SPLITTAH'S
DJ CHEATSHEET

Getting good quality tracks is one of, if not the most important thing about DJing, so let's start there. I want to make one thing very, very clear: YouTube and Soundcloud rips sound like shit on a club system. They're fine for practicing at home, but that's a slippery slope, and I guarantee you'll never replace them with higher-quality copies like you keep telling yourself you will. Just don't do it.

Beatport / Bandcamp and Soundcloud / Hypeddit are your friends. At an absolute minimum, you want 320kbps MP3 files. Lossless files like WAVs are great, but they eat USB space quick. FYI, iTunes provides files in 256kb AAC, which is slightly better sound quality than a 320kb MP3 file. Still perfectly fine for DJing, but check the compatibility with the decks you'll be playing on. I'll touch on this later. You can see the bitrate of your tracks once you've imported them into Rekordbox by right-clicking your columns in the browser and making sure that bitrate is ticked.

Most people start building their library just on their computer's internal hard drive, which is fine when starting out, but as your collection grows you might find yourself running out of space very quickly — especially if you use the computer for other things like gaming or work. Most professional DJs use external hard drives to get around this. Their music collection and Rekordbox database live on an external hard drive/s. A number of benefits:

1. If your computer dies or you upgrade and purchase a new computer, you can easily download Rekordbox, plug in your external drive, select the database on it and you're back up and running in less than 10 mins.
2. It's easy to create backups of your music collection. Just clone the entire drive — no need to individually select folders on your PC to copy.

Let's start with the hard drive format. I recommend exFAT for your music collection (FAT32 for your USBs, but I'll talk about that later) because exFAT is compatible with both Mac and Windows. You never know what route you'll go down in future, so it's good to be flexible now (hell, I went from Android to Apple). Use your chosen OS's built-in tools to format the hard drive and name it "YOURDJNAME's Drive".

Next, open Rekordbox and navigate to Preferences using either the gear symbol in the top right or File › Preferences (instructions can vary based on Rekordbox version and OS). Navigate to the Advanced tab (three dots) then Database management, and select your newly formatted external drive. As you have no tracks imported yet this will be quick (I cover moving your library in §12 — warning: the process sucks). Check it worked by navigating to your hard drive in Finder/File Explorer and seeing if a PIONEER folder has been created. If there is, excellent. Create a new folder called Music or Contents on the root of the drive, not within the Pioneer folder. This is where you'll move your music files before importing them into Rekordbox.

Next, let's talk about USB flash drives and, by extension, SD cards. You'll want to buy good quality USB-A / USB-C (or combo) flash drives and/or SD cards (normal size, not micro SD). Buy multiple — I take 4 USBs to my gigs and an SD card or two. Brand names like SanDisk or Samsung are the way to go: less chance of it corrupting on you when you show up to the gig, and even if one or two do corrupt, you have backups. (Chuck a colourful loop or charm on your USBs so you know which ones are yours.) Also, it's not a bad idea in this day and age to buy a USB that has USB-A on one end and USB-C on the other, as there are heaps of new laptops these days that only have USB-C.

SD cards, you ask? Why? CDJs up to the CDJ-3000 (the 3000X replaced the SD card slot with USB-C) can also accept these! Three main benefits:

• Your fellow DJs can't accidentally pull out your SD card. Everyone has done it — I've done it to other people and they've done it to me.
• USB thieves. I've seen plenty of videos on the internet of the crowd stealing USBs out of the decks, and even people in the booth. It's always good to carry some on you.
• Flash quality. Manufacturers tend to use better-quality flash for their SD cards, as they are used for photography and videography mostly.

Not all CDJs can read all file system formats — a pain in the ass, I know. Modern Windows computers use NTFS or exFAT, and Macs use HFS+ (MacOS Extended Journaled). Macs can read NTFS thumb drives but can't write to them; PCs can't read or write HFS+ at all. (HFS+ is shitloads better, just a heads up — quicker read/write times and less prone to corruption.)

However, there's one file system both Macs and PCs can read and write to: FAT32. Pioneer / AlphaTheta's CDJ media players can also read music from FAT32 drives (FAT16 and HFS+ are included too). For compatibility, format your sticks and cards with FAT32 — it's the only format all CDJs support. You never know what equipment will be there when you rock up, so it pays to be prepared; you don't want to show up expecting to play on 3000s and find your USBs don't work because you formatted them with exFAT. Windows cannot natively format over 32GB with FAT32, so I recommend using Rufus (most reliable), the HP Disk Storage Format Tool or FAT32 Format. Mac can do it natively.

