Denon DJ Prime 4 in Review

Choosing the perfect DJ equipment can be truly challenging, even when a high budget is available. At the top end of the spectrum, it usually meets the demanding needs of professional DJs, such as 4 channels, large jogwheels, displays, etc., but often there's still some sort of compromise when it comes to standalone functionality, connectivity, or software.

The Denon DJ Prime 4 is a strong contender when it comes to meeting all demands.

Although not the cheapest controller on the market, it costs only half as much as a complete X1850 and 2x SC6000 Prime setup, and apart from another display, you don't lose too many other features.

After unpacking, there's no doubt that the device has the same first-class build quality as the other devices in the Prime series. Not only does it have a very solid metal construction, but everything feels very rounded, and the beautiful 10-inch display gives the controller a very professional look.

Multi-Touch Display

Speaking of the display: it's worth mentioning that the display is equipped with fantastic Multi-Touch functionality, something that should have been integrated into every DJ device a long time ago. For example, when choosing between a Pioneer CDJ 3000 and an XDJ 1000 MK2, the biggest drawback is the lack of physical buttons on the XDJ. With the Denon DJ Prime, we have physical buttons for almost everything, but we don't feel the need to use them... at all!

The Multi-Touch display is simply fantastic, and after more than a decade of using smartphones and tablets, it will feel very intuitive with its dropdown menu (quick access), search function, etc. Additionally, the display is very sharp and always easily readable. To make it even more convenient, the large display can be adjusted to various angles, from a horizontal position to fully tilted up. Although we would have preferred a smoother motorized solution rather than fixing it manually, it's still a great and comfortable feature.

The Prime 4 works completely standalone but also unlocks Serato DJ PRO, giving you the best of both worlds. With its 4 channels, tracks can be loaded onto each of the 4 decks. One of the key selling points of the Prime 4 is the ability to insert an SSD drive into the 2.5-inch hard drive slot. This way, you can literally store your entire library on your controller and no longer need to carry a laptop around.

If you're in a hurry and just want to copy your tracks to the SSD without analyzing them, you'll still get the BEAT-GRID, BPM, and KEY ANALYSIS thanks to the built-in Engine DJ software. It's really advantageous to do this only once since all track data will be saved for the next time the track is loaded. This extremely practical feature makes the Prime 4 a true standalone powerhouse.

Connettività

Una cosa che apprezziamo davvero del Prime 4 sono le ampie possibilità di connessione.  Ci sono 3 ingressi USB per diverse fonti multimediali (2 sulla parte superiore e 1 sul retro), uno slot per schede SD e un ingresso USB-B per la connessione al computer. Ai porte USB di tipo A è possibile collegare anche una tastiera USB per una ricerca più comoda, anche se non è affatto necessario, poiché possiamo navigare molto bene sul display da 10 pollici.

Sono disponibili 4 ingressi line in RCA, di cui possiamo utilizzare l'ingresso 1 e 4 per giradischi quando passiamo a PHONO.

Ci sono 2 ingressi MIC e entrambi hanno un EQ (a 3 bande per MIC 1 e a 2 bande per MIC 2), controllo dell'eco e controllo del livello. Attraverso il display è anche possibile effettuare impostazioni più avanzate per i MIC, ad esempio il livello di Talkover, l'attenuazione, il filtro, l'EQ crossover o le opzioni di routing.

Ci sono in totale 3 coppie di uscite XLR. Otteniamo una coppia per l'uscita MASTER, una per l'uscita BOOTH e un'aggiunta molto interessante è l'uscita ZONE.

L'uscita ZONE ci consente di indirizzare il segnale MASTER a un altro sistema audio, che, come suggerisce il nome, è installato in una zona diversa. Di solito si tratta di una stanza chillout o un luogo dove le persone possono prendere aria fresca durante una festa, ma vogliamo che possano comunque sentire la musica dalla stanza principale, o qualcosa di più rilassante. Potrebbe sembrare confusionario inizialmente, poiché è sicuramente possibile indirizzare lo stesso segnale in un'altra stanza, ma come possiamo suonare qualcosa di completamente diverso in un'altra stanza?

Non è necessario essere campioni di multitasking. Tutto ciò che devi fare è caricare una playlist sul deck 4, impostarla in riproduzione continua e inviarla all'uscita ZONE, e il gioco è fatto, stai suonando in due luoghi contemporaneamente!

