Ahead of the 2023 NAMM Show, Polyend has announced the Polyend Tracker Mini, a portable production workstation that builds on the success of their original Tracker.
Polyend says that the Tracker Mini is smaller, lighter, and more powerful than its predecessor. New features include stereo sample playback, audio over USB, a high-quality onboard microphone, and an onboard battery. The Mini also features lower latency and a faster CPU.
Polyend says that they listened to feedback from users of the original Tracker and incorporated popular feature requests into the Mini, including upgraded headroom, easier project management, and a refined signal path for more transparent audio playback.
“The Polyend Tracker Mini is the portable instrument that I’ve been dreaming of for years,” says Polyend CEO Piotr Raczynski. “I’ve been using trackers since I was eleven, and I’ve always thought the interface was perfect as a travel companion. Before the original tracker was created, we started developing the platform as a portable battery-powered unit. Part delays and sourcing issues made us switch gears, so we built the original tracker in desktop format. The original Tracker was received so well that we extended development time and upgraded the Mini. Now we have a portable tracker that is more powerful, with a lot of room for us to continue to develop the tracker and add new features well into the future.”
Pricing and Availability:
The Polyend Tracker Mini is available for pre-order now, priced at $699/€699 , with orders shipping July 12, 2023.
The layout is a disaster but the feature set is intriguing. Seems weird to market it as a portable version of the tracker rather than a successor
Yeah totally
This should have been Tracker Mk2
They could have kept the interface and design of the Mk1 – which is really very good
and then just added the new features
Maybe I’m wrong but I don’t think most Tracker owners are going to be bothered getting this
I certainly won’t
Love the video. Looks remarkably similar to the Sonicware SmplTrek, which isn’t a knock
Very interesting, it does look like Sonicware SmplTrek.
Wonder if this means there will be also an updated full size tracker with battery & built in mic in the near future.
Jacks on the bottom is an odd choice to me but love more portable music-making devices being available.
Yea I don’t like that as I usually play with this things in bed and rest them on my stomach.
I would say terrible choice
Despends on your setup
Priced at the original Tracker price. Matter a fact, the Tracker was $599 when it launched. Prices are getting wiley right now. Gonna miss that knob though. It was a good knob.
fascinating, in part because I always felt like the original was perfectly portable given weight/size and it’s ability to be powered from a portable (external) battery/powerpack type device. I suppose this is truly “handheld” rather than portable, which clearly explains the jacks on the bottom. it’s a delight that they are exploring this and prioritizing a new approach. polyend really does rock.
that said, I am… *absolutely baffled* by the choice of master volume as the right-thumb positioned control. truly bizarre.
As is a button in the middle of the joypad- no rolling from one side to another? The whole layout looks very odd to me, a lot of wasted paste yet cramped in the middle. maybe it makes more sense in use…
I love my tracker and was a bit disappointed when I first read this news as was concerned the og tracker will be a bit redundant. The project management is a big bear for me and stereo samples/better audio would be a bonus. But without using it to check for ui and ease of use and also screen size I think I’m happy staying with tracker for longer as I’m quite used to it and find it quick to work on. I think if I didn’t have it and was new to it I would get the mini as always looking to shrink my gear so I can fit more on the desk and like the option of portability. But I have a po33 to fill my travel music making needs. Just hope they continue to update the main tracker and don’t just focus on this one!
How many audio tracks over USB, just stereo or all 8 tracks? Cannot find any detail on website
That is the most UN helpful video I can imagine! 😛
The thing with companies run by artists and musicians is they sometimes enjoy making art and music. Unhelpful, perhaps, but joyful nonetheless.
Wish they had added more tracks (and maybe polyphony) to the existing Tracker instead of releasing a bunch of color variations and now miniaturizing – it was already plenty portable IMO, and they really put the extra real estate to good use with the scroll knob and pads for playing notes on the original. I blame Apple for this unfortunate trend of form and minimalism over usability and function 🙁
Not happy. OG Tracker still has many bugs (on their Github you can see > 600 open issues).
Stereo sample playback and longer samples are nice but you still have only 128steps patterns and no “waveform playback” in Song mode, so it is kinda limited in comparison with SampleTrek in this area.
If the firmware updates are compatible with both, there is no reason for me to have such a bitter taste in my mouth. But given the history of the polyend, I’m not so sure I can count on it.
I honestly have a love/hate relationship with my tracker.
As far as portable devices are concerned, I find the M8 and especially the op-z more entertaining… I use Tracker as a lo-fi alternative to a DAW.
This is typical of Polyend, you just have to get burned to and vote with your wallet in order for companies like this to take responsibility. I’m still bitter about the seq, which is a beautifully designed product (hardware wise) and had so much potential. Additionally, it was their most expensive product at $1200. Support just abruptly stopped. They moved on to their new product and stopped releasing firmware updates altogether. This thing has 256 buttons, an astronomical amount of possibilities. Look at what the deluge/push/force does with a fraction of those buttons, yet still capable of much more.
What features did they promise you on the seq and not deliver?
Reading is hard..
Comprehension is even harder, as your comment demonstrates.
I don’t wanna reply what others have already said.
You can read many good complains here: https://gearspace.com/board/electronic-music-instruments-and-electronic-music-production/1260951-sequencer-polyend-seq-how-3.html.
(OP-Z is still one of the best and most reliable sequencers I’ve had in my hands.)
I would love to see something like that this , that had the features the first Cubase had on the Atari and PC. Midi only arranegement page,key edit , drum page etc
beautiful design, really fun video.
instant buy
I have an OG tracker, and I dig it well enough. What I’ve wished for the most they didn’t address in this model, which is having polyphony. The extra memory and such is fine, as is the portability. The extra headroom nonsense seems like marketing. I think the M8 sounds like a better option in this market, hard as it is to get.
I give polyend 4 stars. They come there one things and very user friendly and there own workflow. Not copy’s from other brands. It’s there also a perform mode on it, just like the other one? Or can it do with a 48 button midi controller? I was thinking of a used og version.
the sheer awesomeness and utterly classic nature of the Dirtywave M8 means that there will be a ton of clones and/or alternatives on the same design pretty soon
I just found this. If they deliver, then all my complains are kinda unfair 🙂
https://backstage.polyend.com/t/the-tracker-is-not-dead-1-7-is-coming-soon/2291
Redesigned audio path (no more clicks and more headroom)
redesigned midi path (increased clock, stability with jitter)
improved file mgmt
small UI improvements
new saturation master effect
preview volume control
sample recording metronome
zero crossing indicator
new function: add empty slot
new view: revolver view
improved reverb and delay algorithms
lots and lots of minor bug fixes and improvements