Engine Prime Features Suggestion

+100 for this. Absolutely.

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Again apologies for reiterating old comments - it only serves to show how important they are though I guess !

  • Metronome for setting beat grids
  • Flexible beat grid capability for songs that have different BPM ranges
  • A record function with master record volume control - nice and simple just like Rekordbox
  • Ability to choose different beat numbering on the waveform. For example I would prefer 1 - 8 then repeat 1 - 8 instead of it just counting up the beats ad infinitum… 159, 160, 161 etc… at a glance these mean nothing to me. Just would make life a little easier to have the choice of something more usuable
  • Ability to change the default beat jump - I prefer 32 but make this customisable as a default
  • Autoloop function. This is brilliant in Rekordbox. Some tunes have very little endzone to work with so the ability to set an autoloop on a track gives more headroom to mix out
  • Reset star rating - currently you can’t restore this to ‘no stars’
  • Integrate Engine Prime so you can drop a track from your laptop i.e. special requests can be downloaded on the fly and easily dropped onto the player
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I would like that Engine does the same as pioneer i.e. a bar/beat countdown from the next cue/loop back to where the song is now. Makes it easy to start the new song right on time, e.g. the intro of the new song is 8 bars thus it needs to be started 8 bars before the cue on the current song as the cue is at the start of the break

4 posts were split to a new topic: Engine Prime Updates?

Now these suggestions I personally deem as fundamental and I cant understand why these logical things are missing ? I am not a fan of having to use this software, it defeats the whole marketing Angle of the SC5000, but we have no choice until/if the players become truly standalone, that I hope as surely many of us want to get away from the computer / software.

100% Fundamental needs.

  1. Better Protection /back up option for the database - improved so that Prime does not pack up/corrupt the data base with the slightest issue. (Their is a huge problem here).

  2. Better detection External Hard drives as a recognised USB device ( Or instruction on how to get external drives to show up once more after failing to detect the first time of failing soon after )

  3. Playlist must have folders for sorting out our sets, ( I like to keep all my sets for calling up at a later date, but if you do quite a few different Genre or subcategories etc. the whole thing becomes a frustrating and long mess we need to be able to group out our playlists into folders please .

  4. Each Folder we browse in should remember that last track position in the list that the cursor etc was at, playlists and collections alike ( Also extended functionality to browsing on the SC5000). Its one of the most annoying aspects I have many dozens of folders with genre and sun genre and skipping back and too while getting a set together is so frustrating having to find scroll back to the last position in the list because each folder reverts back to the beginning I find this frustrating and it takes that much more effort getting sets together and does kill the moment.

  5. Better Back up options for missing tracks in playlists (Better remembers, stores the playlist info, keeps a written list so we do not lose sets if any corruptions happens) Browse to whole folders and do folder scan and replace missing files/songs automatically once found.

  6. Option to show extra bar makers obviously with slightly different visual so as to differentiate either at 8 beat, 16 or 32 bar ( This I also wish to extend to the SC5000 ) these are awesome visuals cues for mixing.

  7. Track data / beat gridding lock (which goes hand in hand with suggestion 8 also )

  8. Browser tag list_ example: to be able to select multiple tracks in browser lists and write changes too multiple tags at the same time such as the genre tag/ Comment and a new tag for Grouping would be an advantage for personalised Sub category’s or descriptions , so we do not have to enter each separately if they happen to be all the same.

I personally would like to also see the existing Comment tag and a new one for Grouping added in prime also added to the SC5000 for better organisation, and searching our own personalised browsing systems we create with the tags, this flexibility and additional group/grouping tag will make our life’s so much better once we decide to mix on the fly from a collection as suppose to a playlist.

  1. More elastic type beat gridding , stretching time via the yellow markers, more flexibility would be nice. ( and a must to add this function to the SC5000).

Problem I have 7 Times at least has engine prime software corrupted my drive / data base and I have had to start over, All I can say is I am at the end of my tether, no problem with the Music or user error unplugging drive etc, bought new hard drives formatted correctly, and each and every time is just a matter of time before it corrupts for no apparent reason, I really don’t want to have anything too do with this software at present it has to be said, sorry!, but we have no choice with large collections. I have no trust or reliability when using Prime software, and no problems using my drive without the engine prime software, only corrupts when using the software.

