Prime 4+ – Audio stutter and lag when loading tracks (Engine OS 5.0.0)

Engine DJ Hardware Standalone Controllers
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1

Hi everyone,

I recently updated my Denon Prime 4+ to Engine OS 5.0.0, and I’ve started experiencing performance issues that weren’t present before.

Issue description: Whenever I load a track onto a deck while another track is already playing, I notice a brief but noticeable stutter in the audio. This affects the master output, headphones, recordings.

Steps to reproduce:

  1. Play a track on one deck

  2. Load a new track onto another deck

  3. Observe a short audio dropout or stutter on the playing track

Additional notes:

  • This was not happening on version 4.3.4

  • I’ve already done a database cleanup, issue remains

  • The issue seems consistent and easy to reproduce

  • Overall performance doesn’t feel significantly improved despite the update (and small music library - around 400 songs). Still feels sluggish when alternating between playlists.

  • I’ve tried to alternate between waveform visuals to see if it was related, but it still happened with the Tri-band display, too.

  • Edit: I should also add that after the upgrade, I did a ~55min set, and the problem started happening after about ~30min (I was even recording it). After it started, it has done the same consistently, even after a reboot.

System details:

  • Device: Denon Prime 4+

  • Engine OS version: 5.0.0

  • Engine DJ version: 5.0.0

  • Library: Cleanup done

  • Storage: Internal SSD (Sandisk)

I’ve also seen similar reports on the web from other users experiencing the same behavior after updating.

Has anyone else encountered this? Any known fixes or workarounds? Does the 5.0.1 (just released) include a fix for this?

Thanks in advance!

2

Not hearing any issues with my Prime 4 (just updated to 5.0.1).

3

Damn, he’s right! Since I actually planned to use EngineOS at my gig tonight, I checked it out—and lo and behold: it’s actually true. When loading tracks onto the slave deck, sporadic, audio dropouts occur. (v 5.0.1 )

Often everything runs smoothly, but then suddenly—and very distinctly—they become audible through both the master output and the headphones.

In fact, I already noticed this yesterday ( 5.0.0 )while using the “Continuous Play” feature, as I mentioned elsewhere. However, I did not notice this behavior when using the “Playlist to Zone” function—though in that scenario, no waveform is loaded or rendered either.

Furthermore, it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the new RGB waveforms, as I still have the old ones enabled. Now it’s up to the developers to determine whether there is a causal link here. While the slight visual stutters have always occurred every now and then, they never bothered me.

So, no EngineOS for tonight—no big deal—but the team should probably take a closer look at this issue.

As for overall performance, however, I see things differently: It has improved noticeably!

In case it’s relevant: I use exclusively FLAC files, and all my tracks feature pre-rendered stems.

4

I will try a factory reset later today (together with the update to 5.0.1).

This was suggested by the support team, but after reading the report from @U-w-B my hopes remain low.

I should also add that after the upgrade, I did a ~55min set, and the problem started happening after about ~30min (I was even recording it). After it started, it has done the same consistently, even after a reboot.

5

I just tested it—no change. Damn. I also tried using a fast external NVMe drive containing only FLACs and a few MP3s, without a database. (This was before the factory reset.)

The analysis on the P4 runs perfectly; it plays back smoothly while simultaneously rendering the waveform and performing the analysis. However, as soon as I load additional tracks into the slave deck, I experience noticeable audio dropouts—sometimes immediately, or at the very latest by the third to fifth track.

Hopefully, we’re just isolated cases—after all, it’s the weekend! Luckily—thanks to you—I noticed this in time; initially, I had simply dismissed it as an issue with Continuous Play.

Go live with a problem like this? No chance.

6

Ah, now that really should have been mentioned earlier. I only tested for a few minutes, based on the info given initially.

7

Yeah, I just realized today that detail after watching the full recording of the set I did. I’ve added it to the first post too.

8

Hi,I have the same issue.

Everything is up to date, os version, deskop version, database is clean up.

I am using an internal ssd.

br olaf

9

Yeah - that’s kinda a key detail

I wonder if there’s a one-time, one-off background task running that’s updating earlier music database to 5.x … which is hogging resources a little - but once completed, won’t cause the issue

10

Hiya guys, exactly the same issue here too, Denon P4+. Issue for me is exactly as described as above. It probably happens maybe 50% of the time I load a new track.

Overall, great update, but really hope this can be resolved asap, it kinda makes recording or playing anything live a no-go for now.

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12

A couple of snaps of the issue visualised in Audacity, if that’s of any help!

13

After a long night and a bit of sleep, I switched on the P4 again and ran a few additional tests.

It takes less than 30 minutes — and sometimes with a bit of bad luck, the dropouts can occur as early as the very next track.

