Pioneer DJ has just announced the XDJ-XZ, a new flagship standalone controller, which many are seeing as its response to the Denon DJ Prime 4. Many DJs already invested in the Rekordbox ecosystem held off on purchasing the Prime 4 in hopes that Pioneer DJ would follow suit and release a four-channel standalone unit of its own. However, just because mechanical jogwheels are found on more expensive gear doesn’t necessarily mean they are better, they’re just different. It takes a bit of getting used to, especially if you’ve been spinning with capacitive jogs for a while now. Layout We recommend 50,000 or less for the best possible browsing experience. For larger collections, we always recommend using a Solid State Drive. Note: these are recommendations and not limitations. While both of these high-end controllers are great choices, I believe it really comes down to where you see yourself developing as a DJ. In the introduction, I mentioned how the current generation of stand-alone units require media analysed by a computer, and you maybe confused to learn that Denon DJ has its own software that it recommends you use with your music before using the Prime 4. However, whereas the competition at the moment relies on you doing this before a vast majority of performance features are at all possible, the Prime 4 has it’s own built-in processor and can actually perform the analysis on the fly should you skip the computer part. Using Rekordbox, Serato and Traktor on the Prime 4

We realize that this is a departure from more traditional workflows and are working on an option to separate collection drives with remote drives in a more clear manner. DJs are regularly on the go. I’ve been that guy lugging around several pieces of gear from show to show, and it gets exhausting. Two powerful, professional digital DJ devices were released this year: the Denon DJ Prime 4 all-in-one system and the Pioneer DJ DDJ-1000SRT controller. The Prime 4 is a standalone unit that can be used without a laptop connected, while the DDJ-1000 controller is designed to be used with a computer running Serato DJ Pro. Both controllers have solid builds, killer styling, and professional feature sets.

Besides the increased cost of the Prime 4, it comes with added weight as well. For mobile DJs who are already setting up a lot of gear such as a PA system along with their controller this added weight may not mean much. But for a DJ who is playing in a pub or lounge and a controller is all they are carrying, the lighter weight of the DDJ-1000SRT may be more desirable. Jogwheels Also boasting real-time time-stretching and key-matching functionality for in-depth mixing, the touch-capacitive jog wheels are ultra-responsive for the smoothest possible transitions. Use the expanded dynamic FX to create massive drops and transitions or use the onboard Wi-Fi/Bluetooth connectivity to incorporate requests/last-minute song changes into your set with ease. All the components are top-notch, with the controller’s main body made from metal. That means it’s solid but hefty. The controller has 4 sweep effects like filter, echo, noise, and wash. Each channel has a sweep knob to apply the effect as much as you’d like. If your goal is to headline a huge music festival using what has now been considered the industry standard DJ set-up for roughly the last decade, the DDJ-1000SRT is the better choice. Its combination of mechanical jogwheels and club mixer section makes it the perfect tool to help build muscle memory that can translate to the kind of set-up you would see on a festival stage.

Users can now sync tempo with external hardware using Ableton Link over both wired and wireless networks. Once Ableton Link has been enabled, an orange link icon will be shown in the top right of the toolbar providing the number of linked devices, sync lead tempo, and phase meter showing the current beat position. When synced, the tempo will match the tempo of the longest playing device. The lead tempo can be adjusted from any device and all other linked devices will automatically follow. Outputs are handled by balanced XLR for the Booth Out and Zone Out (more on zone outputs later). We have an unbalanced RCA and Balanced XLR output for the master with a Mono/Stereo switch. Headphone ports of both sizes are found on the front of the unit and you can control the volume, mix and even enable split cue from the mixer. Sliding the pitch fader on the Denon Prime 4 does the same thing as key shifting and utilizes Denon’s DAW-quality Time Stretch Algorithm. When the prime 4 was first released I wanted one. All in one mixer, Controller and computer. And the added ability to use it on Virtual DJ 2020 was also a added bonus. As a mobile DJ there will be times I need functions on virtual DJ that the prime doesn't have, so to be able to put it into controller mode was a mega bonus. The zone output on the Prime 4 is especially interesting as it is not a common feature on most DJ hardware. It allows the DJ to send specific channels of audio to a completely separate output. This means you could be mixing using channels one and two like normal in one room using the master output then sending something like a tablet running Spotify on channel three to a completely separate room using the zone output. Touchscreen display

As well as our more in-depth video tutorial series below, we've got a growing number of short videos that answer some of the basic questions you might have while owning your PRIME 4.

Without a complete breakdown of the controller’s features, DJs wouldn’t know how the controller will benefit them. Let’s take a closer look at what the Denon Prime 4 has to offer. Build & Design Credit: Denon DJ Determine what elements you need for mixing, and that will guide you to the right DJ controller. Alternatives to the Denon Prime 4 The Prime 4 allows for a wide array of media to be used to play your music. You are able to play music from multiple USB flash drives or external hard drives, SD cards, or from an internal hard drive that can be installed. This makes it possible for multiple DJs using different types of media able to play from the Prime 4 at the same time. The jog wheels on PRIME 4 do not have mechanical tension adjust but you can fine-tune the nudge sensitivity in the Utility Menu.