Select MS-DOS (FAT32) when formatting your USB, not exFAT, and make sure MBR is selected as the partition scheme instead of GPT/GUID. Make sure you reformat your brand-new USB drives, as they may be formatted as GPT/GUID from the factory. Click here for a full list of CDJ format compatibility.

You'll get a pop-up box asking how you want your music analysed. You'll have options for BPM, Key and a couple of others for advanced features most DJs don't use: Phrase, Vocal and Cue (AlphaTheta charge a subscription fee for Vocal and Cue analysis, I believe). If you primarily play hip-hop and R&B you'll want your BPM range lower, but if you play high-speed music like Drum and Bass or Hardstyle you'll want a high BPM range. For example, with 78–155 selected, your DnB tracks will most likely be analysed at 87 BPM, not the 174 BPM most DnB actually is. (I know Kaliopi DJs at half time — 140 at 70 BPM and DnB at 87 BPM — but that's down to personal preference.) I'd have Key ticked too; it's important for harmonic mixing, which I'll touch on later.

Now there are a few things to double-check on your tracks. Make sure they're tagged with artist, track title and genre correctly. This makes it a lot easier when scrolling through your tracks — especially when you can't find the one you want and use the search function. Genre will be important when setting up playlists. The best way to name your tracks:

• Title: Original Track Name (Original / Extended / VIP Mix / XYZ Remix)
• Artist: Original artist
• Genre: insert the sub-genre here

For example, if it's a tech house track you'd have Tech House as the genre, not just House — and you'll see why later. If you're unsure of the genre, just try and fit it into a category as best you can.

Next, check your BPM and beat grid have been correctly analysed. Rekordbox is generally pretty good, but it's not always 100% accurate getting beat grids exactly at the start of a kick. Most dance music is 4×4 — four beats make up a bar, and there are usually four bars per section or a multiple of that: 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32 bars are the most common. Set the red bar line (not just the white beat line) to the start of the kick:

1. Drag the track so the red line aligns with the kick.
2. Hit GRID (bottom left), click grid snap.
3. If needed: ×2 to double BPM, C to cue and snap, then ×1/2 back to normal.

On high-BPM tracks the grid is often half a beat off — hit ×2, drag the marker near the right kick, and with Quantize on (Q) hit C to snap, grid-snap, then ×1/2. Way faster than zooming all the way in. For tracks that change BPM (Sub Focus & John Summit "Go Back", drumstep, edits) set the BPM manually and drop a change marker — find a YouTube walkthrough and practise on a simple house track first.

Dumb lazy DJs don't set memory cues. Smart lazy DJs set memory cues. Your last track is ending soon and you want to start a new one from a specific point in the track? You can either use the Search buttons on your decks to get where you want, or just skip straight to it by hitting the Cue Call button on the top right of your platter. Save yourself time, stress and embarrassment.

With your grid set and Quantize on, you can cue a whole track in under 30 seconds. Load it up, then: Space play/pause, C cue + snap, M store memory cue, Q quantize, arrows to search. Play → pause at the spot → C → Space → M. Much faster than doing it on the decks and syncing back.

You can also save memory loops: set the in and out points and store like a cue. Auto loops fire as you reach them; non-auto loops only trigger when you call them.

Loop In can stay on I as well. And 4 doubles as the 4-beat loop — if you want to keep it for that, set Hot Cue D (and its clear) to T / Ctrl+T instead. Thank you Tai, GOAT.

Remember earlier I mentioned how important it was to have your tracks tagged correctly with genre? This is where intelligent playlists become very powerful. You can create a playlist that Rekordbox automatically fills with tracks defined by whatever parameters you set:

• A playlist that grabs everything with "house" in the genre — pulling house, tech house, bass house in one hit. Or "All DnB" across jump up, neuro, liquid.
• A New Tracks list that grabs everything added in the last 30 / 50 / 100 days. Added tracks right before a gig but didn't tag them? If you synced your USB, they're in there.
• Monthly date-based lists — a 2025 folder with one intelligent playlist per month, auto-filling by date added.

For full compatibility across all current gear without jumping to v7, update to v6.8.6 — it works sweet with old and new CDJs/XDJs. Grab v6 here, older v7 builds here, and the compatibility list here. Personally I run both v6 and v7.

