Polyend Tracker

@Jonas

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I ordered two as of pre-order availability yesterday - initially one to Mexico, where Iā€™ll be now for a while, and one to the US in case there are problems getting one through Mexico customs. But as I thought more, thereā€™s no reason I canā€™t use two in parallel for 16 simultaneous tracks ā€¦

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Cool idea with used hotkeys in jump to instrument/volume/note/pan in pattern

Is it possible to create as a script?

Maybe I will be able to see when I get them in July, will still have to wait a bit :confused:

Will wait and see how this corona stuff pans out here before Iā€™ll get one. Definitively interested.

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I have confirmed with Polyend that it will export to Renoise. They also mentioned that the June ship date is still a strong chance as most things have been sourced and obtained for production.

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i started mine yesterday

the samples for the contest are quite inspiring i guess im going to make 2 songs one with renoise and the other with bitwig to see which one sticks more <3

hope you enter as well

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Since its a tracker, maybe it can be used like ableton push for renoise?

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This is great, I love the fill function, granular and wavetable options, I wish Renoise had this. Workflow also seems to be pretty nice. Other than that it looks quite limited compared to Renoise, but hopefully new firmwares will make it more powerful (like they did for example Deluge). But even in current state it could be used as a fun sketchpad, especially with and option to export to Renoise.

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Has anyone got their hands on one yet?

I am really torn with this one. On one hand its obvious why this is very appealing as a renoiser. On the other hand I am not sure if this is also its downfall, since I am looking for a new spark of inspiration or a unique workflow with a new piece of gear. This is like a handheld, limited Renoise. So why would I use it if I have the real thing on my computer already?

For example, some have called the deluge something like almost a handheld Ableton. That would be an actual change of pace for me.

Still, the Polyend Tracker looks like home immediately.

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cool, but renoise on a laptop wins.

I have one for a while now, havenā€™t had that much time (yet) to create standalone tracks, more or less use it as a soundsource to bounce ideas into renoise for moar power :wink: . You canā€™t really compare it to Renoise feature wise imo, but I really like how the hardware gels with the software, also the fill/pattern command options are very nice, sort of like a advanced edit on steroids. Really, you need to check the unit out yourself to see if you can fit it in your workflow.

Development is pretty active, pooping out a new firmware every week that is easy to install, not only bugfixes but also adding functionality (note that the new firmware often also introduces new bugs). Still I feel some of these additions should have been there from the beginning. Like the hardware was shipped before the software was completely finished. You use the word sketchpad and that is how Iā€™m using it right now and it is pretty fun, especially all the randomization options in the pattern editor.

At first I wanted to use it for pimping unfinished mods from the old protracker days, but the soundquality is pretty shit on the ones Iā€™ve tried. Donā€™t expect your mods to sound the same as on the Amiga from the go. Definitely cool that it opens .mods and exports to a format that Renoise can import so cross tracking is possible.

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Hello. Iā€™ve had one for a few weeks. What youā€™ve posted is exactly an issue that anyone who uses trackers full-time as a DAW should be aware of. I also had your same feeling before I got mine, and I found out that this feeling increased strongly after spending hours with the PE Tracker. The time I put into making something in the PE Tracker does not sound any different than what I can make in less time with my other options, and in fact often has limitations in usability and musical output not found in my other options available, or other options that could be purchased over the PE Tracker.

The firmware/software in the box is very limited, which I am guessing is because the hardware strength is limited. The workflow is going to be much, much slower than what youā€™re used to if you use Renoise, besides coming with many limitations. It can generally only do one thing at a time, and you have to work within the stop-go environment. It has some cool features, and I think the way they designed the physical box is extremely intuitive and easy to use, but the software slows things down.