Just a little about myself I have been DJing since the 80’s and have experience from turntables and CDJs into the likes of Cross DJ, (This is the one to take functional ideas from unless used this you will not understand how its much superior with is with Organisation and gridding amongst many other things ), I have also used Traktor and serato and record box and a vast amount of hardware is putting it mildly. Unfortunately I am feeling extremely let down by Denon and the hype has not yet been realised to its better potential and tightly pulled together . This prime system is not yet a game changer, On one hand I see its potential only to get a bad feeling that important thing will be overlooked, Denon need to move on from the marketing hype and do what they set out to claim within a relatively short time span as is all doable with a bit of logic when implementing such functions in the software and hardware alike.

I know you have just released the engine Prime update, but disappointingly no fundamental changes that make what I mention above a much nicer experience using the Prime system, its all a battle at the moment, Yes its usable if I don’t personally get corrupted drives all the time, but its below standard, why settle for less than perfect, surely the development team know it can be perfect and what logically needs implementing ? and they know the importance of such suggestions above, nothing for gimmicks sake all has a fundamental purpose, surely you see what I see ?

Thanks for your understanding, no intention on bad mouthing here, I am exited for what could be and the likes of such things I have envisaged for decades as I evolved with all this tech and software yet at the same time I am scared my dreams of what I can do and wish too do will fall flat and I will almost die inside, its now or never the time is upon us (Denon please forget the hidden agenda of update and firmware shout out your intentions keep us trusting in you, you do not need to worry about pioneers next move if you get my fundamental suggestions and any other peoples suggestions that are as equally important done you will have cemented the prime series as number 1 for the serious mix DJ who knows the score) , this all means a lot to me in my life I have waited so long to see this potential and possibility, yet all is quiet with such improvement ? give us some signs , your so near in theory yet so far in practicality.

Thanks

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Hi Jace

It’s one of those things. If you asked 100 DJs for a feature they’d cherish on any piece of DJ equipment, there wouldnt be the same answers from all - instead there would be a mixture of different answers.

Worst still, there could be some DJs who may reply that the way a particular piece of equipment does a particular task simply must never ever change.

Somewhere in the middle of “We like it how it is” and “It’s upside down” are all the feature requests.

Future Firmware and Engine Prime software will definately be addressing some of the suggestions which you, and other users, have made.

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There are some external tools that may be helpful. Google And The Groove Remains and/or ir CBT. Their tools do other handy stuff for Prime users as well as for iTunes, Traktor and RekordBox users.

Wouldn’t you do this using nested crates?

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Oops … made a mistake. The ir CBT tool is aimed at RekordBox/iTunes collections. Remains that some of their tools could be helpful to (Engine) Prime users.

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The problem there is, Denon DJ cant offer any support were an external tool from 3rd party application or cheap/free software has corrupted a users database, or created some other undesirable outcome or side effect etc.

The next update of Engine Prime is nearing completion and offers some really good enhancements.

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Thanks Gee, yep I understand what you are saying, although I must disagree in say the things I mention are not so much personal but more a standard necessity that does not really affect any other users aspects, but instead improves on most obvious missing functionality that a vast majority of these platforms have as standard that implemented in one way or the other, I understand what you say but perceive most of my requests in a different way, and in what may seem a selfish way in relation to the the scenario you explain and that is understandable. But in the sense of logical if you want the best system their are no other options in this area, 30 + years deep into all this tech and software tells me these are logical steps to make this system work, we are not talking Self gratifying things.

But yes I agree and then disagree with the ideology lol depending on what is suggested , no Bad intention when I say this, but I am sure in what I say, I know my stuff inside out when it comes to this tech and software, their are a few other big suggestions I agree with although will not use myself, and quite a few I do not understand why because I only talk about fundamentals in mixing and the best solutions, but as you say we all vary in what we think is logical I suppose, but logic is still what I insist on and how I work I don’t want little gimmicks, just a clean to the point system, Thanks for your reply gee, I should really go over too the sc5000 topics and put my related suggestions their and I will suggest as just a suggestion but I do think I am absolutely logical when it comes to mixing with such tech, but anything else like this connecting to the internet . with the players I would have no need personally its just the straight out mixing and browsing functionality the I am into. anyhow again sorry for maybe sounding arrogant in my suggestions that is not my intention its just my passion for wanting these to be the best they can be for myself and others and I do understand your point, thank you Gee.

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I would prefer not to use any third party software that may cause issues anyhow, but I thanks you for your suggestion and I look forward to seeing what is next from denon etc.

I promised myself not to get involved in this, but Gee’s remark just made me decide to make one statement about it.

