BACK2BACK

Two DJs, two rooms, one set.

Play back-to-back with a DJ who isn’t in the room. Take turns on one set from your own booths, handing the music back and forth in time, mid‑track, while everyone listening hears it as one.

Download for Mac Listen to what’s live

Right now it works with PRO DJ LINK equipment only: CDJs and mixers from Pioneer DJ and AlphaTheta.

Booth oneOn air
Booth twoOn air
What listeners hear
A set, start to finish. One DJ plays, then hands a track over mid-mix; the other picks the same track up in their own booth, in time, and carries on. Then back again. The striped tracks are the ones handed over.

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.

DJ oneStarts the set
DJ twoTakes over, then hands it back
1

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.

2

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.

3

DJ one: Hand off

When you’re ready to pass it over, press Hand Off in the app. Keep the track playing.

4

DJ two: Take the track

One press on your own gear and you get a direct copy of the track that’s playing: on your CDJ, in time. From here you’re on air.

5

DJ two: Mix into your next one

Bring in a track of your own, play a few more, take it wherever you like.

6

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 arrives on your CDJ as a direct copy, already running with theirs. No chasing a stream, no beatmatching over the internet.
You hear each other
Your master goes out to the other DJ and the audience. Their set comes back on a spare channel of your mixer.
A soundcheck that matches two rooms
Before you go on air the app checks every deck and sets the levels, 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.

  1. Get the app

    Download it and drag it to Applications. The other DJ does the same on their Mac.

  2. Sign in

    Create your account in the app or on this site. It’s the same account for both.

  3. 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.

  4. Connect your mixer

    Choose its master out, and the spare channel the other DJ should come back on.

  5. Connect your decks

    The app finds the CDJs on your network. Press Join.

  6. Soundcheck

    Press play on each deck when the app asks. When both booths pass you’re live, and a public session is on this site.

Get Back2Back for Mac

Download for Mac Sign in to the site

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.

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. A radio link stalls for a moment every so often, and a moment is a hole in the music. 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.

Why did the app sign out when I signed in here?

An account is signed in at one place at a time, so signing in on the site signs the app out, and the other way round. Manage your follows and friends between sessions, not during one.

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.