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Denon MC3000

The Denon MC3000 is a 4-channel, 4-deck DJ controller and mixer with a built-in USB audio interface. It has two physical deck sections (jog wheel, transport, hot cues, loop controls) and a 4-channel mixer, but only two FX units and eight sampler pads shared across all four decks. The manual describes this as a "deck layer function that can control four decks separately": the left deck section can be switched between controlling deck A or deck C with the {hwlabel}DECK CHG. buttons, and the right deck section between deck B or deck D.

If you'd like to see something changed or extended in this mapping, please share feedback in the forum thread.

:::{versionadded} 2.0 ::: :::{versionchanged} 2.6 Added full 4-deck (A/B/C/D) support, current EffectRack/beatloop/ QuickEffect controls, and LED feedback for all four decks. :::

Useful links

Compatibility

  • macOS: no driver installation is required. The official quick setup guide's only macOS step is configuring the device in Audio MIDI Setup, with no driver install step at all, consistent with class-compliant USB audio.
  • Windows: requires the official ASIO driver, linked above (also originally shipped on the controller's Resource CD-ROM). After installing, check that MC3000 has a checkmark in the ASIO driver control panel and is enabled. The driver is old (2015) and not verified against recent Windows versions - if it fails to install, Windows' generic USB audio class driver may still work for basic use.
  • Linux: not explicitly documented by the manufacturer; expected to work with the kernel's built-in ALSA USB audio driver as a class-compliant device, but not verified.

Audio Interface Setup

The MC3000's built-in USB audio interface is documented (official quick setup guide) as:

  • Channels 1-2 = Master output.
  • Channels 3-4 = Headphone output.

Configure these in Mixxx's Sound Hardware preferences accordingly. The single 1/4" microphone input and the LINE 1/2 inputs are analog mixer inputs only - not available to Mixxx as audio devices.

:::{note} {hwlabel}MASTER LEVEL, {hwlabel}MIC LEVEL, {hwlabel}MONITOR PAN, {hwlabel}MONITOR PHONES, and the {hwlabel}LINE TO MASTER {hwlabel}PAN and {hwlabel}LEVEL knobs are fully analog on this hardware and are not sent over MIDI at all, so adjusting them changes nothing on screen in Mixxx. :::

Mapping Settings

The mapping features a number of options that can be customized from {guilabel}Preferences > {guilabel}Controllers, after selecting your controller and the Denon MC3000 mapping:

  • Jog wheel sensitivity sets the jog wheel's pitch-bend sensitivity for turning without an active touch-scratch - that is, whenever {hwlabel}VINYL MODE is off, or the wheel isn't currently touched (default: 2.0). Higher values reduce sensitivity.
  • Scratch sensitivity sets the jog wheel's scratch sensitivity while actively touch-scratching with {hwlabel}VINYL MODE on (default: 1.0). Higher values reduce sensitivity.
  • VINYL MODE on by default sets whether {hwlabel}VINYL MODE is enabled by default at startup, for all four decks (default: off).
  • KEY LOCK on by default sets whether {hwlabel}KEY LOCK is enabled by default at startup, for all four decks (default: off).
  • Quantize on by default sets whether quantize ({hwlabel}SHIFT + {hwlabel}SYNC) is enabled by default at startup, for all four decks (default: off).

Mixer Section

Control Function
Channel fader, Cross fader Standard volume and crossfader control.
{hwlabel}LEVEL Channel pregain/trim.
{hwlabel}FILTER QuickEffect filter.
{hwlabel}HI / {hwlabel}MID / {hwlabel}LOW 3-band channel EQ.
{hwlabel}CUE (left channel strip) / {hwlabel}CUE (right channel strip) Headphone cue (PFL) toggle. Only 2 physical buttons, one per channel strip; each toggles PFL for whichever deck (A or C on the left strip, B or D on the right strip) is currently active on that strip.
{hwlabel}KEY LOCK Toggles keylock for the deck. Off by default at startup for all four decks; see Mapping Settings above to change the default.
{hwlabel}SYNC Beat-syncs the deck. Hold past a short delay to enable continuous sync lock instead of a one-time sync. The LED lights while sync is active.
{hwlabel}SHIFT + {hwlabel}SYNC Toggles quantize for the deck. Off by default at startup for all four decks; see Mapping Settings above to change the default.

:::{hint} {hwlabel}LEVEL, {hwlabel}FILTER, {hwlabel}HI, {hwlabel}MID, {hwlabel}LOW, and the pitch fader (see Deck Section below) use soft-takeover: turning the physical control has no effect until it reaches the value Mixxx is currently using, so there's no jump. :::

Deck Section

Control Function
{hwlabel}PLAY Standard play/pause.
{hwlabel}CUE Standard cue-point behavior.
Jog wheel (touch + turn) Scratches when touched with {hwlabel}VINYL MODE on; otherwise bends pitch while turning.
{hwlabel}VINYL MODE Toggles scratch (vinyl) mode for the deck. Off by default at startup for all four decks; see Mapping Settings above to change the default.
Pitch fader Adjusts the deck's playback rate.
{hwlabel}PITCH BEND - / {hwlabel}PITCH BEND + Temporary pitch bend while playing.
{hwlabel}SHIFT + {hwlabel}PITCH BEND - / {hwlabel}SHIFT + {hwlabel}PITCH BEND + While paused, jumps to the track start/end instead of bending pitch.
{hwlabel}SHIFT Modifier used by several controls throughout this mapping.
{hwlabel}DECK CHG. (A/B/C/D) Switches the left (A/C) or right (B/D) deck layer for the jog wheel, hot cues, loop controls, EFX and other per-deck controls. {hwlabel}LOAD A / {hwlabel}LOAD B are the one exception - see the Library Section below.

