Denon DJ DN-HC1000S - MIDI Sub-Controller for Serato™ Scratch Live DJ Software

Comments about Denon DJ DN-HC1000S - MIDI Sub-Controller for Serato™ Scratch Live DJ Software:

finally found a controller that is great for browsing tracks, controlling loops AND controlling FX. simple use, solid design, great to get my hands off the computer!
only downside was it took a bit of effort to get the midi mapping from serato and set it up, but once i did it was on.......

Comments about Denon DJ DN-HC1000S - MIDI Sub-Controller for Serato™ Scratch Live DJ Software:

this honey allows some quick interaction with serato's more advanced (and more awesome) features. buttons offer a satisfying click when pressed, and knobs are equally analog-y. denon didn't go light on you, this hunk of metal weighs in at nearly 3lbs, it feels very solid. also, the sticky feet on the bottom adhered very well and it didn't move around at all during a rather drunken test.smooth operatorlaid out logically, with controls for each deck mirroring each other and some very handy file selection and load options in the middle, the hc1000s aims to remove the keyboard and mouse from your serato setup. the middle knob scrolls through lists of files, and when depressed bounces from crate to file selection and back. directly underneath the knob are some shortcuts to the files, browse, history, and prepare menus as well as buttons to load the track to your A or B deck. in the history menu is actually where i ran into my first (and so far only) problem. while the knob-click works well for bouncing from crate selection to the prepare/browse/file menus, it seems to get stuck collapsing and expanding the date if you're in history view. my only recourse was to bust out ye ole mouse and click back into my file selection. this seems to be much more of a software than hardware fault, however.the test rigother than making your life easier selecting tracks and sorting your playlists, the hc1000s really shines when it comes to looping and cueing. using a keyboard shortcut involving 3keys, good timing, and most likely a consumer keyboard with poor tactile feedback requires more guts than skill in a recording. i just never could get the timing right enough often enough to feel comfortable cueing live or really jumping around mid mix. i would always end up setting up my samples and loops, fine tuning the start with the decks and mixing them in. with denon's consistent and sturdy buttons mapped to these same functions, its a whole new game. now it's dead easy to tap in a cue'd beat or loop. now running an auto loop on the fly, and condensing it down from 32 to 1/2 beats can be done on beat and in time, making something that was previously a pretty big gamble come off easy and smooth every time. setting new cues and deleting old ones is as easy as pressing the button – or holding shift and pressing it again.surprisingly, my mix did not improve with more tequilabeside the auto loop is the more granular manual loop, which can of course be saved. this has an in and out button, both of which blink at you awesomely. i dont mess with this much, but the more pro fellers out there seem to think it's the bee's knees. another cool looping feature is loop-roll. if you hold this baby down it will loop your selection, but keep the 'record' going in the background. when you're done looping and you release it goes back to where the record would be if it'd been playing in real time. this is a great addition to auto-loop, which kicks you back to immediately post-loop – no matter how long you've been looping it. both have their place, but it's nice to see them have separate buttons rather than having to use a shift button.worth itall in all, for [$]US the denon hc1000s is a steal. serato always felt good, but the classic computer interface was less than ideal. denon came through with an inexpensive, solid product that truly enhances your ability to play. i would imagine that rane is taking note, and will most likely (if they have any sense) ship their own controller. i honestly dont know how much they could improve on it, but i imagine that it will sell just fine with a nice rane sticker on it.it should also be noted that this is *not* a serato-only product. as soon as traktor or whomever decides to write up some drivers, the hc1000s should work with any similar setup.