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How to · any DJ app

Keep your cue points when you switch DJ software.

To transfer cue points between DJ software, export the old library to an interchange file, a rekordbox XML or a Traktor NML, then import that file in the new app, or let the new app read the old library directly. Only some pairs carry cues at all: Engine DJ can read rekordbox, Serato, and Traktor cues, while rekordbox imports nothing but its own XML, an iTunes library, and plain folders. In a rekordbox XML the cue is stored as a time in seconds, not as a bar and beat, so it survives the move only as well as the new beatgrid does.

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A library in Vibes after an import from another DJ app, with BPM, key, rating, and vibe tags on every track

The files and the playlists move first. The cues follow each app's own rules.

Moving cue points between DJ apps, step by step.

There is no shared cue format. Each app keeps its markers in its own database, or inside the audio file, so a move is really three jobs: get the files across, hand over an interchange file, then check what actually landed.

01

Find out where your old app keeps its cues

Serato writes them into the track: its manual says your Cue Points are saved to the file and recalled the next time it is loaded, and are not lost if the file is moved or renamed. Traktor stores hot cues, loops, and beatgrids in its Collection.nml. Rekordbox and Engine DJ keep theirs in their own collection databases, which is why both need an export file.

02

Copy the music files before anything else

Cue data points at file paths, so the audio moves first. Serato asks you to keep three things: the _Serato_ folder in your Music folder, the Serato Library folder in Application Support on macOS or AppData Local on Windows, and one folder holding all your music. Keep the folder structure identical on the new drive and far fewer tracks come in as missing.

03

Export the old library to an interchange file

In rekordbox, open the File menu and choose [Export Collection in xml format], which writes every playlist and every track's information into one XML. Turn on [Export BeatGrid information] first under Preferences > Advanced > Database so the grid travels too. In Traktor, right-click the Track Collection in the Browser Tree and choose Export the Collection. Serato has no export step: its cues already sit in the files.

04

Import that file in the new app

Engine DJ reaches furthest. Switch the integration On under Preferences > Library, click the Import icon in the Toolbar for the Import Assistant, then pick Serato, rekordbox, Traktor, or iTunes, clicking Select XML or Select NML where it asks. Going into rekordbox instead, tick [rekordbox xml] under Preferences > View > Layout, point [Imported Library] at your file under Preferences > Advanced > Database, then drag the playlists into [Playlists].

05

Pick memory cues or hot cues on the way in

Engine DJ asks: if memory and hot cues or loops are detected in your rekordbox collection, you choose to import them as Memory Cues/Loops or Hot Cues/Loops. Memory cues sit in chronological order and do not start playback, hot cues can sit in any order and fire instantly, so pick hot cues if you perform off pads. In rekordbox, right-click a track and choose [Convert Memory Cues to Hot Cues].

06

Check what actually landed, track by track

The documented coverage is uneven. Engine DJ's Serato integration imports cue points, loops, and beatgrids; its rekordbox integration imports hot cues, memory loops, and beatgrids; its Traktor integration is listed as hot cues only, and its iTunes integration only as ratings. Cue names and colors are usually the first things to vanish. Open ten tracks you know well and play each cue before you trust the whole library.

07

Rebuild the cues no route could carry

For a pair with no import path, such as Serato into rekordbox, you either buy a converter that writes a rekordbox XML or set the markers again. Rekordbox can do a lot of that work itself: INTELLIGENT CUE CREATION runs CUE Analysis during track analysis and sets up to 16 hot cues or 10 memory cues per track, though availability depends on your subscription plan.

The catch

No route is lossless. In the rekordbox XML a cue is a start position in seconds, not a bar and a beat, so if the new app analyzes the beatgrid even slightly differently, the marker keeps its millisecond and stops sitting on the downbeat you meant. Names, colors, and saved loop lengths drop out long before the positions do.

DJ Software
Rekordbox
Rekordbox
Import XML or Database
Serato
Serato
Import Library Database
Traktor
Traktor
Import NML Collection
Engine
Engine
Import Engine Database
File System
Local Folder
Scan directory
Audio Files
Select files

The faster way

Move the whole library in one pass, and see exactly where every cue belonged.

Vibes imports straight from rekordbox, Serato, Traktor, Engine DJ, an Apple Music or iTunes Library.xml, or plain folders, and Smart Import works out which app it is looking at. Every track is analyzed for BPM, key, energy, and sections, so the intro, buildup, drop, breakdown, and outro are marked for you: that is the map you need for any cue the migration dropped. When the library is right, export playlists and vibes back to your DJ app as a folder tree. Vibes does not write hot cues into another app's database, so the markers themselves still come from the DJ app.

