Four synth engines, drum synthesis, stereo samples, a beefed up sequencer and USB audio get the Polyend Tracker+ right on track.
Polyend Tracker+
One of the more unusual grooveboxes on the market is Polyend’s Tracker, which pairs samples with a non-standard tracker workflow. Now for Superbooth24 the Polish company has announced Tracker+, a new version of the device with all sorts of improvements, including synthesizer and drum synthesis engines.
Polyend Tracker+ Synthesizers
As with the recently announced Play+, the new Tracker+ includes four synth engines. They appear to be the same ones from the Play+:
- ACD: a single-oscillator monophonic analogue synth in a TB-303 vein.
- FAT: a Minimoog-like synth engine with three virtual analogue oscillators plus drift and detune controls.
- VAP (Virtual Analog Polysynth): a dual-oscillator VA with a modulation matrix.
- WTFM: A two-operator FM synth engine with wavetable-based oscillators and a feedback system.
Editing for the new synthesizers is handled via the dedicated synth editor on the grid. There are also six multi-macros, which you can sequence or control in real time.
Polyend Tracker+ Drum Synthesis
Also new to Tracker+ is PERC, a drum synthesis-based drum machine. The name recalls the company’s original Perc robot drum beaters. However, it’s all digital, with tweakable controls for each parameter. Interestingly, although PERC is five-voice polyphonic and loads into a synthesizer engine slot, it only steals one total Tracker+ voice.
Stereo Sampling
Stereo sampling is all the groovebox rage these days. As with the Play+ (and Elektron Digitakt II too), Tracker+ gets stereo sampling. You can sample via stereo (or mono) via the TRS audio input. Resampling of the internal instruments can also happen in stereo.
Accordingly, Polyend has blessed the new Tracker with more sampling time. There are now around eleven minutes of mono or five minutes of stereo sampling.
Polyend Tracker+ Expanded Sequencer
With all of these new instruments and sampling possibilities, it makes sense that Polyend would expand the Tracker+ sequencer. It now has double the original with 16 tracks total. The first eight lanes are universal and can handle stereo sampling, MIDI or Synth engines. The latter eight are dedicated to MIDI and Synths.
USB Audio and Hardware
As with the Play+, the new Tracker also gets 14 tracks of USB audio. That’s one master track, eight stereo sample tracks, one track per Synth engine, and delay and reverb effect sends to open in your DAW. You can also use the USB for computer file transfer without having to remove the SD card.
Polyend has also improved the hardware on the inside and out, promising faster processing as well as “new soft-touch mechanical buttons and a refined jog wheel”.
Finally, after the Tracker Mini 2.0 firmware update, which will happen in summer 2024 (spoiler alert), projects will be cross-compatible between the two devices.
Price and Availability
Polyend Tracker+ is available now from Thomann. There doesn’t seem to be an upgrade option for original Tracker owners.
More Information
Image Sources:
- Superbooth24 Sponsors: GEARNEWS
- Edit the synths on the Polyend Tracker+ grid.: Polyend
- Polyend Tracker+ now includes USB audio and file transfer.: Polyend
- polyend-tracker-plus-widget: Thomann
