Having never scratched a record or CD (other than the undesirable kind, rendering them useless) I was a little wary of the DN-S3500. I’ve always thought that being a DJ took years of practice and involved some secret manual only given to those who are worthy. I couldn’t have been more wrong; the DN-S3500 transformed me into a turntablist almost overnight.
One of the coolest features of the DN-S3500 is that it actually performs like a real turntable. There is a separate platter and spindle, allowing you to stop and scratch the record without stopping the platter mechanism. It also has a solid adjustable pitch fader and realistic forward and backward scratching motion.
The similarities to traditional turntables end there. The DN-S3500 has an auto BPM sensor and syncs the onboard echo and flanger effects to the correct BPM. (Of course you can also tap or dial in your own BPM and control the effects that way.) It has a 15-second sampler and two available loop functions, which means the music never has to stop, even with only one deck! You can even set the platter to control the sample and scratch and reverse it.
Whether you’re an established DJ looking to expand your abilities or a novice with tons of CDs but no records, the DN-S3500 is an outstanding piece of gear that opens up a whole new genre of musical performance!