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How to Export a Rekordbox USB for CDJs (Export Mode and Formats)

Updated · by the MixGoat team · Tool: Fix Compatibility

Short answer

Format the stick FAT32 (any Pioneer player) or exFAT (CDJ-3000, OPUS-QUAD, XDJ-AZ and recent NXS2 firmware), click EXPORT at the top left of Rekordbox 7 so the stick appears under Devices, and drag playlists onto it, or open Sync Manager to mirror a set of playlists. Rekordbox copies the music into Contents and writes PIONEER/rekordbox/export.pdb plus the USBANLZ analysis files, so hot cues, memory cues, loops, grids, My Tags and Colour appear on the player; with Device Library Plus on it also writes the newer exportLibrary.db that CDJ-3000 features use. Analyse tracks first, remove 32-bit float and WAVE_FORMAT_EXTENSIBLE WAVs (the E-8305 error), and match loudness before you export, because the player ignores Rekordbox's Auto Gain. Then eject with the arrow next to the device name and test on hardware.

Step by step

  1. 1

    Format the stick for the players you will meet

    In Disk Utility or Windows Explorer format the drive FAT32 (MS-DOS FAT with a Master Boot Record on a Mac) for a stick that must work on every CDJ, from the original CDJ-2000 up. Choose exFAT only when every booth you play is CDJ-3000, OPUS-QUAD, XDJ-AZ or an NXS2 with firmware that lists exFAT support; check the model's manual. NTFS and APFS work on no player. FAT32 caps a single file at 4 GB, which only a very long WAV recording hits.

  2. 2

    Analyse everything before you export

    Select the playlists, right-click → Analyze Track, and set Preferences → Analysis to what you want on the stick: Normal or Dynamic beat grid, key analysis and Phrase Analysis. An unanalysed track exports without a waveform and grid and the player has to build them on load. Check that the tracks are not greyed out; a missing file is skipped by the export.

  3. 3

    Switch to Export mode and drag playlists to the device

    Click EXPORT at the top left of the window. The stick appears under Devices in the tree; drag playlists or folders from Playlists onto it. Rekordbox copies each audio file into Contents (organised by artist and album) and writes PIONEER/rekordbox/export.pdb and PIONEER/USBANLZ. Dragging adds; it never removes, so a stale cue from an earlier drag stays on the stick until you remove the playlist from the device.

  4. 4

    Or mirror a set of playlists with Sync Manager

    Select the device and open Sync Manager. Tick the playlists that belong on the stick and run the sync: new tracks are added, tracks removed from those playlists are removed, and changed cues are refreshed. Once a stick carries more than a handful of playlists this is the safer method, and it is the one to run after a big cue session or a loudness pass.

  5. 5

    Turn on Device Library Plus for CDJ-3000 features

    In Preferences → Advanced → Others, the Device Library Plus option makes Rekordbox 7 write exportLibrary.db next to the classic export.pdb. CDJ-3000 (firmware 2.00 and later), OPUS-QUAD and XDJ-AZ use it for faster browsing and the newer Track Filter and playlist features; the classic library is still written for CDJ-2000NXS2 and older. If a stick shows nothing on an older player, confirm that setting rather than reformatting.

  6. 6

    Check formats and loudness on the files themselves

    A CDJ plays the audio file as-is. 32-bit float WAV, WAVE_FORMAT_EXTENSIBLE headers from a DAW export, or FLAC on a player without FLAC support give E-8305 Unsupported File Format on load; MixGoat's free Fix Compatibility (mixgoat.com/fix-wav-cdj) scans a folder or playlist and rewrites two header bytes, and mixgoat.com/guides/cdj-supported-file-formats has the per-model table. Level jumps between tracks also travel to the stick, because Auto Gain stays in Rekordbox: see mixgoat.com/guides/rekordbox-gain-and-loudness.

