Frankly I know LOADS of DJ’s (particularly, but not only) open-format guys, who have no use for stems. I could live a long, happy DJ life without them no problem.
Still, I do believe the Prime eco-system could actually handle it if it got added in some way (preferably as an optional extra).
I remember when Traktor came out with Stems, what seems like eons ago. And it never really took off.
Take a 1.000 DJ’s and you’ll get 10.000 idea’s of what is missing to make something their personal best piece of gear.
Unfortunately not all those things can be added and those that can need time and a prioritised order.
To say Denon is losing the race, imho, is not correct, because they are still the only serious system on the market that have their own OS, giving them the unique option of adding stuff again and again. From being able to use “dumb” controllers for 2nd layer decks to light control right out of the box to … you name it.
Is it perfect yet? Not by a long shot. Is it good? At this moment I think the Prime series is a formidable tool in the hands of an experienced DJ. And while I get that some people prefer using something else than Engine DJ, using the Prime’s as a “regular” controller for a laptop/DJ software setup was never the original design spec and perhaps not even the best choice one can make.
That said … if you had bought a Pioneer controller a year ago without stems for example, you’d be out there selling your old controller and saving up the extra money for one with stems, until something else comes out that you like and feel you must have and the cycle continues.
As I said in other posts, I love my Prime 4 and am so happy to not have to bother with laptops and software and such. Yes, Engine DJ is (still) lacking in some respects, but nothing I can’t work with. But the pro’s soooooo outweigh the cons, it’s not even a serious competition for me.
I wish everyone the piece of equipment that best suits his/her needs/wants, but for one new feature “lacking” on a piece of existing hardware to say Denon are missing the boat/losing the game seems a bit of a stretch to me.
My 3 cents as usual