DJ NC

Take a look at this video by DJ TLM

Very informative, and thorough review of using a surface pro and serato to DJ.

IMO the fact that the screen is so small really detracts from using it as your laptop replacement, as you’ll be using the touch screen to select tracks (unless you get the SP1 but I don’t know what prices are like, probably expensive because Pioneer)

ask him questions and he’ll reply too.

Cheers

• This reply was modified 9 years, 2 months ago by DJ NC.

EDIT: Ok, I’ve just looked at the stanton and seen the inputs/outputs are the same as the denon. in that case, the only thing the denon has going for it is the build quality, which is worth it’s weight in gold. you’ll be able to sell it on for more too because the denon brand is quite desirable, because their controllers are built like none other.
Definitely worth it for the denon!

I had the same reservations as you, because my old laptop had a 15.6″ screen and I was going down to a 14.1″ on the lenovo. But, I found it wasn’t that big of a deal because the lenovo resolution is quite high (1440 x 900) compared to the (1280 x 800) on my old laptop. I didn’t actually lose that much real estate on the screen when running 4 decks on the lenovo, and you’ve got the benefit of Serato remote for your tablet/phone, so i’d be tempted to look for a smaller screen in order to slim down the weight of your gear, and for it to take up less space in the booth. just my .02c.

I have a Lenovo T410 that I bought used off ebay for £220. It has an i5-940m (dual core, 2.4 Ghz)and 4gb of ram. It works for me great, I don’t even have to turn the Wifi adapter etc. off to DJ with it and Traktor’s load meter stays in the 30% range consistently. I’d highly recommend looking on ebay, there are a lot of “business” laptops being sold on there for not a lot of money with the right sort of specs that you look for when DJing.

Hi,

I’ve got the MC3000 and am looking to upgrade to the MC6000 mk1 too, so I’ve done a fair bit of research!

The main differences are:
MK1 is Traktor/VDj native, the MK2 is Serato native (But will work with traktor/vdj) mk1 won’t work with serato
no record out, booth output EQ, pc/mac switcher (not important anyway), standby switch (again, not important) no internal mixer mode (I think it can’t be used as a standalone mixer), sound card specs slightly different, Items moved to the front panel from Top, Left Pitch is now mirrored to right side, Cue buttons became larger, Mic inputs improved, Phono 1&2 have moved to 3&4, Output Sound improved

I’m by no means a scratch DJ but they should be adequate for scratching IMO. Pitch faders are very sensitive, so great for beatmatching. AFAIK the 1/4″ jacks are fine for booth outputs, if the speaker takes XLR cables just bring XLR to TRS cables with you!
It’s certainly the most versatile controller out there, which is why I’m gonna pick mine up soon. I’m also very happy with my MC3000.

Any more questions let me know.

I’m gonna back up the MC3000 here. (I own one)

If you’re planning on playing out the MC3000’s steel construction is nice, plus it should survive being moved around a lot as well. I originally was debating between this and a numark NS4, I chose this because the sound card is supposedly higher quality (I want to play out with it) and the steel construction as well. It feels like a tank.

Yes, It’s kind of cramped but I personally haven’t found it a problem. (I’ve hit the jogwheel accidentally a couple of times, but that’s about it once you get used to it it’s awesome)
Loads of inputs for the price (2 RCA line in), 1/4″ jack mic in (with auto ducking) really robust (I don’t go easy on the buttons haha)
and it’s pretty small so you don’t have to make loads of space for it I’ve got mine set up on a chest of drawers for example)

any drawbacks?

You can’t route the mic through your software which would have been nice, jogwheels are a bit small for scratching IMO (i’m by no means a scratch dj) and line/phono inputs rather than just line in would have been nice also (but what do you expect for a controller of this price)

let me know if you want any more info about mine.