My Denon Prime 4 Journey

[Benny Smyth]

The lining inside the vehicle made it very resistant to condensation, and I wonder if there's mileage in fully boarding or insulating vans? Food for thought.

With the obvious exception of the ceiling and bulkhead, my van is fully boarded, as was the Transit Custom that came before it. Maybe that's the difference between mine and Wayne's experiences, but from what I know about the chap (which, admittedly, is not that much!), I'd be surprised to learn that Wayne doesn't have a ply lined loading area.

[Imagine]

With the obvious exception of the ceiling and bulkhead, my van is fully boarded, as was the Transit Custom that came before it. Maybe that's the difference between mine and Wayne's experiences, but from what I know about the chap (which, admittedly, is not that much!), I'd be surprised to learn that Wayne doesn't have a ply lined loading area.

Ply lined and indeed carpeted (please wipe your boots on the way in)

[Excalibur]

Ply lined and indeed carpeted (please wipe your boots on the way in)

Indeed, but my economy model is only half boarded, and the carpet is not permanent. I have seen serious condensation form when I have left the kit in for consecutive gigs.

[DeckstarDeluxe]

Never had an issues apart from photobooth media but that's sensitve to it anyways. Never had carpet though just fully plylined apart from the ceiling.

[Imagine]

OK, long one but bear with...

Yesterday, I purchased a Denon SC Live all-in-one system. It looks like a toy, it feels like a toy....and yet...
Where was this thing when I purchased the Prime 4 nearly two years ago?

Let's take a Scooby Doo moment and wobble the screen for a second....

As some of you will know, I've had a fairly major problem with my Prime 4 in that it works wonderfully in the summer months, but needs a blow-dryer on the screen during the winter months before the touch screen will accept input. I've even had it stored at home in a centrally heated room (yes, I'm that posh ) and it STILL has the issue where the touch screen won't respond on startup until it's turned off, warmed behind the screen with a hairdryer and re-started.

A certain "Old Git" witnessed this on the telephone yesterday lunchtime whilst I fired it up, turned it off, coiffured, it and then turned it back on again. I really CAN'T keep going through the "will it/won't it" at gigs anymore.

It's only a minor niggle, but on something that cost nearly £2k....well I have trust issues.

Anyhoo....another problem I've recently had is that one of my pair of 2012 MacBooks has shuffled off it's mortal coil. It's bleedin' dead, it's bereft of life, it's an ex-MacBook .

It served me well. The problem is that its twin is also starting to show problems and being the same age I fear it doesn't have much life left in it before it joins its brother in MacBook Heaven or wherever they go. So....it's time for another backup solution.

I'm entrenched in the EngineDJ ecosystem these days because it works, and works well once you get your head around it. Plus, it also plays nicely with SoundSwitch for the lighting (something which VDJ didn't always do). So...what to buy?

If the Prime2 still existed, I fear it would have been one of those. I looked at the Prime GO, not for me because I really don't need the battery stuff. And then....I found the Denon SC Live 2 and 4.

Now....this is a bit of a wolf in sheep's clothing. At first touch and feel, it really should carry the Numark badge....it's made of plastic!

BUT...it runs the same software (EngineDJ and SoundSwitch) as the Prime 4, I can swap the external harddrives between the two without batting an eyelid, it's a hell of a lot lighter and it's got built in monitor speakers (and they actually pack a punch for their size!)

Yes at first I thought the same as the rest of you...it's a toy. But I went and played with one today and actually parted with cash and brought one home (the 2 channel version as it's only a backup).

This thing is EVERYTHING the Prime series should have been and resolves a LOT of the niggles I have with the P4. Let me explain....

* The knobs and faders have resistance/stiffness on them...you can't knock them by mistake (something that's always bugged me on the P4 is that knobs twiddle too easily and faders get knocked just by looking at them)
* The screen, although only 7" instead of 10" is a LOT clearer (go figure)
* It has a physical button to switch the view on the screen rather than pressing shift and view - it's just ONE button...hoorah!
* Rather than needing to use a Control One or navigate through several menus to get to the lighting control screen, there's a physical button on the side of the screen which takes you directly to the SoundSwitch control panel - goodbye Control One, you're not needed anymore!

