How to · Engine DJ

Transfer your library to Serato in Engine DJ.

Moving from Engine DJ to Serato means recreating your crates from scratch, unless you use a tool that reads your Engine DJ database and exports directly into Serato. Vibes does exactly that.

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Vibes library view showing Engine DJ tracks organized by vibe tags

Vibes imports your Engine DJ database and exports .crates straight into Serato.

Transfer your library to Serato in Engine DJ, step by step.

Engine DJ and Serato use entirely different database formats, so there is no built-in bridge between them. Engine DJ can natively import FROM Serato (via its Preferences > Integration tab), but there is no reverse path - no native export from Engine DJ back to Serato. The manual path is tedious but straightforward if you know what to expect.

Locate your Engine DJ database

Engine DJ stores its library database in a file called m.db, found at Music/Engine Library/Database2/m.db on macOS (the Engine Library folder itself is at ~/Music/Engine Library). Make sure your collection is up to date and all tracks are analyzed before you start. Do not move or rename the Engine Library folder, as the database references relative paths.

Review your playlist structure in Engine DJ

In Engine DJ 4.x, open the software and review your Playlists. Note that Engine DJ uses only the term 'Playlists' - the separate 'Crates' concept was removed in v2.0 and everything is now a Playlist. There is no native one-click export to Serato format, so take note of which playlists matter most. You will need to recreate these as crates inside Serato manually, or use a conversion tool such as Lexicon or MIXO.

Open Serato and import your music folder

In Serato DJ Pro, click the Files button to open the Files panel. The left side shows your computer's drives and folders - navigate to the folder where your tracks live, then drag that folder onto the purple 'All' icon at the top of the crates panel to import the tracks into your Serato library. Your tracks are now accessible in Serato, but none of your Engine DJ playlist structure, ratings, or tags carry over automatically.

Rebuild your crates in Serato

Create new crates in Serato by clicking the plus icon next to Crates in the left panel. Drag tracks from your library into each crate to match the playlist structure you had in Engine DJ. For large libraries this is the most time-consuming part of the transfer. Hot cues, beatgrids, and energy ratings will not carry over and must be re-set by hand in Serato unless you use a third-party tool.

The catch

Engine DJ has no native export to Serato format. All playlist structure, hot cues, beatgrids, energy tags, and custom organization must be recreated by hand in Serato unless you use a third-party tool such as Lexicon or MIXO. Note that Engine DJ CAN natively import FROM Serato (via Preferences > Integration), but the reverse direction requires a bridge tool.

Mood

Euphoric

Melancholic

Mysterious

Energy

Aggressive

Peaceful

Rave

Function

Afterhours

Club

Home

The faster way

Import once from Engine DJ, export straight into Serato.

Vibes reads your Engine DJ database directly, lets you organize tracks by vibe and energy, then writes .crate files into Serato's library folder so your structure arrives intact.

See how it works

Import Engine DJ (m.db): Vibes reads your Engine DJ database and brings in your full track list with BPM, key, and playlist data.

Tag by feel in Vibe Sort: assign energy, mood, and role tags to every track quickly, building a layer of organization that neither Engine DJ nor Serato has natively.

Export .crates to Serato: Vibes writes one .crate per vibe, plus your Sets and Combinations, directly into Serato's library folder. No drag-and-drop required.

Combinations arrive ready: tracks sharing multiple vibes (for example Peak Time and House) land in their own auto-generated crate, so you have ready-made selections from day one in Serato.

Organize in Vibes, export to Engine DJ.

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

Artist A

128

Afterhours

Mysterious

Introspective

Track 002

Artist B

124

Cozy Floor

Peaceful

Home

Track 003

Artist C

132

Rave

Aggressive

Festival

Build & Release

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.

Vibes handles the library import and Serato export, but it does not replace Engine DJ as a performance tool. You still use Engine DJ for standalone player prep and Serato for live performance. Vibes sits in between as the organization and transfer layer, reading your Engine DJ database and writing Serato .crates so you do not have to rebuild your collection by hand.

When Vibes imports your Engine DJ library it brings in your track data and playlist contents. On export it writes one .crate per vibe tag and one per Set, so your tracks arrive in Serato with a vibe-based structure. If you want your exact Engine DJ playlist names preserved, tag those playlists as vibes in Vibes before exporting.

Serato .crate files do not support cue points, ratings, or comments, so those fields are disabled on the Serato export path in Vibes. Cue points you set in Engine DJ will not appear in Serato regardless of the tool you use, because the two apps use incompatible cue formats.

Methodology