Denon DJ Announces Comeback

Denon DJ can't deny it. They were a strong contender on the market years ago, but have been more or less off the radar lately. Ever since the introduction of the digital DJ, Denon DJ has taken some blows from the competition. Now, they're announcing a comeback, and we're pretty sure they'll have something new to show us at NAMM 2016.

Brands like Numark, Pioneer, Hercules and Native Instruments have been unveiling new products left and right over the years. Denon is a relatively late bloomer with products like the SC2900 and the SC3900, the latter of which isn't even available any longer. When it comes to DJ controllers, however, they proved their worth with a series of successful products, the MC2000, the MC3000 and the MC6000.

However, since the introduction of the MC4000 last year, we haven't heard much from them at all - which may be a good sign. Some manufacturers choose to follow the masses and develop products that are virtually replicas of what's already on the market so they can face their competition head-on. But that's not Denon DJ's style.

The reason why we haven't heard from them may be in this cryptic teaser with a mythical, almost spiritual theme. See for yourself!

Astrological signs, a Mayan calender, hieroglyphics, pyramids - it's as if Denon DJ is making some predictions for 2016. Undoubtedly, they are announcing their comeback with new products they plan to unveil at NAMM 2016. But, what will they be unveiling?

As you know, Denon DJ has always been a strong name in the world of DJ mixers and tabletop media players. When the Pioneer CDJ-1000 was the club standard, Denon DJ offered the next best alternative at a slightly lower price. However, when Pioneer continued with the CDJ-2000, Denon DJ didn't react with a contender fast enough, and when they did, it was sadly too late.

Denon was also one of the last brands to introduce the DJ controller as we know it today. They made fine devices which functioned well, but they were hardly revolutionary. Meanwhile, brands like Pioneer, Numark and Native Instruments were working on all sorts of new innovations.

Let's not forget that Denon DJ and Numark were part of the same company, InMusic, until a few years ago. They also owned names like Alesis, M-Audio and Akai, so you'd assume with that amount of engineering strength, knowledge and product development experience, they'd be able to elevate each brand to a whole new level. Remarkably enough, though, Numark has been quite prominent in the past few years while Denon DJ seems to have taken a place on the back burner. Could this be because Denon DJ engineers have been working on Numark products? Or have those engineers been working on something completely new all that time?

Then again, perhaps this theory is unjustified. Denon DJ did introduce the DS1 interface, a time code interface for Serato DJ, designed for turntables. Could this mean that Denon DJ is going to be delving into the world of vinyl? Perhaps, they've developed some kind of hybrid model? They obviously like motorised platters, which they used in the SC3900. We've also seen that Denon DJ stopped the out-of-the-box collaborations with Native Instruments Traktor and focused on Serato, which offers more room for speculation. We also wonder what the future holds for Denon DJ's Engine music management software? Will it be dusted off and updated, or permanently put out to pasture?

From the video, we can't make out what Denon DJ has in store for us. Judging by the last shot, however, it looks like they have something new to present to the world at NAMM 2016. They're not about to give us a sneak preview, so we'll just have to wait!