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.