M8 Tracker

Sorry, didn’t see that. The font on your post must have been too small for my eyes

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is this a custom faceplate?

no, it’s the early beta version with an old logo and before the aluminium case, the input jack layout is also flipped, but otherwise very similar to the production unit.

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off topic but your current profile pic is awesome, looks like it’s from a metal band promo shoot :metal:

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That’s really helpful actually :wink: it looks a bit small for my taste, but definitely won’t be sure till having one in font of me I guess.

What was the price back then, if you don’t mind me asking? I checked recently and it is 600$ but that makes it around 1000€ for exports to Europe, including customs and so… still hard to justify on my side, and probably enought with a drop down price polyend (tracker) for now.

Really? I ordered recently (to Autria) and paid around 750 all in all (IIRC)

May be spanish customs are a bit more pricey when importing from USA…

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@Sachaz ISTR you saying you didn’t use an external keyboard with the M8, but it has to be said that’s hard to believe on this track :slight_smile:

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I take that as a compliment :wink:
I never tried an external keyboard with the M8: I tried inputing notes this way in Renoise and don’t like the workflow, I much prefer inputing it step by step!

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400€ taxes seems a bit to high for me

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Well, 160€ for a 600$ doesn’t seem to high, I’ve asked some time ago and I had a different answer, unless you don’t declare the actual price of the purchase, and then the insurance won’t cover in case it gets damage or misisng. I’ll ask again and see what answer I got regarding shipping and customs. Thanks a lot for the info!

How loud/clicky are the buttons on the M8 by the way?

Was thinking of picking one up for work commutes on train/buses, or on the sofa while other people are watching TV, but not sure if the button noise would drive people near me crazy or not.

For commute type environments, I think it’s fine. The background rumble drowns the clicking out.

It was an annoyance for my other half when she was watching something and I was clicking away.

It’s not any louder than having someone sit next to you typing on a laptop (for example). Sure I read that you can get softer keys to replace but I quite liked the click when I had mine.

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How do you guys like the M8, does it play well with other gear, or is it best used as a fully standalone thing? im intrigued by how feature complete and small this is.
I have a polyend tracker so i like the tracker workflow but I always wanted to try out this one too, seems to have better synths too. anyone had both of em?

I use it as a standalone unit and as a brain/midi sequencer with a DAW and with external gear.

Standalone: Works wonders for coming up with ideas. I like jamming in the bed, fully relaxed and just doodling around.

Brain: It works wonderfully well with a DAW and external gear. If I find a nice melody when lying in bed I often times either record the MIDI straight into Ableton through playback, and then use it for external gear, or I simply send to external gear from the M8 itself (especially for generative sequences using the CHA and HOP commands) and record into Ableton.

I quiet honestly think this is the best versatile device I’ve ever owned, and I will never part with it.

Also, I sold my OG Polyend Tracker. It’s a great device, but if you compare it to the M8 it is not worth mentioning, honestly. The lack of synth engines made it - for my use - a lackluster when using it to sketch ideas that I could further develop with external gear. In fact, I felt I had to have a small external synth chained to its side to make best use of it. Yes, it has granular and wavetables, but they aren’t really worth mentioning; they are very 2D whereas the M8 has a plethora of engines to choose from.

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i´ve had the polyend and was very excited about a hardware tracker…but it didn´t clicked for me…the ui felt like working with dos, no dedicted synthengine, and the worst for me (and because of this feature i bought it): the .mod import doesn´t work at all, it´s a feature that makes absolutely no sense for me…i liked the hardware, the formfactor, the jogwheel and the keypads…but it was no fun to use it.

the m8 offers different features: synthengines en masse, different way of songstructure, different formfactor. the hardware is top, and the ux/ui and coding is absolutely insane…everything makes sense on this little device. it´s like a monomachine v2.0! just for me, as always…

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interesting, I hear this sentiment quite a lot, that its miles better than the tracker…

What are your favorite companions for the m8? I’ve previously used a Digitone and felt it lacked an analog mono synth and a drum machine, so I usually fed those into the inputs. The m8 has a similar function, allowing for 2 mono signals. What do you miss the most when playing around with the m8?