See how it works
Import Wizard and Smart Import auto-detect a rekordbox, Serato, Traktor, or Engine DJ library and pull the playlists in with it
Section analysis marks intro, buildup, drop, breakdown, and outro on every track, so a lost cue is quick to place again
Export playlists and vibes back to rekordbox, Serato, Traktor, or Engine DJ, with optional Camelot key or BPM sub-folders
Duplicate finder and Track Inspector catch the double copies and broken metadata that every migration leaves behind

Organize in Vibes, export to any DJ app.

Your playlists, tags, ratings, and cue points travel back to the gear you play on, so nothing you do in Vibes is locked away.

Track 001 by Artist A

Track 001

Artist A

128
3A
Track 002 by Artist B

Track 002

Artist B

124
5B
Track 003 by Artist C

Track 003

Artist C

132
8A
Vibes App
Playlists
Vibes
Mood
Aggressive
Euphoric
Melancholic
Mysterious
Peaceful
Playful
Tense
Function
Arrangement
Sets
Club Night 12/28
NYE Closing Set
Rooftop 01/04

Frequently asked questions

The honest answers, including the trade-offs.

Not directly. Rekordbox's Media Browser reads its own collection, an iTunes or Apple Music library, a rekordbox XML, streaming services, and folders on your drive. There is no Serato source in that list, and the cues Serato saves inside your audio files mean nothing to rekordbox. That leaves two options: a paid conversion tool that writes a rekordbox XML for you, or setting the cues again. The reverse trip is easier, since rekordbox exports an XML that other apps read.
Usually yes, because you are moving the same app's data, not converting it. Serato saves cue points to the file itself, so copy your music plus the _Serato_ folder and the Serato Library folder and they come back. Traktor keeps hot cues in Collection.nml, which you can export and re-import. Rekordbox has [Backup Library] and [Restore Library] in the File menu for exactly this. Plan the copy first.
Yes. INTELLIGENT CUE CREATION performs CUE Analysis while a track is analyzed and sets cue points for you, up to 16 hot cues and 10 memory cues per track, in an [Auto] mode that learns from your own cue habits or a [Manual] mode driven by bar positions. Availability depends on your subscription plan. Separately, [Auto Cue] in Preferences drops a cue at the first audio in every track.
Enough that every major app builds around them. Rekordbox holds up to 16 hot cues and 10 memory cues per track, Traktor gives each deck eight Hotcue buttons on the CUE page, and Serato puts cue slots on both decks with keyboard shortcuts. How heavily a DJ leans on them is personal taste, but a prepared library usually has them. That is also why a migration that drops them costs so many hours to redo.
Neither company publishes a head-to-head accuracy test, so treat any ranking you read as opinion. They also do different jobs. Rekordbox analyzes key as part of its own track analysis. Mixed In Key is a separate analysis app that writes its results into your file tags or into a rekordbox XML, which is why it turns up in cue-point migrations at all: it can place cues you then reload in the rekordbox XML tree.
Pause where you want the marker and click [CUE] in the JOG panel. To keep it, select [MEMORY CUE] on the performance pad and click [MEMORY]; ten saved cue points fit on a track. For pad-triggered markers, select [HOT CUE] and click pads [A] to [P] during playback, up to 16 per track. Turn quantize on first so each one snaps to the grid. Full walkthrough: setting cue points in rekordbox.
Because a cue is a time, not a beat. The rekordbox XML stores each position mark as a start position in seconds with decimals, so the new app puts the marker at the same millisecond and then draws its own beatgrid around it. If that grid sits a fraction earlier or later than the old one, every cue looks late. Fix the beatgrid first, then nudge the handful that are still wrong.
No. Hot cues are written by the DJ app, and Vibes does not push markers into another app's database. What it does is remove the rest of the work: it imports your library from rekordbox, Serato, Traktor, or Engine DJ, keeps the playlists and tags, analyzes BPM, key, energy, and song sections, and exports the structure back out. Rebuilding the cues you lost then takes minutes instead of a weekend.

From a Vibes customer

The import worked perfectly. Have created several sets now and my life is so much easier
Danny

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Methodology

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Verified against the app

Every step is checked against the current version of any DJ app.

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We make Vibes. We show the native way first and honestly, then where Vibes genuinely helps, and we say when it does not.

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Kept current

Last reviewed June 2026.

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