What specifically happens when you insert a Rekordbox USB into Prime 4?

Hey guys, Sorry if this question is dumb. My googling hasn’t gotten me on a clear answer here.

I will start by saying I’ve never used Rekordbox. Went straight from Serato DJ to Prime 4…

Say I’m hosting a party and have some of my buddies bring over their Rekordbox USB sticks, what exactly happens when they’re inserted into my Prime 4? (Currently 1.4 Beta 2 firmware)

Does the Prime 4 create a new Engine database alongside the existing Rekordbox database on the USB stick itself? Or is this “import” only possible with an internal drive installed? I do not have an internal drive installed, but I can go get one if needed — is it needed?

And after that, does the contents of my internal drive get replaced with the contents of the new stick each time? Or are multiple libraries imported alongside each other? I’m pretty confused about that part.

And also I’ve come cross some comment threads and YouTube arguments claiming the Prime 4 damages or corrupts the Rekordbox database on the USB stick somehow. I certainly wouldn’t want that to happen to my friends. Any experiences with this would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any guidance on these questions.

@dpaanlka you don’t need an internal drive. The P4 will read the rekordbox library on your friends usb stick & create it’s own database along-side the rekordbox database on their usb stick. However only the waveforms & bpm of the tracks that get played will be saved in the new Engine database. No waveform data is imported from Rekordbox database, the cue points will be though (I might be wrong on this one though). The P4 will not do anything to the rekordbox database, all it does is read it. Also no music (or anything else for that matter) get transferred between drives. Currently you can actually only search one drive at a time. Meaning that the drive you select as the “source” is the ONLY drive active. See this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAAHY2lScko

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Well that’s a relief, thanks for that info!

I can confirm that cue points are transferred as well.

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I have another question about this. I had a friend over who put his rekordbox USB in my Prime 4 and it started importing his tracks. So far so good. But, he had 7500 tracks, and I was streaming at that time, and he was about to take over and when the import is busy, you can’t do anything else anymore!?? So I had to loop the end of the track, because silence was not an option. Is there a workaround for this (besides him using EP software beforehand)?

That’s the workaround , as long as he’s not using New rekordbox 6 which blocks conversion processes to other formats now

Arrrggh, damn Monopoly position of Pioneer :-S

But besides using EP, there is no other way??

Import everything before you start the gig/stream etc?

Generally prepare before you go live.

Really if you’d friend is bringing over 7000 tracks to a gig, just in case, he needs them , rather than bringing the 50 that he’s going to play, then he needs to commit to getting engine prime (it’s free !) on his own computer at home , and getting the analysis done at home , so he’s really ready to play

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Wait, what??? We can no longer get Rekordbox libraries into Engine format? Or use on Prime hardware?

Pioneer just brought out rekordbox 6 which is spiteful at several groups. It’s got a monthly charge for usage and it won’t export it’s database in any common format.

Because new rekordbox won’t export its database in any common format NO other DJ software can pull in a rekordbox 6 database , whole, and convert it.

Users of earlier rekordbox software versions can still export the whole rekordbox database so that engine prime windows/Mac software can read it all and translate it though.

Also prime HARDWARE is clever hardware all on its own. If you plug a rekordbox harddrive into a prime player, then that’s fine , that still works for each track you load from the rekordbox hard drive, track by track

I know and I get that, but a lot of people don’t want to make that effort. I own a DJ Academy and have Pioneer gear too, so I know how many things work. But we are streaming with 4 dj’s at the same time and I wanted to play around with the Prime 4. Now if I have guest DJ’s, which is convenient to me too, otherwise I am streaming too much, than this problem occurs. :frowning:

Btw, if you’re a good allround DJ, because nowadays you can bring anything you have, in music, why would you take just 50, cause there are a lot more options if you bring 7000. I am not saying more is always better, but many DJ’s just spin their own thing, a pre-thought of list, but most professional allrounders never do that :wink:

So what would you do if I’d come along with my non-RekordBox prepared 10000 track USB-stick? :relieved:

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Now I know this, I would send you home, ;-D

Nah, I would play on the Prime without breaking a sweat. :wink:

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