Traktor Bridge puts your DJ collection on a Pioneer CDJ. It reads Traktor, rekordbox XML, VirtualDJ, Serato, Mixxx and M3U playlists, and writes a USB key the player reads as if rekordbox had made it: playlists, hot cues, loops, beatgrid, keys, waveforms and artwork. It also exports to rekordbox XML, M3U8 and Traktor NML.
Website and user guide: www.traktorbridge.com
I have played with Traktor for more than twenty years and I keep running into CDJ booths. I wanted a simple tool, easy to use on any operating system, to take my playlists to those players. DJs who paid for their CDJs should be able to play the playlists they sometimes built over years in another program, without redoing them. The newer open library formats do not help the CDJ-2000NXS2, which does not support them. Traktor Bridge writes the key directly from the collection you already have, cue points included, so you don't spend hours redoing them.
The name comes from the first version, which only read Traktor. It is not tied to any DJ software anymore: you can start from a plain M3U playlist, set your cues in Traktor Bridge, sort the tracks and choose their order.
Every source is read into one model: tracks, playlists, cues, loops, beatgrid and keys, in the same units whatever the software they came from. Missing files are found again in your music folder, and what you change in the playlist details is kept. The export then writes the CDJ USB key (audio, waveform analysis, ANLZ files, export.pdb, artwork) or a rekordbox XML, M3U8 or Traktor NML file.
Windows, portable: download TraktorBridge-3.1-win64.zip from the
releases, unzip it anywhere and run
TraktorBridge.exe. No installer, settings and log are written next to the program.
From source, Windows, macOS or Linux, Python 3.11 or newer:
pip install -r requirements.txt
python main.py- File > Open collection (Ctrl+O): a Traktor
collection.nml, a rekordbox XML, VirtualDJdatabase.xml, Serato_Serato_/database V2,mixxxdb.sqliteor an M3U / M3U8. - If your files moved since the collection was written, set the music folder: missing tracks are looked up there by file name.
- Tick the playlists to export, nothing ticked exports everything.
- Pick the format and the output, then Convert.
Double click a playlist to check it before exporting: preview player with the waveform and cue pads, sort, filter, drag to reorder, Del to remove a track, and a cue timeline to move, rename or delete cues. What you change there goes into the export.
| Source | Read |
|---|---|
| Traktor NML (Pro 3 and 4) | cues, loops, grid, key, rating, colour, smartlists listed |
| rekordbox XML | position marks, tempo anchor, colours |
VirtualDJ database.xml |
hot cues, saved loops, beatgrid, .m3u and .vdjfolder playlists |
Serato DJ _Serato_/database V2 |
crates, cues, loops and beatgrid from the file tags |
Mixxx mixxxdb.sqlite |
playlists, crates, cues, keys |
| M3U / M3U8 | the files, artist and title |
| Export | Written |
|---|---|
| CDJ/USB | Contents/, PIONEER/rekordbox/export.pdb, ANLZ analysis, artwork, player settings |
| rekordbox XML | for File > Import in rekordbox |
| M3U8 | one file per playlist, folders kept |
| Traktor NML | a collection Traktor can import |
A CDJ key needs a few files only rekordbox writes: the player settings and the pages describing the player menus. Traktor Bridge does not ship them. Export any playlist to a USB key with your own rekordbox once, then import that key in Options > CDJ (Traktor Bridge also asks at the first CDJ export). The files are reused for every key after that.
Format the key FAT32 or exFAT, the players show NO DISK on NTFS. Export to the root of the key,
or to an empty folder you copy to the root: Contents and PIONEER sit side by side at the
top.
The export works on the CDJ-2000NXS2: loading, browsing, playback, waveforms, beatgrid, cues and artwork. Players reading rekordbox 6 USB exports should read it too, the CDJ-3000 without its HD waveforms.
The analysis runs on several cores in parallel, it is cached, and files already on the key are not copied again. On a USB key the audio is copied one file at a time and the progress shows the speed and the time left: with a slow key, writing the audio takes longer than everything else.
Every export also writes traktor_bridge_checksums.json at its root: the size and SHA-256 of
each file written. File > Verify an export reads the key back and lists anything damaged or
missing, handy before a gig. With Verify after export ticked, the check runs right after the
export and the copies that differ from their source are written again.
TraktorBridge.exe --export COLLECTION OUTPUT [--format FORMAT] [--music FOLDER] [--reference KEY]
python main.py --export COLLECTION OUTPUT [--format FORMAT] [--music FOLDER] [--reference KEY]
python main.py --verify OUTPUT--reference imports the player files from a key exported by rekordbox, once. FORMAT is CDJ/USB (default), Rekordbox XML, M3U or Traktor NML. The report goes to
traktor_bridge.log, the exit code is 0 when nothing failed. --verify checks an export
against its checksums and exits with 1 when a file is damaged or missing. The exe has no console, use
start /wait from a prompt.
Build.bat # clean venv, dependencies, then build.py
python build.py # with the current PythonIt produces dist/TraktorBridge/ and dist/TraktorBridge-3.1-win64.zip.
How it is built and what I know about the formats, the Pioneer USB export above all, is in developers/DOCUMENTATION.md, along with the research method behind it.
Benoit (BSM) Saint-Moulin: benoitsaintmoulin.com, bsm3d.com, github.com/bsm3d, Instagram @benoitsaintmoulin.
Traktor Bridge is free and stays free. Tips on Ko-fi help pay for the website hosting.
PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0: free for personal, educational and any other noncommercial use, modification included. Commercial use needs my prior authorization, ask through the GitHub repository. Copies must keep the license and the copyright notice.
Pioneer DJ, rekordbox and CDJ are trademarks of AlphaTheta Corporation. Native Instruments and Traktor are trademarks of Native Instruments GmbH. VirtualDJ is a registered trademark of Atomix Productions Inc. Serato and Serato DJ are registered trademarks of Serato Limited. Mixxx is the name of the Mixxx open source project. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners. Traktor Bridge is independent, not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them, and written for interoperability.
Provided as is, without warranty. Back up your collection and test a key on your player before playing out with it.
Thanks to Deep Symmetry (crate-digger, beat-link) for their documentation of the rekordbox formats, and to the openboxxx project.