Like Jonas mentioned, the box feels rushed, like the software wasnā€™t really ready for shipping. I am getting bugs, freezes, or crashes almost every time I use it, but thankfully have not lost any work (yet). All I can do is reset every time and hope for the best. This should not be happening in a brand-new device! In my opinion, the software itself is decent enough for freeware but not worth the $600 they are asking, and greatly begs the question of why should we pay $600 for something that might crash when in the middle of using. I find it lags sometimes to the point where I think itā€™s frozen, but then it suddenly moves again. I have a feeling it has something to do with the SD cards they give, too, but who knows. It shouldnā€™t be doing this at launch, yet their firmware updates releases new bugs into the system while correcting old bugs. Iā€™ve used other machines that I think are worth the full price at launch, and this one is not one of them. I have talked to others who have only had some mild bugs, or no bugs, so it seems like a gamble how the machine is going to act for some users.

What should be understood by anyone interested in the PE Tracker if comparing it to any other hardware devices:
Everyone should be aware this is not Renoise in a box, but it is its own limited style of tracking software with a workflow that will not equal the speed of using any current (and may be past) desktop tracking software. Itā€™s not Buzz, Renoise, or OpenMPT. Itā€™s also presented more old school than new school, if that makes sense.
It is not going to be a ā€œturn on and immediately start making beatsā€ type of machine; the tracker workflow is still pervasive. There is no physical sequencer with buttons you can press and fill in real-time. This is not a hardware groove box, itā€™s a tracker with hardware that mimics how you use a tracker with a typing keyboard, while giving you a few non-keyboard features. Software makes up the majority of your experience, not its hardware.

There is only one knob, which I think explains a lot about how many functions you can expect to control at one time. Other than some effects and a few parameters, there is not much you can adjust on the fly playing it live. Itā€™s not a drum machine, a groove box, an MPC Live, a Deluge, or even a Teenage Engineering PO-33. There is currently no software option to add swing or shuffle with the knob, so you have to go old school and type it into to the tempo like we did in the past. The little lighted pads are tiny and have no tactile feedback or movement when you touch them, so if you have large hands or expect your keys to move when you play something, be aware of this.
The screen is required for 100% of everything in this machine and there are only a few areas where there is any hardware indication of what is happening, so if you think you can get this box to get away from the monitor after a day of work then you should also be aware of this, especially because the screen is smaller.
Also, the mechanical function keys are not backlit, meaning unless you have 100% muscle memory of each key and its functions, you canā€™t sit in a dark room and play around with this.
Itā€™s a tracker software, but in a portable box that looks like an iPad. Itā€™s not an x0x box, grid controller, drum pad, or piano workstation. If youā€™re looking for something more ā€œhands onā€ and immediate for music creation, look at any other machine than this. You will be greatly disappointed if you expect anything more than a typical tracker experience out of this, despite its fancy looking box. If that does not appeal to you, then I strongly recommend looking elsewhere for a new machine.

If anyone reading this understands the above facts and how it relates to their personal desired workflow with hardware, then they can think about how the PE Tracker would be useful in their studio.

My own opinion is that the experience is limited in ways that reflect its own hardware limitations. I am fine with limited hardware because it usually tends to inspire creativity, but for some reason I just donā€™t like it in this machine. I like its radio, I like its wavetable and granular synth options, and I like its performance mode. I donā€™t like tracking with it, which means the box loses most of its value for me. Because it really is just a tracker, I donā€™t feel like Iā€™ve been given a new world of workflow and options.

I think it would appeal to people who would use as sequencer for other hardware, since it gives the tracking workflow for things that donā€™t have it. The lack of swing/shuffle without writing it would be annoying though. Itā€™s great for generative music and making weird sounds out of samples, but I donā€™t think great enough to warrant the price. If generative options are not new for you (I am still a Buzz user, so peer control is old hat), you wonā€™t see anything unique here. As far as controller hardware with those options, it could be very interesting for those who havenā€™t tried it.

Iā€™ve seen online how people whoā€™ve never used trackers before are really enjoying the machine, so my complaints are my own. I have no doubt many users would love this machine, but I know others wonā€™t find it anything special. I am just trying to warn some readers that if you want anything other than a tracker experience that this machine might not be for you.

