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

[DJ_Boothe]

We’ve had a few new posts/topics started about the next stage of Engine for the MCX8000. Rather than have the members (and those with updates as and when they become available) having to hunt down and write an update on each of the separate topics, I’ll merge all those similar topics into this one.

One place for the question… One place for the answers. … seems logical huh?

What I’ve noticed is that all of the posts on the topics which I’ve merged onto this, one, long, big topic have indeed been moved, intact onto this thread, which of course, is what was intended - Perfect !

A by-product of this merge, is that the original topics have stayed where they were originally, but now automatically marked as “Closed”.and there’s a padlock symbol on the old/original threads.

This is the new forum software doing its own Housekeeping, ensuring that all the new answers are added to the big merged topic, rather than lots of topics still dangling all over the place.

Please keep an eye on this one big topic for the answers and updates, as they are added.

[Chino]

I understand the hardware limitations of the MCx8000 in regards to ‘Engine Prime’. Please bring ‘Engine’ up to the performance level that DJs need!!!

1. STABILITY!!!- Engine 1.5.2 crashes WAAAAAY too often while analyzing music!! The program crashes even if all the music files being analyzed are 44.1. It also doesn’t matter if the analyzation is done in small batches(25 or less files) or large batches(100+ files)

2. Record directly to USB flash drive in standalone mode. This would be great for recording live mixes.

3. Add additional efx for Engine 1.5 standalone mode via a firmware update.

4. Engine 1.5 needs to be able to read more than just 44.1 & read other file types(loss-less file types etc.)

5. Sampler needs to work in Engine 1.5 standalone mode.

6. Improve beat grids and BPM analyzing in Engine.

7. ‘Engine’ needs the ability to analyze music ‘on the fly’ like ‘Engine Prime’.

[rqhail]

Completely agree! Given how the mcx8000 was named controller of the year 2016 made me buy it thinking it would get a lot of future support but a year later I’m still hoping Engine gets to a point where I can trust it to DJ with in standalone! Hoping the team has some answers for us about future direction

[SlayForMoney]

Chino, some of your suggestion are not Engine related but MCX8000 related. Recording to USB, additional FX, on the fly analyzing… these all depend on the hardware of the unit and i’m 99% certain they are not possible. Except additional FX but that would require a lot of free memory in the unit and I don’t think Denon was willing to spend money on that.

You may have better chance by requesting to simply replace one/some of the existing FX with more useful ones (delay, flanger…)

[DjMartinSK]

MCX8000 is primary Serato DJ Controller, only secondary standalone player! Absolutely i agree with point no: 1, 2 and 6 But: MP3 Sampling frequency exceeding 44.1 kHz is nonsense! Standard mp3 coding is 44,1 kHz. Sampler function may not have enough memory mcx8000. Hardware limitation. MCX8000 support lossless files! WAV and AIFF 24 bit/44,1 kHz. just enough. Engine inside MCX 8000 analyzes the music “on the fly”, but slower, only wave curve and BPM.

[DJ_Boothe]

'Engine' Improvements for the MCx8000!

MCX8000 is primary Serato DJ Controller, only secondary standalone player!

A multipurpose tool, like the mcx8000 can be different things to different people. It’s safe to say that, for some, including the tsunami of people wanting to move away from lappys; the MCX8000 is primarily standalone, and secondary it’s a Serato/midi controller.

[sbangs]

Hello, absolutely

MCX8000 and Engine Prime — good news from Denon DJ • DJWORX

[TCUhimself]

When will there be a new update? Actually I want to prepare a USB 3.0 drive with different lists and some thousand tracks (most of them of course MP3 with 320 kbps and also some WAV with higher quality).

During the analyzing on the drive it crashes every time…

[DeliriumJoker]

I got the same problem.

[ProDJSteve]

Same problem but with Mac. Is there a solution or troubleshooting guide to follow to remedy?

[DJ_Vintage]

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

[Makikatt]

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

[paul_denondj]

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!

[DjohnSmoke]

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.

[SimonP]

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

[hh73]

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.

[DJ.Beneficial]

MCX8000 I really don’t want to have to deal with 2 software packages and have to do all my track preparation twice

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.

[DJ.Beneficial]

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.

[Zero]

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.