Unfortunately, after 5 lovely years with my Prime 4, I think I’ll have to end my marriage!!!. Denon has stopped in time with its hardware. Prime4+ was not an upgrade, just a stopgap, and now with the current launch of the Alpha Teta XDJ-AZ, the Prime 4s are outdated. Although they are still superior to me and have some features, Denon’s devices are outdated in design. I would love a new release, a completely new device to breathe new life into the brand. I’ve been waiting for something from Denon for a while to do an upgrade, but unfortunately I think I’ll have to migrate again to Pioneer, or now, Aloga Teta. This is just a rant from a fan who is passionate about the brand, but who feels a little abandoned. Although the Engine OS development team is wonderful, always bringing new and interesting features, this is not enough to remain a market leader in any segment, as Prime 4 has done and for me, in terms of features it is still superior, but it needs a revamp to continue evolving. Anyway, it was great while it lasted!!!
Don’t forget to close the door behind you when leaving, because if you close it in front of you, you won’t be able to get out. 
I’d say the 4+ is probably just as much of an upgrade to the 4, as the AZ is to the XZ, but I wish you good luck on your travels to the other side to see if the grass is actually greener 
Of what I seen as specs and reviews of the new AT XDJ-AZ - I am not impressed. Same old stuff in same package sugar coated with headphones cable cutter and… that’s about it.
Prime 4 still offers way more than this plastic toy…
Prime 4 still has more features, touch effects, echo fader, etc… The only thing I see better is the pitch effect and the keyshift mode… $1000 more for that… I don’t see it, but it’s a good all in one finally from Pioneer.
Sounds to me like you have got caught up in GAS and the hype… im just watching the review and im not sure what on this £2800 unit is meant to be putting Denon gear way behind? There’s literally nothing. You cant even see 4 waveforms at once can you?
Its not even a proper Pioneer, it’s a Ali-Temu branded player
Came here for the comments!
I don’t see anything charming about Pioneer’s launch, I’m still excited about my Prime 4, I just think the Desktop Engine needs a major overhaul where it knocks down the walls and builds everything from scratch, as it’s “extremely” far from being efficient.
You are free to do as you please with your money but your reason to spend nearly 3k on a device that does not have full functionality yet is a strange one to me, to flip your point around re no new hardware from Denon I would argue that is testament to how good the devices are, the sc5000 is still supported with free updates some 7 years post release i am not sure AP will be doing that. I have had my denon gear for some 4+ years now it all still works and the new interfaces are great. I am not sure where the ‘outdated’ part fits into to the prime gear it is very much a reflection of what most djs had asked for sleek design and preferably black Denon did that.
Denon will release new gear and for me that would be the best time to compare as arguably Denon has simply been waiting for Pioneer/AP to catch up before hitting back with the next evolution be patient would be my view
I know what it’s like to feel disappointed and switch platforms. Thank you for sharing your story with us.
When the first XDJ came out, I jumped on buying a pair because I had grown tired of depending on a computer to DJ.
Those devices were so underpowered and I felt like they were just not good at all. Then came the SC5000s, and I bought a pair of those and have been on the Prime standalone media players since.
I do hope you find happiness in whatever you decide to buy, and if you have the financial means, consider a more modular kit instead of an all-in-one setup.
Cheers!
Sir, you may be right but this latest release of ALPHA THETA leaves a lot to be desired, AZ is inferior to Prime 4, that is known from here to the moon. ALPHA THETA is manufacturing products more for consumers of the brand. I see that the Professional will be more felt in CDJs and MIxers type A9 for example.
Bottom line, use what suits you and your DJ style. Go for it.
I must say that there’s still a certain amount of Pioneer social pressure in the DJ scene.
Where are the Stems functionalities on that new AT AZ? I think the AT AZ is not a gamechanger. I hope DenonDJ will come soon with great hardware functionalities to use Stems.
There’s a rumour Denons silence is because they are working on something major and if the supposed rumour is true it is potentially game changing i hope it is true but it may mean having to replace my current Denon gear potentially
Yes If Denon would finally release a well functioning stemfeature this would be a complete gamechanger. i also would love to see better sampler functionality in traktor. Actually Traktor pro is by far the most advanced dj program. They had stems and sampler way before Serato and the rest of the competition. I went from traktor F1 to Denon Prime 4 when it was first released because i was tired of always have to connect computer to my setup. Now many years later we still dont have stems or posibility to loop and shift tempo on samples for example
The AZ is the usual AlphaTheta/ pioneer game… wait a few months after releasing the last combo-all-in-one, move a few existing buttons around, change the colour a bit, bump the price up by 25%, spend the money that should have gone on researching new advancements in technology on a hyped-up marketing campaign including giving away loads of the models free to the plague of tired semi-retired online and clubby “influencers” and the usual pay-to-review blindly-followed.
That ‘if you want to play in clubs’ mantra is arguably the most annoying thing in DJing… so much nonsense attached to it, its essentially doing Alpha’s marketing for them, stringing along gullible people who don’t know any better.
I feel like people are sleeping on the GRV6 now this is released, some of the features that controller has are insane, but its been swept under the carpet. Stems roll is a genuine standout feature, and pretty much the first stems feature thats truly impressed me.
But that stems roll is not on a stand alone unit. The device just has a button, all the stuff is happening on your computer. So rekordbox or serato has the feature, not the hardware…