I just purchased the Prime 4 +, but it has not arrived. I’m feeling nervous reading about many defective units here—sound quality issues, platter issues, pad issues. It seems like whatever you can think of has gone wrong with these devices.
I know I’m over my head with this unit, but I’m also fortunate that I can acquire ■■■ I WANT! That is a standalone unit with loads of effects onboard.
Any advice for a newb? Is there anything I should look for or test on a new unit?
I also get it; many people come straight to forums to B#@$ about products they don’t fully understand and blame the product when, in most cases, it is user error.
My advice, at least wait til it arrives before worrying about all that stuff
Don’t bother with stems etc right away just turn it on and start mixing music.
Make sure you prep some tracks in Engine desktop and sync them to a drive ready to use on the device. It can take a SATA SSD drive in a slot underneath but you can make do on a usb stick for the time being.
As a general rule of internet, you will see more negative feedback about any device on the market, as usually only people with problems will reach out.
The majority of satisfied and happy users, don’t go to forums and social media. They just keep on using the gear. So the ratio of happy / unhappy comments about any device is never going to be a correct reflection of the real world usage.
As for tips and tricks - we are happy to help, just search the forum for existing topics, if you will not find the answer, make a new post, we will do our best in the Denon community to help.
When you say newb, what part of it is new to you? DJing in any form? Switching to digital from vinyl? Switching to a standalone from laptop solutions? Also think about what you want to get out of the unit - are you planning to DJ just for yourself (nothing wrong with it)? Streaming? Hoping to play out in clubs / bars one day?
The most important advice happens off the controller. Listen to lots of music but be discriminating about what you pull into your library. The mechanics of DJing (loading a song, beatmatching, transitioning from one song to another) are not hard, and with some of the tools available they can become trivial if you choose. The hardest part is, and always has been, deciding what song to play next. The better you know your music, the better you tag those songs so you can find the right one, the better you’ll be.
Welcome 2 the Club! First rule: know your stuff! Just download the user manual and read that - even do not touch the controller before that! You spare a lots of time for yourself. This is a very good and full of features device! Most of the whining people so lazy to read that, just ask stupid and basic thing rather just read the manual… Please do not be one of them! I have the P4 for 4 years and I love that. I never had any database issue - please eject the drives before you unplugit ! PC and controller both! I had problem with the cue and start buttons"s microswithces - had to be replaced… I had to replace the mixer plate because the painting started to be peeled next to the 1-3 potmeters. Strangely withing the first 6 months. I do not hammer the buttons… Anyway I’m glad to chose Denon DJ - the features, the updates after 4 years makes this device as a new - check the “dj standard” devices - even do not know this features after 4 years… So, do not worry! Be exited, and read the manual!!!
the strange thing is - I barely use the 3rd channel’s potmeter… anyway - it started to slip off again - and the very same place… that is not bad, but I hate that. just a very small spots - next to the potmeters’s opening. The knob does not hit the plate, I always wash my hand before I touch the P4… I decided to buy a vinyl if I can not tolarete anymore… The 2-4 channel side looks as new…
the paint problem on the mixer happened to me on the prime 4 after about a year of use! then I moved on to the 4 plus and the paint lasted very little, more or less six months and it’s already faded! now in November I also bought the 4 plus white and after two weeks the screen went off and they had to replace the display under warranty! I had bought a pioneer rx3 but I sold it when I bought the prime 4 plus white! I didn’t notice any other defects apart from a couple of freezing of the console!
Don’t worry. Denon is a quality brand, and if there should be anything wrong, there is always warranty. I once needed a repair, my dealer handled this flawlessly. And the software is OK, many features that Pioneer doesn’t have. Of course there is a whole feature request section, but its a good platform to DJ on.
The Pio DJRX3 is about the same price as the P4 or the P4+. The features is about half of the P4+. I know the RX2 - I do not have any problem with that except it’s level of features. Like a toy next to the P4. I do not have any personal negative experiences with the duralibity of that - but the bigger ones have a lot’s of - regarding the forums. As everything recently in the consumer society. I have an AIWA AD-WX220 casette deck, what is still working after more than 40 years with some wearing parts replaced - but recently even the higher price or the well known brand means no warranty for the problem free working - even for the long lasting. Sorry to hear your experiences - these things are very frustrating, since these are should be heavy duty workhorses. Despite every problem what I have got and experienced I would buy again the P4 even today (I prefer the old one, the newer one too plastic feeleing to me and I prefer the christmas tree feeling also) - the knowledge/price ratio unbeatable even today if you want a standalone 4 channel full of features dj controller.
I have owned or own SC5000, SC6000, Prime 2, Prime 4+, Prime Go, X1800, X1850 only ever had one hardware issue and that was the cracking problem on the X1800 everything else other than the odd software bug here or there they are all pretty solid.
I’m totally new to DJing. I loved making mixed CDs back when CD writers became affordable in the late 90s. (I had to buy a SCSI card back then).
On the flip side, I’ve been into synthesizers all my life. Got quite a few keys and a plethora of eurorack modules.
I’m enamored with the idea of doing more than overlapping the beginning and start of similar songs, though, always have. I don’t want to sound like a broken FB meme, but I have a wide selection of music that the general masses don’t know. With my connection to the synth world, I’ve also got a ton of samples/ loops. I’m looking forward organizing it and collecting more.
I’ve performed, to real small crowds, with my eurorack, and I’d like to get to a place where I could perform with this awesome kit!
You guys are way more interactive than the synth world. I appreciate all the advice so far.
Hey @Mike_Bannmann, you are very similar in logic here like I am. I also took the djing to synth and sequencer level. Maybe it would be a good idea to start a separate subject about these things in a general area of the forum?
It can be as manual or automatic as you like, and the learning experience will be vastly different depending on how deep you want to dive into it.
The good thing is it sounds like you’ll already understand music structure.
If I (perhaps wrongly) assume it’s going to be some kind of dance music you want to mix, then the 4 beat bars and 32 beat phrases should be your primary focus. Not knowing how naturally you can pick these up, my advice to new DJs is always to get used to counting them when listening to music, this will help you develop your skills in setting the new track off ‘on the 1’
Tracks with matched phrases will 99 times out of 100 mix better, there are some exceptions but as a general rule this will help keep your mixes smooth and flowing.
Any other advice depends on whether you want to manually beat match or use the automation tools available on modern DJ devices.
