard drive.

So really its a waste of money buying the dual cd draws then???

[Danno13]

Yeah, I'm fairly certain thats how they work, which is a bit of pain, as it would be great to have 4 sources avaliable instantley.. the ultimate backup.

[Corabar Steve]

Yep, and that also means you can be playing from all 4 at once, since the HD2500 needs a reset to switch from Cd->HD and vice versa....

I thought they'd fixed that one.

I used to take a limited ammount of "core" CDs & a twin CD player with me until I got the second 2500

[Tom]

Yeah, I'm fairly certain thats how they work, which is a bit of pain, as it would be great to have 4 sources avaliable instantley.. the ultimate backup.

That was the initial plan to buy these. Saves so much room and weight.

Hmm. Ill take a look in to this. Not that i dont believe you but just to check. :)

[Danno13]

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere recently that you still couldn't do it... maybe i'm getting confused.

Right.. just checked and what I was thinking of was that you can't use the HD2500 as a MIDI controller and stand-alone player at the same time.. I just assumed this applied to changing between stand-alone/cd control as well.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Yeah, I'm fairly certain thats how they work, which is a bit of pain, as it would be great to have 4 sources avaliable instantley.. the ultimate backup.

Like me? VDJ and a HD2500. :)

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Erm..? Not really sure about it then. The fact that they do CD drawers too makes me think that maybe Denon aren't that confident...oops...ok...re-word that, maybe some of the DJ's that have purchased the unit may not trust it 100% and that's why they feel the need to go and take CD's with them too.

That's my whole point. I don't think I could trust something enough to just switch over to HD and not take any CD's anymore. Having the CD players and the HD would be great as the HD could both be back up and main unit and vice versa with the CD players. Maybe I'm just being paranoid and dare I say it... a bit worried for no reason?

What about the Cortex then? Would that have the same effect? If I want to play a CD on say Channel 1 and an MP3 from the Cortex on Channel 3...would that work?

[Danno13]

Like me? VDJ and a HD2500.

Yup.. but you needn't have bought the HC4500.. if the HD2500 could switch between MIDI/standalone without a reset!

[Corabar Steve]

I don't think the cortex can play CDs can it?
Erm..? Not really sure about it then. The fact that they do CD drawers too makes me think that maybe Denon aren't that confident...oops...ok...re-word that, maybe some of the DJ's that have purchased the unit may not trust it 100% and that's why they feel the need to go and take CD's with them too.How is that different to having a back up CD player in case your main one goes down? Back up is back up whatever form it takes.

[Tom]

Erm..? Not really sure about it then. The fact that they do CD drawers too makes me think that maybe Denon aren't that confident...oops...ok...re-word that, maybe some of the DJ's that have purchased the unit may not trust it 100% and that's why they feel the need to go and take CD's with them too.

That's my whole point. I don't think I could trust something enough to just switch over to HD and not take any CD's anymore. Having the CD players and the HD would be great as the HD could both be back up and main unit and vice versa with the CD players. Maybe I'm just being paranoid and dare I say it... a bit worried for no reason?



I understand what you are saying. I use my laptop and trust it with my life. Never had a problem so far (touch wood).

The idea around the cd drawers was incase the HDD did ever go wrong then im covered. Plus its also handy if i have to play cd's.

Another thing is if a clients brings an MP3 player, this can also be pluged in the 2500. More reasons for me buying it.

I have emailed Denon. Ill let you guys know if anybody is unsure about this like me. Need to know before i start spending my hard earned.

[Corabar Steve]

What have you asked them Tom?

[Shakermaker Promotions]

I don't think the cortex can play CDs can it?How is that different to having a back up CD player in case your main one goes down? Back up is back up whatever form it takes.

I know the Cortex doesn't play CD's. It's an MP3 player and uses a flash stick drive. I was looking at one today and the guy said I could have the one on display for £250.00. I wasn't sure so I didn't get it.

Do they do 40gb flash sticks? (that's one question).

I don't know if I am putting what I mean across the right way.....

One mixer - 4 channels

Channel 1 - CD Player left side
Channel 2 - Denon or Cortex left side
Channel 3 - Denon or Cortex right side
Channel 4 - CD player right side

That's what I mean....I think it should be straightforward but it doesn't seem as easy as that?

