OP and other users are not happy with how they sound compared to Pioneer. I do agree with a lot of what they said, and it sounds like a similar experience for me on the Prime GO. Example: Reverb sounds like it is a plate reverb and isn’t very good.
I recently used a Pioneer recordbox controller and I have to say the effects were great and felt really forgiving to use. I was mainly using reverb and echo. Compared with Prime GO, it seemed like the Pioneer effects have a little lag when activating them, or maybe you can say a longer attack/slope. Then, when the effects are fully activated, they don’t increase the volume as much as the Prime GO. When deactivating them there is a nice tail that flows back smoothly with the dry signal. One thing to note is there is no tail at all on the Prime GO if you deactivate the effects with the effects ON button. There is a tail only if you move the volume fader down after activating effects. This is a similar story when comparing the Prime GO with Traktor and Serato.
What would be interesting for me to know is 2 things:
Are the effects the same across the Denon line up?
How are you using the Denon effects?
I really like the Prime GO and the effects are my only gripe with it. I would choose to use it over Traktor or Pioneers controllers but sometimes I wish it was easier to make the effects sound good. To be nice about it, the effects sound too “precise”.
Here we go again PKthe contrarian. No one said Pioneer is end all be all, but obviously if there are other products on the market one would compare them and also have a preference.
You could really contribute if you share how you use Denon effects instead of being defensive that someone brought up Pioneer. We all like Denon here that’s why we participate in the forum. If Pioneer was end all be all I would just get a Pioneer deck and dump the Denon.
Edit: Plus, if I were to convince people I know to get Denon instead of Pioneer the topic of effects would eventually come up. We are trying to find a way forward or a solution to have as many people like Denon products as possible.
I too am not crazy about the effects on my X1800. I am an Echo, Reverb, and occasional Flanger user and loved the sound of them on all my DJM mixers but have not felt that way on the x1800.
I love the washout I have on the X1800 and have grown to like my filters more than the one on the DJM.
In conclusion, I think, IMO, a little rework or fine tuning of the effects down the road would be great but none of these were big enough factors for me to switch back to another mixer.
You didn’t say it in those exact words, but it’s certainly implied (IMO) by what you did say.
I’m not defending Denon either. If I think something needs addressing, I’ll mention it. No mic signal in the headphones is a problem for example.
I personally don’t see why people seem to have such a big issue with the FX not being exact duplicates of those on a competitors product. That’s the way it comes across, to me.
Share how I use the FX? OK, I use the FX by selecting one, turning it on and adjusting the parameters.
To me, as long as the echo echoes, the flanger flanges and so on, I’m not bothered about them being different to Pioneer. It’s to be expected IMO.
@Shain I mainly use those 3 effects too. Have you tried the Prime range of products? Wondering how they compare with the standalone mixers.
For me if the effects were tweaked it would give me a lot more confidence. Denon would be an absolute no brainer. But right now it’s still fun to use the other systems ONLY because of the effects.
@PKtheDJ Like it or not Pioneer is still the industry leader. Many people buy Pioneer without even considering Denon just because the brand is more well known and “industry standard”. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a comparison with Pioneer.
As for effects, I am talking about the quality of effects - how they sound - and it sounds like to me you are 100% fine with the Denon effects on at least the Prime 4 and GO.
For the very rare occasions when I use FX, and disregarding the stuff Denon broke in v1.5, yes. I’m certainly not a “it has to sound like Pioneer” guy at all. I actually have a standalone Pioneer FX box, but I don’t use that either! I’m not a “smother everything with FX because I’m a DJ” type.
When you have two products made by different manufacturers that essentially do the same thing, it is very common for a person to compare one to another.
When you have multiple products made by the same manufacturer, it is very common for a person to compare the different models.
Examples of this practice in our world are endless.
PK, everyone is always going to compare any DJ gear to Pioneer. It’s what the majority of us have used in the last 20 years.
I understand where you’re coming from but for me, your logic can’t be applied to bettering sound, or features. If someone complained that the Pioneer gear has a orange button for loop in and out, I would agree with your logic but the OP is talking about effects quality. Would it have made it better if he compared it to another brand? Because the issue remains for the OP that he doesn’t think the effects sound as good as they could. Again I get your logic but try to put yourself in his shoes and see that he’s just using pioneer as an example that most would know the sound of.
Just out of curiosity, have you been a long time Denon user or have you owned and used CDJs with DJM mixers too? Perhaps we feel something you might not have experienced? I don’t know how else to express this.
I don’t own a DJM mixer but I’m not a stranger to Pioneer kit. I have a pair of CDJs, an FX unit, an SX2 and an RZ. I’ve used so much kit over the years I honestly couldn’t remember exactly which mixers that includes, but as I said earlier, I don’t use FX just because they’re there. Now and again maybe, but not constantly.
I don’t have much experience with effects of any kind as have come from just 2 1210s and a 2 channel mixer - only last year got a xone32 which basically just has frequency range filters.
I quite like some of the effects on the Prime - they are simply too loud. This is this very jarring jump in volume, especially at the ‘max’ wet/dry setting. Why is that? Is that normal? Unless you’re bringing a track in as an intro with an effect pre-applied, I’m finding it hard to work out how to use it more seamlessly.
