Hello! I am new to the Denon DJ family and I recently got a Prime 4+.
I come from a modular synth and sound design background so I am familiar with a lot things going on with this beautiful controller. However, one thing that is cool about samples is to be able to load one and have it being played across all 8 pads the same way you would do with a Keystep Pro for instance; each pad representing a note (that I can change). Is it possible to load the same sample across all 8 pads with different notes? Or make it play in a specific scale?
Moreover, is it possble to chop the sample directly from the Prime 4+ and save it on an SD card/USB?
Unfortunately itās not possible. The feature inside the Prime range is a sample player so literally loads the samples in and plays them back upon hitting the pad.
I think once a lot of the major āwantsā are put into the Engine OS code we could see improvements around this area. Iād like to trim them or work with them a little via an interface like the beat grid edit screen. Maybe open a feature request if one doesnāt exist.
For now you can use something ideally suited like the Akai Force as it links via Ableton Link. There was talk about linking the beat grid info via the Ethernet port at one point but not sure if that ever came about. Now we have Ableton Link itās good enough for most cases. I use RemixLive to add some extra beats to tracks etc.
Thank you for the reply! What is the difference between Ableton Link and Ableton Live? I guess I can modify the sample itself on Ableton (like pitch it down/up and whatnot).
What does Serato DJ offer compared to Engine DJ? Also is there a way to record my performance directly into a USB/SD card that I have inside the Prime 4+?
Yea I thought so, no big deal, it doesnāt take long to do that anyway. I was just wondering how much of a stand alone is there with the Prime 4+. I guess sampler is not its biggest strength.
If you have a smartphone or tablet then you could probably find an app that can load and chop samples, then sync the tempo of that app to the Prime via Ableton Link.
There are a huge number of apps which support Link.
Thank you! Will check out the video! Is it possible to record my performance directly into the SD card inside the Prime4+ slot? How does recording work?
You can pull down from the top and youāll see a record button. Press this and choose the storage device plugged in. Itās super simple.
So Ableton Link is a protocol for sharing a sync clock between compatible apps, Ableton Live being one if them but lots of DJ and audio apps support it and itās made linking audio in-sync really easy.
Thank you, I figured out the recording part! And I also checked Ableton Link too seems pretty cool!
Also is it normal that the saved recordingās volume is so low? Is there a way to fix it? For now I am boosting the channelās volume seems to work great but wondering if there was a better way to fix that?
Thereās no way to fix that unfortunately. The Denon DJ team have added this as a way to ensure your recordings donāt clip and sound rubbish. Their solution is to put your USB stick into Audacity and normalise the recording. Having a button with ānormaliseā on it within the recording screen would be a great feature request.
Personally Iād like the option to add a little more to each recording this way so low volume isnāt a thing but the only current solution is to do it with an external DAW.
Thereās some great Ableton Link apps out there. I think youāll find one suited for your needs somewhere within that extensive list.
Going to throw in my 2p hereā¦ I was disappointed with the Link integration from IPAD but I have put the MPC in play and it seems much better. I have an MPC connected via Link routed to an external mixer. My SCLive 4 and MPC both have a channel in that mixer and I have a few external devices connected to the MPC. (Not yet tried my IPAD but that may also work!)
Link is a great feature AND donāt forget you can add samples in - I have a bunch of Splice samples which I bought in to Engine and analysed - that also works pretty well as you can loop them!!
