Polyend Tracker+ Review: Powerful but Niche

Polyend’s Tracker+ is a important update to its almighty (if somewhat anachronistic) sample-based groovebox, the Tracker. What made the Tracker truthful unique, and besides confounding, was that it was a tracker (small t), but successful hardware form. Trackers were an aboriginal signifier of music-making bundle that emerged successful the precocious ’80s. They were initially utilized chiefly for video crippled euphony but yet recovered favour with a definite strain of physics musicians, astir famously Aphex Twin.

They’re precise overmuch a merchandise of their clip though, designed to enactment astir the limitations of precocious 20th period idiosyncratic computers similar the Amiga. The caller $799 Tracker+ has evolved to instrumentality vantage of modern technology, but its interface stays existent to its forebears. The champion mode to picture a tracker is that it’s similar composing successful Excel. They’re vertically scrolling, spreadsheet-like collections of letters and numbers that tin easy scare disconnected a newcomer. But persistence volition uncover a shocking magnitude of flexibility.

The Basics

Let’s get each the specs worldly retired of the mode first. The Polyend Tracker+ is simply a 16-track groovebox. Eight of those tracks tin enactment stereo samples, with assorted methods of playback, and the different 8 tracks tin either power outer devices via MIDI oregon 1 of the 5 built-in virtual synths. Samples tin beryllium elemental one-shots oregon loops; you tin portion up loops, oregon adjacent load them into granular and wavetable engines for sample-based synthesis.

All of the tracks are monophonic. So playing a chord volition devour up aggregate tracks unless you’re utilizing a illustration of a chord. But tracks aren’t dedicated to immoderate circumstantial instrumentality so, you tin harvester kicks and snares connected way 1 and possibly compression your bass successful betwixt hi-hats connected way two.

The tracks themselves tin beryllium up to 128 steps, and each measurement contains instrumentality and enactment data, on with 2 slots for FX. The “FX” successful this lawsuit aren’t chorus oregon reverb but things similar chance, micro timing, and rolls. These 2 effects slots are the cardinal to making your euphony not dependable similar it was written successful a spreadsheet.

In summation to the accrued illustration memory, virtual synths, and stereo sampling, the different large upgrade from the archetypal Tracker is enactment for audio implicit USB. This means you tin link the Tracker+ to your machine and get 14 stereo audio tracks retired consecutive into your integer audio workstation (DAW). This makes it casual to enactment the last touches connected an statement you’ve created connected the Tracker+.

In Use

Polyend astir nailed the hardware with the archetypal Tracker, if you inquire me. The Tracker+ introduces immoderate insignificant tweaks, but it’s mostly the same. It’s lighter and easier to flip successful a container but feels coagulated enough. The buttons are somewhat clicky but person a caller soft-touch finish. The ample encoder has a spot much resistance, and the surface is brighter.

The grid of 48 pads is the aforesaid and remains, astatine best, usable. If you program to usage the built-in synths, I urge connecting a MIDI keyboard. The pads are tiny, not velocity-sensitive, and don’t consciousness peculiarly earthy to play. The prime of the hardware present is important since the interface tin consciousness a spot similar doing bureau work. But the consciousness of the keys and the absorption of the click instrumentality are each incredibly satisfying.

Polyend enactment a batch of thought into the interface to support things from getting excessively tedious. There are shortcuts for rapidly filling successful full tracks with data. For instance, you tin rapidly laic down a four-on-the-floor footwear signifier with conscionable a fewer fastener presses, make a melody quantized to a circumstantial scale, oregon randomly tweak the velocity connected a hi-hat to springiness it a much earthy feel.