Preparing your USB Drive
If you're using a USB stick with the CDJs, you'll need to prep it in three steps. If your USB drive isn't formatted or exported correctly, the CDJ may not read it at all, show a "no track" or "unsupported" error, or only display some of your tracks. Taking a couple of minutes to prep it properly avoids any surprises at the booth.
Choose the Right USB Drive
- Type 3.0 (3.1 may work on 3000s, but we advise 3.0 across all devices)
- 64GB or below recommended for best compatibility
- 128GB+ isn't recommended, but should still work
- We suggest a trusted brand like SanDisk — cheaper drives are more prone to corruption
Format it to FAT32
- FAT32 (MS-DOS) is the only format guaranteed to work across all Pioneer CDJs
- This will erase everything on the drive, so back up your data first
- Windows users: you'll need an extra app to format drives over 32GB — see video below
Export your tracks
- Export from your laptop via Rekordbox directly onto the USB stick
The two videos below walk through the formatting and export process step by step.
Formatting USB - MAC & WINDOWS:
EXPORTING SONGS TO REKORDBOX:
For more DJ set-up tutorials:
For Part 2 (DJ Mixer Sound Output & Levels), please click HERE.
For Part 3 (Pioneer CDJ & Mixer Walkthrough), please click HERE.
More Resources
If you need advice about how to get started as a DJ, some expert tips on setting up and using the equipment, or any other information around our DJ studios, please check out our blog section at our website Pirate.com by clicking HERE