  7. 7

    Eject properly and test on a player

    Click the eject arrow next to the device name in the Devices tree and wait for it to disappear before pulling the stick; a yank mid-write corrupts export.pdb and the player reports an unreadable device. Then load the stick on a CDJ or XDJ, browse Playlist, load a track and press a hot cue, scroll memory cues with CUE/LOOP CALL, and open the Track Filter to confirm My Tags. Do this at home, with the same firmware generation you will meet in the booth if you can.

What lands on the stick and what the player shows

The PIONEER folder is the device library. export.pdb holds tracks, playlists, hot cues, memory cues, loops, Colour, Rating, Comments, My Tags and the playlist tree; USBANLZ holds the .DAT, .EXT and .2EX analysis files with waveforms, beat grid and phrases; Contents holds the music. All of it is a derived copy of master.db, so a stick is a performance copy, not a backup (see mixgoat.com/guides/rekordbox-library-files-explained).

On a CDJ-2000NXS2 or CDJ-3000 you get hot cues A to H on the pads, memory cues and loops through CUE/LOOP CALL, Colour and Rating in the list, My Tag and Key in the Track Filter, and on the CDJ-3000 the phrase markers on the waveform and Related Tracks. The original CDJ-2000 shows hot cues A to C only and no My Tags; an XDJ-700 or XDJ-1000MK2 sits in between. The export never carries play history or Auto Gain.

Export mode, Performance mode and the Sync Manager choice

Export mode is the view with Devices in the tree and no decks; Performance mode is for playing with a controller and cannot write a device. Rekordbox 7 keeps the same top-left mode switch as 6. Dragging a playlist is a copy; Sync Manager is a mirror, and the difference shows up as duplicate or stale tracks a month later when a stick was updated by drag three times. Pick one method per stick and stay with it.

A second stick is cheap insurance, and since a Pioneer link setup reads one stick from all linked players, most DJs carry an identical pair prepared with the same Sync Manager list. The generic preparation checklist, covering bit depth, sample rate and naming, is at mixgoat.com/guides/prepare-tracks-for-cdj-usb.

Coming from another app

Serato, Traktor and VirtualDJ cannot write a PIONEER device library; only Rekordbox can. If your cues live in one of those apps, migrate them into Rekordbox first (MixGoat's Migrate Library reads the source database and writes master.db or a rekordbox.xml you import, free on every plan), then export from Rekordbox as above. The per-app routes: mixgoat.com/guides/serato-to-cdj-usb-export, mixgoat.com/guides/traktor-to-cdj-usb-export and mixgoat.com/guides/virtualdj-to-cdj-usb-export.

Scan your export playlists for E-8305 files

Fix Compatibility is free on every plan. Loudness matching is part of GOAT.

Scan your export playlists for E-8305 files

Frequently asked questions

FAT32 or exFAT for a Rekordbox USB?
FAT32 plays on every Pioneer player. exFAT is read by CDJ-3000, OPUS-QUAD, XDJ-AZ and CDJ-2000NXS2 on recent firmware, and it lifts the 4 GB file limit. When in doubt, FAT32.
Why does the CDJ show E-8305 on a track that plays fine in Rekordbox?
Rekordbox decodes more formats than the player. E-8305 is usually a 32-bit float WAV or a WAVE_FORMAT_EXTENSIBLE header, sometimes a FLAC on a player without FLAC support. Fix Compatibility repairs the header; convert the rest.
Does Export mode copy the music files?
Yes, into the Contents folder on the stick, along with the analysis files. The stick works without the laptop.
What is Device Library Plus and do I need it?
A second, SQLite-based device library (exportLibrary.db) that Rekordbox 7 can write alongside export.pdb. CDJ-3000 firmware 2.00 and later, OPUS-QUAD and XDJ-AZ use it; older players keep reading the classic library, so leaving it on costs nothing.
Why are my tracks different volumes on the CDJ but not in Rekordbox?
Rekordbox's Auto Gain is applied in the software mixer only; the exported file is unchanged. Match the files' loudness before exporting.
Can I export from Rekordbox 6 the same way?
Yes. The EXPORT mode switch, Devices tree and Sync Manager are the same; Device Library Plus appeared in late Rekordbox 6 and is standard in 7.