Polyend let us know that they’ve released new firmware for their Tracker workstation.
Here’s what’s new in Tracker firmware v1.2.0:
- Improved Master section:
- two new pages for controlling track volumes and send and dry mix volumes as well, – send fx can be now configured to be pre-fader or post-fader,
- all volume values are now presented and internally calculated in dB,
- enhanced master limiter with Subtle & Hard sonic settings available,
- Rebuild Song mode:
- you can now do new things without stopping the transport: continue a song that was looping on a pattern, and loop a pattern that was currently playing on the song. – on the Pattern editor screen, you can now also start and stop live recording without stopping the transport, – green mode is now available to make mistakes during live performance less likely. It highlights the currently playing song position, and to change tempo you need to press and hold the Tempo button,
- New sound sculpting possibilities:
- a new Overdrive effect is added to track FX and Instrument Parameters,
- a high fidelity modelling version with three flavors is available as an offline sample effect, – the
- Sample Editor now features a 3-band EQ,
- Better SD card support:
- folders with more than 100 files are now displayed (divided into subfolders),
- WAV samples with unsupported sample rates or bitrates are now automatically converted on load to 44.1kHz 16bit mono PCM samples,
- implemented Media Transfer Protocol support allows you to transfer files to your computer and back using the Tracker’s USB connection,
- Performance mode upgrades:
- now it always loops on the current pattern to avoid unpredictable results when tracks are switched,
- the transport bar shows custom Performance Icons to let you know the performance pattern is playing with your chosen effects, – ten custom pattern play modes added to remix your patterns while playing,
- green mode is now available to make mistakes during live performance less likely,
- Candy for vintage tracker fans:
- anti-aliasing can now be disabled to get the razor-sharp tone of classic trackers, – pattern steps can now be displayed in hexadecimal format starting from 00,
See the Polyend site for details.
Dammit, I sold mine. Would love to sample while the song is playing thought but they mentioned that this is not a function of a tracker. Thing is, this is a new hardware tracker so functionality can and should be updated for this new generation of advanced technology. Was weird to have to stop the song even to edit a sample so some of those workflow improvements would be great, would totally buy it again, just felt like not only was the programming a bit slow but expected with the tracker workflow, but a bunch of other things slowed it down as well. Maybe those have been improved and not mentioned. Definitely a fun way to make music if you have no tracker experience, nice little lap box with a usb battery.
> “vintage tracker fans”
so how many are there, actually? not many, i´d guess. these products are way too complicated imo.
It’s really not complicated and judging by the Facebook groups it’s sold an absolute stack. I do come from a tracker background but I don’t believe this requires any more learning that if you move to step sequencing on an Elektron machine coming from a DAW, for instance.
I love mine, so creative. And the ‘fill’ function is an inspiration creator. Want a machine generated melody or bass line in Dorian d#? Press a few buttons and you’ve created one ready to tweak.
Change is as good as a rest.
Hexadecimal format! I was really bummed to learn that it didn’t have this when I first learned about it. My interest in getting one is piqued again.