:::{hint} Jog wheel and scratch sensitivity can be tuned to taste; see Mapping Settings above. :::

Hot Cue Section

Control Function
{hwlabel}CUE1 - {hwlabel}CUE4, {hwlabel}CUE5 - {hwlabel}CUE8 (with {hwlabel}CUE5-8 MODE) Sets/jumps to a hot cue point.
{hwlabel}SHIFT + hot cue button Clears the hot cue instead.

Loop Section

Control Function
{hwlabel}AUTO LOOP Engages/releases a beat-synced loop at the current position.
{hwlabel}SHIFT + {hwlabel}AUTO LOOP Deletes the current loop points instead of engaging a loop.
{hwlabel}LOOP IN / {hwlabel}LOOP OUT Manually sets the loop start/end point.
{hwlabel}LOOP CUT - / {hwlabel}LOOP CUT + Halves or doubles the active (or next) loop's length.

FX Section

Control Function
{hwlabel}EFX.1 - {hwlabel}EFX.3 buttons Toggles the corresponding effect slot on/off in the side's assigned effect unit (left = Unit 1, right = Unit 2).
{hwlabel}EFX.1 - {hwlabel}EFX.3 knobs Adjusts that effect's meta knob parameter.
{hwlabel}EFX.4 button Hold, then press {hwlabel}EFX.1 - {hwlabel}EFX.3 to focus one effect for individual parameter control -- while focused, those buttons/knobs control that effect's own parameters instead of the enable toggle/meta knob. A short press shows/hides the focused effect's parameters.
{hwlabel}EFX.4 knob Adjusts the assigned effect unit's overall dry/wet mix.
{hwlabel}FX ON 1 / {hwlabel}FX ON 2 Assigns effect Unit 1 or Unit 2 to whichever deck is currently active on that side.
{hwlabel}EFX Shows/hides the effect rack.

Sampler Section

:::{note} Per the official manual, the four {hwlabel}EFX.1 - {hwlabel}EFX.4 knob/button pairs above are dual-purpose, switched entirely in hardware by the {hwlabel}SAMP. button: "OFF: Switches to the effect mode. EFX. 1-4 are used to operate the effects. ON: Switches to the sample deck mode. EFX. 1-4 are used to operate the sample deck." There is no separate physical SAMP 1-4 control - it is the same EFX.1-4 buttons/knobs, relabeled in hardware. :::

Control Function
{hwlabel}EFX.1 - {hwlabel}EFX.4 as SAMP 1-4 buttons (while {hwlabel}SAMP. is on) If a track is loaded, plays it from its cue point. If the slot is empty, loads the currently-selected library track into it.
{hwlabel}SHIFT + SAMP button Stops the sampler if playing, or ejects the loaded track if stopped.
{hwlabel}EFX.1 - {hwlabel}EFX.4 as SAMP 1-4 knobs (while {hwlabel}SAMP. is on) Adjusts the sampler's gain.
{hwlabel}SAMPLE Shows/hides the sampler section.

The SAMP pad LEDs light solid when a sampler is loaded and blink while it's playing.

Library Section

Control Function
Track select knob ({hwlabel}SEL.) Browses the track library.
Track select knob push ({hwlabel}SW) Loads the highlighted track into the first stopped deck.
{hwlabel}FWD / {hwlabel}BCK Selects the next/previous playlist or crate.
{hwlabel}LOAD A Loads the selected track to deck A.
{hwlabel}SHIFT + {hwlabel}LOAD A Loads the selected track to deck C instead.
{hwlabel}LOAD B Loads the selected track to deck B.
{hwlabel}SHIFT + {hwlabel}LOAD B Loads the selected track to deck D instead.
{hwlabel}BROWSE Toggles the maximized library view.
{hwlabel}RECORD Starts/stops recording the mix.

Known Issues

  • {hwlabel}CF MODE is not mapped: its stock function, toggling the crossfader between audio and video assignment, has no Mixxx equivalent.
  • {hwlabel}DUCKING is not mapped to anything.
  • {hwlabel}MASTER LEVEL, {hwlabel}MIC LEVEL, {hwlabel}MONITOR PAN, {hwlabel}MONITOR PHONES, and the {hwlabel}LINE TO MASTER {hwlabel}PAN and {hwlabel}LEVEL knobs are fully analog hardware controls, invisible to MIDI.