Loops snapping to the wrong place

Hi everyone. First off, i’m loving the Prime 4, I use it for mobile discos and have done quite a few on it with no problems. However… I try to set up loops but when i pick the start point and then try to set the end point, the end often snaps to a place just past the beat or between beats. Is this because engine sets it at what it thinks is the end of 4 beats or 8 beats etc ? Even when i try to manually set the IN and OUT points the same thing happens, the out point doesn’t go where i set it, the Prime 4 seems to think it knows best and puts the out point slightly off. Now it might be that the beat grids are all wrong, but as I let the engine software analyse them it’s not my fault … I even tried moving the beat grids but to no avail, it just slides along the track so the 4 beats still don’t perfectly match a grid. I reset the drop point but you can’t stretch and move the grid to match the beats point. So later in the track the beat grids are off again. Really sorry to say this but engine software is a long way behind other systems and if Denon want to be leaders this basic analysing feature needs URGENT attention. Finally. I analysed everything before the update. Is it worth Re-analysing my 16,000 tracks?

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Hi @Jesterrip, thanks for posting! Have you tried editing your beat grid like in our Editing Beat Grids to Create Accurate Loops video?

yes. I can slide the beat grid to the beginning of the 4 beats, but that puts the next beat grid marker off as the Grid/BPM is wrong. IE: the grid need to be stretched or closed up to match the beats. Can this be done?

For clarity, do you mean zooming in and out of the waveform? If so you can pinch and zoom on the touchscreen.

No. I mean the engine software has analysed the song wrongly. For example, the beat grid is based on 120bpm but the actual track is 118bpm so after a few bars the beat grid is off. If I then slide the beat grid to set the grid marker at the beat, it eventually goes off again after a few beats. So either the track needs re analysing, which my engine software is not allowing me to do on this track, OR, the beat grid needs manually stretching, just like on serato, where you can “Pin” or “anchor” the grid at various places throughout the track

Thanks for that clarification. Have you also tried resetting the BPM with the ‘Grid Edit Controls’ in the software?

trying that now. but very very long winded. If i have to do this with every track i will be here until Christmas or until a new Pioneer comes out (sorry for that) No what the system needs is a way to anchor or pin throughout the track especially for anything that had a human drummer and not a time perfect drum machine. Madonna Like a Virgin for example, I fixed the first few bars at 116 BPM when the engine analysed it at 120, but later in the track the beat is off again .however, if you try to change bpm on prime 4 the beat grid contracts and expands with it so the loop will always be wrong. Either the loop function needs to be properly manual, ie: it starts the loop exactly where you press in and then “out” where you press out, NOT to where Prime 4 thinks the end of a 4 or 8 beat loop should be. Or the grid needs to be elastic and multi anchored through the track. Does this make any sense?

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I totally understand where you are coming from.

Our Development Team is working to improve the Engine PRIME software for easier workflow and concise BPM/gridding.

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The OP is asking for flexible beatgrids and also a way to shrink and expand the grids to make bpm changes.

This has been requested by numerous folks

https://community.enginedj.com/t/variable-grid-bpm-grid-realignment/15192

@Jesterrip this feature is not available in Engine Prime yet.

Although you can “warp” in engine prime ie grid the tracks to a fixed BPM but it’s hard work.

Go to the grid settings and use set a new downbeat whenever the track starts drifting. You will have to do it a number of times depending on the tempo drifts.

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Thanks @mufasa for shedding more light. I wouldn’t mind this as a feature myself!

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