Hi, I have never owned, heard (first hand) or used Denon DJ gear but I have been considering the MCX8000. I originally used Technic Turntables before trying Traktor then Pioneer CDJ’s and mixer and currently Pioneer XDJ RX with Rekordbox. I’m not going to lie, I’m unhappy with the sound quality from my XDJ RX it just seems lifeless. My friend is very anti Pioneer and a big Denon Fan but I worry he may be too biased to give me the facts that matter to me.
Apart from sound quality my real issue lies with music management. I use Rekordbox and have done for years so all my music has already been fine tuned regards beat gridding and BPM timings etc. and I don’t relish the idea of doing it all again for new software. I prefer stand alone as opposed to Laptop based as that just adds another variable to go wrong but I have been reading so much negative feedback regarding Engine 1.5. From what I can gather you can’t adjust Beat Grids or allow for slight fluctuations in BPM and adjust accordingly so that everything is timed well when you play live.
Sell this to me guys please as Pioneer need a kicking into touch! Not sure if it’s relevant but I DJ House Music.
From a hardware standpoint, the 8000 is top of class in both build quality and features. Just an all around solid and well designed unit. And easily the best Serato controller available right now.
BUT… In all honesty, if standalone is your goal, I’d hold off a little bit until Engine 1.5 vs. Engine Prime is resolved. It isn’t clear yet if 8000 users are going to end up on Prime or with a new version (I have faith that the promised upgrades are coming soon) - but in either case, wait to see how the dust settles on that, then take a look at the features and see what you want to do.
If you do decide to switch over, check out RekordBuddy. It will make switching easier without having to redo all your work.
I’ll go with @ToddOddity here that Engine 1.5 is not on-par with RekordBox.
I’ll also go with @DjEric that the sound quality is very, very nice.
Built like a tank and I don’t think there is any other controller that is so mobile DJ friendly. While sold as a 4-channel controller it’s really a 4+2 channel mixer with it’s two separate mic channels. Something else that I like is that it is just about the only controller brand on the market that has split cue option. If you mix in your cans or in-ears, this is such a nice feature (at least to me).
I can compare it to the MC6000 mk1 which I used for close to 3 years, as well as the DDJ-SX which I had for about the same period. All these controllers are fine, the MC6000 being the best in it’s size, just a very neat 19". The ergonomics were better on the mk2 though. The SX is a big boy, solid, decent sound quality, but things like the way mic usage is supported has prevented me from totally warming up to it. I always new that I’d get something new. I thought about getting the MC6000 mk2 instead, but wanted a bigger form factor with bigger jogs. Was still a bit in limbo when the 8000 launced. Thought that would be THE controller to last me til retirement. Which it would have been if it weren’t for this little thing like the Prime series.
As I do a lot of older stuff (like 80s disco, much of which I never bothered to beatgrid correctly), I am pretty much used to beat-matching tracks manually. So I don’t really miss that feature in Engine 1.5 much. I do all my key detection in Mixed in Key, so that is not an issue either. As said though, it isn’t the best software around, something even the Denon peeps will probably agree to.
So, great controller with Serato (and VDJ has full mapping WITH screen support now), decent enough standalone with Engine-prepared USB-stick as a back-up. Standalone as primary option will work as well, just expect to do some more manual stuff.
MCX8000 is an amazingly built controller, as others have mentioned. But at this point in time I would be recommending it primarily as a Serato controller - that has the added functionality of standalone for backup (computer failure) or DJ changeovers.
All this should change when Engine 1.5 gets the upgrade treatment, which I understand is already in progress. The hardware on the MCX8000 is as good as it gets in controller land, which is the most important thing - as software and firmware are generally easily updated and improved.
In regards to your library already being analysed in Rekordbox.
Rekordbuddy are already writing conversion software for Rekordbox->Engine Prime translation. This may or may not include Engine (standard), and there may be compatibility between Engine Prime and Engine (standard) further down the line. Either of these developments would make moving from Rekordbox to Engine a breeze for you, although I’d hazard that with house music - beatgrids are easily sorted regardless, and the next Engine update is rumoured to be receiving adjustable beatgrids amongst other improvements.
The 8000 as a standalone unit seems to be a device that was pushed to it’s limits in terms of processor power & memory right from the very start. Which could explain why they cannot improve standalone effects or change the code to read an engine prime database. Things regarding the 8000 seem to be very up in the air (DenonDj-Australia - This may or may not include… ) If Denon themselves are not certain about what is planned for the 8000, where does that leave us? One thing that seems quite clear is that the 8000 WONT get Engine Prime (otherwise DenonDj-Australia wouldn’t have even mentioned Engine), it will get an updated version of the standard Engine, so Rekordbuddy compatibility is really just wishful thinking. Basing your purchase on wishes & rumours is not generally a wise decision. Hopefully an updated version of Engine will render the 8000 as more than just an “emergency backup” in standalone use. If I were you I would hold off on getting the 8000, for now at least.
I’d get something cheaper and wait for the next iteration of the 8k Probably (<2 years) that would more than likely have the prime series processing power and Engine prime with it.
That way you will get to see how well the evolved hardware of the prime series holds up and Engine prime a bit further along in terms of features and bug fixes.
I feel it’s the next generation 8000 that will reap the full benefit. Right now I’m grouping the 8000 with the new Mac with touch screen. Innovative but not the Holy grail.
