![]() Coming in at just under £850, the SC Live 2 is great value. What can’t be denied is that Denon’s DJ controllers always offer huge value for money. The Live 2 is ideal for live streaming or bedroom practice, and certainly powerful enough to be taken out and used in a bar or party setting. It’s a very impressive unit for the price, and certainly when compared to the XDJ-RR it’s hard to make a case for the Pioneer offering. The SC Live 2 could probably be described as a semi-pro controller, coming in at an RRP some £350 cheaper than the Prime 2 but offering a lot of similar features. If you don’t like them or feel the need to use them, you can of course turn them off completely. You’d never expect to rock a party with them or use them as a substitute for a club sound system, but the sound quality is certainly good enough for quick practice sessions, and they can also be used as a booth monitor, which is handy. Some might think that speakers are a bit of a gimmick for a supposedly pro unit, but in practice they’re useful for a number of reasons. The second major feature is the inclusion of built-in speakers, which is becoming more common on small controllers but still unusual for a full-size unit like this. ![]() In most cases you’d probably rather have tracks loaded and analysed in advance, but it’s a nice option to have as a backup. The first is the option to stream tracks losslessly from Amazon Music over Wi-Fi, a nice bonus feature which allows you to grab tracks on the fly if you suddenly feel the need to play a track you don’t have in your collection. ![]() However, there are a couple of main areas where the Live 2 sets itself apart. The SC Live 2 follows a pretty standard formula for controllers, which are becoming more and more similar as time goes by. It’s worth noting that the SC Live 4 offers eight performance pads for each deck as well as a few extra features like jog wheel displays, making it slightly more advanced as well as having four decks. There are only four performance pads per deck, but a Bank button effectively gives you eight options. Alongside the three-band EQ in the mixer section, you’ll find Sweep FX for each channel as well as the assignable BPM FX section. Firstly, the quality of the effects is excellent. In terms of standard features which set the Live 2 apart from alternative controllers, there are a few particularly nice touches. The build quality and feel of the Live 2 are impressive, but what’s most important is that everything about the operation of the unit feels well thought out, from the response of the jog wheels to the throw of the pitch faders. The layout of the two deck sections and the mixer will be familiar if you’ve used other Denon gear, but perhaps more importantly, it’s close enough to the conventions of other manufacturers that you won’t find anything surprising if you’re coming from a cheaper controller or hoping to advance to other professional gear. The feature set is very impressive at the price point: full standalone operation (or the option to control Serato DJ software with full hardware unlock), a large, multi-touch screen for loading tracks, and a fully featured mixer section in between the two large jog wheels. The SC Live 2 has a recommended retail price of £950 but sits just under £850, making it substantially cheaper than Denon’s own Prime 2 controller and Pioneer’s XDJ-RR.
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