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Sound:
Clean sounding. 3-band EQ on each channel makes it easy to dial in the right sound.
Feature:
Yes, it has alot of features. Sound effects are neat and sound good.
Ease of Use:
Pretty basic operation. Some advanced features require reading the manual, but east to figure out.
Quality:
Had 2 defective units where the CD-ROM drives would occasionally read DISC ERROR & skip in the middle of songs. First one lasted 5 months then started skipping on my NYE gig. Send back to B-52 twice and they could not fix the problem. B-52 authorized Guitar Center to issue a replacement unit. 3 months later...same problem. Traded in for a new system.
Value:
When it worked, it was great!
Manufacturer Support:
As bad as the Prodigy FX was, I must admit the support was excellent. I was able to speak directly to the VP of the company on several occasions who even let me use his UPS account to ship.
The Wow Factor:
It's easy to be attracted to the Prodigy because of its sleek design and professional-looking facade.
Overall:
B-52 needs to go back to the drawing board and re-design this system so it is more reliable. My $30 Sony Discman reads discs better than the Prodigy and has seen some abuse.
25 of 27 people
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Feature:
The track finder on each side of the Prodigy FX allows a DJ to quickly find tracks on any cd. Even with MP3 cd's with over 120 tracks (songs), I was able to locate tracks that I wanted in two to three seconds. This feature is extremely helpful when doing a gig with so many things going on at the DJ table. I also like the mic setup which allowed
Ease of Use:
The Prodigy B-52 is very easy to use. The manual that accompanies the product is very informative and easy to follow. With the equalizers on each channels and kill switches, it is easy to get just the sound you may want from any musical selection that plays on the Prodigy FX.
Quality:
This is a very impressive looking piece of equipment. Fit and finish are excellent. However, the quality and value versus the cost of one of these units does not match up. This is an extremely unreliable unit with a tremendous amount of features. I bought an FX in November, 2007 and at a gig the following month a cd became stuck in the cd player. I did everything I could to get the cd ejected but nothing worked. I had to finish the gig with only half of the unit functioning. I carried it back to Guitar Center where I bought it and no one there could get the cd ejected either. They immediately gave me another brand new FX. In 2008, the same thing happened with this unit. It also developed a short in receptacle connection that connects to the power cord. I bought a Prodigy, the cheaper version of the FX, in 2009, and a cd stuck in it the first time I used it. It's apparent that B-52 knew there would be problems with cd's becoming stuck in the cd players which is why there is a stated procedure in the manual for ejecting cd's that may become stuck. This procedure does not always.
Value:
In my opinion, the Prodigy FX is not worth its selling price. The quality and value is just not there. I could slide a cd in for play and the disc reader would say "error." I would take it out and put it into the cd player on the other side, and disc reader would read the same cd and play it. I would then take it out put it back into the same cd player that previously stated "error," and the cd reader would read it and play the cd. When doing a gig, I would be sitting on pins and needles wondering when this unit would quit doing what it was supposed to do. Just too many problems for a unit costing this much money. With all the features it has, the Prodigy FX could have been a hell of a mixer.
Manufacturer Support:
I have been in contact with the company only once. This was because a company I was using (Wizard Electronics in Atlanta, never will use them again) to get the FX repaired claimed to have sent the unit to the factory for repairs. They even went so far as to send me a form for authorization to send it to the factory. In any event after almost a month, I called the factory and found out that Wizard Electronics never sent the unit to the factory and still claimed to have done so until I informed that I had talked to the factory. The individuals I spoke to at the factory were most helpful and cordial.
The Wow Factor:
Aesthetically speaking, this product is very appealing to the eye. It looks very "professional." Operation wise, I thought it was well laid out and overall a very good design. I would have had a little more separation between the buttons for looping and some of the other components on the FX.
Overall:
I have purchased an Apple laptop computer, a Denon 1500 mixer, and a Denon HS 5500 media player and controller to use in place of the Prodigy FX. When I purchased the FX I was looking for a mixer that was pretty easy to use with a lot of features that are not found on a typical cd player. This product had the features that I was looking for but the quality of the different components caused the FX to be a unit that was unreliable. Because of B-52's reputation, I thought the Prodigy FX to be a quality product. Was I wrong. In spite of it all, and though going digital, if B-52 were to get the bugs out of the Prodigy FX, I'd buy another one in a heartbeat. Presently I still have a Prodigy FX and a Prodigy. I will be trading them in on other DJ equipment in the near future.
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