[Corabar Steve]

Can't you use HDDs with Cortex then, I thought you could?

I can't see why the set up you mention shouldn't work

[Tom]

What have you asked them Tom?

Basically i asked if it was possible to mix an mp3 from the hard drive with cd from the bu4500 cd drawer but worded and spelt correctly. :o


I think there is another cd draw which works with the 2500 but i guess i should of said this in my other post.

[Corabar Steve]

You can run one side CD & one side MP3 as far as I know.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

You can run one side CD & one side MP3 as far as I know.

How?

[Tom]

Also you can mix using one side aswell. Mp3 only. Quite handy.

[Corabar Steve]

How?

Press source & select the option you want on each deck can't you?

Not that I need to. :steve:


Also you can mix using one side aswell. Mp3 only. Quite handy.

Only on continuous play, not really mixing as you'd have to use a playlist.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Press source & select the option you want on each deck can't you?

Not that I need to. :steve:

I don't think so, not on each deck.

[Tom]

Only on continuous play, not really mixing as you'd have to use a playlist.

Thats what i mean. :o :)

[Corabar Steve]

I don't think so, not on each deck.

There is a source button for each deck. Are you saying if you select CD for one, the default for the other goes to CD automatically?

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

There is a source button for each deck. Are you saying if you select CD for one, the default for the other goes to CD automatically?

That's what I thought. I'm not sure now.

[Tom]

I can just see it. 10am or somthing in the morning, all sitting there trying to work it out. :lol:

[Tom]

So really i just need to keep the hard drive clean and defrag when possible and everything should be ok.

In that case i will be buying one.

Just orded two 1U trays and a usb keyboard, one that lights up the keys

[Penfold42]

Tom...you won't regret it......fantastic bit of kit.

[Tom]

Im sold. :)

It may get a bit of getting used to because of the small screen but i was going to hook up the laptop so the screen it bigger and i can see what im doing.

I know its not a copy of the screen from the 2500 but i can see the somgs being played. If you get me???

[Adam_F]

Yep, and that also means you can be playing from all 4 at once, since the HD2500 needs a reset to switch from Cd->HD and vice versa....

You can run one side CD & one side MP3 as far as I know.

How?

Also you can mix using one side aswell. Mp3 only. Quite handy.

Press source & select the option you want on each deck can't you?
Not that I need to. :steve:
Only on continuous play, not really mixing as you'd have to use a playlist.

I don't think so, not on each deck.

There is a source button for each deck. Are you saying if you select CD for one, the default for the other goes to CD automatically?

That's what I thought. I'm not sure now.

Right....

I use the DNHD 2500 and the BU4500 about 3 nights a week at least. You can play four sources at the same using 2 cd's and 2 mp3's. I use deck 1 mp3 on channel 1, deck 1 cd on 2, deck 2 cd on 3 and deck 2 mp3 on channel 4 then have back up cd player line sources on channel 2 & 3 too, so can have about 5 songs ready to go if I'm organised enough.

The source button will flip between the cd & mp3, so you can play the cd on say deck 2, then while its playing flip deck 2 to mp3 mode, select your track, cue it and mix it in if your using the unit with a 4 channel mixer.

Also you can "sort of mix" off one side either using cd or mp3 as you have the next file option. You'd just have to know your picking a song that can be "blended" into the one your playing as its a preset (or user definable) crossfade time for the alpha track feature.

[Corabar Steve]

Thanks for clearing that up Adam.

[Adam_F]

Thanks for clearing that up Adam.

LoL, no worries.

When I first considered buying the drawers I couldn't find the info anywhere about it. Luckily I work in a dj shop though, so decided to open it all up and have a play to make sure it did what I wanted.

[Tom]

Thanks for that. Guess i'll be getting one then. :)

[Tom]

Does anybody use a laptop to have a larger display when using this or just the controller itself???


EDIT


Darren, you say that you are going to change yout internal hard drive in your 2500??

What type of hard drive is it because i have a spare 160gb pc hard drive thats not doing anything. Would this fit???

[djsteve10]

So you spending your hard earned cash again tom or is it going on the credit card :P

[Tom]

Cash. :lol:. I have only used my credit card once and i dont want to use it again unless its for an emergancy. I have saved for a while so this is my treat for the year. :lol: Oh and the mixer when i save up for that aswell. lol

[djsteve10]

Get the mixer on the credit card :P
You can have it all at once then lol

[Tom]

Not sure. Would rather save the money that pay intrest on the mixer.