First club gig on CDJs and shitting bricks? Don't be. If you've been on Pioneer controllers it's a smooth transition — button and screen layouts are very similar. Like going from a Suzuki Swift to a Ford Ranger: still a car, just more bells and whistles. The one thing that trips people up: on controllers you watch stacked waveforms on one screen; on CDJs each deck has its own screen, so you glance back and forth. You'll adjust quick. Trust your ears. The current master deck shows at the top of the waveform — that's the Master Player Display (more in §06).

Save your preferred CDJ settings to USB so every plug-in is exactly how you like it:

1. Open Rekordbox › Preferences (⚙)
2. DJ System › My Settings
3. Set everything how you like
4. Plug in your USB — when it prompts to update, hit Yes
5. At the venue: insert USB › Menu › Load My Settings

My full recommended list is in the Appendix.

"Which USB is safe to pull?" — every DJ, sweating bullets. Don't guess and nuke the dancefloor:

• Tap (don't hold) the USB Stop button.
• Sound dips slightly → that USB is in use. Don't touch it.
• Nothing changes → probably safe to eject.

The little white lines under the waveform are 1-minute markers — great for estimating how far into a track you are, spotting the next section, and lining up transitions without overthinking. Not to be confused with beat grid lines, which run through the waveform.

Two decks, one dies. Don't panic — emergency loop trick:

1. On the mixer set Beat FX to ROLL, select the channel of the working CDJ.
2. Engage an 8–16 beat loop.
3. Switch the FX channel selector to an empty mixer channel.
4. Cue the loop in your headphones, fade out the live deck.
5. Load your next track, beatmatch to the loop, mix out.
6. Turn off the FX. Crisis averted.

Don't find out on stage. After exporting: Devices (bottom left) › your USB › Playlists › load a few tracks from top, middle and bottom. All play from the USB? You're good. Don't? Re-export or reformat and try again. Always safely eject, always carry backups — I take 4 USBs everywhere.

ON: cues and hot cues snap to the grid — great if your grid's perfect, frustrating if it's off. OFF: cues land exactly where you want — riskier live, more accurate in prep. In Rekordbox toggle bottom-right (blue = on); on CDJs it's bottom-left of the screen (red light = on). Set your grids properly and this is a non-issue.

Deck 1 playing and set to Master? Hold Sync on deck 2 for a perfect duplicate. Good for creative effects (key shift, FX layering), a clone safety net if a deck dies, mid-set flexing, or when deck 2 won't load tracks but deck 1 works.

See the Tag List button up top and Tag Track/Remove above the scroll knob? Most underrated combo on a CDJ. Browsing and spot a track for later — highlight it, hit Tag Track. It gets a red tick and joins your Tag List. Press Tag List to see everything you've flagged this set. Great for digging through large playlists, planning your next few mixes, finding tracks that would work later in the set, and B2Bs where ideas come and go quickly.

Forgot to set cues? Use SEARCH «/» to get close, then the platter to dial in. Get comfortable and you'll move around tracks surprisingly fast with no cues at all.

Instantly move forward or back by a set number of beats, perfectly in time. First on the CDJ-2000NXS2, expanded on the 3000 (dedicated buttons above the FWD/REV lever). Common lengths: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32. Beats, not bars — 4 beats = 1 bar.

• Fix a missed mix: overshot by 8 beats? Jump back and retry without touching the platter.
• Skip a breakdown: too long for the room? Jump 16 or 32 to the action.
• Extend a mix: jump back, replay part of an intro or outro.
• Quick track navigation: move around a track much faster than scrubbing through the waveform.
• Emergency recovery: wrong cue point? Often saved in one press, crowd none the wiser.

Connectivity — USB-C replaces the SD slot (gutting, but worth it now laptops drop USB-A). Cloud Play streams from Rekordbox Cloud on compatible gear (needs a sub, and most clubs aren't online anyway).

Library & browsing — Track ID Hide keeps unreleased IDs off the display (not from techs running ShowKontrol though ;)). Copy & Paste Search: tap-hold to copy a name, paste into search. Playlist Banks group your most-used playlists — House, DnB, Weddings, Festivals, Warm-Up — no endless scrolling.

Cueing & performance — Gate Cue (hold-to-play vs play-on-release hot cues), Smart Cue (the Cue button follows your last hot cue), Needle Search + Hot Cue integration, and Touch Preview — hold the waveform preview while browsing to hear a track in your headphones (with LINK CUE enabled) without loading it. Minor until you use it; then it transforms track selection mid-set.

