Our feelings about Engine Prime are well known around here, and especially inside Denon DJ HQ too. The last release went a long way to fixing the any issues we had, and with the new v1.2.1 release a few more of them have been fixed too. And the Sc5000 Prime players also get a matching firmware update too.
I’ll forego the pleasure of copying and pasting the press release, if only to shamelessly make you go and read it in the previous MCX8000 firmware v2 story in a bid for more clicks. But here’s the detail on the Engine Prime and SC5000 Prime updates:
SC5000 PRIME / SC5000M Prime Firmware 1.2.1:
New Features:
- Increased the scratchable/playable empty space before the start of the tracks.
Bug Fixes:
- Releasing momentary hot cues now reset to proper position.
- Fixed an issue where searching could end up only searching within the previous search results.
- Fixed an issue where downgrading to an earlier firmware version could break network connectivity.
- Fixed an issue where continuing to scratch forward/backwards could result in small pops with some audio content.
- On Air mode now resets properly when disconnecting players from the Denon X1800 mixer.
- Fixed an issue where the player could reset when attempting to read a corrupted database.
——————————————————————
Engine Prime Software Update 1.2.1:
New Features:
- MCX8000 DB export support. Engine Prime now supports one directional database conversions to legacy MCX8000 format.
- Playlists are now re-arrangeable.
- iTunes, Traktor and Serato parent crates/folders are now draggable to the Collection.
- Serato playlists now show up in their original Serato order.
- iTunes and Serato library import speed is now faster.
- Importing tracks that have artwork is now faster.
- Album art now takes up less space in the database. All new tracks added to the database will take advantage of this. To apply this improvement to all tracks, select all track in the main collection and then right click and select “Re-import track information.”
- Loop controls now default to Auto / Jump for quicker navigation through tracks.
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed an issue where searching could end up only searching within the previous search results.
- Fixed an issue where packed track information could not be resynced to main collection.
- Improved stability of importing files.
- Fixed an issue where importing a Serato library that contains files on external drives would create a useless Engine Prime library on the root of the system drive (Win only).
- Misc improvements and fixes.
SMALL STEPS
Engine Prime is the conduit from the outside world (and indeed outside worlds) into Engineland. It’s a very long way from perfect yet, but each release sees a few more of the issues we’ve raised with them getting ironed out. A significant number of the performance issues in particular that made me want to defenestrate my laptop appear to have been resolved, and my own experiences seem to show that the front end is considerably better than before.
I’ll be updating the SC5000M review unit I have here, and once again taking Engine Prime for a ride all over again. I’ll report back.
It’s good that Denon DJ keeps working on the SC5000s.
But they mainly fixed something that they just broke with the last fw.
Still there’s major issues and missing features:
-asymmetric jog bend (which I really can’t believe they did not fix so far!)
-outdated pitch resolution of 0.05% – the players even had a better resolution pre 1.0.3 fw
-weird forward loop move behavior (the play head does not move with the loop, it rather catches up and re-enters the loop)
-no midi out
-no Traktor support
Come on, Denon DJ! You can do it ;)
They may be waiting for Traktor Pro 3 to drop. The mixer will be supported out of the box so they may enable HID for the players.
Great update. Done both my players with no hiccups.
Seriously considering trading them for the motorised version when they drop though.
We already planned on picking up a 3rd and 4th player later on, so we are gonna get the motorized players next year. I want to be bored of phase before I get the motorized players. :-p
I’d imagine Traktor support would be dependent on NI.
Great news for all Denon users. I can’t see any reason why older 3700 & 3900 etc… users couldn’t use EP to prep their collections now. Their music can be analysed & bpm corrected if needed using EP then exported. This is the functionality we’ve been waiting for since the 8000 was released. It honestly took way too long to release, but better late than never.
Mistakes can be made and I still am open to have a dialog with the Denon Prime engineering team and maybe become a Beta tester for them. I applaud Denon DJ’s decisssion to admit there is a problem with the firmware 1.2.1 update on some SC5000 players and to “repair” it with a firmware rollback to 1.2.
My SC5K’s did not have any problem being updated from an MacBookAir running High Sierra
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9a0cffeacfa3323056b86256352d5537b71310f3be446002f4747266c97e64fe.png
That’s why I never rush to update my tech. My SC5000s and X1800 are still on the original firmware from purchase, the summer of last year.
One thing I must say is, Denon sure knows how to keep a tight grip on that Denon Forum when it comes to user comments. It’s a shame, the same can’t be said about the assembling Q&C and Engineering side of the company.
I updated both my players with a thumb drive with no issues.
usually I subscribe to that thesis to. But in the case of SC5000 you just have to update to get them in line with what’s advertised. Finally my cue’s are back reacting as I want to. But you with the older firmware still have the advantage of “kind of saved loop pre-activation” and I really want that to :)
Heavie I’m trying to establish a more open Prime centered group on Reddit. Feel free to join in. https://www.reddit.com/r/DenonPrime/
The only issue I found was that the jog wheel display marker did not work correctly when hitting the censor button (post update). Otherwise, everything worked fine for me.
Within 24 hrs after pulling of the Firmware 1.2.1 update Denon released a new version 1.2.2 recommended for all SC5000s. Not bad. But some more details about what kind of issues are to be expected for 1.2.1 users (like myself) and if it’s compatible with Engine Prime 1.2.1 would be helpful. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1c5cb5af60441bf97314e721402d9e9115604dec782002a8d6baff5f255025ec.png
/me checks for comment searching on the 5000s…
NOPE.
This must be the same team that develops the Xone Firmware – takes forever.
V1.2.2 update out now that fixes a snafu with v1.2.1. https://denondj.com/sc5000prime