Denon DNX120 - Review

[DJAdumbration]

Hi All,

Well, my search for a basic mixer eventually led me to the Denon DNX120. I was going for the A&H Xone:22 but couldn't compete on value (for what I want).

I've had a bit of a play with the mixer and thought I'd post my initial thoughts here.

I love the design of the mixer, it's about as simple as you can get. Like most 2 channel mixers, you can configure it to have four line level inputs or the 2 line/2 phono with the flick of a switch. Having a HS5500 and a S1200, I need three line level inputs. It'd be nice to be able to mix between any combination of the three, but as I duplicate the tracks on the HDD's, it's kind of a moot point - I can use the second deck of the HS5500 for loops while the S1200 is playing with a quick flick of a switch.

I'm not happy with the external power brick and RJ45 (yes, RJ45) power connector. I'd much prefer an internal PSU, or at least a standard power plug so if (when) the PSU fails I can get a generic one from Disck Smith. Considering it has an external PSU, the unit has a decent amount of weight to it and feels well built.

Admittedly I haven't played with many mixers, and the best of those I have was a poor Pioneer 700 hire unit that had seen better days (but was still an absolute joy to mix on). I also realise that cross fader feel is a very personal thing but I like the smooth feel of the cross and up faders on this unit. The rotary dials all have a consistent feel, which is good.

That's all I'll post for now until I've had a more thorough play with it.

Cheers

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[Jaz]

Contributing to the Forum straight out the gates

Good Stuff,good read

[wazza]

yes.... DJ AZ is right... + REP from me to...good post

[lloydc]

+rep

nice one mate

[DJAdumbration]

Thanks for the comments peeps! I havent seen many reviews of this mixer so, I decided to write my own!

I had a play with it this afternoon. StoreDJ has it listed for a bit over $500, but DJ Warehouse sold it to me for $350 so not sure what the deal is. Possibly because they stuffed up on the website and had it listed for $295 instead of full price (this was next to an 'open box' DNX120 for $295). Either way, I think $500 would be a bit steep for this mixer. $350-$400 is about as high as you'd want to pay.

Enough of that, onto the performance. This mixer has a fully adjustable curve on the cross fader, which can also be reversed. I suspect this mixer was designed as a hybrid scratch/dance mixer as the area around the cross and upfaders is devoid of any other controls. one that is within fat-finger distance are flush with the faceplate so you can't bump it. Although all that one does is change what the level displays represent - cue/master or master L/R channels. Having SFA experience with scratching, I'm just going by the other scratch mixers I've seen around.

As I suspected, while mixing with this, the feel of the cross and up faders was, for me anyway, spot on. Very little resistance, great feel and no bleed on the cross fader - though for a new mixer it wouldn't bloody well want to either! The EQ dials work pefectly but have a fair amount of resistance to them. Not sure if this is because it's new, but I'd like them to feel a bit 'looser'. It takes a fair amount of effort if you want to kill a range to quickly turn the knob all the way down (this unit doesn't feature kill switches).

On the cue front, you can select which channel(s) appear on Cue by pressing the respective button for channel A or B. You can run both at the same time, the switches are totally independant of each other. Through the headphones, you have the choice of a mix between cue/master, which is fully adjustable, or split cue with the push of a button. Master through the right, cue through the left (unless I had my headphones on back to front!).

As mentioned, you have 4 inputs with a choice of phono/line on two of them. I have my DNS1200 through one channel and the DNHS5500 through another 2. You can choose between the Line and Phono/Line input with a nice simple flick of a switch. These switches kind of stick up above the EQ and gain knobs, so you may want to be careful when moving your hands around. I haven't bumped one of these... yet.

Last feature for now is the Mic input. I can't see myself using this unless I get a request to DJ a party, but you have a two band EQ, gain and 3 position switch with 'Off', 'Mike On' and 'Talk Over'.

If you can get this mixer for $350-$400 I would certainly recommend it for noobs and even more advanced DJ's who want something simple and classy.

Mix up people

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