Potrebbe non essere un'assoluta necessità, ma per un DJ mobile questo può valorizzare la propria offerta di servizi DJ, poiché si tratta di una funzione davvero unica che non si trova nella maggior parte dei lettori e mixer DJ. Spesso si dovrebbe utilizzare un'uscita non adatta a tale scopo, ad esempio l'uscita RECORD, oppure si dovrebbe sacrificare l'uscita BOOTH per controllare i livelli per la stanza adiacente.

Le 3 uscite XLR non solo sono pratiche, ma la qualità del suono è impeccabile su tutte le uscite, sia che le colleghiamo a un grande sistema audio sia a monitor da studio.

Mixer Section

In the mixer section, Serato users will immediately feel at home with the traditional 3,1,2,4 channel layout (from left to right). The mixer is equipped with a 3-band EQ, GAIN controls, SWEEP-FX controls on each channel with 4 FX types, secondary FX switches, BROWSE controls, CUE controls with SPLIT function, and of course volume faders and a crossfader.

FILTER, ECHO, WASH, NOISE are effects most DJs like and use, so you can assign them to the SWEEP FX control at the touch of a button. In the FX section above the decks, we can also load various effects into each channel. Though FX1 and FX2 cannot be mixed per channel, they can still be combined with the SWEEP FX. The effects are pretty much the same as on the X1850 mixer.

The deck section offers most of the features we know from the SC5000 players, like the large, smooth pitch faders and the Jogwheels with display in the middle, slightly smaller than those on the SC5000 but very similar in design. Unfortunately, there's no tension adjustment option.

Each deck can be fed from two channels (left from 1 and 3, right from 2 and 4). You can select the input source with the assigned switches.

With the MANUAL LOOP MODE, you can set up quick loops using the LOOP IN / LOOP OUT buttons (just like with the round yellow buttons on the CDJs).

The Beat Grid section is an essential tool to refine the on-board track analysis, as sometimes the downbeat markers (the first beat of the bar) aren't automatically placed where they should be, leading to sloppy transitions. Using the Beat Grid, you can easily move the downbeat markers up or down.

The PADS can be used in 4 different modes:

• HOT CUE: Assign a cue point to each pad and instantly jump to that point by pressing the pad while the track is playing.

• LOOP (Dual function): Pressing LOOP once activates the main function. Pressing a pad, you can set a start point for a loop and by pressing it again you can set the end point, saving the loop on the same pad so you can recall it by pressing it again. Pressing the LOOP function button again, you can use its secondary function to divide or multiply the loop length using the pad (from 1/4 to 32 bars).

• ROLL: In this mode, you can trigger both linear and triplet-based basic loop rolls dynamically. Essentially, pressing a pad, the track is rolled back 2 beats from 1/8 and immediately jumps back to the previous position when the pad is released. A cool feature is that while using this function, the waveform is split into two parts. On top, you see the current track position where you invoked the ROLL mode and below the roll position.

• SLICER (Dual function): Pressing SLICER once activates an 8-beat loop that progresses as the track advances. The currently played slice is represented by the currently illuminated pad. The light moves across the pads as it progresses through the 8-slice phrase. Pressing a pad plays that slice. When you release the pad, playback continues as if you never pressed it. Pressing SLICER again activates the Slicer Loop mode, allowing you to hold your 8-beat loop.

Conclusion and Comparison with the Competition

We feel that Denon DJ is trying to fill the small or sometimes large gaps that Pioneer DJ or other competitors lack, especially on-board track analysis, on-board memory, and some connectivity options, notably the ZONE output.

When it comes to Standalone performance, the Prime 4 is a clear winner. Though the Engine DJ software still lags far behind Rekordbox or Traktor, it's the only one that can analyze tracks on the go, which should be a standard for all Standalone DJ devices.

Even though Pioneer DJ with the CDJ 3000 and the XDJ RX3 has made massive improvements in terms of screen size and quality, Denon DJ still feels a step ahead, even though the Prime 4 is two years older than its rivals.

In terms of overall quality, the device truly plays in the same league as Pioneer DJ, as it's extremely stable both in terms of software and hardware.

We recommend the Prime 4 for professional mobile DJs who aren't tied to the Rekordbox or Traktor ecosystem, especially if you want to leave your laptop at home, as the Prime 4 is a controller that allows you to party without a laptop and never disappoints in terms of connectivity and overall stability.