At this point, I no longer believe the issue is directly related to a specific track or the database itself. I even created a completely fresh database with only around 50 tracks, resynced everything, and left the Prime running idle for roughly half an hour before testing again.

Initially, everything appeared stable, but the dropouts eventually returned. Sometimes a second dropout follows just a few seconds after the first one. So far, these second dropouts have consistently lasted at least around one second or longer.

Interestingly, if I reload the same track — or load another track first and then return to the problematic one — the issue usually does not reoccur immediately.

I was also monitoring the System Monitor during testing. In some cases, the latency indicator turned red and exceeded 200 ms during a dropout, but I also observed dropouts occurring at much lower values around 30 ms. At other times, I even saw latency spikes approaching 400 ms without any audible issue at all.

So at least from my amateur observations, there is currently no obvious one-to-one correlation visible there.

At this stage, I still do not have a fully reliable way to reproduce the problem on demand. Simply loading tracks sufficient to trigger the stuttering. Occasionally, the GUI appears to freeze briefly as well, although I have also experienced audio dropouts without any visible UI anomaly.

If anyone has ideas for additional tests, I’m more than willing to help narrow this down further.

For now though, tonight’s gig will definitely be a Denon-free zone…

I hate the Pioneer Layout.. i hat it i hate it ich hate it.. … … .. . :rofl: And yes — I may quietly cry into my pillow later.

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14

How do you activate those stats?

Edit: I just discovered how to activate the advanced menu by clicking multiple times on the version

15

Honestly, I don’t consider this information particularly helpful for us users anyway, since we simply aren’t in a position to assess what we’re looking at. For me, it was merely a very amateurish attempt to identify a correlation. However, I wasn’t able to spot one—which is likely due to the fact that I simply can’t properly interpret what is being shown.

16

The only thing I can suggest is to create a full new clean drive for your performance library.

  • Format the performance drive to ExFat
  • Open Engine desktop
  • select RGB waveforms if you want them
  • Ctrl+A your whole collection
  • Re-analyse everything
  • Run disc cleanup
  • Do a fresh install to your performance drive

This then gives the device the best possible chance of not having issues from the DB. There have been quite a few changes made to the way it works on this release.

17

That is exactly what I did—using only about 50 tracks. First onto the internal SSD (which I had previously wiped), and then again onto an external NVMe USB drive. No difference, as expected. I had already performed a factory reset yesterday; it doesn’t get any cleaner than that. Interestingly, the problem does not occur with “Playlist to Zone”! That has been running continuously actually now without a single drop.

19 
Hello everyone, the problem is that the console cannot free up the temporary memory that is occupied in time, so if you load a lot of songs with stems at some point it remains with 30 mega free memory and risks creating slowing down and sound interruptions, you can partly solve it by downloading the song with stems before loading the next one into the deck using SHIFT+DECK, then the memory is freed up by 100 mega and you can work more serenely. Of course, it's a dangerous bug that they have to fix right away. You can check the memory occupied by going to settings- about update and repeatedly pressing 5.01, a menu called ADVANCED is activated and from that window you can go down and start the first blue switch, you will have an eye on the memory situation used and you can do your own tests! ciao a tutti, il problema é che la consolle non riesce a liberare la memoria temporanea occupata in tempo, quindi se caricate molti brani con  stems a un certo punto resta con 30 mega di memoria libera e rischia di creare rallentamenti e interruzioni sonore, potete in parte risolvere scaricando la canzone con stems prima di caricare la successiva nel deck usando SHIFT+DECK , allora la memoria si libera anche di 100 mega e potete lavorare piú sereni. Ovviamente é un bug pericoloso che devono subito risolvere. Potete verificare la memoria occupata andando in settings- about update e premendo ripetutamente la scritta 5.01 , si attiva un menu chiamato ADVANCED e da quella finestra potete scendere in basso e avviare il primo switch blu, avrete sotto occhio la situazione della memoria utilizzata e potete fare le vostre prove!

Hello everyone, the problem is that the console cannot free up the temporary memory that is occupied in time, so if you load a lot of songs with stems at some point it remains with 30 mega free memory and risks creating slowing down and sound interruptions, you can partly solve it by downloading the song with stems before loading the next one into the deck using SHIFT+DECK, then the memory is freed up by 100 mega and you can work more serenely. Of course, it’s a dangerous bug that they have to fix right away. You can check the memory occupied by going to settings- about update and repeatedly pressing 5.01, a menu called ADVANCED is activated and from that window you can go down and start the first blue switch, you will have an eye on the memory situation used and you can do your own tests!

20

Fair shout man but I think it might be deeper than that, I don’t use stems or stems rendered tracks at all, just regular 320 MP3s from a library of 2500 on a high end USB…definitely affecting me…

22

What’s the album art size on the FLAC files? Are they larger than 600x600?