Your jog ring goes white → red to show that deck has the fader up and is live to the crowd. Brightness is adjustable in CDJ settings (saveable via My Settings). Especially handy after a few beverages.

Linked correctly, the top of your CDJ shows a visual beatmatching aid for the master deck — but don't rely on it, use your ears:

• CDJ-2000NXS: bar phase meter (Type 1)
• CDJ-2000NXS2: line phase meter (Type 2); tap for the old bar meter
• CDJ-3000: full master waveform; tap to switch to the Type 2 line meter

Set defaults in Settings › DJ System › My Settings › DJ Setting (Phase Meter type, and Waveform/Phase Meter display for the 3000). If the master isn't showing correctly, press Master on the deck you're transitioning from (next to Sync).

Because all of them — and the mixer — connect through a network switch. I recommend an 8-port gigabit switch (4 decks + mixer = 5 ports, leave room). Adding the mixer gets you On Air and BPM sync into the mixer's beat effects — one cable, worth it. You can also link a laptop running Rekordbox in export mode to access your whole library like a USB. Avoid Wi-Fi linking live — fine at home, not stable enough for sets. Front-of-house can ride the same network to sync lights and visuals (and may be able to start/stop tracks — like an intro before the headliner walks on).

Check your DJ bag (not the other bag): headphones · spare 3.5mm-to-¼" jacks · multiple USBs (I carry 4 — two in the bag, two on me) · optional USB booth light for the mixer. Test your USBs before you leave home (§05-F).

• Test your USBs on the actual decks if you can — before doors, or if the opener doesn't mind.
• Rock up 30 min – 1 hr early. Shows you're there to support the event that took a chance on you.
• Find the promoter and let them know you've arrived.

• Approach the decks 3–5 min before your set, not earlier.
• Wait until the current DJ isn't mid-transition or working the crowd, say a quick hi, plug in your USB without getting in the way.
• Don't hover — give them 1–2 metres, hang to the side. If they're the headliner, wait off-stage but visible until they signal you. If they run over time, let them; they're why the crowd's here and you still get paid for your slot.
• Don't mix out of their last track immediately — let it breathe. For a headliner, let it play right out so the crowd can cheer, then a quick mic shoutout from one of you.
• Most DJs eject their own USBs — watch so they don't pull yours and drop you into an emergency loop lol.

Set's done — enjoy the night. Got another gig? Find the promoter, quick thank you, explain you're ducking off; they'll get it. Can't find them? Shoot a text.

Booth bunnies: anyone of any gender's welcome, just no drinks near the decks and give yourself room to work. Too many people don't get the responsibility that comes with being in the booth.

Denying requests: you'll cop them at every kind of event, mostly commercial. A girl once asked me for hard techno when the next DJ was about to play UKG. Don't tell them to f*** off (even if you want to) — listen, politely decline, maybe mention it doesn't suit the flow. Get a good request? Get excited: "Hell yeah, let me see if I've got it" (even if you know you don't lol).

You're paid to provide the entertainment — but without them you're not there. Be professional. They may hand you music guidelines, or tell you to play R&B while the room's loving commercial house. Read the room. Some owners are chill, some are on a power trip. Don't fight them mid-set — be polite, stay flexible, protect your reputation.

Gigging regularly? Get custom moulds from an audiologist. ~$200+ AUD but worth it — super comfy, long-lasting, made for your ears.

• Bio — short and punchy, plus a longer 100–300 word version: where you're from, your style, what people get from your shows.
• High-res photos — promo, action, and logo, portrait and landscape. Logos at 1080p+, transparent PNG and a vector. Have B&W and colour (and inverted) versions. Hire a local designer and pay them.
• Music — links to mixes, tracks, live sets (SoundCloud, Mixcloud).
• Video — 1080p+ performance or promo where you're clearly the focus, ideally crowd in front; portrait and landscape.
• Press & achievements — notable gigs, residencies, festivals, radio, coverage.
• Socials & contact — easy links to platforms and booking.

Option 1 — Google Drive folder. Name it clearly (YOURNAME_EPK_2025) with subfolders for bio/press PDFs, labelled high-res photos, audio/video links, achievements. Set sharing to "Anyone with the link can view."

Option 2 — ZIP folder. Same content, neatly organised, compressed and labelled (YOURNAME_EPK.zip). Attach to emails or host on Dropbox/Drive.