Repeating with my own feelings, I think the PE Tracker is a hardware novelty that does not give me anything new in a tracker experience, instead making it less functional and more time-consuming than what Iā€™ve become accustomed to over the years. It feels less ā€œplayableā€ to me than I was hoping for in a musical hardware device, which is where I lose interest in it. It causes me to get lost into editing music and all these things that I know would go much faster and easier on a large screen and full-size typing keyboard, along with a mouse to click around and draw envelopes and edit, keyboard shortcuts, and so on. As much as I love trackers, this machine makes me feel like I would rather get the top-quality experience I am used to than submitting to its lower-quality offerings.

Thereā€™s been some mention of possibly using a USB typing keyboard with it in the future, which just makes me think ā€œthen why not use your notebook to make music instead?ā€ If you want a portable tracking experience with more functionality, a 10-inch Asus EEE PC netbook sells on Ebay for about $50-60. I used one for over a year with Renoise 2.8, and I would do it again if I had to choose between the Polyend and the netbook.

My verdict is itā€™s an interesting machine with a lot of good ideas, but it doesnā€™t match the experience of other tracking options, and it limitations arenā€™t charming to me like other things Iā€™ve used that inspired creativity though those limitations. $600 is a lot for a device where I believe its true functionality and abilities wonā€™t be known until probably 2021 after several firmware updates and user requests. It feels incomplete at the moment.

If youā€™re buying this expecting it to be as fast and playable as any other hardware sampler out there, you should realize its not that device and it canā€™t be used that way. Unless you just want to use the Fill function and let it randomly write loops for you, itā€™s still going to be tracker process to write a song, as different as that is from something like quickly pressing the buttons a hardware sequencer and having a beat going within seconds. For $100 more than the PE Tracker, an MPC One gives a variety of ways to sequence, play, record, and write music without a DAW in sight, with plenty of FX, soft synths, chords and scales at the touch of a button, audio tracks, and more to use. You wonā€™t have to render chords into a sample to use them, like in the PE Tracker.

If you have any music stores near you, I recommend trying it out before you throw money at it. This is basic advice for many things, but if youā€™ve got doubts about the PE Trackerā€™s usefulness for you, or how it compares to other devices, then I think that is something very important to consider. I had this same question in mind before I got mine, but I was unable to try it before buying it. Now I know.

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Thank you for the elaborate answer, that was a good read. Also you touched many points i thought about as well and confirmed my doubts. That was helpful!

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to be honest, it is not very clear why you bought this device at all if you have so much skepticism?

on akai mpс one it is much more difficult to do something like that. with all its capabilities, you are much more fighting with the interface than doing creativity

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Thank you so much for this. I am still very very much in my Renoise infancy. I was thinking the PE would strip back all the functions of Renoise, which i am finding overwhelming. I have the MPC one, and finding it has so many options.
My thinking is that the PE is limited to inspire creativity and give me a little stronger understanding of tracker life without being overwhelmed. then loading into Renoise to expand and learn the deeper side of the software.
Still kind of holding out for Thomas to release the NerdSeq Protable. Last i asked he is still hoping for end of the year/ early next year

Exactly why im thinking of swapping out the ONE for the PE

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The thing about software trackers (specifically Renoise for me) is that they have ruined me for any other music-making environment. Iā€™ve tried all samplers, groove boxes and workstations (soft and hardware), and even though some of them are quite fun, theyā€™re just not trackers.

Although Renoise is brilliant, Iā€™ve just become uninspired over the past several years with making tunes on a laptop. I bought a Deluge, and even though itā€™s a friggen power house and I love it death, it ainā€™t a tracker. So when PE announced Tracker I thought it would be my game changerā€” Iā€™d finally be able to track without a laptop. But then I read the specs and was super disappointed. Amongst the other things that Sense/Net has mentioned, it really feels like PE missed an opportunity to distinguish itself from what has come before. For me, the form factor is not that much different than a laptop to begin with. It has a screen with pads beneath it, and the pads seem to be the same size as qwerty keys. They should have made the pads velocity sensitive, or better yet, MPE.

Regardless, it is fantastic to see hardware trackers hitting the market. Excited to see how they evolve. Iā€™m pretty much sold on M8, and Nerdseq Portable looks great too. The thing that separates these two over PEā€™s is that it is a completely different form factorā€” hand held. That in and of itself makes it feel nothing like a laptop. Plus, tables :slight_smile: