Polyend Tracker+

Polyend’s hardware tracker continues to evolve and improve.

Five years ago, you would have been forgiven for scoffing at the idea of a hardware tracker. And yet here we are, amid what looks like a hardware tracker revolution. As I finished the Dirtywave M8 review (see SOS September 2024), Polyend’s Tracker+ landed on the doormat. Less than a year before, I reviewed the Polyend Tracker Mini, which improved upon the original Tracker released in 2020. It is fair to say that trackers are officially popular again.

Polyend could be credited with igniting the current explosion. The Tracker+ is the latest revision of their initial desktop tracker device. Improvements include support for stereo samples, eight more tracks (bringing the total to 16), six new synthesizers, audio over USB and extra memory.

The Tracker Mini, Polyend’s smaller, more portable version, recently had a version 2.0 software update to align it with the Tracker+. So, if you enjoy the Tracker experience, you can have a Tracker+ in the studio and a Mini for travel and easily swap projects between them. Sadly, the original Tracker does not have the CPU or RAM capable of offering these new features, so you’ll have to upgrade to take full advantage.

Trackwhatnow?

If you need a tracking primer, refer to my review of the original Polyend Tracker from SOS November 2021. In short, trackers are sample‑based sequencers. The sequencing is a different paradigm from the MIDI piano rolls we’ve become accustomed to in modern DAWs. Tracks scroll downwards and resemble a spreadsheet where each cell is populated by a note which can play one of up to 48 different ‘instruments’ and up to two ‘FX’. An instrument is usually a sample, but the Tracker+ has added three synthesizer slots, which can each load one of five different synth types. Rather than covering much of the same ground as the original Tracker review, I will focus on what the Tracker+ offers over the original.

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