That’s the type of stuff these companies should be looking to eliminate, and the type of ideas they should be using.
Hi there, here are mine:
WHAT I LIKE ABOUT DENON SC LIVE 4:
__When my body is too tired, I can take this on to my lap and have only one wire going out and just use it - laidback playing is possible.
__Speed of using it - really runs fast with no lags.
__Truely 4 channel stand-alone.
__Effects are more closer and thus more handy to use.
__The effect parameter changes are well organized!
__Speakers are great! For what I want them for, they really are.
__There are no excess buttons - I basically use allmost all of the buttons - thus nothing is wasted, it’s minimal while being full of function.
__Portability is great! Weights less and really easy to enter existing dj tables at live events.
__In Jog screens help a lot. Sometimes it’s good to swhitch off excess information.
__The way you loop and beat jump - it’s just so much better with Denons way of doing it.
__No texts or logos around the crossfader - I like the clean way, as in general it has nice layout.
__Loop shifting, loop saving and active loops - a game changer for me.
__Grid editor!
WHAT I DON’T LIKE:
__Not possible to write tags to the search section (I used to do that in Serato). When I add the tag to comment section, Engine would not find them. Simple tag searches would be lot of help.
__Continueous mode does not play tracks from the same playlist. If there are tracks on both decks, then the next track will be coming from other decks playlist. I could not return to previous track, because it decided to select tracks from other deck-s playlist (when continous mode is on). I wish both decks played theyr own playlists.
__Lack of smooth key change. What they’ve done is good, but fine-tuning the key could be there. Could also have the key info inside the In-Jog Screens.
__The roll effect could have more than 4 beats.
__Sometimes when nudging with side of jog, it considers it as a vinyl touch and throws me a bit off the beat. Same happens time-to time in grid editor (I swear I had my sleeves up!).
__Sometimes at start of device the button lights are not lit at all. Then I shut it down and open again and then it’s all right. This tends to happen more and more. Don’t know why.
__(So mainly the issue side is connected with Engine OS and not so much SC Live 4.)
did you include comments as part of your search categories on the engine os device? the engine os devices I have (5/6000m) allows one to choose all tags or selected few e.g. title, artist etc.
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That’s nice, I didn’t know SC 5/6000M allows such option. The SC Live 4 with the Engine OS version of 2.4.0 does not have that. Pressing that arrow down menu next to search button - there is no option for comments. My computer version of Engine does have that, but it’s not on the device.
I have experienced and reported the same issue HERE. So far no official reply from the Denon staff. I hope they are aware and gonna fix that soon. Now to the topic:
MY PROS:
- Good Portability (more compact and much lighter than the Prime 4)
- The speakers are darn good, actually. Much better than on the Mixstream Pro and overall very convenient for fun / spontaneous / outdoor sets, since…
- … you can also power the entire unit with a powerbank, thanks to the 12VDC input
- Tilted screen with dedicated, big buttons for menu and lighting
- Sleek design, good and efficient mixer layout
- Jog wheels feel nice and have more useful screen info than the P2/P4
- Linefaders feel better than on the P2/P4
- Full size and smooth pitch faders with zero-pos LED
- All outputs covered: RCA, XLR and TRS Booth
- Big Autoloop encoders (like the SC6000 have)
- Dedicated track skip and beatjump buttons
- Full Serato DJ Pro support (unlock device)
- Proper 4 channels… which devices twice as expensive don’t offer (XZ, cough)
- All the bells and whistles EngineOS offers (Lighting/DMX, Ableton Link, Streaming…)
- Compatible with LC6000
- Fair pricing for what you get
NEUTRAL:
- Lack of SSD slot is no dealbreaker, 2x USB + 1x SD is perfectly fine for me and most people. And since my Macbook has a SD slot, transferring music is very convenient. While the P2/P4 require a direct wired connection for sync which is impractical
- The whole unit is quite flat, hence I raised the feet with a DIY hack
- The screen is quite small, especially for 4 deck mixing. Switching to 2-deck-active-only mode helps a bit, but the GUI / library needs improvements (example/vote HERE)
- EFX quality is acceptable, neither great nor bad → has been fixed / much improved!
- Plastic build, however the quality is good
MY CONS:
- Absolutely no deck color indicators, not even the deck switch buttons have any LED
- Some buttons, including the performance (!) pads are too hard to press. Dunno how the engineers let that pass. Even the pads on the Mixstream felt better
- Beat EFX would have greatly benefited from a small, dedicated OLED screen. Now it wastes valuable screen space.
