How to use your music library cleaner.

Prepare one clean collection while keeping your original music safe.

This private test version uses your existing SSD playlists as a reference. It reads that reference and builds a separate collection for a fresh start. It does not reset Engine DJ.

Start with a small copied test collection. Keep a separate backup of your music and the whole Engine Library folder. Close Engine DJ and other apps that might change the music before scanning or copying.

Choose your music locations, the SSD playlist reference and a new empty folder. Then choose Scan / Resume. Review the findings before choosing Create clean collection.

Windows startup, your actual SSD reference and import/playback in your DJ software still need testing. Coming soon does not mean available for public use.

Select Add location for each folder containing music on your PC or SSD. You can add several locations. Remove location removes a location from the scan list; it does not delete music.

Choose folders you know contain music. Avoid Windows and system folders. Keep drives connected throughout the job and prevent the computer from sleeping during a long scan.

The cleaner reads all supported tracks in those locations, including music outside your existing playlists. Music with no confirmed playlist membership goes to SORT ME in the clean collection. It does not guess a genre from a filename.

This is the database that holds your existing SSD playlist names, order and track memberships.

Select Choose beside SSD playlist reference. On your music SSD, open Engine Library, then Database2, and select m.db. A typical example is E:\Engine Library\Database2\m.db. Your SSD may have a different drive letter or library location.

Choose the reference from the SSD whose playlists you want to keep. Do not choose the destination folder, an audio file or an unrelated database. Keep the original Engine Library and music in place until you have tested the new collection.

If m.db is missing or several libraries exist, use the one associated with the intended SSD collection. Do not create or rename a file to m.db. If the cleaner cannot recognise its structure, retain the library and capture the error through Advanced details. It cannot safely guess playlist membership.

Choose a new empty folder with room for a full copy of the retained music. The cleaner makes Tracks and Playlists folders, an XML playlist file and reports here.

Prefer a separate location outside your input music folders. If it is inside a scanned drive, it is excluded from discovery. It must not equal a source root or contain source tracks. Unrelated destination contents are rejected.

Creating the collection copies and checks tracks. It does not move your originals. A resumed copy must match the original plan; changed sources or conflicting files can stop it. Do not manually add files to a partially completed clean folder.

FFmpeg and FFprobe are two audio-checking programs the cleaner uses to read and test music. They are not your music folder or playlist reference.

If you already have them, select their bin folder beside FFmpeg tools folder. That folder must contain both ffmpeg.exe and ffprobe.exe from the same compatible build.

If you do not have them, leave the field empty. On Windows, the first scan can download and check a pinned vendor package when the tools are not already available. This needs internet and about 1 GB of temporary free space. The current package is approximately 110 MB.

The download comes from a third-party vendor. No music is uploaded by this cleaner. An interrupted download can pause the job; keep the error details rather than repeatedly retrying without checking the cause.

Optional audio-fingerprint suggestions need a compatible full FFmpeg build. They are not available in every build. Basic file and audio checks still work without that optional feature.

Select Scan / Resume after choosing your locations and SSD reference. Close Engine DJ when prompted.

The cleaner checks tracks in a background worker and remembers completed checks. Pause / Cancel asks the active job to stop. Wait for it to finish stopping before disconnecting a drive or closing the app. Scan / Resume rechecks the locations and can reuse unchanged analysis.

A stalled file or disconnected drive may pause work. A timeout does not prove the file is corrupt. Reconnect the same drive, check the path and read Advanced details before resuming. Do not start multiple cleaner sessions.

In Scan review, check missing playlist entries and problem files. They are recorded and excluded from the clean output; a completed copy can therefore be incomplete. Resolve important omissions before using it as your main collection. A healthy decoding result does not certify audible quality or the correct mix.

Identical healthy files, and certain exactly matching decoded recordings, can be grouped automatically.

Possible duplicates need your review. Choose a group, then Show paths / compare. Listen to every listed file in your own player. Confirm same recording only when all are the same track, recording and mix. The cleaner does not include an audition player yet.

Similar titles, fingerprints and high bitrate do not prove a match or genuine sound quality. Radio edits, extended mixes, remasters and different versions should remain separate unless you establish they are equivalent. Duration differences over 0.5 seconds are blocked in this test version.

For confirmed equivalents, the cleaner prefers lossless-labelled files, then measured bitrate, and points the clean playlists to the retained copy. It cannot certify that a lossless or high-bitrate file was not upscaled from a worse source.

Up to 1,000 candidate groups are displayed at a time. Confirming groups can expose further entries. Candidate discovery is limited and may miss duplicates.

Select Create clean collection after reviewing the scan. Read the confirmation: missing entries and problem files will be excluded and reported.

Keep the complete new folder together. Tracks holds the music. Playlists contains M3U8 lists with relative paths. rekordbox.xml provides another playlist import option. Reports describe the scan and copy. The cleaner checks copied bytes against their sources.

Test the generated playlists in a disposable fresh DJ library first. Use M3U8 where your software supports it, or test its rekordbox XML import route. Exact import steps depend on the app and version; acceptance is still unverified. Do not erase your working Engine collection before a successful test.

Check playlist names, hierarchy, order, track counts and playback, including any missing-entry report. Old cues, loops and beatgrids are not preserved by this fresh-start workflow.

Use Engine Sync Manager separately to export a tested fresh master to a performance SSD, then test it on your decks. This cleaner does not maintain PC/SSD synchronisation. Copy the whole collection to retain relative M3U8 paths. Absolute XML paths must be regenerated if the collection moves.

Quarantine originals is optional. Use it only after you have imported the new collection, checked its playlists and tested playback. Keep a separate backup.

It renames ALL verified healthy scanned originals, including the retained source copies and tracks on the reference SSD. It is not limited to duplicate losers. Existing DJ libraries pointing to those original paths will stop working.

Quarantine keeps recovery information. It does not permanently delete music or reclaim disk space. Problem files stay untouched. The separate clean collection remains available.

To reverse it, keep the clean folder and recovery files intact, reconnect the original drives at their original paths, choose the same clean folder and select Restore originals. A missing drive or conflicting path can stop recovery. Inspect Advanced details and preserve the recovery files before trying again.

Do not manually delete quarantined files or recovery records during testing. No permanent-delete control exists in this version.

If the app fails before its window opens, use the existing Startup-diagnostic.cmd in your R3 test package and retain its startup log. This interface preparation does not replace that executable.

If a job pauses, note what you were doing, the affected location and the message. Advanced details shows the latest error when one is available and tells you where the local reports live. A stop during copying or quarantine can leave partial work; do not assume nothing changed.

Reports and the scan index are stored locally under HattonMusicCleaner in your application-data folder. Reports can contain private filenames and paths. Review them before sharing. This cleaner does not upload audio. Downloading missing tools still makes a request to the vendor.

Current limits: no automatic genre assignment, no ongoing two-drive sync, no cue/beatgrid preservation, no permanent deletion, no in-app audition, and no confirmed compatibility with every Engine database or DJ app. Windows driver faults can still require a reconnect or restart. Preserve originals until your exact collection passes testing.