Sound
The 3500 scratch is very close to the sound of a genuine turntable-- however, you won't experience the percussive sounds possible from a traditional tt setup like when you tap your finger on the platter. Fortunately, you do not have to deal with any record skips, jumps, or wearing out your original music sources. This is a definite plus if you spend countless hours practicing your scratching techniques. I have compared the sound quality and the specs to a Pio CDJ800 and while the Pio edges out in audio technical specs, the sound differences in the scratching and audio are negligible, definitely worth a listen at your local shop if you have the opportunity. I appreciate the extra effects that the Denon offers, this opens up a wider palette of sounds and creative tricks possible that are crisp, and if used properly, can add sparkle to your set.

Features
The Denon 3500 comes with a standard audio patch cables, 45 rpm adapters, (allowing a closer feel to vinyl), instruction manuals, and built in power cord-- i don't like the fact that the power cord is permanently attached to the unit, but the cord (US model) is a two-prong powered cord that is beefy, almost 12 gauge-like-- not to worry about wearing out the cord if it's in a coffin case anyway. The outstanding features of this player that i use often are the 2 hot starts (loops), BRAKE, DUMP (so you can reverse the sound of audio or any profanity in your set… read more and not lose tempo of the track), echo and filter effects, and last but not least, the direct drive spinning platter that I greatly prefer over a static platter. There are some things I wish this player had which include: 1. USB/or Firewire interface to allow hookup of an external drive so I can manipulate media (mp3's, wav's, aac, etc) just like a cd. 2. a waveform display like the Pio cdj1000's 3. removable/replaceable power cord 4. ability to use DVD media (i heard a rumor that a Denon DVD video player much like the Pio DVD may happen this year for less than $999) 6. a larger buffer so i can backspin forever

Ease of Use
I was scratching and spinnin with these babies about 20 mins after attaching the platter and scratch disc to the unit. The effects are pretty much intuitive; ie, push a button to turn on, turn the knob, and hear an effect variance. The looping features took me about 5 minutes to learn; however, as a comparison to the Pio's, I thought the Pio's were much easier to master (Pio's autoloop feature with the cdj800 is awesome). The user manual is clearly written and are great reference for the many features of this product

Quality
Took these players out of the box and immediately I have the impression of a solid, reliable product. Both 3500's I own had no cosmetic issues from the get go (had these since early March 2006), and have not displayed any signs of wear on the buttons even after spending 4 hours a day with them with heavy backspins, scratching, ejecting and inserting cd's continously for 10 minutes (i wanted to test myself); however, i do notice these machines get warm on the back, I measured with a digital thermometer and got 106 degrees fahrenheit, and have conferred with tech support that this was not an issue provided that the unit is given at least 1 inch of space and ambient room temperature is not greater than 95 degrees as the 3500 passively cools itself. As a testimonial, I've run these machines continously for 72 hours (via loop, and the platters spinning) with no stability issues whatsoever. Since these 3500's are pretty much a new model, I don't know what to expect as far as longevity goes, but I hope to get at least 20 years from the direct drive motors!

Value
The 3500 is above the competition in features and price, and in comparison to other products offers upgrades that don't require you to spend an extra $1,000 bucks for :)

Manufacturer Support
Bar none, Denon has one of the best technical support and user group forums available on the net. Silvio (Official Denon employee) is one of most knowledgeable folks in the industry and frequently participates on even the NON-official sites; ie, denondjforums.com. In my opinion, Denon strives to improve their 3500 (free software updates), and does listen to the DJ's that use them. In addition, there is a 72 hour turnaround time in the event something does go wrong. I've not had any issues requiring me to contact the warranty department. I'm confident enough that I don't bother to use a backup with these units; however, I may bring extra media just in case a cd gets scratched...

The Wow Factor
Prefer black vs silver.

Musical Background:
hobbyist

Musical Style:
miami, breakbeats, hiphop read less