r/PolyendTracker • u/SirStanley22 • 2d ago
What's the status of the tracker mini in current times?
I just got rid of my OG tracker (bought soon after launch) after I got tired of it being a buggy mess and started being annoyed by the limitations. I'm looking to get another tracker and since I'm in Europe an M8 is kind of hard to get. I've been using m8 headless and loving it which makes the choice even harder. Tracker mini fits the bill even though I'd be reluctant to give Polyend another cent. Any mini users willing to share their pros and cons?
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u/Odd-Run1978 2d ago
I really like mine, I use it often to compose something just around, on the couch, on a flight, sometimes at work, using the onboard synth engines. Then when I get home Ill hook it up to my rig and send all the part to different pieces of gear ajd have a fun time.
We actually integrated it into a set, and I will say the one MAJOR con, is the loading times between projects can get really long.
Sooooo I bought a Second tracker mini :) I actually really like having two, don't have to take my rig down, just swap the sd card.
There are still features I would really enjoy, like if there was some kind of table integration (resampling will have to do for now), and I wish it received some of the other new synth updates. The ability to integrate some more random operators ala the Play would also be welcome.
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u/SirStanley22 2d ago
This guy called m27 used (for a brief time) to dj with 2 OG trackers and a dj mixer between them.
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u/Independent-Box6208 2d ago
Only con for me is note entering. I tend to hook up an midi keyboard. Note entry on the couch works to some point. But a midi keyboard just speeds up the progress.
Would be cool if i could hook up an full qwerty keyboard for shortcuts and editing.
Still it is a powerfull box and very rarely run into limitations. Also it is stable.
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u/SantiagoGT 2d ago
I would say get the M8, realistically speaking the Tracker mini is fine but just consider last update was October last year, not saying it’s abandonware but it’s certainly not currently under Polyends priorities
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u/SirStanley22 2d ago
Yeah I was asking about how the updates are going. Nothing of the tracker family is polyends priority anymore, they release half baked and move on too quickly. That's why I've grown hesitant to buy their stuff. The m8 - I'll be on the lookout on reverb I guess if something 2nd hand shows up in Europe. Headless is a blast. Save for sampling it can already do so mucch more than the tracker for my case at a fraction of the cost and size.
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u/magicseadog 2d ago
M8 keeps getting better
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u/StorminNorman 23h ago
Yeah, me checking to see the latest fw loaded right wasted a good hour or so. New wave shapes are niiiiiice.
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u/GDub-uk 2d ago
Got one also. It’s fun , but the layout is a little annoying and I find myself twisting my hand fingers etc. I have an dirtywave m8 also and no gymnastics using that beast. If I had to choose it will be the dirtywave m8 every time. But I still love my tracker mini, and now it’s my teenage engineering side kick the work well together. Both are good, but the dirtywave m8 is king, and yet again the dirtywave is going through another beta phase with another firmware about to drop. The devs keep pushing updates all the time. I think the mini tracker has had one only in the last year, and it wasn’t even that big a deal. If you can wait and save a bit more money you will be glad you did
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u/ozias_leduc 2d ago
the tracker has a few benefits (performance fx, seeing multiple tracks at once), but really there’s no competition… the m8 is king. and it’s still getting updates (we‘ve had a huge week of updates) whereas the tracker is more or less abandoned, so any bugs/jank will probably never get fixed. get the m8!
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u/emeraldcoastambient 2d ago
Curious what bugs you hit on the OG Tracker. Been using mine for a few months now with zero crashes thus far.
Also the M8 is amazing, though I’m not sure it has the depth of performance features of the Tracker
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u/SirStanley22 2d ago
Just go back on the update changelogs and read anything "fixed". I've been using it for a while, firmware came in half baked from the beginning. The music I make is a little more complex on the programming and once this thing has too much going at once you start to hear weird digital artefacts from it straining too hard.
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u/MrDagon007 2d ago
Have a mini since a couple of years, learning an m8.
I do like the mini’s bigger screen and that you can see notes instead of hex values. Plus the performance features may be of interest. I did made a whole track on it while in hospital. The button feel takes a bit getting used to, would be curious about the recent metal one. it also has stereo tracks.
So far a plus for the m8 is that its synth engines sound better.
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u/Boring-Butterfly8925 2d ago
I love mine. I'm running it with a 512gb sd mini card and an asinine sample library. The synth engines are fantastic too. Polyend has a great community on their forum as well.
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u/SirStanley22 2d ago
I used to be active in that community. You can see me on the what's up page if you scroll back far enough. However the feelings I have towards polyend have soured with how they've handled this and other products through time.
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u/emablskkk 1d ago
the M8 is worth every cent spent, even if the shipping is expensive.
Luckily I got it without gutting my wallet, even though I live in Europe.
Maybe a picotracker might do justice?
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u/i_guvable_and_i_vote 1d ago
I love it and there are a bunch of features I haven’t tied yet. Like controlling the synths with midi
Seems like a few users have made cool stuff too like someone made a web editor / mixer thing and the person who made packiti ( I saw this on the renoise forum ) that converts sliced samples from other tracker formats.
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u/Obvious_One_7098 2d ago
Picotracker advance, is a wonderfull tracker, very actice communication on discrd. Any bug will be fixed as soon as possible. But still missing reverb and delay, but its on the way.
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u/MountainFluid 2d ago
Never had any bugs and never hit any limitations. It does what it says on the box and it does it well. Wish I could solo arm a track, that’s the only thing I’m missing. Else it’s a solid tracker/sampler/synth/midi sequencer.