I use the CDJ 1000 MK2 & CDJ800's with SSL all the time! It works perfect!

i've been hearing something about pitch anomalies and degredation from CDJs.. could be a myth

Go for the pioneers. I work at a music shop, dns3500 has been a problem.

Pioneers work well for me but if you are using if for a third channel neither one will work since SSL is only two channels. You could use a combo on vinyl and CD with the two channels but you would have to get a preamp for the turntable.

Mike.. what sorta problems?

i wasnt gonna use it primarily for SSL but I wanted something that would play my MP3s.. since I have acquired a grip of em for SSL...

is that so (3500)... can u elaborate...i've been eyeballing these for some time.

thanks in advance for your feedback mikefury

there is an update that should be released at the end of the month that is supposed to address the cue drift problem that the 3500 has (+ a couple other things). I'll let you know the results once I test it.

have a look through here for more info... www.denondjforums.com

some folks have stated that Pioneer decks output a superior control signal than Denons do, and perform better with SSL (just do a search on this board). I haven't used SSL with a Pioneer CDJ so I can neither agree nor disagree.

according to my customers they had problems with the cd drive and i believe the cue drift which was pointed out by dj dynamight. I'm afraid thats all i can say theyre were other customers but i did not deal with them personally. Its a shame they look like very versatile players. My customers prefer teh pioneers because theyre workhorses. They are very reliable. I really do hope denon addresses these problems they have some neat products.

BTW Skilla
If u want something that plays just mp3 look into the dns1000, honestly these are probably one of the best compact mp3 players ever. We rent these out from our store all the time and they are a favourite among our clients. Theyre small, they scratch, on board effects(flange, filter, echo/loop), MP3, and very compact! If you don't need all the bells and whistles that the 3500 offers then consider the dns1000 since its much more affordable and you get all the decent features. No one believes me but these guys are amazing. I'm a hip hop dj and I've seen house/techno djs rock a pair of those with an allen and heath xone 92 and they were amazing! i couldn't believe they did all those mixes with those little tiny players. Big props to the house/techno djs out there!

and sorry for this long rant lol

CDJ's work a lot better with SSL than any of the Denon's do. They just respond a lot tighter.

I was a long time Denon user and they are great products, so dont get me wrong, but for SSL, because of the way they read the signal differently, the CDJ's work much better, IMO.

I will revisit the 3500 once the new update comes out to see if they have taken care of the current issues or not. If the que slippage is 100% gone then I may revisit them again, but for now, again in terms of SSL, I will stick with CDJ's.

I had the Denon's 3000, 5000 and currently own a dn4000. I purchased 2 cdj800's last week and they blow all the Denon's away especially when controlling SSl with them. That's just my opinion though

Well I been using the CDJ's 1000 since the day they were released. Hand delivered to me by one of the Pioneer reps. I had the first ones here in Southeastern Ct. They are a one of a kind. Used every CD players out there. A few of them have their on unique features to them. Denon's are doing their thing dont get me wrong but must agree with BriChi, Pioneer blows them away with the response time especially with SSL.

cdj's all the way...

Since the late 90's I've found Pioneer's players to be generally superior to the Denon units. Especially in terms of the user-interfaces and reliability when playing CD-R's. The one notable exception was the dual-deck CMX-3000, which seems to have some design problems that were never resolved (despite the fanboy element on their user-forum insisting otherwise). Every time I've had to play on Denon decks I've hated it.

The one thing the two companies seem to share is highly irritating company/forum representatives. Enough said.

pio forum 'fanboy' ... sorry to derail this thread (maybe i should start another thread) .... i keep hearing others making comments like that... i haven't been on their forum, but what does that mean? sounds funny though :)

Basically fanboys are those diehard owners that swear up and down that their item is the best and is perfect. The problem with the pioneer forum is that you can not post anything negative about their products. If you do the post will be removed and you will be banned from the boards.

The pioneer guys are fanboys but the Denon guys are FANATICS. Sure you can post anything you want on their boards but they will say that you are wrong and then the rep and his whole list of minions will post how wonderful their products are and basically make your comment seem untrue. The thing thats funny is that they go to other DJ forums and do the same thing...hence the fanatics comment.

I will give it to Denon that they have a good service policy and seem to listen to their comsumers. I still don't get how Pioneer basically releases the exact same unit each time with features that appear to be just minor software changes. Its like they are sitting back with all these modifications already done and saying "well it's time to come out with a new unit. Just implement the MP3 this time. Those suckers will buy it. We are the industry standard."

Me personally i would go with the Pioneer CDJ-1000. its a sick player and there are also other players that are just as good or close to it. so what i would do is just go to a store where you can demo the units and just see what feels for you. Pick the one that has a good feel for you. Good luck both are awesome players!

There's this new Pio CDJ 1000 coming out pretty soon, supporting MP3 and all, and it should be quite nice. Never tried the Denon 3500, but it looks nice on paper. What kind of music do you play, and where will you be using them? Have you tried any of them yet? I personally don't like the Pioneers all that much (any of them, really), they just feel too "push-button" for my taste. Even though it has a bunch of issues yet to be resolved, the Tech 1200 DZ is still my favorite among CDJs. Hopefully there will be an update / mk2 from the Panasonic / Technics people soon so it can live up to it's 12" predecessor.
Oh, and to get back on topic: since you mentioned the MK3, you might wanna take a look at the Denon 5000. Tons of features, built like a tank, swappable drive. Probably too big if you're gonna have to carry it around, but still worth checking.

fanboy.... thats funny... i think here in ssl land, folks don't front like that..if someone has a tech problem or issue with ssl or anything in general....it seems there is always someone willing to help (btw, big ups to the mods)....

now on tha flip side, if someone peddles illegal music, or attacks others in a vulgar way, i know that stuff ain't tolerated.

thanx SSL peeps.. I spin funky house/electro house..most of the clubs I play at, use pioneer CDJs.. I've played around with the Denons at the stores, and I love the features, more so than the pioneers.. just not the industry standard here in Vancouver.

interesting to hear about the SSL issues, although I don't know if I would go full-on CDJs for my gigs..love the feel of vinyl.

i believe the s5k has a smaller footprint that the cdj1k.

Really not so. I haven't got the measurements and all right now, but the 1000 is far smaller than the 5000, which is actually quite large.

Outside of ssl IMHO they do not blow denon players. I have 3500s that i use with ssl the thing i don't like about them with ssl is the relatively small buffer size for the mp3s. Makes back spinning very difficult to say the least. You must use alot more hot cueing than i'm used to. I have had no problems with response with my denons. I have found that trying to use the seamless loop feature of the denon with ssl gives off a click right before looping back to the beginning of the track. Needless to say i don't use that feature and just do it manually ala beatjuggling. As far as not using them with ssl.....example comp goes down, they are dam good performers. Actually i can scratch slightly better using than in the standalone version than with ssl. The only problems right now is waiting for the patch to stop the cueing back to the beginning of the track sometimes when grabbing the scratch platter. And the 1st beat of the track drift. These are annoying however with all the skills that i know all of you fine djs here have its not something thats not manageable in someway. Sorry to be long winded. Just my 2 cents

cdj1k - 12-5/8´´w x 14-9/16´´d x 4-1/8´´h. Wt. 17 lbs.
s5k - Size: 11.2´´ x 4.4´´ x 12.9´´ Wt. 12.6 lbs

o

Sorry about before. You're right on this one, I thought you were saying the Denon DNS 5000 was smaller than the Denon DNS 1000... Gotta pay more attention when I read stuff in here.