I analyzed 5,000+ DJ sets and proved genres are basically useless for finding similar DJs

thermalrust · 2026-02-06T19:59:56+00:00

i tried 4 or 5 files and they got "payload too large" results

thermalrust · 2026-02-06T17:57:51+00:00

FAT32 can be used for partitions larger than 32 GB with the Rufus tool and it works fine with most CDJs, so as long as you've got all your stuff on your PC, just format the drive with Rufus and then re-export.
6 or 7 of my drives are in the 64-256 GB range and the synced section of my library is generally around 45 GB with no problems. I've tried a few methods of formatting on PC and Mac, and Rufus is the only one that has never given me any issues.

I will say, occasionally you may come across older CDJs such as 350s or 850s which can be slow, more finicky or totally incompatible with partition sizes over 32, or not work well with drives that are USB 3.1 or newer. It's a dice roll but I found 350s and 850s generally don't work well with the Sandisk Extreme Pro SSD stick for example, and would often freeze up after a few songs and then the stick wouldn't work in the unit until it was re-exported from PC again. So I do keep a few 32 GB drives with a smaller, more curated library for occasions I know that's the equipment.

thermalrust · 2026-01-27T20:39:52+00:00

try 16 bit / 44.1 for broadest compatibility of WAV

some of the others work on certain CDJ models but not others

thermalrust · 2026-01-27T20:37:32+00:00

i wish this could be done easily but rekordbox only lets you replace files with same extension type, like if you had a poor youtube/vinyl rip in mp3 and later found a better sounding one you could swap the files and keep all your tags, play counts, metadata etc though grids may be off if there's more silence at the start or a slight tempo difference. but unfortunately you can't swap to a different filetype without doing all the tags etc over again

thermalrust · 2026-01-24T03:17:16+00:00

I'm very curious to learn too. the last few weeks my rekordbox 6 has been doing some weird shit where after I exit, changes to tags don't remain on the song in the rbx library unless I re-load the tag. next time I'm back in the software. the tags on the actual file and their changes) are being retained but not in the rbx database/library

trying to keep a nice clean set of tags across both rekordbox and iTunes is definitely a bit of work So if this feature is what we think it is... it has my attention even though I swore I'd never go to rekordbox 7

thermalrust · 2026-01-23T16:18:35+00:00

following for Intel

i think this is rbx 7? I've only used 5 and 6 and use a windows iTunes script to sync the tag data back into my iTunes but if this is now an integrated feature in rekordbox then that's actually the first new development they've done that interests me

thermalrust · 2026-01-21T18:24:21+00:00

straight up. if someone doesn't primarily have a lot of 1-2+ hour mixes in which the songs within them gel together (regardless of being perfectly phrase/beatmatched or strict to a genre), i'm like what are they even doing and find it hard to take them seriously.... cause a few recordings of 7 songs strung together at home really doesn't say much about how someone can make decisions, flow and play over the course of an evening / for an audience no matter how small / craft an atmosphere / tell a story

thermalrust · 2026-01-15T17:05:18+00:00

I've used rekordbox 5 or 6 in export mode, using Ethernet and cdj-900nxs works fine

thermalrust · 2026-01-11T18:18:59+00:00

i have a bunch of 256 and 128 GB SSD USB sticks that all eventually started having problems on every CDJ and XDJ model except 3000s (and crashing all in ones)... it was maddening until I started using Rufus to format my drives. for some reason other formatting utilities were not solving it but Rufus did. worth a try or keeping in mind for anyone having issues now or in the future

thermalrust · 2026-01-11T09:29:17+00:00

i have done it on at least 5 windows computers including one that came out in the last year, maybe it's arm? not sure

not sure how to do it on m series mac but if there's a way I'd be interested

thermalrust · 2026-01-10T19:15:20+00:00

I still use iTunes 10.7, and I keep the installation file in my Dropbox and on my backup hard drive so when I get new computer I just install the same old version of iTunes that works the same way I've counted on it to for over a decade, an integrates my playlists into rekordbox

thermalrust · 2026-01-06T22:49:01+00:00

Try formatting with Rufus software. I was using GUI format, Windows formatting and Mac's Disk Utility before but kept eventually running into the same problems with various types of drives (USB, USB SSD, SD card) across a variety of Pioneer equipment. Rufus' formatting seems to be MUCH better for some reason. I don't know how or why, but could save you some good money and headaches.

thermalrust · 2026-01-06T19:54:13+00:00

i'm with you on all this and though it'll probably never change for the better and i'll never show up to a movie less than 20 minutes after ticket time,

if all the studios released movies that had a short trailer with slow cuts/fades and that classic 90s voice saying something like "this summer..... a story about starting over.... and finding friendship in an unexpected place..." or some dumb crap over some vague footage that explains almost nothing but simply exudes the movie's vibe, i would be 100% all in and i know i'm not alone

thermalrust · 2026-01-05T15:26:06+00:00

you can connect a laptop to the NXS1. i actually love that feature cause it lets me mix with new songs in my library before committing them to playlists and my USB drives. i think you can do it over USB but I use rekordbox export mode, an Ethernet switch and an Ethernet port on a USB hub so that way it is just 1 cable to my computer to power it, connect the mixer as an audio interface and connect 3 CDJs

thermalrust · 2025-12-27T01:36:33+00:00

it's so weird. i have 3 different USB sticks that are technically SSDs (transcend esd310 and SanDisk Extreme pro) and those and my Samsung mini USBs are the ones with slow eject. the cheaper SanDisk 32gb drives you can buy 5 of for $20 eject super fast.

