« A Good, Portable Controller »

Last month I had the pleasure of borrowing a friend's Denon DN-MC6000 to play a show with and boy was it a blast. Having not settled on a favorite controller worth buying new, the MC6000 definitely surfaced as a viable candidate due to its very functional interface and portability. As the majority of the shows I play are on the road, I need a controller that can weather the storm in the back of a van packed with production equipment. The Denon MC6000 in its small-suitcase-sized black carrying case stood through the test. Once inside the event, I opened up the case into a full work-station - a very cool aspect of the product. The controller lay in the base of the case but was large enough to fill the space up to the rim of the opened container so that the buttons were fully visible from a profile view. The top half of the case then turned into two pieces - one that was removed and set aside and one that folded into a laptop stand above but set-back from the board itself. I allowed the device to act as an external sound-card and connected the decks directly to my speakers via XLR. The decks then connected to my computer via USB, all in a tight, compact set-up that left plenty of room in the bottom of the case in which to store excess cables. As for the performance, the decks couldn't have worked better. Apart from the lay-dancer coming up to the table just to gape at the fantastic array of colors on the board, the MC6000 truly shined with its uber sensitive jog-wheels, 4 channels, and completely customizable and extensive effects rack. All in all I would recommend the Denon DN-MC6000 to someone who, like myself, might prefer a smaller set-up to compliment their smaller stature. The only set-back is the financial aspect which comes out to around $800 for a new unit. After having used one for free I'm not sure if I want to buy this product new, but it is certainly competing valiantly.