- There is an AUX-IN, but you can’t prelisten/cue it like on the P2, which ■■■■■ hard and renders it pretty much useless for anything more than an absolute emergency backup. Please VOTE HERE to add this feature!
- Mediocre Crossfader which is not directly serviceable
- No Ethernet port
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No ethernet port is not a problem - usb hubs with ethernet work fine. Tested a 25€ usb dongle with 3 USB ports and LAN port, and it worked good. With my SC6000 (yes, data link, file sharing, ableton link, sync, etc), and also with my Akai Force using Ableton link.
Tested this in the past with Mixstream Pro as well. It isn’t officially supported perhaps, but it works as most of these USB-to-ethernet adapters are Realtek based and drivers exist in every OS thinkable.
Yes, I am aware (I actually own a Force myself, just didn’t buy + test an adapter yet due to the aforementioned lack of Aux-In CUE). I still would have preferred a dedicated port, considering even the Prime Go features one. But it’s certainly only a minor drawback + another good example of EngineOS’s flexibility.
My overall score for the SC Live 4 would be a 8 out of 10, with the two missing points resulting from the four upmost negative bullets in my list (-0.5 * 4). All in all, I am satisfied.
I see that the live series offers a standalone package that includes the use of music streaming services and and offers a little more than basic lightning control in one tight package meant for the new generation of users.
The real “Prosumers” will have to wait for a flagship replacement of the Prime4 which is meant to tick a lot of boxes which some are mentioning here.
How confident are we that they are even going to replace the Prime units? some people think this is the direction Denon are moving now and the primes are gone.
Nope, in my opinion these are middle tear units, perfectly hitting in the bedroom djs and streamers market that developed during covid times.
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Oh i fully agree with your assessment, im just hearing rumblings that they are not going to renew the upper tier market and focus on this kind of stuff.
Some are saying that these SC Live units should have been under the Numark umbrella and not Denon.
I hope its wrong and they do continue to focus on the more professional type of gear.
I think they are focused in the right places. SC6000’s are still new and good devices. No need for a newer deck yet. Probably they are working on a more feature packed mixer - this is very needed as the community is not happy with X1800/1850. After new mixer they would focus on upgrading the decks or Prime 4. For now the SC live series perfectly fills the gap in the market.
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That would be me. 
For me those units are pure Numark and were slapped with Denon branding just for the sake of perceived brand quality and bigger price that a Numark brand could get them.
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Hey @MrKooks , my main unit is currently a Traktor S4 Mk3, and considering moving to SC Live 4 due to laptop issues a few times over the years, so you’ve just done similar to I’m about to…
Are the cue/loop bads on the SC Live 4 as bad/stiff as people are saying compared to the Traktor? And is there anything else you miss from the Traktor software/hardware?
I have already demo’d one in a store, but not used it for hours of mixing yet when any real issues would show.
My tinkering side wonders if it’d be easy to open up the unit and swap the pads out for something better or make them more sensitive. There was a good hack for the Akai LPD8 that involved putting a a few layers of tape under the pads that caused them to be closer to the microswitches that actually worked well. (though obviously we shouldn’t be having to do anything like this with +£1000 worth of gear!)
I cant personally disagree with you, although having not seen one in the flesh yet i dont want to fully commit to the viewpoint. My local DJ shop is shifting them out of the door as fast as they are arriving and they don’t have a display unit set up yet.
But he did say the same about it.
IMO it was a good move moving from Traktor to the SC Live for what I needed… i just wanted a standalone system and stop carrying a laptop… now, my way of mixing it’s very classic, i don’t really use pads or too many effects, I like my sets clean so I don’t really use the pads as much as to tell if there is/was a big difference… IMO it works fine and does the job that I need.
if you can try one it will be great… as every other electronic you need to get what fits your way of working… if the SC Live does that… well, go ahead, it’s a fun machine and pretty capable.
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I moved from the S4 mk3 to the Prime 4, The Prime is awesome.
Recently had a brief play on the SC Live 4 and was not impressed with the pads, they needed an extra push so found it hard to hit the beats on time. I’m sure I would get used to it if I owned one or played for longer but still prefer the Prime 4 pads.
The pitch faders on both the SC and Prime 4’s are excellent and feel just like a Technics 1200, the pitch fader on the S4 is far too short and sensitive for my liking.
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I also hated the S3 pitch… it was way too short.