Hi everyone, I am having an issue which you can view in the YouTube video linked in the post.
One of my Denon SC5000 units is outputting really distorted audio, which varies in tempo and key weirdly enough, while also losing a lot of the left channel. I only got this pair a week ago and noticed the one unit wouldn’t connect to Wi-Fi, but I thought no big deal perhaps just a firmware glitch, as I’d heard the Denon’s software can be a little hit and miss at times. Then this sound issue cropped up after an hour of playing on the same unit, but was easily fixed by simply restarting the player. It happened a couple more times over the past week, once after an hour of performing and the other occasion only a few minutes after starting the unit.
However, restarting the player no longer corrects the issue - it has now become permanent and occurs through both speakers and headphones. The speakers and headphones are both functioning fine when outputting the other player or with any other equipment so it’s not those causing the issue.
I have tried different USB sticks, changing the phono leads, trying different mixer channels (it’s not the mixer either), external USB devices, factory reset of settings, turning off vinyl mode, key lock, adjusting platter sensitivity… The platter doesn’t change color and I’ve tried moving it during playback to see if that makes a difference but I don’t believe it’s a grounding issue.
I attempted to reinstall the firmware via USB but it’s not doing anything when rebooting in firmware mode, not sure if that’s because it’s already on the most up to date version so it prevents you from installing the same version.
Anyone else experienced this? Seems they will have to be returned if I can’t troubleshoot it and I haven’t missed anything obvious.
Sorry I have done so much troubleshooting I forgot to state the basics here - I am on the latest firmware on both players and the mixer. Cables, headphones and speakers have all been tested and it’s none of those causing the issue.
I’ve done some more testing and I’ve found that Layer B on this unit actually works fine and outputs fine through the layer B RCAs / phonos on the rear, but using the Layer A deck and outputs I’m still experiencing the heavily distorted sound and loss of the L channel.
Really strange, does that suggest it’s a software bug or an issue with only the Layer A output connections on the unit…
Hi, yes the layer A digital output is badly distorted as well. Playing Layer B through all Layer B outputs, both analog and digital sounds fine. Really strange…
You really did all you could regarding troubleshooting steps.
Just to save you from possibly returning the unit and waiting long for repair I would try the firmware reinstall not with a USB memory stick but with a usb cable using a PC.
But, all signs point out it’s a hardware issue, not firmware.
Hi everyone, thanks again for all the suggestions.
I have reinstalled the firmware via PC but to no avail. Layer A still has the issue. Also phoned Denon Support here in the UK and Matt was really helpful, but sadly as expected they can’t give a repair quote over the phone but they have suggested the unit gets sent in to them for diagnosis and repair.
Bought these from a private seller only a week ago so it puts me in a precarious position, while I do have buyer protection from paying through PayPal it’s a huge inconvenience to be without the player for up to a month so I have requested a full refund from them. Plenty of other used and refurbed units out there to choose from without having this hassle after owning them for a week.
I noticed earlier a few refurbed units with warranty have appeared on eBay from the same company where I bought my X1800, they are asking £850 each which isn’t too bad although still a lot more than what I paid privately.
Anyone have any thoughts on buying manufacturer-refurbed SC5000s or do you think it’s better to go new, there are still the occasional new units out there around £999. Or even the SC6000 but that’s really pushing it… This is my first serious DJ setup so I didn’t intend to get the latest and greatest…
Just an idea … is the mixer channel set to phono, instead of line input ? I know you mentioned that it’s the same on analogs out and digital out and, digital wouldn’t have any noise via a phone level input but …
Nah it was set to line, I know using phono can result in bad sound, I changed it to phono and managed to make it sound even worse lol (not sure how that was possible)
Good shout though it’s the kind of thing on the mixer I would completely overlook having spent hours trying everything else haha.
Rolled back to 1.5.2 (the only 1.5 I could find) and still had the issue, I’ve put 1.6.2 back on and it’s still there… Definitely looking like hardware at this point so I’ve messaged the seller to return as I could do without this hassle.
Funnily enough the Wi-Fi doesn’t work on this unit either, I initially put that down to the firmware doing it’s thing (it’s not a major issue for me) but it makes you wonder if they are related.
What do you guys do for redundancy in these situations, keep a spare SC5000 lying around lol. Or have a Prime 4 or Pioneer XDJ model on standby… Thankfully I’m not losing any work because of this but I imagine it could have been a major headache for some.
My redundant SC6000’s are my SC5000’s over the years, but some have a GO or Prime2.