Ill just use my behringer vmx1000 for a while. Nothing wrong with that at all, just want everything denon. Im re-vamping the whole rig. New playout system, new speakers ect ect.

[djsteve10]

Yeah good idea, Just got myself a credit card with 0% APR for the 1st 6 months so going to use it abit and then pay it off quickly lol.

So what speakers are you upgrading to then?

[Tom]

I would like to go for the DB technologies Opera Live 402. I already have the DB sub 15 and i do like it. Plus the db speaker tops are at least 8kg less than what i have now but there 100 watts rms less, but thats not a problem.

[Penfold42]

Im re-vamping the whole rig. New playout system, new speakers ect ect.

:cool: ...BTW Tom - you will be surpised how big the screen is on the Denon.
I have no trouble reading it......even for an old fogey like me! :eek: :D

Out of interest why do you want the CD players?
I thought a Denon with a laptop would be plenty?

I've got the Denon, some second hand crappy Cortex :sofa: and a laptop with PCDJ on it........plenty.

[Tom]

:cool: ...BTW Tom - you will be surpised how big the screen is on the Denon.
I have no trouble reading it......even for an old fogey like me! :eek: :D

Out of interest why do you want the CD players?
I thought a Denon with a laptop would be plenty?

I've got the Denon, some second hand crappy Cortex :sofa: and a laptop with PCDJ on it........plenty.

Thats good. The screen does look small but i guess you have to see it in person .

The idea around the cd draws was incase clients like to bring cd's. I have had this a few times. Because i was running my laptop as my main rig i would need to get another cable from the headphone output on the laptop into the mixer. Then i have to try and mix from traktor and windows media player. To much hastle if you ask me.

I just guess its also handy to had. You can never beat a cd if anything does go wrong.

[Penfold42]

OK fair comment..:)

TBH the lap top is if the doo doo hit's the fan and also if somebody comes up to me and hands me a CD.

I take it your going for the Denon mixer later on then?

[Tom]

Yeah. I have been thinking about either the x500 or the x900. The x500 looks like a really good mixer but i like the digital inputs of the x900. As the hd2500 and the bu4500 both have digital outputs this would give a much better output than the phono outputs.

I know its about how good your speakers are to get the best sound but as i said i will be replacing them.

[Penfold42]

You must have a well paid job......:D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Sounds (sorry about the pun) like you know where your going.....and we are about the same stage as changing everything.....

As said before you won't regret the HD2500....have fun! :)

[Tom]

It pays ok. Not as much as i would like but thats somthing else. lol.

As i wish to go full time i just want reliable equipment that wont let me down. The one reason why im looking at pro gear and not the cheaper stuff. Nothing wong with them, just need that somthing special. :)

If i have any problems i now know a few people who have one so expect a pm. :p

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Darren, you say that you are going to change yout internal hard drive in your 2500??

What type of hard drive is it because i have a spare 160gb pc hard drive thats not doing anything. Would this fit???

If you change the internal drive then Denon have said that it will invalidate the warranty, so think carefully before you do anything.

The HD2500 will take a 2.5 inch drive and only up to 120Gb. Your PC drive will be too big.

[Tom]

If you change the internal drive then Denon have said that it will invalidate the warranty, so think carefully before you do anything.

The HD2500 will take a 2.5 inch drive and only up to 120Gb. Your PC drive will be too big.

Ahh. ok. Ill stick to my 160bg external hard drive.

[yourdj]

Bought one, but have not used it live yet as it does not support mac! which i find really stupid (as 90% of the music industry work off macs). The software is also pc based. it does not even support my ipod as it is off my itunes. its all down to licensing. I was hoping i could plug my ipod in and read all the playlists as set on my mac, but no such luck.

if you have a pc though, great piece of kit!! i have dns1000 & dnd9000's so used to the layout. very easy to use and everything where it should be!

The main thing with the numark i noticed is that when you select a cue on the jog wheel you have to follow it around to keep it. the Denon keeps it there which really helps when cueing. much better peice of kit for the money in my eyes. some day i will actually use it !! good luck

[Corabar Steve]

Sounds like somebody needed to read up on it first.