I'm still learning the layout of this thing because Denon seem to have gone away from their traditional "mirrored" layout and more to the "club" layout for controllers and being a long time user of Denon kit, this is the bit that's going to take the most time to get used to.

So....I now have a conundrum. As much as I love the P4, mine's a pain in the backside with its startup/screen problems. I'm still looking around to see if it's a manufacturing issue or something else. If it doesn't clear up as the weather starts to get warmer though...it's going to be moved on, only to be replaced by the four channel version of the SC Live.

***EDIT****

Something has possibly changed on the P4. It's been turned off for the past 12 hours and just fired up perfectly.
I've made two changes today

* Updated it to Engine 3.0
* Hacked it's case so that instead of sitting in it screen to the bottom, the screen has been at the top (has it had blood rushing to it's head?)

I'll be monitoring things very closely for the next couple of days...
Either way, the SC Live 2 is an excellent backup and indeed, the ideal solution for kids parties so nothing lost

[Excalibur]

It's not exclusive to Denon kit, but we've all had experience of updates which can be a nightmare, or an absolute lifesaver. Sounds like I may have to try 3.0 on my GO.

I eagerly await reports on your experiences with the Numark sorry Denon. On this form, I can see the Prime 4 finding a new home in Summer.

[DJS]

Hi, just jumping in here!...

Im about to do my first gig (since returning to mobile dj'ing recently) with my Prime 4.
Should i be worried?

Are the horror stories of the units freezing/crashing mid gig true?
Is it a case of when, not if?

I will be taking a laptop with me running virtual DJ as an optional player/backup, but was hoping to run it through the Primes channel 4. Is this a mistake?

Cheers

S.

[Excalibur]

Hi, just jumping in here!...

Im about to do my first gig (since returning to mobile dj'ing recently) with my Prime 4.
Should i be worried?

Are the horror stories of the units freezing/crashing mid gig true?
Is it a case of when, not if?

I will be taking a laptop with me running virtual DJ as an optional player/backup, but was hoping to run it through the Primes channel 4. Is this a mistake?

Cheers

S.

Don't panic Mr Mainwaring! Young Wayne is in the minority here re his Alex Ferguson moments. ( The hairdryer treatment ) Although it's not unknown on the Denon forum, he's the only one here with problems. Sadly for him, it's seemingly no longer predictable. Having fired it up after a period in his (allegedly ) warm and dry house, it failed to boot up. Thirty seconds with the hairdryer, and it's a runner, just like the old days with CD players coming from a cold van into a warm pub.
Apparently, once started, it runs just fine, it's the boot up problem. A handy tip is, when Wayne sells his, don't buy it as a backup for yours. The system is fairly robust, I believe, just baffling for me.

[DeckstarDeluxe]

Hi, just jumping in here!...

Im about to do my first gig (since returning to mobile dj'ing recently) with my Prime 4.
Should i be worried?

Are the horror stories of the units freezing/crashing mid gig true?
Is it a case of when, not if?

I will be taking a laptop with me running virtual DJ as an optional player/backup, but was hoping to run it through the Primes channel 4. Is this a mistake?

Cheers

S.

Had mine 18 months, not missed a beat though I'm still running 1.6! I'd take a spare mixer too though.

[Benny Smyth]

Nobody is going to ever start a thread on a Facebook group or a DJ forum like this:

Hi Guys,

Just wanted to write a post informing you all that my [insert controller of choice] by [insert brand of choice] works. Like, it just works.

Have a great day!

DJ BEDRUM

If you look at the number of Prime 4 units that have sold and compare it to the number of "It wunt work!" posts...it's a minority, and that minority would also be flooded with the error code id-10t.

The Prime 4 works fine. I've had mine for a while now, and it hasn't let me down. Saying that, it's always good practice to take a backup system, but your plan of running a backup through a primary should the latter fail is not going to work.