So while I know we’re all rabidly awaiting release and receipt of our Prime 4 units (mine’s been on order since Feb 8), instead of focusing on the obstacles we’ve faced I wanted to start a discussion where we could share why we’ve chosen the Prime 4! Soooo, let’s share where we come from on our DJ journeys and what brings us to this lovely piece of equipment.
I started djing back in 2004 on some crappy American DJ cdjs at a local bar playing open format. From there I’ve experimented on all sorts of gear, vinyl, cdj, controllers. I’ve worked in Virtual DJ, Traktor, Serato, and most recently Rekordbox. Yes, they have ALL failed me in a gig at least once. I still enjoy a good open format set, but have found myself of course in the dance music community more often than not. I’ve spent a great deal of time also on the streaming of things for live stream shows.
I moved from the CDJ setups into controller based simply for the features that software seemed to offer over the hardware-only setups. I bought the Traktor Kontrol S2 (still have it) and have had multiple Pioneer controllers including the DDJ-RX most recently.
What has drawn me to the Prime 4 is that I get all of the features I love in the software, 4 channels, and I get stand alone. Then adding in some of the more advanced features (that to be honest I personally will use less frequent than others) it was a no brainer. Being able to disconnect the laptop, and simply show up and plug in my unit and rock, that’s what I’m here for.
So, what about you? Share your journey and what attracts you to the unit!
EDIT:
Oh man… I can’t believe I forgot to mention the biggest reason I looked at the Prime 4. A friend of mine has a full suite of 4x SC5000 and the X1800 and I was able to play on it when I visited him a few months back. After my initial adjustment phase from being used to Pioneer’s ecosystem and workflow I fell in love.
Hey, i started my DJ life with a pair of soundlab belt drives and mixer no idea what the model were and then moved on to Gemini direct drives with a numark chrome mixer with these EQ kill buttons which at the time I thought were the nuts… I mainly played hard house and tried to get onto the club scene, quickly got disillusioned and sold the lot. Then few years ago I got the bug back again and started to pick up controllers and get into djing and producing techno… I’ve had various, traktor X1,F1, Z1’s then moved over to rekordbox with a DDJ RR which was great but I wanted 4 decks, so I moved back to traktor and got the S5 which I currently use, brilliant controller! I love the displays and traktor I find is where I’m at home… however. I also have a mobile DJ sideline and hate being reliant on a laptop, the S5 microphone functionality is toss and have been looking for standalone option for a while. The P4 looks like the mobile DJ dream and is something I can imagine never having to upgrade again… for a good few years anyway. I’m convincing myself I really do need 4 channels. Altbough I do enjoy layering my mixes when djing techno I very rarely use 4 decks when doing mobile DJ gigs…and to be honest I’m still leaning a little toward the xdj rx2… im in no great rush to change at the moment so I think I’m gonna let all you guinea pigs review the gear and make the desision for me.
For me I started back in the early 90s on Turntables with no real options than to perfect the mix (I have never been a scratch DJ) over the years I took on the Pioneer CDJ 1000’s and the Denon DN series of dual drawer CD players and really enjoyed the added functionality, I too have worked through DJing on Traktor, VDJ and Serato (I have Rekordbox but not played out on it) Serato has been the main system for me for many year and from using the Novation Twitch (Which I loved) right up to the DDJ-SX2 I have now, Controllers have given me a new lease of life. I recently retired from DJing and my last ‘gift’ to myself is the Prime 4, as with yourself it is the freedom to have the loops, hotcues and everything else that comes with a controller, but without the laptop, ordered mine in Feb too, so fingers crossed it come soon
For me i started in the Late 90s with a set of cheap turntables from Argos and after a few house partys i bought 2 Gemini Direct drive turntables and a mixer which i cant remember the name. Used them for a few months but being not in a good job i couldnt afford the vinyl. Got back into it back in 2014 when a DJ friend of mine showed me the DDJ SX so i bought 1 and got back into doing some mixes. Then i saw as advert for the Prime 4 and instantly knew this was some serious kit so put my name down for a pre order. Downside to this is this is my 1st time getting anything from Denon and so far its not a good start.
For me it’s cost or maybe I should say, affordability. I’m out 4 or 5 nights a week with my 5000/1800/5000 and really want my backup system to be Prime too instead of just laptop and Virtual DJ.
Much as I’d like two 1800s and four 5000, I can’t justify half that for a just-in-case backup system. So for me, the Prime 4 will be a perfect backup and practice system.