[Tom]

Is there a denon usb hub. In a denon picture i have it shows one. Does anybody know where one would be avaliable to buy one.

I have had a look online but with no luck.

I know that any high speed usb2 4 port hub will do, just intrested in the price of the denon one, if there is one.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Is there a denon usb hub. In a denon picture i have it shows one. Does anybody know where one would be avaliable to buy one.

I have had a look online but with no luck.

I know that any high speed usb2 4 port hub will do, just intrested in the price of the denon one, if there is one.

The Denon hub came with the first few hundred sold in the UK. There was problems though and it is better to use a powered hub with it.

[Tom]

So i take it i should be looking at powered hubs?

I was looking at the non powered hubs as i thought there would be enough power from the controller to power it up as well as send/recieve data fast enough.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

So i take it i should be looking at powered hubs?



Yup. :)

[Tom]

Ok. Cheers. :)

[Tom]

Well my new toys have arrived today.

1x Denon DN-HD2500
1x Denon DN-D4500 Cd Draws

I wont post any pictures because you all know what it looks like.


Dont you find it a bit strange that they can charge x amount of money for the hd2500 but the software disc which is included looks like its on a cd-r as the cd is blue instead of silver??? Or is it ment to be like that as denon's colour is blue???

[Vectis]

Dont you find it a bit strange that they can charge x amount of money for the hd2500 but the software disc which is included looks like its on a cd-r as the cd is blue instead of silver??? Or is it ment to be like that as denon's colour is blue???

They probably don't make enough of them to justify the cost of pressing. Or maybe they're very good at sending the latest versions.

BTW - have you checked the serial number against :steve:'s list? :eek:

[Tom]

I have just checked and my serial number is different to steve's.


In a way i feel bad that its not his but also feel releaved that its not.

Does that make sence???

[Tom]

I have a slight problem.

When i plug in my external hard drive, the unit cant find it. I have tryed it in all the 4 different usb ports but still nothing.

Any ideas please?

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I have a slight problem.

When i plug in my external hard drive, the unit cant find it. I have tryed it in all the 4 different usb ports but still nothing.

Any ideas please?

Is it a Fat32 or NTSF drive Tom?

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

BTW - have you checked the serial number against :steve:'s list? :eek:

Don't worry, he got it froma reputable source. ;)

[Tom]

FAT32. Im sure NTFS wont work on this unit.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

And are you using a powered hub?

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Tom

You might to update the firmware and there maybe a plug in or two you might need for the draws.

Go here http://www.denondj.com/prodview_item.asp?pid=65 and follow the insttructions for downloading. You need to register first though.

[Tom]

:o

Yeah i did. I just double checked that all the cables were all pluged in and the power cable for the usb hub was not pushed in enough. Sorry for the false alarm. :bang: I'll go hide now :sofa:

EDIT:

I have regeristed the unit with them and downloaded the update but have not installed it yet. Just reading the pdf about it.

[Penfold42]

:lol:....i did something very similar...:o ....connect the unit to PC...and it wouldn't talk to it........only when i went back to the rubbish bin and fished out the instructions did i then work out how it worked......:D :D :D :D :D :D :D

[Tom]

Im finding it quite hard to use. Trying to remember the song names for starters. I was used to looking at a laptop screen and looking at a whole album with all the infomation there. On this your limited to what you can see.


I just spent 3-4 hours re-tagging all my mp3's so it was easier to find the songs. Im uploading all the songs on to the internal drive again. :(

[Tom]

Just worked somthing out. Might sound daft but if you have a song with swearing just press the dump button and it plays the song backwards while still playing fowards. Just tryed it and it works quite well.

I guess you can now play songs with swearing but you have to know where all the swear words are i guess.

[Shaun]

Just worked somthing out. Might sound daft but if you have a song with swearing just press the dump button and it plays the song backwards while still playing fowards. Just tryed it and it works quite well.

I guess you can now play songs with swearing but you have to know where all the swear words are i guess.

Yup it's a handy tool...it'd be nicer if the industry made cleaner versions available in the first place though. For those of you that haven't done so....please take a moment to sign our radio edits online petition. http://www.radioedit.org/. Thanks. :)