Denon DJ is back on the scene with a bang. It’s newest all-in-one standalone system, Prime 4+, which is the successor to Prime 4, boasts revolutionary upgrades that we could only have dreamt of until now. With the new upgrades on engine DJ, the Prime 4+ is the first standalone system in the industry with stem separation.

The look and build are pretty much the same as their predecessors, except for a few details, like some key knobs being black instead of silver and the bright green and blue lighting having been changed to a more modern white, blue, or orange livery. The jog wheels are a little bit bigger than in the previous version.

The in-built touch-screen system in the console is very easy to use, smooth, and responsive. It provides a lot of new features, including Amazon music streaming, Touch FX, and on-board channel FX. The updated engine dj version, engine 3.1 has perfectly catered to all the needs and requirements that were put forth by the engine DJ users.

Overall, the Prime 4+ currently stands out as the leading standalone system in the DJ industry.

With Denon DJ now having launched in India there is an expectation that the Prime 4+ will take over the Indian DJ market soon too.

Full features list

Here is a full list of the features on the Prime 4+:

• 4-Deck standalone DJ controller for computer-free DJ performances
• 10.1-inch HD multi-touch display
• Wi-Fi music streaming for access to millions of tracks from Amazon Music Unlimited, Tidal, Beatsource, Beatport, Soundcloud GO+, and Dropbox
• Embedded sampler with 16 pad-triggered sample slots, volume control, and output routing
• Touch FX for interactive touchscreen audio manipulation
• 26 Main FX with OLED displays and parameter controls
• 4 dynamic, knob-controlled Sweep FX (can be combined with Main FX)
• Embedded lighting control for automatic and customised DMX, Philips Hue, and Nanoleaf light shows

• 4 USB and 1 SD media input for music playback
• Engine Remote Desktop for wireless access to computer-based music library
• On-board song analysis for streaming tracks and saved media
• 16 performance pads with Hot Cue, Saved Loop, Auto Loop, Roll, Sampler, Slicer, and Slicer Loop modes
• Rugged metal chassis and steel knob stems
• Dedicated XLR Zone output with EQ and volume control for sending playlists and tracks to a separate room
• Built-in 2.5-inch SATA drive bay to store music on-board
• 6-inch metal jog wheel with expanded touch surface, assignable colour, and centre HD displays for album art
• 4 assignable input channels for Line/Phono external media sources
• 2 dedicated 1/4 XLR combination inputs for microphones with level, EQ, Talkover, and Echo controls

• Internal audio recorder for capturing live performances
• Fully customizable crossfader with curve control knob, channel assignment switches, and Fader Start
• StagelinQ connection for Event/Pro DJ lighting and video control
• Plays uncompressed audio formats (FLAC, ALAC, and WAV)
• Crisp 24-bit Denon DJ legacy audio
• USB keyboard support
• Computer Mode for use as a controller for Serato DJ Pro (hardware unlocks) and VirtualDJ (licence required)

Engine DJ 3.1

The first thing you are asked to do when you switch the Prime 4+ on is to update to the new version of the Engine OS . This ecosystem is constantly getting improved with features, fixes, and updates. As long as you’ve connected to your Wi-Fi, it should pop up and tell you when there’s an update. You can run the update straight over the web via that Wi-Fi connection, and it should handle the rest.

The latest upgrade of the Engine OS brings you a new feature called Touch FX.

Touch FX

Consisting of 10 different effects, the Touch FX offers a revolutionary way to transition between your tracks. This is an X/Y grid, with on-screen boxes representing time divisions. As you go from left to right, it changes the beat division. Moving from bottom to top, you’ll adjust another parameter. The effects are really smooth and responsive. It can also be latched and used along with the sweep FX and the main FX.

Stems

The Prime 4+ is equipped with the new stem separation feature, which is the first time any standalone controller system has had a stem separation feature in it. This feature is still in it’s beta version and currently is only on the Prime 4+, but the word going around is that it is soon to arrive in other models like the Prime Go and the SC Live 4 as well.

Smart playlists

Engine OS version 3.1 introduces smart playlists in the desktop software, which allows DJs to create playlists based on specific criteria. This intelligent playlist management system simplifies music organization and streamlines the DJ’s workflow. DJ’s find it easier to plan their sets for different gigs using this tool. It provides smart song segregation and selection based on multiple criteria, such as BPM, artists, and track ratings. This groundbreaking feature saves valuable time that would otherwise be spent analyzing each song to create the best playlist.

Main Effects update

The latest update brings a massive expansion and enhancement to the main effects on Denon DJ hardware. With a wide array of effects, DJs can now have more control, as each effect includes a frequency parameter to choose specific parts of the music to apply the effect to. All the effects are well made and provide an extra layer of professionalism to your mixes. When these effects are coupled with the sweep and touch effects, the transitions are smooth, unlike before, when you had a very limited number of ways to move from one song to another. With so much variety in the effects provided by the Engine OS and the Prime 4+, your sets will never get to the saturation point.

Conclusion

In conclusion, if you’re looking at standalone DJ systems and are willing to spend the money, this is the king of the mountain. The PRIME 4 disappointed almost no one, which is why the 4+ seeks only to modernize the original design and feature set. Whether you’re a club DJ, a mobile DJ, or a live-stream DJ, it doesn’t matter. They designed this thing to serve everyone.