Anchor Post - All topics about the next stage of Engine for MCX8000

What I think is important to understand/acknowledge, is that the old engine (1.5) is effectively a temporary “upgrade” to the old(er) engine versions that were used for players like the 2900. Software that was, to be polite, less than stellar. The upgrade was necessary to get the MCX8000 something workable.

Engine Prime is NOT an upgrade of engine 1.5. It’s totally new software built from the ground up. As such it will have much better features than regular Engine could ever have. Now Prime is developed primarily with the Prime gear in mind. Prime gear has much more facilities (stronger CPU, more screen real estate, etc.) than the MCX8000 - awesome as it is.

My assumption is that when the new Prime software is officially released with MCX8000 support (probably needing a firmware upgrade, I’d expect) the Denon team will have figured out what Prime features can be executed by the MCX8000 and offer those. Features that are Prime gear exclusively would not be available.

On the desktop the software would be the same one Prime version. And either you have to create your USB-stick to be for Prime or MXC8000 use (a bit like RekordBox has the option for the RX and for CDJs) or (preferably) you just create an Engine Prime USB-stick and your unit will just use what it can.

So, while I think it’s good we throw out our wishlist for Engine features, I think we should wait for hands-on with the new Prime version and what it means for us MCX8000 users and then give our assessment and suggestions for the next version. I am hoping and expecting the Engine Prime software to be an entirely different animal than the old Engine and that the MCX8000 will gain a lot of extra functionality because of it.

My 2 cents as usual

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please we still waiting for the upgrade or something like that … If you have any news to share with us

Engine Prime will soon be released Makikatt - we’d envisage announcing the upgraded version of ‘Engine’ for MCX8000 at a time close to that - hang tight!

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Make only one software for all your devices.

The only thing we need it’s indicate the device we use when we export our crates on usb stick.

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And + 1 for single version of software. I understand the MCX8000 doesn’t have the hardware inside to work with all features of Enging Prime, but surely track analysis and offline Cue/Loop point preparation can be handled in one software package. As someone who will definitely be purchasing the Prime series when it is available and a current user of MCX8000 I really don’t want to have to deal with 2 software packages and have to do all my track preparation twice

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3 posts were split to a new topic: Question about my mcx8000 controller

first run engine in windows 8 compaibility mode as administrator. that helped a lot with the crashing. i have 72 crates. each with 500 files. its taking ages to analyze. and my files are on a ssd.

I really want to see this update. I would also really like the ability to ‘sort’ my files by bpm or key in ascending or descending order.

NICE! what’s soon? I really need the upgrade pre-festival season. need more effects. beatgrid. ability to sort (not filter) by bpm or key.

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I agree with you on most of your points. As it stands, the current iteration of Engine is really a half baked piece of software with serious stability issues and is missing features that most modern dj’s expect as standard in their software today. The fresh coat of paint they slapped on Engine 1.5 doesn’t hide the fact that the software is truly dated.

It appears that Engine Prime is really the future of Engine. The problem that most of us MCX users have is that when we purchased the MCX8000 about a year ago, we here expecting along with our purchase of a top of the rage controller, to have it supported at the very least for the next couple of years. Here we are only a year later and we feel left behind because the new Engine is not built for us.

There are facts(if true) we cannot do anything about. The hardware within the MCX8000 is simply not enough to run Engine Prime. This is probably very likely as I doubt there is a dormant laptop sitting inside our controllers waiting to be activated. Then there is the fact that we have no touch screen for input which is the primary way to interface with Engine Prime. So we really have to come to terms that the MCX8000 is first and foremost a SERATO DJ CONTROLLER. The stand alone feature that was so hyped by Denon is really more of an emergency back up. These to me, are the facts.

Denon is clearly attempting to give us olive branch by stating that they will be giving us some sort of access to Engine Prime but really, we should curb our expectations and be prepared to only have access to core features. Essentially, we might be able to do in Engine Prime what we can do in Engine 1.5 today. But even if we only get access to a more stable version of Engine, that would be a win in my book.

Now if Denon truly wanted to keep the MCX8000 user base happy I propose this compromise: The obvious hardware limitations that the Prime range has over the MCX is the processing power and touch input, essentially the built in laptop(an over simplification I know). Well guess what the vast majority of MCX users already have? A laptop! I know I know. But like I said, it’s a compromise. Consider this: Runing Engine Prime on a laptop with the MCX8000 unlocks the full functionality of Engine Prime. This essentially brings it into Record Box territory which they will have to do if they are truly making a run for the DJ booth. With out a laptop we get the basics out of Engine Prime, same as we do now.