I don’t think it’s fair to classify a third-party as cheap/free and the source of database corruptions to scare ppl away from possible solutions for issues they are experiencing in their workflow. Especially if there isn’t trustworthy data to support those claims. I happen to know the developer personally and know his product(s) come from developing tools to make things happen for his own workflow that DJ software developers didn’t make possible. Like me, he didn’t like it when users get “hijacked” by their information, that they worked so hard for to put into the system, being kept behind “lock and key” when trying to move to or parallel use another platform.

I have seen some drawbacks about the latest firmware for the Primes, that are already have been tackled by these tools. These tools get updates on an almost weekly basis, small or big additions or improvements in part based on customer requests, tips, bug reports.

Just to put things in perspective, the Denon Conversion Utility (DeCU) is only a VERY small part of the software sold by this developer. His primary tools (like the DJ Conversion Utility DJCU) are geared more towards RekordBox, Traktor, DJay conversions and sold in much bigger numbers. Being enthousiastic (who isn’t?) about the Prime series, he wanted to be able to expand these conversion and other tools to include the Prime environment into his personal workflow.

It’s not up to me to try and figure out the reasons for any animosity between this developer and Denon. The information is out there and even with Denon seemingly trying to keep that information from it’s users, it’s up to the users to decide if these tools will or won’t help them in their personal workflow.

From the sidelines it looks a bit like it would have looked if Pioneer had tried to stop ppl from developing RekordBuddy. They haven’t (at least not succesfully) and it’s now a full-fledged and accepted third-party solution.

A I said, it’s not my place nor my desire to get involved any further in this situation. But I do object to things being said that are not true or at the very least not substantiated. Fair enough if you don’t want to cooperate with third-party developers, but don’t keep potential benefits from your customers by blacklisting such third-parties. We are grown-ups and well equipped to make up our own minds.

This is the first and last I will have said about it. I hope all users will be independent and make up their own minds about what is out there and whether it can and will work for you.

Just to give you an example, should you want RekordBox beatgrids and nested playlist folders, this is already possible by creating a usb stick that will work in both RB and Prime environments. Just two things (still) missing in the firmware. Wanna go from Traktor to Prime? Another easy conversion possiblity there.

As some of you know I am a Mixvibes Cross user. Cross has an old Rekordbox xml export version. The developer of these tools downloaded the free 30-day trial of Cross and in a few days added Cross functionality. I can now easily transfer my playlists from Cross to Prime. Just to show that this is an enthousiastic guy who listens to his customers and quickly adds or changes the things that need improvement or adding.

That’s it. I love the Prime’s to death (spent some time with them again at two DJs homes I visited last week), they are undeniably nr. 1 on my hardware wishlist. When I eventually get them I will use whatever works best to move over from my old platform and/or to use both in parallel with the minimum amount of double or extra work.

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the reason why we reach out to 3rd party app’s is that we are in (desperate) need of certain solutions/tools of which we all expected/hoped for would be available from version 1.0 of EP or at least within a couple of weeks after the release.

The cnversion was there to fill this gap. I have not experienced any database corruption and will continue to use It till Engine will offer the solutions.

In general it is always important to keep back-ups in case something goes wrong.

continue to wait anxiously for the update of Engine Prime, as I can bitch and moan but I still love the players and don’t want to go back.

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@Gee_DenonDJ why did you or an moderator removed the name of the 3rd party app.

When we refer to Serato, traktor, Mixed in Key it is allowed and this one not???

Would like to understand why ?

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If I had to guess - the author of that app really aggressively spammed the forum and the facebook pages, despite being repeatedly asked by mods to dial it back a notch. I suspect because of that any reference to that app is cut out now by policy, regardless of how useful it may be.

None of the other pieces of software actually attempt to re-write the official Engine Prime database. Therefore a Denon DJ user is unlikely to suffer any database corruption from the other pieces of software, as the original Denon DJ written database is not re-saved by unofficial, un-supported, non-Denon DJ software apps.

Clearly I don’t have Prime gear so can only relate to Engine and MCX8000 which will never win any awards for stability and features anyway. So are you saying that corrupted databases don’t occur in a 100% Denon Prime-only environment?

That is both a bold statement and very good news for Prime users to have that assurance.

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I never had a corrupted database, not with Engine nor with a 3rd party app, but the #1 feature suggestion from @Jace was:

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This is already achieved by using “Analyse” rather than “Re-analyse” then only the tracks which have no analysis performed on them already, will be analysed.

It’s been so long I totally forgot that I had even asked this question. :slight_smile: And yes, I eventually realized after spending copious amounts of time with Prime that this was the case. That said, I sincerely appreciate the response @Gee_DenonDJ :beers:

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