Whats the deal with master tempo on the 4500, it works ok but introduces a sound quality issue, most pronounced is that the bass is "doubled" ie. it seems to introduce a delay (rather like a chorus effect) between the left and right channels. Thought it was just mine but tried another and its the same. Turn master tempo off all sounds good.
Is there a fix for this? (firmware upgrade or is the fix "don't use it")

All master tempo's and Key adjusts will introduce some artifacts into the audio.

How much gets introduced is governed by two variables :-

1) The amount of pitch being corrected eg: +1% or -1% wont introduce artifacts as much as +/- 15% for example - and indeed anythings gonna sound warbly at say -70%

2) The type of song/frequencies used. I find that ballads are affected more than most dance tunes but again some dance tunes work/sound fine up until "crazy" pitches.


The majority of tracks will sound fine with Key Adjust on, others may get a doubling of bass. I find Master Tempo/Key adjust tainting most noticable when pitching down into negatives - after all....maybe...something....has to fill those gaps inbetween the slowed down sounds.

Some units from other manufacturers will give you far worse audio tainting/artifacts than Denons -but again that will vary from track to track.

The Dn D4500 has many renound issues....I'd stay away...well away.

In fact dont bother with the PM we would all like to know!

like gary says, DN-4500 built like a tank... the only problem ive ever seen is USER ERROR...

I cant comment specifically on the DND4500 but my overall experience seems to be that Denon key-lock does have more of the 'bass doubling' and modulation effects than its closest rival on Master Tempo...put them side by side and it's obvious.

Alot of it, however, is influenced by how the tracks are recorded, since a left-right channel delay is often introduced during production in order to widen the stereo image on smaller hifi's. This is accentuated with key lock/master tempo (on -ve values) and sounds a bit like a slight echo or 'singing down a drainpipe'.

A brilliant test is to play Mighty Dubcats Magic Carpet Ride (Club mix). The bass line plays havoc even with Pioneer master tempo, this is one that can wreck your bass bins!!

Okay I was pmed by another member on another forum who has about 6 of the players (4500s that is) and ihas been a specialist in repairs of equipment for 30 years or so, hence i trust his opinion.

Firstly I'm not talking about the DN D4000, that was a fantastic player..


Okay problems with the 4500

Rubber buttons have a habit of falling off (and Denon rarely have stock of the button parts)
Jittery Jog Wheels, Slow to cue point - 'Farts around'
Shockling slow read times (software problem I believe)
SlightKey Lock Issue as above
Very funny about slight scratches on cds as a whole

The fact is the 4000 was a better player.

I see, so its second hand gossip and no hands on experience .

right gary will put me right if I'm wrong but


The buttons are no diferent to the 4000 or any of the other denon cd player in design, and yes I've seen the markings wear out but only on realy old players..

Rubber is also replacable to make the player as new so that's a good thing.

never had a problem with cue points, was using cue points only a few nights ago on a 4500, no problem found..

Read times, never noticed it being slow, maybe If you get your stop watch out there are other players that load up faster, but its never been an issuse for me or maybe the players I use have had newer firmwear...

I don't get to use jog wheel much, but seems to work ok for seting up cue points so again not an issuse..

loops and effects all seem to work well..

I would be happy to replce my old 1800F with a 4500 if the 1800 ever gave up, but there is no sign of that happening any time soon so denon will need to do me a swap for free...

the magic tricks of master tempo again is something I don't use much but its not perfect on any player so why you would expect it to be better on a denon..

May be the fact that the software gets updated to fix these problems is a reason to buy denon, at least they are willing to fix things unlike some other brands...


I use these units in hot smoky messy places and beet mix with them no problem at all... so I'm speaking from hands on use and I've never read the manual...

badly burnt CD-R's can cause problems on all makes of cd player, but my S5000's seem to read everything so far and I've not had a problem with a shop bought original cd ever...... I think the 4500 would deal with things in much the same way....

Buy a 4500 and if you can prove any of these issuses are real ill buy it from you...

In short the 4500 is built like a tank...

Yeah they're pretty good really, most Denons sit in clubs being sneezed on, beer spilt on, dust on and sometimes left on overnight by a forgetful DJ. They often double up as background players in the daytime. A thankless task for any machine, they cope better than most.

The rubber markings coming off are common to all the Denons fitted with the see-through rubber buttons, it's not really a problem, cue on left, play on right..they're all the same. The tact pcb switches sometimes suffer 'bounce' ie if you press them softly they sometimes give a double action, eg going play-pause. They're only about 20p trade so no problem there and it's usually only on battered ones. Pioneer suffer this on their track-skip buttons too.

The outer shuttle ring sometimes goes funny, ie you lose the fastest or slowest speed, just dry joints on the pcb and again a 5 minute job. The same can happen with the pitch control, dry joints again and a 5 minute job.

The turntable motor bearing motor can seize, causing skipping or slow cueing esp. when cold, a good, careful lube works wonders or you can replace the motor.

The drawers have the old problem of worn gears causing sluggish opening/closing, sometimes they can open half way out then decide to go back in trapping your fingers. Luckily the gears are cheap although fiddly to replace...and damage is often the result of a drunk DJ knocking an open drawer. (done it meself)

The display tubes can go dim if they're left on background duty, same with any vacuum fluorescent display so no big deal.

DJ's like stealing the knobs off the pitch sliders, sometimes breaking the slider at the same time.

The platter function is a bit of a gimmick on these, it's sluggish and sounds very digital, but no doubt was only an 'added extra' and not a feature unlike the DNS units which are the best in the business at this.

My potted fault list here is about all I can think of with these, the anti shock is very good and they're tolerant of bad CDR's.

As always, don't have nightmares, these are a VERY widely used machine and I only ever see them when they've gone wrong already....

PS I think there's one on ebay (or maybe a cut-down 2300..?) it's faulty, prob. a seized bearing, worth a look..?