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Use Mixed In Key with Rekordbox.

Analyze your files in Mixed In Key, then select them in Rekordbox, right-click and choose [Reload Tag]: the key and the energy level come straight out of the ID3 tags. Cue points travel on a separate channel, a rekordbox xml file both apps point at, and to see the Camelot codes exactly as Mixed In Key wrote them, set Preferences > View > Display Type > [Key display format] to [Display key information on the database].

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The Vibes library table with Camelot key, BPM and energy columns filled in after analysis

Vibes analyzes and sorts the files; Rekordbox keeps the cue points and the decks.

Use Mixed In Key with Rekordbox, step by step.

Mixed In Key and rekordbox exchange data over two separate channels: ID3 tags carry the key and the energy level, and a rekordbox xml file carries the cue points. Set both up once, and each new batch of music is a short routine.

01

Stop Rekordbox running its own key detection

Open Preferences > Analysis > Track Analysis. Under [Track Analysis Setting] you choose what gets analyzed: [BPM / Grid], [KEY], [Phrase] and [Vocal]. Leave [BPM / Grid] ticked and untick [KEY], so Rekordbox stops producing a competing key value. In the same tab, leave [Key Analysis] > [Write the value to the ID3 tag] off, so Rekordbox never writes its own key back into your files.

02

Add your music and analyze BPM and grid first

Drag your files into [Collection] and let the analysis finish. Mixed In Key's cue point workflow expects Rekordbox to have the beatgrid already, so run this pass before you touch anything else. If [Auto Analysis] is set to [Disable] in the same Track Analysis tab, select the tracks, right-click and choose [Analyze Track].

03

Analyze the same files in Mixed In Key

Add the identical files to Mixed In Key and let it run. By default it writes the key to the Key field and the results into the Comments field. Check Settings > Tag Options before the first batch: there is an option that adds a leading zero to single-digit Camelot numbers, so 1A is written as 01A, which some Pioneer DJ hardware sorts more cleanly.

04

Pull the tags in with Reload Tag

Back in Rekordbox, select the tracks you just analyzed, right-click and choose [Reload Tag]. That reads the ID3 tag information from the file again and reloads it into the track information in [Collection] and your playlists. The key and the energy text appear within a second or two. Nothing is copied, so the files stay where they are.

05

Set the key display format so nothing is converted

Open Preferences > View > Display Type > [Key display format]. [Classic] shows key names, [Alphanumeric] shows values such as 1A and 2A, and [Display key information on the database] shows the key exactly as it is recorded on the track. Pick the last one if you want Mixed In Key's Camelot codes shown untouched rather than re-rendered by Rekordbox.

06

Build the xml bridge for cue points

Tick [rekordbox xml] under Preferences > View > Layout > [Media Browser], then set [Imported Library] under Preferences > Advanced > Database. Export with the [File] menu > [Export Collection in xml format] and save it to a plain local folder, not a cloud-synced one and not an external drive. In Mixed In Key, open Settings > DJ Software, turn Rekordbox on and select that same file.

07

Import the MIK Cue Points playlist

Re-run the analysis in Mixed In Key so it writes the cue points into the xml. In Rekordbox, click the reload icon on [rekordbox xml] in the [Media Browser] to refresh it, open its [Playlists], right-click the playlist named [MIK Cue Points] and choose [Import Playlist]. Then select the tracks and use [Import To Collection] so the cue points land on your own copies.

The catch

The xml file is a snapshot, not a live link. Every batch of new music means exporting the collection again, re-analyzing in Mixed In Key and re-importing the playlist. And [Reload Tag] replaces the track information with whatever the tag says, so anything you typed by hand in Rekordbox is overwritten. Pick one place to edit metadata and stay there.

Find compatible12B12A1B1A2B2A3B3A4B4A5B5A6B6A7B7A8B8A9B9A10B10A11B11A
8A120-136 BPM

Where Vibes fits

Analysis and sorting, before anything reaches the xml.

Vibes is not a bridge to Mixed In Key and it does not write cue points into Rekordbox: that stays a job for the two apps above. What it does is the analysis and the ordering. Every track gets BPM, key shown as Camelot, musical or Open Key, an energy curve and sections, and finished playlists and vibes export back to Rekordbox as a folder tree.

See how it works
Track analysis: BPM, key in Camelot, musical or Open Key display, energy curve and sections
Find Compatible pulls harmonic Camelot neighbours within a BPM window, half and double time aware
Export playlists and vibes back to Rekordbox, with optional Camelot key or BPM sub-folders
No cue point writing, no rekordbox xml editing, no streaming tracks: Vibes works on files you own

Organize in Vibes, export to Rekordbox.

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.

Two channels, set up once. Analyze the files in Mixed In Key so the key lands in the Key field and the results in the Comments field, then select those tracks in Rekordbox, right-click and choose [Reload Tag]. Cue points are separate: export your collection with the [File] menu > [Export Collection in xml format], point Mixed In Key's DJ Software tab at that file, then import the [MIK Cue Points] playlist back in.
Mixed In Key says its detection replaces Rekordbox's and is significantly more accurate. That is the vendor's claim on its own site, not an independent test, and we have not found a published head to head. Check it on your own music instead: take twenty tracks whose keys you already know, read both results, and see which one you disagree with. If Rekordbox agrees, its built-in [KEY] analysis is enough.
Cue points do not ride in ID3 tags, they ride in a rekordbox xml file. In Rekordbox, tick [rekordbox xml] under Preferences > View > Layout, set [Imported Library] under Preferences > Advanced > Database, then use [File] > [Export Collection in xml format]. Select that same file in Mixed In Key under Settings > DJ Software and analyze. Back in Rekordbox, refresh [rekordbox xml], right-click [MIK Cue Points] and choose [Import Playlist].
Usually one of three things. The tags were never reloaded: select the tracks, right-click, [Reload Tag]. Rekordbox ran its own key analysis and is showing that instead: untick [KEY] under Preferences > Analysis > Track Analysis > [Track Analysis Setting]. Or the display is re-rendering the value: set [Key display format] to [Display key information on the database]. There is more on the display side in showing Camelot keys.
It can. Under Preferences > Analysis > Track Analysis, [Key Analysis] has a [Write the value to the ID3 tag] setting that stores Rekordbox's own detected key in the file's ID3 tag. Leave it off when Mixed In Key owns your key values. Remember too that [Reload Tag] replaces the track information in Rekordbox with whatever the tag holds, so anything you edited by hand there disappears.
Harmonic mixing is a guide, not a rule. Blending tracks whose keys sit next to each other on the Camelot wheel keeps melodies and vocals from clashing, which matters most on long blends. It matters much less on drum-led sections and quick cuts. Treat key as one filter next to BPM and energy rather than the thing that picks the next track, and let Find Compatible narrow the list.
Mixed In Key markets itself on being used by the world's top DJs and has been around for well over a decade, but there is no public list you can verify, and an endorsement says nothing about whether it suits your library. The more useful question is whether your DJ app's own key detection already matches your ears. If it does, a second analyzer buys you very little.
Only for the new files. Add them to Rekordbox, analyze BPM and grid, run them through Mixed In Key, then use [Reload Tag] on those tracks for key and energy. Cue points need the longer loop: export the collection to xml again, re-analyze in Mixed In Key, refresh the [rekordbox xml] section, and import only the newest tracks with [Import To Collection]. Sorting them afterwards is covered in sorting by key.

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

How we keep this honest.

Verified against the app

Every step is checked against the current version of Rekordbox.

We own our bias

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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The Vibes price shown comes straight from our checkout, never a hardcoded marketing number.

Kept current

Last reviewed June 2026.

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