Although we’ve been talking about the Denon DJ Prime 4 for a dog’s age (since the end of January at NAMM anyway), but it’s not actually been in shops for that long. But from day one, the single biggest question has been “what about horizontal waveforms?”. Indeed, it must have been the first question at every product meeting up to the release of the product too. But Denon DJ has got it up and running already — you can now have the horizontal waveforms that you’ve been waiting for. And it looks a lot better for it too.
There are brief words:
PRIME 4: Horizontal waveforms are here!
DJs all over the globe requested them, we listened, and then made it happen! Along with a new Console Status bar for improved workflow, and user adjustable Nudge Sensitivity for the jog wheels, Denon DJ are proud to announce 1.3.2 Firmware update for PRIME 4 being released later this week!
In addition to these amazing features, we’ve also taken a big step towards improved BPM analysis on PRIME 4. Now, if your tracks already contain BPM metatag data, PRIME 4 will use that BPM value to set the beat grid. A feature coming very soon to the Engine Prime desktop software for all collection imports.
New Features:
- Horizontal Waveform View
- BPM Detection Improvement
- Console Status Toolbar
- Adjustable Nudge Sensitivity
Fixes / Improvements:
- Fixed Issue Where Some Tracks Show as .1 Second Until Played or Platter is Moved.
- Additional Bug Fixes and Improvements.
Pushing on
Horizontal waveform view is indeed here. But it’s not like the four to view vertical view with a console in the middle — it’s 4 deck slots plus a pair of horizontal waveforms. I had hoped for all four on-screen at once, and have my fingers crossed that this will appear in a future update.
The console toolbar is a nice addition too. One of the impressive things about the Prime touchscreen interface is how it offers a familiar experience and embraces swipe gestures found on smartphones. A swipe down from the top of the screen drops down the toolbar. This implementation a good start, but give me some time with the unit, and I’m certain I can come up with all manner of useful gesture driven features.
I stand by a comment I made about the SC5000 screens — it’s still all a little big print for me. I don’t know if it’s limitations in the underlying software architecture, but I’m thinking that reduced font size would save a few lines of pixels that would allow for more information to be displayed. And that console toolbar is ripe for displaying more controls too.
Denon DJ is obviously listening to constructive user feedback. I suspect that this new functionality was almost ready to go at launch, but didn’t quite make it out of the gate. I’m also sure that there’s more to come as well, like Serato DJ Pro compatibility. But given how long it’s taking for it to hit the SC5000M Prime, I’m not expecting it any time soon.
The Denon DJ Prime 4 firmware v1.3.2 update is free, and available for download today.