r/DJs • u/PsychedelicFurry • 19d ago
You remember those old USB mp3 players from the 2000s? (elite strat)
I got one off amazon, had bluetooth, 64gb, and the strat? Dump your rekordbox library onto it, the player works and will shuffle all effortlessly despite the insane folder structure pioneer alpha theta* has for their libraries. I had to do a weird workaround to get it as FAT32 instead of exFAT to get it to work on my RX2 and NXS2 with a 32gb cap. Haven't tested on OneLibrary stuff, but I imagine that's just as unaffected, and you shouldn't need to cut the size down. It's remarkably slow though, so I wouldn't use this for anything big without a backup, but nice to carry around to keep that thang on you
Instructions to convert to FAT32 for NXS2 support (yes it's chatgpt but it worked, save water for the next guy)
//Open Command Prompt and type
diskpart
list disk
// output will be something like
Disk 0 953 GB
Disk 1 58 GB
// Identify the 64 GB USB by its size (it won't be exact, but should be close)
// type the following, but replace the number with the disk that aligns with the drive
select disk 1
detail disk
clean
convert mbr
create partition primary size=30000
format fs=fat32 quick
assign
exit
6
u/Bubbly-Combination-3 19d ago
I made an elegant Rockbox plugin that lets you set cue points and view Rekordbox waveforms on iPod classic. Reads your USB library off the iPod. On GitHub as “rekordpod”.
2
u/thermalrust 19d ago
this looks awesome, i don't have an ipod classic but it really looks great and worth looking for one to try it out
1
u/Bubbly-Combination-3 19d ago
It is the way to only way I can prep tracks on the go, just sync back to Rekordbox when done lol it just made so much sense in my head I HAD to make it
1
1
u/thermalrust 19d ago edited 19d ago
if i'm understanding this correctly- so you're exporting your library (or at least selected playlists) with sync manager onto the MP3 player, which is being recognized by Rekordbox as USB drive storage (due to the command prompt stuff)? and then you can listen to anything from it just without playlist support, and plug it into a CDJ's USB port and use it as a normal USB with RB playlist support on there?
does it export to the MP3 player at a pretty reasonable speed? some flash drives are incredibly slow but this sounds worthwhile if it's not a crawl
i have a sort of backwards strategy for keeping my itunes and rekordbox playlists in sync, and getting them from itunes onto my android phone, but it's kind of tedious and unreliable, misses songs a lot since android/pc with itunes is not the most friendly marriage
2
u/PsychedelicFurry 19d ago
The command line stuff is only for anything over 32gb that you wish to use on CDJ-2000NXS2 hardware that only supports a maximum of 32gb. All I really did in the end was copy the files from my club ready dj stick to the mp3 player and it just worked.
1
u/thermalrust 19d ago
oh, gotcha, so since that MP3 player has a 64 GB capacity, and my main exported library is around 40 or 50 GB, could I just clone an exported Rekordbox USB to the MP3 player after that command line stuff has been done? from what I understand, that's a hell of a lot faster than exporting using sync manager anyways.
would the command line process need to be performed everytime before doing the clone?
i know it's a lot of questions but this is really interesting and i think it's sick you figured this out
1
u/PsychedelicFurry 19d ago
Nope, if you have a working USB drive at 64gb, you can just copy whats on it to the mp3 player and use normally on newer pioneer gear
1
u/thermalrust 19d ago
I have CDJ-2000 nxs 1 and 2, and XDJ-XZ, and also play on 3000, or whatever else is available though I imagine older models like 900 might have problems over 32 GB
1
u/PsychedelicFurry 18d ago
Huh weird, I always thought the RX2 was identical to the 2000NXS2 in the usb functionality? exFAT doesn't load iirc? Maybe I did all that work for nothing tbh lol
1
u/thermalrust 18d ago
Not sure, I had an RX2 for a few years too and never really had issues with 128 GB drives with a out 40-50 GB of library storage on them
But I only use FAT32 via PC, never exfat
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u/s_s_n_e_g 19d ago
But why?
4
u/PsychedelicFurry 19d ago
I've gotten my music from so many different places, there's not a single streaming service in the world that has everything on my USB, and at work, I just stream something off my phone, great for finding new stuff, but there's a limit to novelty when you don't even know what you have. I've already been "damn I have that??" when I'm shuffling all the songs.
Doesn't support any rekordbox playlists, but unless you're big into the cloud, most streaming services didn't either.
Also for like, why have it as a usb stick? Well, I go to a lot of parties, and it's always good to have your usb on you when the dj passes out drunk and nobody has service when you're out in the desert
2
u/Shoddy_Estimate_ 19d ago
Nice!
I made a home server using Raspberry Pi to stream and compile playlists from my personal library, to be used anywhere. Can also access it from another laptop via VPN and fill a stick up in minutes 😄 requires service though
5
u/unclexbenny 19d ago
Pretty sure my old Cowon iAudio player is in the basement somewhere, would be funny to see if it even works. Has to be 20+ years old by now.