It ■■■■■ that we are having to have this conversation, the controller should have just been marketed as a Serato controller. alas, here we are. My two cents.

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Engine 1.5 already does that (in a way). You connect two SC2900/3900 players and a laptop/netbook/ipad with a LAN(wifi) hub and the players “pull” songs either for laptop hdd or usb sticks, Engine just serves for browsing and loading tracks. With Engine Prime, for the thing you propose to work, all the mixing, fx, etc must be done inside the software. I’m not sure Denon did such a huge leap and made Engine Prime a dj software under it’s skin (although, there is a crossfader now placed between two decks so who knows what’s inside…)

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The problem for me it’s “THE DENON MCX8000 IS PRIMARY A SERATO DJ CONTROLLER”. I buy it primary for ENGINE and not to use it with a laptop. ON ENGINE I just need grid adjust for a concret use of sync, roll and slicer.

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My issue is this - the hardware limitations that may exist on the controller itself could explain why some Prime features won’t work (maybe you’ll never be able to edit the beat grid of an Engine track live on the 8000 controller, or do detailed track searches with keys filtered) and that’s fine, as long as the things it is supposed to do work flawlessly.

BUT…

Arguing the the new software isn’t compatible with the 8000 is silly when in the next breath they talk about it being entirely new and written from the ground up. If it was written from the ground up, then writing in an option to export a Prime database to an Engine 1.5 database could have been coded in. All it needs to do is strip out the features the older versions don’t have and save the database accordingly. Backwards compatibility isn’t rocket science.

It concerns me a little that the importance of having the entire userbase on one piece of software isn’t recognized. Look at the mess that was the Serato ecosystem until they finally moved everyone into the one “DJ” platform. Even Pioneer recognizes this and keeps the option there to export your RB database for older units.

Obviously there may soon be a time when they have to abandon pre-buyout hardware. That ■■■■■, but I kind of get how that might be, but the 8000 is too new to not be part of the same ecosystem of gear coming out just one year later.

(For what it’s worth, I’m not saying the as an 8000 user feeling left out. I’m saying this as someone who has put down the cash and bought into the new Prime lineup, but doesn’t want to have to completely redo my prep work when I want to join a friend at a mobile show and play on his 8000.)

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Currently any guesswork about what’s replacing Engine 1.5 is just that. Obviously everything will become clear when that replacement is made available.

Conclusions have jumped to above about Timelines, however it may not have been the case that Engine Prime development or coding/database formating etc only started after the MCX was released.

The mcx8000 can, and is, used by many as a standalone media player. Other people use it as a midi controller for Virtual DJ or Serato. It’s primary role, and therefore also it’s secondary roles will be different for different users.

Sure, people are keen to get the next thing up from Engine 1.5, and yes I’m one of them, but I wouldn’t want it pushed out in haste before it’s ready.

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Slay, that feature doesn’t work with the MXC8000 though does it? And of course, it’s still Engine 1.5 which in my experience is very unstable, frequently analyzes bmp incorrectly and is just not a reliable platform. I’m really hoping for something good for us early adopters but my instincts tell me not to get too excited.

I sympathize with your frustration. I think the controller was hyped and marketed in a somewhat deceiving way. I know that your workflow might not permit it but if you can, give Serato DJ a chance. You really are missing out on the best aspects of this controller. In my opinion, it’s the cream of the crop bested only by Pioneers SZ2. And only because that has dual USB. As I said before, Engine is best suited as an emergency backup.

Exactly, that’s my point. If it doesn’t work with Engine version that has that option it means it’s a hardware limitation. As I said, the only way to bypass that limitation is to make Engine Prime a full DJ software where MCX8000 would function the same way as with VDJ/SDJ but only control a different software.

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That Make sense. Thanks for the insight. I guess it’s a wait and see game.

I have to say after reading the above posts and other fourms i was ready to buy into the 8000. But from what im reading it doesnt do what it says on the can. So heres one guy that has been put off buying. Pitty seemed a great bit of kit. Maybe the MKII .

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First post from you whizzster, and unfortunately straight in with a negative - but let’s start a conversation about what are the points that concern you so we might have an opportunity to put your mind at ease and perhaps reconsider your decision.

The MCX8000 is firstly, an advanced (and alongside the MC7000) and still the most capable Serato DJ controller. It’s secondary, though still obviously very important function is as a standalone USB player. If you’d be kind enough to list your main concerns, the staff and community here will be able to offer input. Thanks