M8 Tracker companion polysynth

The Lounge Other Gear
1

For me, the M8 is unique in the way I can get lost in hours-long focus playing with samples and sounds, and ending up with actual songs.

I would like a companion poly synth that is similarly engaging. It should be small, be very flexible in its sound design, sound amazing, and play nice with the M8.

Battery powered preferred but not a dealbreaker. Some velocity or pressure-sensitive input would be nice, as would some kind of basic sequencer to remember melodic phrases.

Already tried and found wanting: OP-XY (not enough sound design), Ableton Move (ditto), 0-Coast (mono, no battery, but otherwise very good).

I know the iPad has some great synths but my mind wanders immediately when I use any of those.

Suggestions?

2

How about a Plinky? The Plinky+ that is due to be released soon can be powered from an internal battery.

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3

Wow. I’d heard of the Plinky but hadn’t paid it much attention. It looks like a solid candidate!

4

Hydrasynth is a pretty natural fit, in my opinion.

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5

I have a mm2 around somewhere that I thought would pair nicely with the m8… hav’t gotten around to pairing them though

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6

Seriously, Roland S-1 pairs really well with the M8, you can even use it as a 2-octave keyboard and controller. Sounds great, and flexible.

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Is the S-1 mostly operable by the knobs? I tried a P-6 and found it to be a bit cryptic in terms of UI.

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8

Yes, it’s the one Roland hasn’t managed to completely sabotaged.
They still managed to hide some les sused stuff like saving your pattern in one large menu, you can trust them for this, but it’s overall a lovely sounding portable synth that cost a hundred bucks second hand…
Sounds really great, and saw can be destructured in two ways, so that you alter some frequencies, so you are not completely stuck in the lovely SH-101 sound.
Even the sequencer is decent. And outputs MIDI.

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9

I love my little Roland JX-08. Sound may not be for everybody. Lot’s of 80’s style brasses, pianos, and pads that are a bit on the dirty/low-fi end. It’s like if you married a DX7 and a Juno 6 and let it play in the mud

No menu diving where sound design is concerned. Bitimbral, each sound assignable to a separate channel. Onboard FX. Also includes MIDI sequencer that will remember your slider & knob changes. Only thing is that since everything is miniaturized and not exactly high end, little nudges can change the sound in a big way. No official support for a librarian and backing up to computer is very rudimentary.

Runs on batteries or USB power.

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10

The Digitone (og or II) are both fairly small and can be powered from a power bank with a ripcord/birdcord - they’re both polyphonic and multi-timbral, so are great for sequencing from the M8, I generally find myself sampling into the M8 more than sequencing external gear.

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12

Highly recommend Ableton Move as a companion for M8 both as a polysynth and controller etc.

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13

I missed that you are in fact a contributor to the project :slight_smile:

14

If you have an iPad, best of both worlds is using the M8 together with any of their DAW’s. There is also heaps of great polysynths. The M8 will also be recognised as audio interface :slight_smile:

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15

Well, you would say that :wink:

16

I have the OG Digitone and love it, but it’s not particularly playable.

I too sample into the M8 more than sequencing from it. Or rather, I sequence, and then sample the loops.

So far the front runner is the Plinky. It looks like exactly the kind of thing I can get lost in, and the surface makes it look very playable indeed.

Also, it has some very nice sample features that should complement the m8.

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17

Just dug my Microfreak out of the drawer and it works very nicely with the M8.

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18

This. The pallet of sounds is amazing with the ios synths. For example; synthmaster. Automation also works. Via external synth on the M8, just go crazy with it and resample it. It just works!
Also drambo sequencer works great with the m8. No need for the expensive launchpad pro Mk3.

Furthermore, if you are also into sampling, buy the radio unit plugin. You can sample then from all kind of radio stations around the world. Finding that amazing sample. And just record it into the M8. That easy.

These 2 items is like a portable music studio on the go with everything you can do. Only missing some encoders which you can add with a midi controller,like the faserfox. Or a simple keybed with bluetooth. ( i use the korg nanokey studio ).

Freedom and saves lots of space on your desk!

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19

I do have an iPad but I just don’t get on with it for music.

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20

Update. I bought a Plinky (thanks @wawelt !). It has exactly the right amount of playability and depth for me. Plus it has TRS midi and audio for hooking up to the M8.

I ordered a MagSafe battery and a magnetic stick-on ring so I can attach the battery to the back, and a friend is printing me a case for it.

The Plinky+ also looks amazing, but I really like the size of the OG, and adding a USB C battery pack is no big deal.

Other things I looked at (some of which I already have).

  • Digitone 1. Amazing, but not playable in the way I want. I never really get absorbed in it. Rather, I preset surf and then come up with patterns from there.
  • Microfreak. On paper it looks ideal, with knob-per-function, but in use I find I just play presets, and then get annoyed when I have to tweak anything.
  • Ableton Move. Good, but limited sound design. I live the midi capture though. That’s such a killer feature when you’re just playing around.
  • OP-XY. Lovely unit, great connectivity, amazing sequencer, but bad synth sounds. Or rather, they’re not what I like, and tweaking is severely limited.

I also looked into using the M8 to sequence iPad synths, but the setup and the dangling cables are a pain. I like to do it sometimes, but I’ve found that I much prefer to use one device at a time, and have that device be all-absorbing. The Plinky looks like the winner!

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