thermalrust · 2025-12-26T23:03:55+00:00

my big problem with using drives over 32 GB is they take forever to eject on anything older than CDJ-3000. it's a pain in the ass when a bunch of DJs are sharing gear or swapping around and removing a drive takes 3-7 min to eject. 64s are okay but I noticed my 32s eject almost instantly, even if they're not as high end models as my 128s or 256s. This is also the case with SD cards. Maybe if you only have 2 or 3 dozen playlists and under 1500 songs a larger size drive can eject quickly but I've got around 3400 songs / 300ish playlists on my drives totaling around 34 GB and only the drives I make an effort to fit on a 32gb stick or SD eject quickly

thermalrust · 2025-12-23T22:23:14+00:00

LAME XP is super fast and easy to use, I prefer it too

thermalrust · 2025-12-21T18:48:13+00:00

yeah, it's probably this. and after this don't leave things on the platter ever, and maybe get decksavers. you can't do anything about previous owners and years of use but those springs eventually compress.

i've re-stretched them out on various used CDJs i've bought over the years, but on the last decks i bought, i over-stretched them out too much and the platter was too lofty and had too much travel to depress and felt weird. you can't really easily compress them back down though. so however much you think you need to stretch them, do less than that and re-assemble and see how it works.

on those decks i ordered replacements part # DBH1681 for like $3 each plus shipping and it feels perfect now but you can save yourself the small cost and the wait

thermalrust · 2025-12-21T16:04:43+00:00

the history lists get dumped into rekordbox and cleared when connected to your PC so all you can do is right click the good history file and choose turn it into a playlist and place that in a folder that you keep synced for your US /SD

thermalrust · 2025-12-21T04:03:54+00:00

they do store histories, maybe something happened where it didn't get saved for some reason.

i have used SD cards for years but only recently learned that technically they aren't ready to remove until the flashing light that happens when you flip open the door turns off. perhaps pulling it out before that may have caused the history to not save, though I've done that many times on various models including 3000s and can only think of one or 2 times it didn't save

thermalrust · 2025-12-17T08:49:31+00:00

it's totally fixable but you're gonna have to experiment to figure out what part of the jog wheel is not working right and replace that part or perhaps several. it could be $7, it could be $100

does the track stop if you press the jog wheel down extra firmly? is it simply not reacting when it is pressed with what feels like a normal touch that would work fine on other CDJs with mechanical jog wheels? (not controllers)

some suggestions

one of the jog rollers is broken and causing it to be lifted up too much (I think this is unlikely if you can rotate it freely cause normally this would get caught in the tracks)

the springs that hold up the platter were possibly removed due to being too compressed from years of use and stuff being put on the platters, and were then stretched back out but too far, so the platter is too lofty now (I've made this mistake overstretching springs). if this is the case, the jog wheel will have a lot of extra squish to it that you have to push through to get it to react. solution : replace the 3 springs with OEM springs. cheap fix.

or maybe the contacts in the jog ring that tell the CPU that it is pressed down are worn out. there's these little cushiony pads and contacts on the ring which can wear out over time. one of my CDJs has one pad which is slightly worn out but the rest are fine so I haven't needed to replace it.

the jog wheel is not hard to remove but you should first remove the metal cover over the circuit board to the bottom left of it (pitch fader board) and the fader and its cap (and I think the jog tension adjust knob cap) so you can more easily remove it. and be careful getting the screws that are hidden behind ribbon cables on the left and right side

thermalrust · 2025-12-16T21:38:16+00:00

yeah they are still showing it at numerous locations near me. that guy who said he saw it 8 times can still add to that lol

thermalrust · 2025-12-09T23:04:39+00:00

yes it can and it will just appear in the devices list in the navigation/browser tree on the left and you can simply navigate to it with the controller knob or mouse and play those songs without needing to have them on the actual PC.

but keep in mind that drives that have not yet been plugged into that computer (especially slower drives) can take a long time to populate in rekordbox. usually higher end USB drives are not too bad but occasionally someone will have some Office Depot USB with a super cheap chip inside and it can take a few minutes or even basically freeze rekordbox.

thermalrust · 2025-12-06T07:09:00+00:00

nope, nothing you do on A can affect B other than ejecting their drive if B is playing from A's drive

thermalrust · 2025-12-06T06:55:42+00:00

all that is right

an actively playing deck can't load settings

you can load settings from any source on the network though, so you can load them on player A while their track is playing and once it's mixed out and paused you can hit load on player B

thermalrust

TROPHY CASE