Choices Choices Choices

Hi All,

I’ve got a real quandary, I’m really interested in purchasing the MCX8000, pound for pound nothing seems to beat it. The XDJ-RX2 is £500 more expensive than what I can get an MCX8000 for but after reading various posts on here around units being hit and miss with problems, the lengthy delayed Prime update, lack of USB recording etc etc I’m just wondering what your opinions are on whether the RX2 is worth the extra?

I do a lot of bedroom dj’ing, heck I’m still using CDJ-1000’s MK1 and a DjM-600 with Traktor Timecodes so you could consider me old skool lol!

A standalone unit makes sense, being able to record without a computer makes sense and £500 in my pocket makes sense too but not if I’m just going to end up with something that long term isn’t going to be a sound investment and is just going to cause me hassles.

I’d probably like to use Serato and Traktor too when necessary so being able to use both of those would be ideal. I’m also not necessarily tied into any specific ecosystem, I just want something decent that I’m not going to be disappointed with whilst having both standalone and software functionality via Serato and Traktor.

Your opinions would be greatly appreciated…

Ignore the muppets and buy the mcx8000

There are two sets of muppets out there currently and both sets are being drowned out by a tidal wave of r cent great reviews from owners and users of both standalone and Serato use. You can use the 8000 with virtual DJ too if you wanted to slide do b that route but that’s only a hack that virtual dj guys sort of knitted together with no official collaboration so be wary.

The two muppet camps are about 10 users who think that firmware will fix hardware issues but won’t take their 8000s into a service station - these guys hang about online under different names in any places that’ll have them and just churn the same old manure. However their old tales are losing definition amongst the new posts from delighted owners.

The othe camp are users who are already enjoying their 8000 but wish it would do even more than what it was originally advertised as doing. Sort of the “there’s nothing anywhere that says it’ll do these 5 things that I’d like it to do but if I hang around long enough I’m sure firmware updates will give me all those unspoken features, and if it doesn’t I’ll moan about it”

Read some proper magazine reviews, from some proper magazine reviewers, note that it’s won awards - there’s a reason for that. My roadie dropped something damn heavy on his 8000 and despite a notable dent in the case it all carried on working fully in standalone and Serato mode.

As for recording, I wouldn’t get too hung up on that , there are plenty of ways to record from the 8000 to a standalone recorder eg: an MP3 recorder. Boss, Gemini etcmake various assortments of recorder for under £50 so that’s still £450 cheaper than an rx2 and better sounding and better built.

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Can the budget stretch to the Prime Decks.

You can pair them with the mixer you currently have.

I had a MCX8000 which I traded in due to it being unreliable. It crapped out on me not once mid gig.

Despite that it didn’t turn me away from still buying the SC5000 Prime Decks which are a bliss to use. I paired them with my S9 or 62 (depending on the mood)

If you are going to buy the 8000 buy from an authorised dealer…Just in case you need to return it under warranty.

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Thanks so much for the informative, concise and informative reply. Hope the “muppets” don’t read your post, lol!

I totally hear you with what you’ve said and is helpful that you’ve indicated a lot of the “issues” are either because of the equipment not being looked at via a service centre or due to the unrealistic expectations of some.

I have read numerous reviews and the majority do say what a good piece of kit the MCX8000 is. Funny thing is these reviews don’t mention any of the problems others seem to have experienced either.

So that brings me onto Engine, I’ve downloaded it and it’s definitely lacking. Is that likely to hinder me compared with Rekordbox and in the absence of the long delayed Prime update also?

External recording isn’t a show stopper like you’ve said, I do mine currently via Traktor or Serato but being able to record via inbuilt means obviously appeals more so than having to do it via computer or external device so everything stays standalone.

If I can use the MCX8000 with Traktor and Serato without too many issues then I’m just left with the reliability of the inbuilt software / hardware for standalone means and purchasing an external recording device.

Being honest what’s the reliability like as a standalone device? I really want to go down the MCX8000 route instead of the RX2 but the responses I’ve recieved after yours are sort of what I’d already read elsewhere and is what’s making me wonder if I’m going to be disappointed and / or if the MCX8000 is going to be more hassle than it’s worth.

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Thanks for the reply mufasa

I had replied to you so not sure where my post has gone, don’t think I out anything controversial. Whichever way when you say your MCX8000 crapped out on you, in what way did it? You’ve also mentioned it was unreliable, how was it unreliable?

My budget could stretch to some SC5000’s though in all honesty I can’t justify the cost just for bedroom DJ’ing. If I was gigging fair enough.

I guess I could go for one SC5000 as the dual layer functionality would mean I’d have two decks though just a bit concerned I’d lose out not having a better mixer.

Any downsides you can think of if I did this and just had the one SC5000 paired with my DJM-600?

The MCX8000 obviously appeals due to the cost and it being a bit of a “one stop shop” but what you’ve said is at odds in a way with what Jetsound has said so this is what’s making it difficult as all I keep reading are either reviews or posts that say it’s brilliant and don’t make reference to any issues or posters such as yourself who indicate there’s problems…

Thanks for the really helpful post Keith.

I guess my question to you based on what you’ve put is, knowing what you do about the MCX8000, would you buy it again or would you go for something else?

Maybe going for the mc7000 if you don’t want to use standalone mode ?

