Jog wheel tension (again)

Hey there. I’ve just received my prime 4 and I am running firmware 1.4.1 on it. I did extensive research before the purchase and was aware of the complaints of scratch djs about jog wheels on their units as being too loose.

I am not a scratch dj and I thought I could live with loose jog wheels since I enjoy the occasional backspin here and there.

To my surprise jog wheels of my unit are extremely tight. Backspin is nearly impossible and goes just a few bars back.

So the questions is: is just luck or denon fixed the old problem tightening up all wheels on recent product?

And is it possible to loosen them up a bit? Thanks in advance for the replies. L0

Then the tension won’t matter

The tension will probably change over a few weeks

I’ve just tried a backspin and I’m able to go back about 8 bars without too much effort. I usually combine the backspin with an upward “wash” though, as it cuts the lower frequencies and adds a nice decay to the sound - making it seem longer.

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No way for me to backspin more than 2 or 3 bars… It can’t be even called a backspin actually. Did you notice wheels getting more loose over time? I wonder if they do, but from and engineering point of view, it really makes not very much sense.

Isnt there an option to change this?

There is a nudge sensitivity button which just controls the sensitivity of the jogwheel. Nothing to do with jogwheel tension. Anyway they seem to be loosing up a little bit …

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I’ve had mine from new about 3 months back and I don’t ever remember struggling with backspins. There will be some sort non-user adjustable tension on them to give them the semi-weighted feel they do have, so perhaps it’s been set a little tight on your unit? No harm in giving them a few forceful spins for a few minutes to see if that lightens them up a bit. My pot controls have definitely loosened since I got the unit through everyday use.

Might be a manufacturing defect :man_shrugging:t3: I’ve had my player since day 1 and spinning back is definitely overkill around 6-7 measures. I’m like you and don’t scratch, but I do love the loose feel with a slow nudge sensitivity to make me feel like I have more room when nudging. If your still within your return policy, see if you can swap it out?

I bought a prime 4, intended to use it mainly for scratching but sadly the jog wheels were a completely different tension, The left hand one was really stiff, the right hand one was really slack. the right would easily spin a full turn, but the left you would strudel with a quarter turn. It felt like using two completely different decks. I bought it from Westend DJ who have picked it up and are going to replace it with a new unit so fingers crossed that it works as expected.

i have had a few prijme 4 units due to issues i have had with them and getting warrantied out. i can say i have experienced a very good back spin and the current deck i have no has waaaaaayyyyy to much tension. if i back spin, the most i get is 4 bars. on a previous unit i sent in for warranty, the back spin/platter was perfect. there is definitely inconsistencies with the manufacturing process with the platters.

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This is an issue!!! I dont care what anyone else says, Here is the proof:

I did a vlog comparison between two prime 4’s that demonstrate the tension on the jogwheel.

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Your buddy is a one lucky person man, i would give my kidney for that loose wheels … My Prime 4 have tense wheels just like yours and that is kinda holding me back with occasional backspins i like to do in sets, really curious if there is something Denon can do about this, if there is a possibility of change tighness so if i should keep my hopes for that or it´s late and they will bring it on next product

There’s no tension setting in software, so it’s a factory hardware setting which you cannot change on PrimeGO/2/4. I had a Prime4 and still have a Prime2 around here. Both were very loose, like your friend’s unit (and like the SC5000 at lightest setting).

However, they’re both pre-production models, so I don’t know if something was changed over time.

The same thing happens to me, a jog failed me and they gave me a new unit. The new unit works well but the two jogs are extremely hard, harder than in the video, I imagine it is normal but annoying in use. I do not understand that some units are so hard and others loose.

There’s at least one old thread on here, in which someone claims that early units had loose jogs and people complained, so (possibly) Denon tightened them for later units.

I think I’d want something between the two extremes. Right now it’s too tight to even last a beat, so it’s hard to use as a transition. OTOH it doesn’t need to last for more than a bar max IMO.

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I have a release day Prime 4 and it has a good amount of backspin so it is definitely the first run editions.

Perhaps the solution is: use WD40 in rolling bearings.

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Too liquid, and under the jog wheel there are pcb’s, You can easily damage them with that! - Bad idea!

I do not know, I have not opened the Prime 4 and I would not like to do so in order not to cancel the warranty. My Prime 4 has the jogs that run quite free, but not having a term of comparison I would not know if they are free or not, for me they are fine.

Mine was just an idea to make the jogs more free. Maybe it is not necessary to flood the bearings with WD40 spray, maybe a little bit is enough.

WD-40 is running with gravity very easily, so it will drip off from Your jogs to the pcb’s. And I can asure You - You don’t want that. More viscous lubricant that is 100% non conductive is more recommended, but also I would check first if any lubrication would not be more problematic. Not all types of bearings or sliders are made to be lubricated. There are dry run bearings too.