Pioneer DJ release CloudDirectPlay for the CDJ-3000!

This morning Pioneer DJ announced the release of Rekordbox CloudDirectPlay, a brand new feature for Creative and Professional plan subscribers. Available on CDJ-3000’s running on the latest V2.0 Firmware, this new feature allows users to play and edit tracks synced to their Dropbox directly on the player. Syncing a Rekordbox library to Dropbox already brought with it numerous advantages including sharing the library across numerous computers. The ability to now search, play and edit tracks on the players takes this cloud connectivity to the next level. Read our guide below to see how you can take advantage of this new technology!

What players can use CloudDirect Play?

CDJ-3000’s running firmware version 2.0 and above. The players must also have an active internet connection via the ethernet port.

How do you set up CloudDirectPlay?

1. Subscribe to either the Creative or Professional Plan with Rekordbox 6.
   
2. Sync your DJ library with Dropbox (The professional plan comes with unlimited Dropbox storage).
3. Activate CloudDirectPlay on the library section of “My Page” inside Rekordox.
   
4. Connect a USB Drive or SD Card and authorise the device in Rekordbox, this drive will log you into Dropbox automatically on the player.
   
5. Update CDJ-3000 players to firmware V2.0 or above. Click here for the firmware update page.
6. Connect CDJ-3000 players to the internet via the Pro-DJ Link network. (Ensure the hub connecting linked players/mixer has an active internet connection).
7. Insert your authorised USB Stick/SD Card into a CDJ-3000. Ensure the device has free space to enable caching of tracks.
8. Select that drive on the player, check the upper right-hand corner for a globe icon indicating active internet connection.
9. Then select the Cloud Source shown in Sources.
10. Play directly from Dropbox. Tracks will be downloaded temporarily to your USB/SD in case of network dropout and all changes to performance data such as hot cues will be automatically synced back to the cloud!

Is there any drawback to using CloudDirectPlay?

At the time of release, Pioneer DJ hasn’t enabled the CDJ-3000’s using CloudDirectPlay to access or view intelligent playlists saved in the library. Linked players also fail to show custom hot cue and saved loop colours correctly. Both these minor issues are expected to be fixed in upcoming firmware releases.

At the time of writing, CDJ-3000’s are still yet to be commonplace in most professional DJ booths. Thanks to international supply issues and the recovering nighttime economy, there are still many venues that have yet to upgrade. On top of this, most DJ booths do not have an active internet connection for their players. Both these issues will change with time however, the ability to use CloudDirectPlay is very limited at the time of release.

What if I lose my authenticated device?

DJs can deactivate authorised devices via the My Page section in Rekordbox. This will immediately disable that USB Stick/SD Card from logging into your dropbox and using the CloudDirectPlay service. Do note, however, any tracks or playlists exported onto that device locally will still be accessible.

Our Thoughts

In theory, CloudDirectPlay is a fantastic solution for touring artists and DJs with a large collection. Being able to deactivate lost devices wirelessly, keeps unreleased tracks safe from being stolen and the ability to access the full Rekordbox library saves on export times and storage costs too! Although we’ve seen Dropbox integration before on rival plays such as the Denon DJ SC6000, CloudDirectPlay enables the player sync changes made during playback directly to the library. This is an impressive improvement and certainly feels more professional, enabling a professional to use one common library over all connected devices.

Accessing this technology however isn’t as easy as it is with rival players. Pioneer DJ only enabling their most expensive player to access this technology is a shame and the lack of Wi-Fi also makes setting up CloudDirectPlay a bit of a hassle. For artists and DJs to use this technology reliably, every venue will need to not only upgrade to the expensive CDJ-3000 but also update their network infrastructure too. Two major hurdles that no doubt will stop a lot of users from switching over to this impressive service.

We’re really pleased to see Pioneer DJ bring cloud services to the CDJ player. Major firmware updates and new features aren’t something we’ve come to expect from the company before, with most players retaining their launch features throughout the product lifecycle. We hope this technology can soon be used to access streaming services such as Beatport and Beatsouce Link in the future, especially the ability to cache tracks locally, hint hint, offline locker. It would also be nice to use this technology on other CDJ and XDJ models in the future. Although the lack of ethernet on the recently released XDJ-RX3 doesn’t make this scenario very likely.

Release Video