Denon DJ has today announced firmware v1.4 for its Prime DJ gear, bringing full internet connectivity, and with it, music streaming via Tidal. This marks a milestone in DJ history, because it means that for the first time, DJs can play any party or event without the need for either a computer or physical media.
The firmware upgrade is for the Prime 4, the SC5000 Prime and the SC5000M Prime, and the full list of the major new features it introduces are below:
- Tidal integration, over either WiFi or wired internet – All you need is your Tidal username and password, and you get instant access to all your playlists in Tidal, and the opportunity to search its catalogue of 60 million high fidelity music files, for instant loading and playing on any Prime hardware
- Track preview from library view (SC5000/SC5000M only) – DJs on these devices can now tap the album artwork from the track list to quickly preview it without loading, and tap across the track’s title to “needle drop” audtion different song sections
- Improvements to Prime 4 Zone Output – The Prime 4’s Zone output lets you choose a playlist and have the unit play it apart from your DJing – so for instance you can “pump” music into another room, while DJing to a dancefloor. Now, Zone gets an automix feature, so that the playlist can execute without gaps. You get to choose 0-12 seconds for the automix “length”
- A new track list view size – One complaint some had about the Prime 4’s screen was that the type was too big, and therefore the number of tracks displayed too low. That’s been fixed now with a new choice of “expanded” track list view for those who’d prefer more info (at the expense of type size/legibility)
- Loop in/out point adjustment – Works across both manual and auto loops, via the platters – useful for correcting slightly inaccurate loops, and also for the “shorter and shorter” loop trick beloved of certain EDM DJs…
There are a host of minor additional improvements, including improved Quantize triggering, improved search speed for larger drives, and a Rekordbox Import fix.
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What we say…
This is undoubtedly a turning point for DJing, as in the future, DJs won’t think twice about not taking physical media with them to gigs (and we suspect most won’t be taking laptops either). The days of turning up, logging in and spinning are one step closer from today.
We’re not there yet: For instance, there is no offline capability with Tidal, so you still need a reliable internet connection to DJ in this way, and of course, Tidal won’t be the first streaming service choice of the vast number of people reading this – but it is still a milestone.
All of this is made possible, of course, because the units in Denon DJ’s Prime series of equipment have computers built in. This means that adding new features is as simple as sending out firmware upgrades, in a way not really possible with DJ gear before. Again, this marks the start of the way things will simply be from now on with DJ equipment – expect Pioneer DJ to do its harder to catch up in 2020 in all of these areas.
Check out the promo video below.
Promo Video
• More info and firmware download at Denon DJ’s website.
Let us know your thoughts on these changes in the comments below.
Phil Morse
