Hi,
I always used the Pioneer XDJ-RX and just just bought 2x SC5000 players and the X1800 mixer. To determine the right spot to switch between songs I always used the waveforms of both tracks under each other. Is it possible to see the waveform of player1 on the screen of player2?
No in the current firmware (v1.0.3). You could however use layers for this function.
If you’re mixing on Player #2 then you’re not using the Player #1’s controls, which means you can make use of just one deck. The second layer’s waveform is shown next to the current layer at the bottom of the screen when mixing 2 layers on a single SC5000.
Apart form that however - you’ll get used to mixing across two players. The screens are a really great size and crisp in a dark environment.
That still doesn’t give him the effect he is looking for - he wants stacked waveforms, and that is something that is generally not available on separate (modular) units.
well that might make for a nice feature request. if 2 units are linked the waveform of the other unit could be shown instead of the other layer of the same unit if only one layer is in use.
We should not be incouraging bad habbits of DJs when there many other features/bugs to be attended. Depending of visual info instead of using ears and song knowledge is not the way to go (and a big crutch for begginer DJs coming from software).
Its a valid request (stacked waveforms) If the SC5000 technology supports it. Not a deal breaker for me. I will like the stacked phase meter to be active even when sync is not being used as long as the players are linked.
that’s taking the same line as all the sync discussions. and also comes down to the same answer:
a software (or device) is not to discipline the user but to offer options. it’s up to each user what to use.
I was thinking closer to “use sync instead of riding the waveforms if you cannot beatmatch” but you’ve got a point 
I tend to agree with not attending to these kinds of feature requests with many other things (bug fixes and essential features) still being worked on.
I have no opinion on wanting/needing stacked waveforms to be able to DJ (well I do personally, but that is not relevant) and say to each his/her own.
One other note on that though: if you use visual tools a lot you need to actually look at screen(s). Personally I try to look a the crowd as much as I can. That is where the really valuable information about how you are doing and where you need to be going is gonna come from. Especially at transition time!
That said, this is high(est) end gear, not for starting DJs. For any DJ who ever worked a club set (and this has been true for the last 40+ years) playing without waveforms, with very limited waveforms and/or without stacked waveforms is a way of life. If you depend on stacked waveforms, there is no way you could have played on a club set successfully.
You can of course use a laptop and use a club set as HID-controllers giving you stacked waveform options (with most DJ software). Or you can use one of the controller options available, like the one the OP has used before.
Personally I feel waveforms are a nice addition to have and they provide some easy visual reference. But there is no substitute for knowing your (core) collection intimately. To this day I can tell you the break-up of the tracks I used often in the 80’s. Where vocals started, where breaks where, what intro/outro was there, etx.
With both sync and beat-matching mentioned already I like to add my 2 cents to that as well.
I like using both sync and beat-matching to take away some standard stuff so I can be doing other things and expand creativity. This is the plus of having the technology available. Here I agree with not taking a horse when there are cars available. By the same token, not every track can be synced/gridded correctly. I’d say, depending on your primary genres, you can hit somewhere between 75-90%. Now you COULD of course opt to not play tracks that can’t be synced/matched correctly, you could opt not to do back2back DJ sessions where you need to take over from the DJ before you and you could decide not to play anything from sources other than your own collection. In my eyes that is a limiting factor. So knowing how to do it when necessary and using technology when it is not gives you the necessary flexibility (don’t care what gear I need to use) and creativity (can use it to maximize efficiency and use freed-up time to do other stuff). Sure, you can drive around the whole world in a car with automatic transmission, but you’d be f*cked if you don’t know how to stick-shift and end up in a country where the rental company has only manual transmissions available, or if you were invited to experience driving a rally car. It’s still driving a car (not a horse) but you wouldn’t get off the parking lot. Which kinda tends to mess up your journey.
that makes sense … at first sight. but in practice there’ll always be stuff to fix so going by that you could never add new things.
completely agree. unfortunately (for some) this is the past and if we (and denon of course) want the sc5000 to be a success we have to focus on the future. and useful features which the competitors don’t have yet are the future.
of course there’ll always be a certain percentage of traditional users (like myself) who don’t use most of what the programs and devices have to offer these days but the majority is keen on toys. toys sell.
the key here is to offer options. more and better ones than the competition. using them or not is up to each user.
I totally agree. Been djaying for about 20 years now I still enjoy playing a classic vinyl only set mixing just by ear as well as playing a synced set on a digital set up.
There is no reason why Denon DJ can’t do both. Work on bugs with the firmware/software and implement good ideas as stacked waveforms.
The problem is that when you ignore good ideas, your competitor does not. This is why Pioneer DJ did this exact request is their CDJ 3000s.
@JWiLL Is stacked waveforms in the pipeline for future updates for SC5000s?
The lower track is either dismally boring or maybe it’s a split vocal / instrumental display, like vocals on the top, music waveform in the bottom
Awesome, thanks Kevin! So I take it that it will be available for SC5000 as well since that is a SC6000. How about moving the start/play line as an option to get more of a visual of the track as a mix preview?
I have no idea if it will become available for both units - it’s just a shot from a leak. But at least Denon DJ is working on that. We’ll have to wait and see.
Moving the play head to the left would be great. Not sure if a request for that already exists?
All I can say. Most Engine OS features will be available for all units. Old and new.
See here and like: https://community.enginedj.com/t/adjustable-playhead-position/24286
