In its current state, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.
It’s a nice machine but too many broken promises and the worst product launch ever. Very poor communication too from Torso and more than one year after the release it’s still unfinished and riddled with bugs and problems.
If you do like how it sounds and you’re prepared to wait until it’s stable and feature complete then go ahead and hopefully have fun 
I’m using it like an analog synth, without presets. I open a new project, load the samples and jam and that’s it. I’ve tried to save projects but the start end points of the samples didn’t save properly so I will use as a jam machine.
Im totally sure that they are working and developing the machine. Now is the time if you’re people interested in it (only if you’re very very interested) because probably it will grow in price. I bought my tracker mini last year (in September I think) and now it costs 100 EUR more.
I’ve been using it for live gigs for half a year now. Live audio processing (end of chain saturation and noise) plus prerecorded loops. That works and sounds really well.
From their newsletter:
"Superbooth 2025 is just around the corner (May 8-10), and we can’t wait to show you what we’ve been working on. If you’re in Berlin, make sure to stop by Booth O117, where we’ll be presenting the upcoming S-4 2.0 firmware update.
Get a Sneak Peek at S-4 2.0
We’ve been hard at work on the biggest update to the S-4 since its launch. Version 2.0 completes our vision of the S-4, introducing powerful new features that will transform how you interact with your instrument as well as various enhancements and performance updates.
Without giving everything away, here’s a glimpse of what’s coming:
PERFORM — A global macro control hub that lets you map and control multiple parameters across the entire instrument
SCENE — Create and recall complete machine states, perfect for building variations and swapping samples on the fly
New Devices — Including a streaming device that plays audio of any length directly from internal storage and a new envelope follower for creative modulation capabilities
And that’s just scratching the surface. Drop by our booth for a hands-on experience with these features and more.
Live Performances at Booth O117
Be sure to visit our booth to experience the S-4 in action, featuring mini concerts by IDRA / Francesca Pavesi and MORDIO.
Friday, May 9 — 2:30 PM
IDRA / Francesca Pavesi Experimental electronic artist exploring the boundaries of sound design and performance. Francesca’s performances explore the intersection of carefully composed structures and spontaneous improvisation.
www.idrasound.com | Instagram
Saturday, May 10 — 2:30 PM
MORDIO
Known for exploring minimalism and polyrhythmic structures, Mordio’s approach to electronic music strips away excess to reveal the essential elements of sound. His performances are technical showcases that highlight his meticulous attention to sonic detail while maintaining a powerful emotional core.
mordiomusic.com | YouTube
Can’t make it to Superbooth? Don’t worry—we’ll be sharing updates, demos, and performances on our social channels throughout and after the event.
Looking forward to seeing you in Berlin!
See you soon!
Torso Electronics"
Ohhh nice! I won’t go to Berlin, but it seems to indicate they’ve made some real progress firmware-wise. New devices even!
I’m curious by the SCENES… trying to understand how will be stablished … but for me the most important is to be able to save and load my work… for now it is a little frustrating…
I think I’ll hook it up to the MicroFreak tonight for a bit of fun, now that we’re mentioning it.
as a solid instrument right now i say go tempera. i did i have no regrets. it might be different from the s-4 but as the tempera as is a top quality solid build, stable firmware and excellent customer support. the developer listen to users and disscuss openly on how to improve by adding new features each time. for now i will look on the sides lines to see if s-4 development in the firmware and hardware improve.
agree
Used on new Surgeon album (along with T-1) and sounding ace.
I’m excited to see/hear what will be shared at Superbooth. I’m aware of some of the new features as I signed up to the beta, great to know there’s more stuff coming. Once 2.0 launches I hope they consider adding more devices and generally keep working on the OS rather than moving onto something new.
I’ve had quite a hate / love relationship with the S-4. I was in the original pre-order and basically didn’t use it for a year. I found it clunky, buggy and just not enjoyable to play with. It did sound good however, and for that reason I held onto it.
The recent beta is very good. Sync’d start/stop of mixer channels lets you use the device as a live remixing tool with each channel doing something unique to the incoming audio. It can more than comfortably give the OT a run for its money. A lot of that comes from the modulation which is maybe the best modulation implementation I’ve seen this side of modular.
I’m excited where this will be by the summer and glad I held on to it. Hopefully it’ll be the greatest comeback in synth history.
Cheering from afar in hope of a happy ending for this troubled machine!
Tonight I finally got around to configuring my MSW faderbank to control the S-4 via usb midi. The S-4 powers the faderbank and the faders work great for all the mixer functions.
However, I was planning to use the 16 buttons for record, mute, overdub, etc. and these functions use midi notes. The buttons on the faderbank only send cc. Is there a workaround or do I have to look for another controller?
As a workaround you could use a midihub (like the Blokas f.e.) between the two, to convert the cc messages to note messages (or anything you want really).
As @Pablo76 mentioned, the Blokas Midihub is an ideal solution to remapping cc’s to notes, with the additional benefit of being a split/merge/filter for all manner of midi messages (4 ins and 4 outs).
It’s cheaper than buying many alternative midi controllers that support notes/cc’s (eg Faderfox).
There’s a small learning curve, but there are many examples on the Blokas site/community forum.
Wow i read every post since the 1.01 release discussion! So much good info. Also some cool sounds well done.
I just bought one.
Im going to let it tell me what to do rather than me tell it what i want it to do. I have a hapax and i feel like i can overcome any obstacle with that thing!
But it doesnt really do slices aye? I will try it with SP404 i guess!
Thanks @Kalimari and @Pablo76!
The Blokas looks really useful, but I’m trying to keep things simple and tidy with a usb midi connection.
I contacted MSW and he got back to me immediately to let me know that midi notes will be in the next firmware. He also offered to hook me up with a custom program if I gave him all the cc and note #s I needed. I’ve had a few interactions with that guy and he’s always been super helpful and responsive.
Anyway, looks like the device will be able to do what I need soon enough! I’m excited to have all the track’s mixing functions at my fingertips.
Hey enjoying the flow and the sounds but wondering the following:
can it do quantized loops specifically creating a track (example track 2) that follows same length/timing as track 1 etc? (EDIT: set same length and use overdub on 2nd track). Any other ways?
can you zoom the waveform to make more precise edits?
As I posted on discord, my main encoder is totally sloppy. It has happened suddenly. Sometimes while searching samples I can turn one time to choose next sample and works ok but Mo’s of the time I need to turn the encoder up to five times to pass to the next sample. It has a random behaviour. And allways. I don’t know if I will return it.
Yikes! The S-4 looks so cool in theory, but I feel like every other post is someone experiencing difficulties or wonky behavior. Come on Torso, what’s happening here?
