rekordbox 6 is here, and there are some big changes. Before you get started, I've got a list of tips and notes for you to make the most of things. There are plenty of official FAQs on the rekordbox website which you should absolutely read - this is a short guide of my personal that I hope to expand as your questions and feedback comes in.
1. Backup
Before you do anything, backup your library from rekordbox 5. This is simple - File > Library > Backup Library. If you haven't been doing this regularly before now ... why not?
2. Yes, it may be free
The new system operates on a hardware unlock as well as subscription plans. Think of it this way - if your hardware came with a rekordbox 4 or 5 license key before, you will have some level of rekordbox 6 functionality unlock simply by connecting the hardware. Check the list here for more information on what hardware unlocks which features. For some of the advanced functions, or features you had to pay for on rekordbox 5, those will require a subscription. No, there is no outright purchase of a license - everything is now on a subscription plan.
3. Your subscription for rekordbox 5 will not roll forward
If you currently have a subscription for a rekordbox 5 plan, it does not automatically upgrade you to a rekordbox 6 plan; you will continue to be billed for your rekordbox 5 plan until you cancel it. See the FAQs for info on how to cancel.
4. You can use both rekordbox 5 & rekordbox 6
Yes, you can have both 5 and 6 installed and running on your computer at the same time but the database is not shared; any changes made to 6 will not appear within 5, and vice-versa.
5. Conversion takes time
The first time you run rekordbox 6, you'll be asked if you want to import your library from 5. It will take some time to run, so if you have a gig on Wednesday, installing it on Tuesday might be a bit tight. In my personal experience, it takes about 24hrs for 50,000 tracks. If you didn't run the conversion on first launch, you can find it under the File menu.
6. Set your preferences
You may be eager to get running with the new program, but before you do, there's a few things that will be enabled by default. Depending on which plan you've activated, you may find some features enabled by default, such as Lyric mode. Open the preferences and un-check the ones you don't want running in the background if you're not using them. Lyric is an important one because it will try and obtain the lyric data during the song analysis process if it's enabled ... even in Export mode. So go disable that.
7. New data
There's an awesome new 3band waveform which requires new analysis data to be generated. This also takes time, but unlike the conversion, this process runs multi-threaded so should actually take less time to complete than the conversion, and runs separate from the conversion. Select all your tracks, right-click on any of them, and select Add New Analysis Data.
8. Which plan?
This depends entirely on what hardware you have and which features you need. I will tell you that the cloud sync is amazing if you need to use more than one computer and / or mobile device ... but if you are already comfortable using an external hard drive for your library and music, you may already have some of what you need going on.
Whatever you do, go for the trial. You get 30 days to test out either the Core or Creative plans for free regardless of the hardware unlock. But here's a free tip - lock in at the published rates before July 13th, and that is your price for life. Nobody else will get the discounted monthly rate again once it goes up.
---------------
Okay, that's enough to get you going. See you after your database is converted!
Comments