I have a HDD with 5 folders of my music on totaling approx 140-150Gb. Is there a free program to run it through that will accurately analyse the tracks for BPM, key etc? I ran it through serato on my laptop thinking it would update the files so when I plug the HDD into my SC Live 4 they will show as analyzed but they don’t. I have read that the Engine DJ analyzer is unreliable and inaccurate so I would like to use something that has a better accuracy. Thanks in advance for any help received.
I don’t know where you read that but my understanding (and personal experience) is they are all about the same when it comes to analysis.
Engine Desktop is free so what have you got to lose by downloading it and giving it a go? Outside of some time.
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No software is perfect and engine is massively improved of late, plus it’s extremely fast.
Run it and use the native software from the development team.
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It was old posts on here that lead me to believe engine was not as accurate as some of the other ones. I have loaded engine up on my laptop and got the folders on the hard drive open so I can see the music files but I can’t figure out how to get engine to analyse the folders. I’ve not actually used this side of it yet just usb sticks plug and play in the sc live 4 for a few kick about sessions
This is quite an old video but the fundamentals are the same.
Also check this link for the Engine DJ manual.
I can only compare Engine to Rekordbox, but I’ve found key analysis to be better in Engine (this got a big improvement a few versions back), and BPM to be the same.
Don’t read to much fiction 
I’ve used rekordbox, engine and VDJ and I have to say that engine often does a better job than Rekordbox.
Most track with a steady bpm are detected correctly.
Also VDJ does an excellent job and for home use is free.
In the settings of VDJ you can enable or disable whether VDJ should write the results to each file.
Hi Dave
First of all any program you use will be of the overall track (average) but with modern dance tracks most are done by a machine anyway so no problem, however if you are playing older music from the 70s & 80s with real groups and instruments with people, one minute they may be playing at 115 BPM then a bit faster say 115½ and so on.
I used to use a DJ BPM counter that you tapped in manually, first it was only as good as the person using it but very accurate but you have to do the intro, the vocal, the breaks all separate and at least twice to be sure, then write all the different BPMs on a label very time consuming and I would say don’t go there it was accurate but a pain. And as most new tracks BPM is done by machines I find the Denon Engine analyser ok.
I to use Hard drives one for each SC6000 as my music files are rather large, both are the same but when I add tracks to the Seagate drive then analyse each track as I do it then when finished just copy everything across to the other Seagate.
I doubt you will find a better program but if you do please let others know.
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Engine stores analysis data in its database
If you want to update your database with bpm from say Serato. You have to delete the Engine Database.
Like others say, use Engine DJ desktop to analyze your library. The old posts were pre 2.0. It was pants prior but they improved the algorithm subsequently.
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Thanks guys I managed to get a bit of time on engine DJ on my laptop yesterday and get all the tracks analysed (I think) and synced with engine DJ on laptop and hard drive however I have not had the time to try the hard drive on the sc live yet to see if I have done it right. I don’t have a permanent set up and am just a hobbyist so unfortunately it’s packed up on a shelf in my bedroom most of the time.
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Haha mate mine lives in a bag under the stairs, I only bring it out for gigs, otherwise it’s Serato and a pair of 1210s for me:)
Let us know how you get on, you might have to adjust some of the grids whilst playing so check the manual for how to do it, I usually just do mine straight after loading the track at the gig, and it’s mainly just moving the grid marker to the first beat if there is a short drum intro on the track.
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For the benefit of those who’ve joined more recently, I posted a few years back about a site that has catalogued all of the music reviews from a guy called James Hamilton, who was a DJ and record collector writing for a UK magazine called Record Mirror.
His reviews cover 1969 to 1991, featuring BPMs from the late 70s onwards.
He famously went to great lengths to print accurate BPMs for his reviews, including fractions and tempo variations.
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Hi PK
I used to buy Record Mirror when Piers Morgan was there.