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Muppet present. I hail from Camp B. The problem with Standalone mode, isn’t that it doesn’t work (it is serviceable), it’s that key, -basic- even, functions don’t work which ultimately affect how you use the controller. Not all but many people (myself included) bought this unit under the pretense that it offered a truly standalone DJ experience. Not recording to USB when you have two slots is forgivable (…why tho), but to not be able to set beatgrids? To not have cue points unless you run your tracks through Serato first? C’mon, these are basic functions of mixing software. People aren’t asking for more than was advertised; and Denon DJ’s stance coming out the gate as a company was to try and David-and-Goliath the big P. However, since MCX8000 owners aren’t a great market share, there is no pressure (or need, since the Engine Prime launch, really) to appeal to the existing customer base; if there is movement at all from Development (I often wonder if these people actually exist, or maybe it’s just one guy who’s on vacation), nobody knows because there is No communication whatsoever. Not on the main site, not on DJ gear sites – maybe on this site, if it’s the right day of the week and vague answers don’t bother you. So yes, you will have your “I Changed My Rider!” folks who swear the 8000 can do no wrong, even as it is left to linger; you have the folks who have a bad experience with it and are soured (this was me, but exceptional customer service member got the unit RMAed)… people with their displays freezing up and transport controls frozen and unavailable (this happened to me from a failed firmware update) and having to restart the unit and then the whole other crowd who can’t connect the 8000 to Serato DJ 1.9.10 (Error: Failed to connect audio!). And lastly, you have the people who are most vocal about this, because they see an amazing piece of kit that is languishing away. I say open development to the People, make Engine (at least onboard but desktop too) open-source and let Us deal with fixing it, because the people who have the 8000 already have more motive to actually getting it functioning to its full potential than the people who’ve already lined their pockets from selling it to us. This thing is great with Serato --possibly on par with the first DDJ-SX-- and Standalone is functional – an excellent backup plan or for guest purposes. I don’t steer people away from this product since for the most part it does what it purports to, and I enjoy mine greatly, but after almost an entire year without a formal announcement of any sort it’s hard to keep faith that it will grow into its shoes.

I think someone has mapped it to Traktor, and VDJ is always an option. Personally, give me the 8000 in Standalone mode but with 4-channel mixing and recording to USB and I will take it even without beatgrids (by the way, lack of meaningful beatgridding in Engine 1.5 means your Roll and Slicer effects are DOA). But hey, there’s always the next product cycle.

I’m not trying to cheerlead one way or the other here but these are all things to consider if you are

  • a person planning on buying a DJ controller
  • a person planning on buying this DJ controller

Look at it this way: Pioneer won’t put out something similar (an RZ with USBs?) for another 2-3 years. The MCX8000 came out 2 years ago. My advice: keep researching online, careful to separate the emotional chaff from the actually useful info. Get to a Guitar Center (or whatever they have where you are for musical instrument stores) and test one out if they still have it on display. Failing those, there are Facebook and other social media groups for the MCX8000 and maybe someone in your area will let you rock on theirs for a bit :sunglasses:

/rant

Happy New Year!

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@Dannymagic

What he said.

Maybe mine was a lemon. I actually sold my DDJ SX and got the 8000 as replacement…as I wanted the USB as back up.

I had distortion, unit freezing up, unit hanging, bleeding etc.

Sure I could have returned for warranty repair but I had no time for that. I am a working professional, that period I was gigging 4 nights a week. My job is not to beta test products i paid for.

I couldn’t afford any downtime, so i bought a MC6000MKII as a back up. I actually started taking an extra controller to my gigs. Might as well hauled out the two turntables and mixer.

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The main thing to remember is some of the suggestions in this thread and are claiming issues from a year ago or how they’ve waited a year for this or that etc. And yeah some camp b’ers are also on here saying that their unit works but they just want it to do more than it ever said it would- like being able to set beatgrids on the 8000 live where that’s nice but more of a preparation thing, some might say.

Either way the old comments are getting washed away by the newer comments of how great the machine is. My mate had a 8000 which was suffering now and agin from a screen on it freezing - after he dropped onething on his 8000 he sent it to service to get the dent sorted and they adjusted a display cable while they had his 8000 open. He’s never had display freeze since , and that was several months ago. He uses it on standalone mode and with Serato - no freezes on either mode. All the lastest wash of comments are how the 8000 is amazing .

Now until that dent my mate wasn’t going to take it to a service place, he’d been “muppeted” into thinking that firmware solves everything and was going to sit on his arse and think new firmware was the glowing halo of an answer - only the dent made him send it to service and its worked with no freezes ever since.

Some won’t send their stuff into service coz maybe they imported it, others say they have modded their 8000 with different faders so worry about void warrantys and stuff - others just can’t be bothered to find the box maybe - bit my mates example is how wrong the “it’s all firmware” handful of wrong-Sayers are.

All the RECENT comments from other 8000 users including my mate are saying it’s a beast of a player and controller. Just don’t buy one off of the “I can’t or won’t send mine into service” 9 or 10 people :yum:

Have the handful of negative Sayers actually had their 8000s into a service place? If they had I wonder if they’d be as happy as my mate has been for the last few months.

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3 posts were split to a new topic: From the. Choices choices post

Emotion.

Without emotion, we as DJs might as well just sending an unmixed CD to a venue and have them or us simply press play on it. Emotion, when used in our DJing sets is what makes one DJs set different from the next guy, even if the same tracks are played in the same order. It’s what sets us aside from Automix. Long live emotion.

Where that emotion spills over into discussions as calling liars and names then the stop button needs to be pressed.

Two forum members have clashed on this thread, with both sides writing emotional and provocational posts.

The topic itself will be closed to cool for 7 days. It is not to be re-started in a different thread during that time.

This topic was automatically opened after 6 days.

@danimagic have You choose in the meanwhile to buy or not to buy the mc8000 ?