I have been using my sc5000 for more than a month now. I never used outside of my studio because of lack of functionality of this plate.
The sc5000 has a really big potential, so big that now this product seems more like a developemnt kit, a beta version, of what it could be.
JOG: the jog respond in a very strange way, when you are pitch-bending forward or backward, nothing that I could not manage, but for me really annoying. To explain better: if you push the jog forward and than you want to have the same effect going backward you have to move the jog more than 2 times backward comparing to what you didi going forward. I think Denon engineers deliberately conceived the deck working in this way but why we don’t have the possibility to customize this so particular sensitivity of the jog?
SEARCH CRITERIA (and rate on the fly…): this a very big issue, for me and maybe for people coming from TRAKOR or other software. (this is reason why I can’t use sc5000 to play in public). Search by: tag, year, gender, stars, etc. all this is missing on the plate (not on Engine Prime) and that’s not important till you have not to manage a library containing 6000 songs and to play maybe for 4/5 hours, and you can’t remember title and artist of all the song you have with you …
Denon copied so well the plate layout, why they didn’t copy the search and suggestion function for tracks available on Pioneer device too. ?
MIXING ONE DECK: this function, in my idea suitable as best Bar setup available, that was very attractive for me when I bought SC5000, is not easy to use right now. In my opinion, the way all informations you need to manage this way to work, are not in the right place at the right moment on screen. For example: the BPM of both tracks should be always readable without changing layer or screen.
Or, when you change layer some element of the plate change color, and that’s a good thing, but is still a poor help to not make confusion; it would be cool for example using the screen on the center of jog to give more information or color or… I don’t know…
Let’s not forget also that, passing from a layer to the other, the pitch bend need some time to start working right on the new layer…grrr.
So I would say: this function DOUBLE LAYER is there, but it need a better usability.
WAVEFORM: the waveform is good to see it when it’s big on the screen, but when you look the representation of the whole song, it result not so clear showing drops peaks final part, and the general differences in the structure of the song.(this comparing to Traktor or Pioneer waveforms)
So me I changed my ride, Im still convinced that SC5000, is a good piece of hardware, but after spending my money (€ 3400!!!) I want solutions, I want performance, I want a solid update!!!
So DENON what you waiting for? Missing feature are a big issue …I m coming here, in the forum, every day searching for helpful news, update or solutions… but nothing happen, and there is no scheduled implementation or newer version of firmware… nothing !!!.. how much time DENON think it ’s possible to manage things in this way??
By my side I really don’t know how many days I will wait to sell all my stuff on eBay….please do something quickly!!
Changing ride is good and will be always an option.