Absolutely agree with the VL12 comments - its just not fit for purpose at all.
I agree completely - it seems it was tested by a team that might not have had any DJ experience, where massive dead zones are not an issue to them. Hopefully they will feel that they can engage the wider audience on this forum, for full functionality testing.
This is presuming that they will release a VL12 mark 2 next week - I am not convinced that this is going to happen. I hope they do though, as I need a pair of decks - I just cannot purchase the current VL12 as it is just not anything i can work with.
1 Like
I’m pretty sure that if well respected turntable DJs are approached by Denon to ask for their opinions about how a good turntable fit for mixing should work, the engineers would be able to design and put together an in house production equipment capable of delivering accurate sound, good SNR and work as precise as possible. The master of all turntables (SL-1200) is there to be studied and even improved where it matters, without running into legal issues.
This is one area where Denon DJ can easily win the crown if smart engineering and high quality control policies are put into effect. They can use automotive alloy wheels production procedures (like flow forming or forging) for creating a platter very well balanced and wobble free. They can arrange and isolate the components inside the housing to prevent operation noise from reaching the analog stage.
I suspect a return and repair thing for the VL12 like InMusic did for the Twelve would be enough to update the motor firmware for the early units, swap out pitch faders, and fix anti-skate issues people are having to at least get it up to the performance level of super OEM Hanpins like the PLX-1000. They need to just come out and be pro-active.
Then if they really want to take over the scene, they’re going to need something like a hybrid deck with a tonearm that has even better speed control on its motor and no laggy overcompensation. I think keeping such a new product somewhere in the US$1500-2000 range and avoiding further discounts would still allow the current pricing on the other Prime players to work and be competitive with the NXS2 line.
Why would you buy a CDJ2000NXS2 and a PLX-1000 for well over 2 grand when you could buy one Prime Hybrid X3 for under 2 grand? And I can’t imagine people with the Prime players or VL12 being angry about a bigger, more expensive hybrid coming out. Anyway, who knows what InMusic is showing at Namm. At the very least, VL12 needs some tweaks paid for by InMusic for customers who need them.
A turntable should stay a turntable plain and simple. A mixer should stay a mixer also they are now becoming controllers.
I check a vinyl shop every 2 weeks and still buy a record here and there.
So you have a problem with the X2 or the SC5000M?
The 5000m is not a turntable. I know it has a turntable on it but the deck is a controller. Now if you’re talking about controllers no prob but a record player with a whole suite of features that has nothing to do with record playing is a nice idea but not practical.
But whatever floats your boat 
It’s as practical as any other TT that can play 12" records. The M could be used to play 7" records if it had a tonearm. The X2 and CDT-05 both worked fine and proved this, but they came out just as CD popularity was winding down.
Enjoy the wait 