Andertons Synths, Keys and Tech: Denon DJ Prime 4 G2 – The Touchscreen Rave Weapon

Now for the main event: new MPC-style performance pads. This isn’t the usual hot cue, loop, roll yawn-fest. Denon’s gone next-level, splitting pad functions left and right, letting you trigger instrumentals, acapellas, and all sorts of stem wizardry. Double-taps, shift-holds—this thing’s got more combos than a Tekken tournament. You get filter rolls, auto loop stems, hot cue stems, XY effects, and more, all mapped for seriously fast access.

Even the creative effects are wild: stutters, pitch-shifting rolls, fade-outs, echo-outs—real club stuff, not bedroom noodling. Harry is properly impressed, dropping the MPC reference and pointing out you just don’t see this on other DJ controllers. It’s not for the faint-hearted, but if you want to slice, dice, and remix on the fly, this pad bank is your new best mate.

Front and centre sits the rotary encoder—massive, obnoxious, and actually useful. It’s both a twisty knob and a tactile button, making menu-hopping and playlist selection dead simple. Harry calls it a big improvement over the original Prime 4, and for once, I agree—sometimes bigger really is better.

Playlist bank is another killer feature, letting you long-press your way to favourite sets without menu gymnastics. If you’re the type who preps fifty playlists for every gig, this is the feature you didn’t know you needed. Add in flexible FX routing, mic effects, and parametric EQ curves, and you’ve got a serious live rig with enough tweakability to annoy any sound engineer within a ten-mile radius.

Forget artwork—Denon’s G2 jog wheels are all about function. You get real-time feedback on cue points, stem selection, and track progress, all visualised right on the wheel. The outer ring is your countdown to the next cue, changing colour as you approach, while the inner ring shows track progress—no more panicking about running out of tune mid-mix.

Harry rates this clever visual feedback, and honestly, it’s a proper innovation. No more guessing games or squinting at tiny screens. If you ever lost your place in a dark booth, this design’s for you. It’s the kind of upgrade you won’t want to live without once you’ve tried it. As always, the full impact is best seen in action—so go watch the wheel magic in the video.