Denon SC5000 Prime vs Pioneer CDJ 2000 NX2
Looking to get thoughts on Denon SC5000 Prime vs. Pioneer CDJ 2000 NX2.
Always used Pioneer gear (every generation of CDJ/XDJ) but considering purchase of new Denon decks instead of CDJ 2000 NX2s.
Has anyone used the Denon units live? How to they perform relative to the CDJs?
Price not an issue for me looking at functionality.
Thanks
Um…Prime gear isn’t even shipping to dealers yet so wait a month or two for reviews.
Well, as far as hardware is concerned, The SC5000 blows away any Pioneer player. I own the NXS2 and have demoed the SC5000, so I have hands on experience. Engine Prime, however, needs some work! I’m not a scratch DJ, so the jogs being capacitive versus depressive isn’t an issue for me. Pitch Resolution/Key Lock on the Denon’s are faaaar superior. Those dual layers are so convenient. What I found most attractive about the SC5000s is the ability to take an unanalyzed thumb drive full of tunes, pop them into the players, and mix on the fly…reminded me of the vinyl days. It was a LOT of fun!
If they get a few quirks worked out with the software, both on the players and in Engine Prime, I will be selling my NXS setup and getting a pair of SC5000s. That said, I don’t think you’ll be seeing these in booths for at least a few years. Pro DJs and Club/Bar owners are rather stubborn when it comes to change. But this feature set is without a doubt the future of the standalone media player. I suspect we’ll be seeing Pioneer emulate many of the SC5000s features on the next iteration of the XDJ line.
Actually, I’m already seeing them in booths. It’s amazing how those stubborn club/bar owners suddenly change their mind when they realize that they only need 2x Denons to have the same functionality and backup for a significantly smaller price. All they see is $$$.
And Pioneer will probably need at least 1 year to bring out a new player that will be up to par with Denons hardware wise.
For those who have a big rekordbox collection it’s probably not worth switching to Denon yet (importing the tracks, adjusting your workflow, dealing with bugs and lacking features of SC players/Engine Prime - no active loops, no linking players with Engine, etc…), wait to see what Pioneer will offer.
I was all set to buy a pair of SC5000s, but I don’t feel they’re quite ready for “Prime”-time yet. Every issue that springs up by users is passed off as user error by the mods over at the Denon Forum. Now, while that is usually the case w’ many issues regarding DJ gear, some of the grievances are clearly the players themselves. One guy complained that his SC5000 locked up on him whilst playing an outdoor gig and the mod actually had the gall to suggest that it might be due to the “color” (lol) of his flashdrive and how it might draw in excessive heat. Ridiculous! Oh no, it couldn’t possibly be a glitch w’ the player itself…no, it had to be because he was using a black-colored flashdrive. Unbelievable!! Hell, I merely expressed doubt in the stability of Engine Prime and had my comment deleted (and my account reduced to “read only”…in other words, I cannot start a thread nor reply to any posts), stating that I was trolling. Denon better get a grip on that form of moderating before it soils their reputation. I love Serato’s method for forum moderation…let users vent whatever frustrations or criticisms they have about a feature or product and then respond constructively. It’s as if Denon (or at least their forum moderators) want to think of themselves as an Industry Standard without the years of providing a proven product.
I think I’ll stick to my NXS2s for a year and see how the SC5000s progress. I certainly LOVE the hardware and the feature-set of the Denons MUCH more than CDJs, but I don’t feel like being a BETA tester for however long it takes to get them to operate properly.
This makes me extremely happy that I did not buy these units. It sucks to see that Denon is acting so terribly.
Funny, I remember having discussions like that with Silvio on the Denon DJ forums years ago, looks like he still works there.
I doubt Pioneer is worried, they have another product cycle in 18 months, while the SC5000 still has to prove itself.
LMAO, and now the thread for that discussion (that got me demoted) has been locked! Oh man, Denon, you are so screwed. Already making HUGE mistakes with the tiny community that you’ve got.
http://denondjforum.com/t/elastic-beat-grids-detecting-transition-tracks-variable-tempo-beats/4473/6
There is no doubt…they are sexy AF!! That’s why I haven’t completely written them off.
I will revisit them in a year or so and see how far they’ve progressed. I would LOVE to
ditch my CDJs. I still think the feature set of the Denon players are the future.
Perhaps Pioneer will respond w’ their own version of the SC5000s. But even still,
w’ Pioneer’s model of updating features via a whole new unit, versus regularly updating
the firmware on currently available hardware, I think I would rather follow Denon’s model.
Regardless, they NEED to put their Forum moderators in check…that place does not
promote a healthy environment for discussion of the feature set and/or resolving issues
had by users/customers. In other words, they need to drop the harsh attitude they direct
toward the people who are trying to make their product(s) better.
For fuq’z sake, don’t demote a potential customer while he’s on the verge of buying a pair!
Not gonna’ lie, the way I was treated over at the Denon Forum played a significant role
in me holding off on purchasing at this time. I hope someone from over there is reading
this and will understand that this is NOT how you treat potential, nor current customers.
Oh yeah, that link I provided in the post above…they never did address ToddOddity’s issue that
he raised. They just diverted the conversation and subsequently locked the thread. Poor guy.
18 months is a long time and considering 300$ per unit price difference (Denon vs Pioneer), a lot of users are going to sell NXS2 setups to try the Prime gear in that time.
That is also the way I remember the old Denon forum 
Hey Dan, have you tried using the X1800’s audio interface in traktor? I strongly suspect they designed the X1800 with SeratoDJ in mind only (unlike previous generations) so it won’t be possible to use Traktor’s bpm midi out to sync the mixers FX’s, need somebody to confirm it.
The NXS2 series has already been out for 18 months, so I don’t think it’s that long. And as we discussed previously Denon has a bad track record with supporting older models, so I’m curious to see if that will change. And hopefully they have an online support that does actually help people who are having issues.
Do you mean for Pro or Scratch? I haven’t, but I’d guess it would work fine with Pro, and need the hack for Scratch. Assuming the preamps work with the interface. I don’t see why they wouldn’t, though… I’d also guess Deonon would be fairly agnostic regarding software platform.
I thought the x1800 was TSP compatible?
Not so far…
No, didn’t meant regarding timecode use because that requires TSP certification, obviously (or the hack). As I said, X1800 appears to lack the option to recieve midi in via usb and that sort of cripples it’s use with Traktor, need somebody to test it.
No, no word regarding TSP certification or HID mode for players. I suspect Denon wants NI to come to them when they make a break in the DJ booths. If they wanted to pay full price, they could have done it a long time ago.
Damn. IN a few of the youtube videos, the sales reps from Denon said the mixer would be Traktor Scratch Compatible. I wonder what happened between the announcement and now.
How does that cripple it? Just use the mixer as outboard + audio interface, with a transport controller.
No midi in - not possible to sync mixer FX’s to Traktor bpm clock.
Compared to previous Denon mixer of course. I know most of new Denon users won’t bat an eye because Pioneer never had that option and that’s all they know but still, cannot say it’s a good thing to loose some functions that people actually used in the past (unlike the EQ setting for headphones that nobody used).
Sales guys always go overboard with statements. Also note the magic words: would be. No timeframe stated.
Considering the whole Prime range got pushed back with release date a month or two and from what I hear STILL lacks certain features from previous Engine 1.5 (no MCX8000 support, no linking Engine on laptop with Prime gear via ethernet possible) - I wouldn’t trust them at all.
Yeah it seems like a whole world of fail sauce so far.
