How it works
Back2Back lets two DJs in different places play one set together. You each play on your own CDJs, in your own booth, and hand the music over mid-track. Everyone listening hears a single, unbroken mix.
It works with PRO DJ LINK equipment only: CDJs and mixers from Pioneer DJ and AlphaTheta.
How a session goes
The same as any back-to-back: you take turns. The only difference is that you’re each in your own booth.
Join a session together
One of you starts a session in the app and invites the other. You each plug in your mixer and decks, run a quick soundcheck, and you’re both in.
DJ one: Play a few tracks
You’re on air, playing from your own USBs the way you always do. The other DJ hears you in their booth, on a spare channel of their mixer.
DJ one: Hand off
When you’re ready to pass it over, press Hand Off in the app. Keep the track playing.
DJ two: Take the track
One press on your own gear and the track carries on in your booth — on your own CDJ, in time with theirs. From here you’re on air.
DJ two: Mix into your next one
Bring in a track of your own, play a few more, take it wherever you like.
Hand it back, and keep going
Hand off to the other DJ the same way, and go back and forth until the end of the session. Everyone listening hears one set, start to finish.
Built for the booth, and for whoever’s listening
For DJs
- Your decks, your mixer, your USBs
- You play on your own CDJs from your own music. Nothing about how you play changes.
- The track you take over is in time
- It picks up on your own player, already running with theirs. Nothing to chase, nothing to beatmatch.
- You hear each other
- Their set comes back on a spare channel of your mixer, so you can mix into it as if they were stood next to you. They hear yours the same way.
- A soundcheck that matches both booths
- Before you go on air the app matches the two booths, so a handoff isn’t a jump in volume.
- Invite by handle or email
- Friends show when they’re online and are one press away. Anyone else, type their handle.
- Public or private
- A public session is listed on this site once both soundchecks pass. A private one is recorded for the two of you and never listed.
- Every set recorded
- What the audience heard, as a WAV, yours to download for 24 hours after the session.
- Say when you’re playing
- Schedule a session and the people who follow you are emailed then, a day before, 15 minutes before, and when you go live.
For listeners
- Nothing to install
- Open the link and press play. It works in the browser on your phone.
- No account to listen
- Make one only if you want to comment or follow someone.
- One set, not two streams
- You hear a single mix. Which booth it’s coming from is the DJs’ business.
- Follow a DJ
- Get an email when they go live and when they schedule a session. Unfollow from their page whenever you like.
- Say something
- Comments on a session’s page go straight to both DJs’ screens.
What you need
For each DJ. Listeners need a browser.
Right now Back2Back only works with PRO DJ LINK equipment: CDJs and mixers from Pioneer DJ and AlphaTheta. Controllers, turntables and other brands of player aren’t supported yet.
- A Mac
- macOS 11 or later, Apple silicon or Intel.
- Decks
- CDJs linked by PRO DJ LINK, playing music exported from rekordbox to USB or SD. Up to three per booth. Tested on the CDJ-3000 and CDJ-900NXS.
- A mixer
- A DJM with a USB connection to your Mac, and one spare channel to hear the other DJ on. Tested on the DJM-900NXS2 and DJM-A9.
- A network
- Your Mac plugged into the same network as your decks, and a wired internet connection. It will run on Wi-Fi, but Wi-Fi drops out in ways a set can’t hide.
- The other DJ
- With the same, wherever they are.
- An account
- One account signs in to the app and to this site. Create one here, or in the app the first time you open it.
Getting set up
The app walks you through it, one screen at a time. Most of it is the soundcheck.
Get the app
Download it and drag it to Applications. The other DJ does the same on their Mac.
Sign in
Create your account in the app or on this site. It’s the same account for both.
Start a session, or join one
Name it, choose public or private, and invite the other DJ by handle or email. If they invited you, accept it in the app.
Connect your mixer
Choose its master out, and the spare channel the other DJ should come back on.
Connect your decks
The app finds the CDJs on your network. Press Join.
Soundcheck
Follow it through. When both booths pass you’re live, and a public session is on this site.
Back2Back for Mac
The app isn’t released yet. It’s in private beta with a handful of DJs while the handoff is tested on real equipment — two booths, real decks, a real set.
Back2Back is in beta. Downloading it means you accept the terms: it is provided as it is, and you use it with your equipment at your own risk.
Opening itOpen the disk image and drag Back2Back to Applications.
The first time you open itmacOS will say it can’t check the app, because this build isn’t notarised by Apple yet. Open System Settings, go to Privacy & Security, and press Open Anyway next to Back2Back. It asks once.
Check your downloadSHA-256
On a phone or a PC?The app is for the DJs’ Macs. To listen you only need what’s live.
Questions
Do listeners need the app?
No. A session is a web page: open the link, press play. The app is only for the two DJs.
Will it work on Wi-Fi?
It will run, and sooner or later you’ll hear why we say don’t. Wi-Fi drops out in ways a live set can’t hide. Plug the Mac in.
What equipment does it work with?
Right now, only PRO DJ LINK equipment: CDJs and mixers from Pioneer DJ and AlphaTheta. It has been tested on the CDJ-3000 and CDJ-900NXS with the DJM-900NXS2 and DJM-A9. Controllers, turntables and other brands aren’t supported yet.
Do we both need the same decks?
No. Each booth needs its own PRO DJ LINK CDJs and mixer, and they can be different models.
Is there a Windows version?
Not yet. Back2Back runs on a Mac today.
Can I use the site while the app is running?
Yes. One account holds one app sign-in and one browser sign-in at the same time, so reading the site mid-set changes nothing about the session. What it doesn’t do is let you be in two booths, or two browsers, at once: signing in again in either place signs out the one before it.
How do I know if someone has invited me?
The bell in the top corner of the site. An invitation, a friend request or a new follower shows there, and an invitation has an Open in the app button that takes the app straight to the session. It only works once you have installed the app and opened it once; if nothing happens, open Back2Back yourself and the invitation is waiting.
How long do recordings stay?
24 hours after the session, then they’re deleted for good. Both DJs can download the WAV from the app or from your recordings.
Getting in
Back2Back is in private beta. Put your email address on the waiting list and you will be emailed when there is a place.