Just counting the logos is meaningless… take a LOOK at the logos.
Under the Denon model are around a dozen companies all with strong, long term experience of the pro-audio performance market.
Under the pioneer - 50 or so companies, with probably 5 that any notable number of people will have heard of… one of those is Kodak, which has been run into the ground recently, and almost in the very center of the logos … Toys R Us, which had to close many of its stores two years ago.
To my understanding two large umbrellas had Allen&Heath under them, in the past. Harman (now Samsung) and D&M Holdings. The last had an investment by Bain Capital before parts were sold to “our” Mr. Jack.
I like both players. Both have their plusses over the other. Overal, the SC6000 is the better player though in my opinion for obvious reasons: double layers, on board analysis, multi-functional pads, better placement of these pads (although that is subjective), multi-touch screen, can read rekorbox whereas Pio cannot read prime etc etc.
The “club standard” argument may be true. It’s been said a dozen times: club owners have no excuse to pay twice the price for half the value as Denons can read rekordbox. Any guy worth the name “professional DJ” should be able to work the Denons in a matter of minutes.
I do like the beat jump and key sync on the Pioneers though. Also the concept of “track filter” is very cool and easier than on the Denons. Soundwise, the CDJ3000 does sound a tad warmer in my opinion. But all this does not justify the huge price tag: on a studio monitor you hear the minor difference. On a PA, you do not.
What does ■■■■ me off at the moment though is that I ordered my SC6000M set in January 2020. I received 1 X1850 and 1 SC6000M in August 2020. Since then, they’ve been keeping me waiting and 10 promised dates of delivery have not been respected. Now they say it’ll be end of November. Which is why I’ve been looking at the Pioneers. Strangely, COVID is only an excuse for Denon and Pioneer seems not to be affected by it… That is very sad.
I’m also waiting on my second player. Pioneer also has way more money as a company to throw at distribution (they partner with smile/amazon) than InMusic/Denon does. Pioneer can lose money upfront and recoup later.
One question, we know from reading here and elsewhere that the SC6000 has a lot more functions and seems to be the best player currently, but are they as solid as Pioneers? I am not familiar with Denon products at all and cannot find a discussion on it. If regular users could testify, that would be great !
In all fairness I will say that I don’t think you will get accurate info here or anywhere else unless Denon provides some numbers like units sold vs issues reported.
Typically people who have issues tend to come to forums and seek help and vent. when you look at any product out there, the majority of the happy customers don’t come to leave positive feedback. Having said that, you can gauge what people share based on their experiences but again keep what I suggest above in mind. I had CDJs for 10 years and never any issues. I think I’ve had my SC5000 for 2 years and I have not had any issues with my Denons’ either.
My sc5000’s were gigged with every Saturday for a year. They got dropped a couple times. I used soft bags to transport em. They survived baggage handlers and cue button mashers. I second what @Shain mentioned.
Go to Facebook search. Type in sc5000 to see what everyone posts about em publicly outside of the forum.
The problem there is that no other makers give out their stats of xx players failed out of xxxxx. So denon probsbly won’t either.
Also a denon forum will be a magnet for denon problems , a pioneer forum with be a magnet for pioneer problems etc and any mention of brand x on any brand y forum will barely get screen space.
Just safe to assume that nothing is perfect, nothing is rubbish. Everything usually lasts when it’s treated like a piece of electronic gear, and anything will fall to bits if treated like a shovel load of bricks
What changes the odds in primes favour however, in my opinion, is Denons Engine OS (operating system) which is used in every model of prime, not just one model. So when denon add a new feature to Engine OS then none of the prime model should get left behind. That’s quite unique
Thank you for responding to me so quickly and sharing your experiences on this series of products.
Given the situation, they will not leave my home regularly so it will certainly give them a better length of life!
I believe that the choice will now be quick, just hoping that the delivery is not too late because I could read on the forum that there was a lot of delay.
What I prefer with the 3000 is the que button and the quantize is easier to access on the side without touch (since sometimes its not always reacting when im clicking, probably just need to get used to it) and the que buttons is little bit hard on the click. Wished que and in/out was softer on click.