If you have a decent controller now no need to buy it, but if you don’t and need one…you can buy it.
I bought one, sold my SX,then had to buy the Denon 6000mk2.
You might ask why I bought another denon, the answer is that Denon sounds so much better than its pioneer equivalent.
I bought my MCX8000 in the last week of February and I’ve used it twice since then. I LOVE IT. I absolutely love it. It’s punchier than the DDJ-RX it replaced, it’s built better, and as a Serato-only user (I can’t stand Engine; I think it’s trash), I absolutely love it. The latest firmware update fixed my only issue with the unit, which was its inaccurate pitch resolution. As of now, it’s been 100% flawless for me. I haven’t had any of the issues people have been complaining about on here or the Serato forums.
Denon has stated that they’re going to update the 8000 to work with Engine Prime:
"We want to reassure our loyal and invested Denon DJ MCX8000 users that we are absolutely continuing to support this product. ‘Engine’ desktop software is currently being updated by our Development Team to incorporate DJ performance features, plus music-management workflow capabilities of ‘Engine Prime’. This will ensure our MCX8000 users have an even more enhanced creative, and standalone workflow on their MCX8000.
Paul Dakeyne – Brand Manager (Denon DJ)
Jan.27th 2017"
this came from here:
And you can find that same statement elsewhere.
I purchased the 7000 and I love it. I know it’s not a standalone unit, but I came CDJs and I was just about to buy the SX2 and then I saw the 7000 - I’m so glad I did! I waited half a year and bought it right when it came out and it’s a fantastic unit. I would imagine that the 8000 is a great piece of gear as well.
Thats not how I read that statement at all.
“ENGINE desktop software is currently being UPDATED to INCORPORATE dj performance features, plus music management workflow of ENGINE PRIME.”
The 8000 will get an updated version of Engine & not Prime compatible. Hopefully the update will give us a more functional and stable software, allowing us to manually adjust our beat grids for more accurate auto loops etc… This is all I actually want from the software, so if the updated Engine can do this then I really couldn’t be bothered with Prime. It’s very possible that I’m interpreting the above statement incorrectly, so please Denon staff, please go on the record & tell us whether it’s an update to Engine or if the 8000 will work with the all new Engine Prime.
Yeah, that’s a good distinction. Well, hopefully they are able to bridge that gap and fix the issues with Engine and the 8000. That was one of my hesitations with the 8000 and why I went with the 7000 as I was nervous about relying on a young OS and I really wanted dual USB. That being said, it seems like their OS is evolving nicely with the Prime series of players so it will be interesting to see how things go in the future software- and hardware-wise.
If you want a standalone unit and perform without a laptop connected, it seems that your RX is just that, while the MCX-8000 primary is a controller that can be used as a standalone unit in case the laptop fails. If you are used to the effects on the RX, you’ll be disappointed to go from 4 color effects and 8 beat effects to just 3 effects in total on the MCX-8000 as it is very basic in standalone mode. The MCX-8000 comes to life only used as a Serato controller where you can use all 4 channels and have the effects in Serato available. Rekordbox is superior to the old Engine and unless Engine Prime comes to the MCX-8000, it will not be competitive in that area. Especially now when all RX owners get the full version of RB DJ to use. You need to prioritize and make a choice based on your needs.
That’s ultimately the best advice as is the almost forgotton about idea of getting infront of both items on your shortlist and seeing, feeling and hearing them.
Effects are nice but what percentage of any performance are you going to be using effects instead of pure, clean, original sound… maybe 10% of the time? A few seconds per track for mix/highlight reasons… as an educated guess, with effects applied for 10 seconds to each track played in a hour, with maybe 15 tracks an hour playable that’s only150 seconds (about 2.5 mins) per hour - about 3%
Audio output performance is something that I’d rate far higher on my priorities list for anything with a mixer element within. On that front, pound for pound, or dollar for dollar, Denon wins hands down. From mobile jocks to Ministry of Sound the majority of opinions tend to rate the Denon as having a cleaner and punchier sound rather than the rather dry sound from Pioneer mixers and combos.
There’s certainly a lot of people who have written that they’ve noticed and appreciated the sound output from the Denon is better than that of the Pioneer.
Another aspect to add in to your own priorities is that of the microphone channel(s). Pio alway tend to “throw a mic input on last minute” as though they’ve finished the product and then thought “oh yeah, suppose we’d better put something on for the mobile jocks out there” and invariable they slap a mic on, usually accessible by loosing a music channel on a one-or-the-other switch meaning you can’t use the mic to talk over the top of the music on that channel, just mic or music.
It’s no surprise that pio are chucking in the fulll version of rekordbox on certain products and free headphones on other products - since the 8000 was released, Prime was announced and several huge DJs turned away from pio, we can expect to see more and more attempts at value realigning from them… but remember an old car is still an old car, even if you’re offered fluffy dice free.
Four actually - three in the effects section and the dedicated filters on each channel (seeing as you counted the filter as one of the colour effects on the Pioneer). But yes, otherwise agree with your analysis.
Thanks for all the replies! After looking through them I think I will switch to the MCX8000 based on Sound Quality and build quality and also give Serato a go and use Engine as a back up option only. Just need to convert my Rekordbox library and we’re all good
