New portable tracker!

posted this in the GAS thread:

so the M8 dirtywave tracker preorder is up. $450. it sounds really good. super slick package. nice features. can export each track as a wav for editing in a DAW. looks really deep on the sequencing side of things especially. 

https://dirtywave.com

there are long video streams on youtube that explore lot's of features. here's a demo from Ess

  Quote

 

Here’s a snippet from a track I made using only the FM synth in one single monophonic channel.

The FM synth is really good too, it’s very cleverly mapped and works so well within the tracker workflow - I always wanted a great FM synth with table automation!

 

Expand  

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNddOP3hJUJ/

full wav. 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0tmsf52hjk1bbcj/wertstoffe.wav?dl=0

whoa..  wasn't aware the screen is a touch screen that works as xy pad. 

  On 4/11/2021 at 1:11 PM, modey said:

I know people like to completely fucking shit on things here (it's why I rarely come here anymore), but the M8 is fkn incredible, and worth twice the money imo. 

Oh hi!

There’s a difference between this thing and the Tracker, though ... it’s very much, like you say, a continuation of the portable experience, using off the shelf components to get there.

I’m not the target audience for it but I can see the point (price is very steep, though).

The Tracker, on the other hand ... same form factor as a a laptop, just with less power. Weird flex.

Yeah, M8 is definitely aiming for ultraportable. It can't really be compared to a phone either, because.. have you ever tried using a tracker on a phone? Even Sunvox is cramped as fuck on a phone. 

M8 is a device capable of producing full, polished songs. It's not a sketchpad. It's a workstation. 

people forget how difficult and expensive it is to bring an actual physical product to market. there's one guy doing this. the margins are certainly gonna be tight. development has taken some time and he's not factored any of that into the price. this is also the intro price and it's likely that the price will go up. 

worth mentioning he's made this open source i think.. or at least the software.. so ou can set this up to run 'headless' on something other than the device he's selling. 

the feature set on this is quite good i think. it sounds awesome too. 

consider that a yamaha and roland both released portable devices.. romplers with pretty decent sequencers attached that were around $395 new when released and that's large companies delivering a product at scale. thousands of units.. better margins etc. 

so the price of $450 for the M8 seems a bargain by comparison even considering the cost of processors today. 

  On 4/11/2021 at 1:11 PM, modey said:

 

Also, there's a "headless" version of the firmware that is freely available, which you can load onto a Teensy 4.1 and use via USB and a web interface (or a Touch Designer sketch). I thought this was a super generous move from trash80, it means you can try it out without having to buy a unit. 

 

How would one do this?

  On 4/11/2021 at 4:47 PM, sheatheman said:

How would one do this?

Anyone knows how much does this cost in eu? 450 dollars + shipping + taxes = probably around 650 dollars?

  On 4/11/2021 at 3:16 PM, ascdi said:

I snagged a Polyend recently just out of curiosity and it’s awesome. fwiw, the Polyend anyway is not a particularly small device. It’s got the footprint of my 13" MBA, for example. So the screen is smaller than a computer screen, but it’s not as small as you might think. 

And they’ve thought through the UI enough so that you can zip around and get into the flow really good. Imagine a clicky, satisfying keyboard that only has exactly the keys on it you need to control the tracker. You can move quite fast around it.

An even smaller device focused on synthesis (as opposed to sampling), like this, seems really intriguing. But, I probably need to stop buying gear for a while!

Expand  

I agree with this - the Tracker is plenty big enough and the screen is way better than the 14” portable tv I had my Amiga hooked up too

Unless it comes with a case that has been custom made for it, good luck putting this thing in your pocket and not having the keyswitch stems snapped off.

The keys are pretty low profile and quite solid. The switch actuators are wider than they are tall, but I guess the stems on the caps could be broken off with enough force. 

I think trash80 is looking into including a basic case/pouch type thing with it. I use some kind of passport travel pouch with mine, it's actually perfect for it. 

If they're "standard" Kailh switches, the stems are definitely suscepitble to being snapped off if enough force is applied at the wrong angle. It's very easily done by people who try to remove keycaps from their keyboads with something like a screwdriver (basically unless you're applying even upward force distributed equally around the keycap).

The reason why I mention it is because with standard Kailh switches the stems aren't on the keycaps, they're on the switches themselves, and if you snap one you pretty much have to replace the entire switch.

  On 4/13/2021 at 4:38 PM, modey said:

The keys are pretty low profile and quite solid. The switch actuators are wider than they are tall, but I guess the stems on the caps could be broken off with enough force. 

I think trash80 is looking into including a basic case/pouch type thing with it. I use some kind of passport travel pouch with mine, it's actually perfect for it. 

Expand  

do you use the tracker only when you're away from your home? i'm trying to understand/predict possible usage of it bc i don't reeeeally need such a portable device

i presume that you have a lot of gear in your studio, so do you in any cases use the M8 instead of another gear while working in your studio and why? i mean, for that money i can buy a Digitone

That key layout looks really weird ...

I’m looking into running sunvox on a cheap refurbished chrome book. It’s insane how deep you can get into synthesis. I’m still learning it but you can pretty much build a 606/808 cymbal from scratch.

backmarket has had chrome books for $85 USD, that would be a pretty cool mobile setup.

i still like the polyend and am interested in the m8 too. I guess my tracker (renoise) love of 2010-2015 has been reignited.

  On 4/13/2021 at 4:45 PM, oscillik said:

If they're "standard" Kailh switches, the stems are definitely suscepitble to being snapped off if enough force is applied at the wrong angle. It's very easily done by people who try to remove keycaps from their keyboads with something like a screwdriver (basically unless you're applying even upward force distributed equally around the keycap).

That's like saying it's easy to rip the encoders off the board on Elektron products if you try to remove the caps using a hammer.

The only issue I've seen with a pre-production M8's keys is from someone trying to remove the spring that makes the click sound (which, for the record, many of us have done successfully); they accidentally broke part of the assembly. 

  On 4/13/2021 at 6:35 PM, xox said:

do you use the tracker only when you're away from your home? i'm trying to understand/predict possible usage of it bc i don't reeeeally need such a portable device

i presume that you have a lot of gear in your studio, so do you in any cases use the M8 instead of another gear while working in your studio and why? i mean, for that money i can buy a Digitone

I use it at home mostly. It's a good couch device. It's also not really comparable to the Digi/Model series Elektron gear in terms of sequencing (I know I mentioned sound earlier), in that it's definitely designed more for writing detailed "songs" rather than techno style pattern iteration (though its live mode is good for that, and the instant song file switch while playing is an awesome feature for live playing).

I definitely get more into a composition mindset due to it being a tracker, not that everyone uses it like that, but that's just how I feel with it. It's also the most detailed hardware sequencer I own, except maybe the QY70, but I never went too deep into that.

  On 4/13/2021 at 8:13 PM, rhmilo said:

That key layout looks really weird ...

I did think this at first as well, but now I find it pretty comfortable to use, either handheld or on a tabletop. It becomes pretty quick once you get a sense of the screen map and common button combinations. I find it much easier to use than a gameboy d-pad+buttons.

I've just preordered one. The aim is to have a self-contained electronic instruments that isn't my computer nor a tablet or my phone, that I can carry with me, and hopefully to sketch tracks. The FM engine seems tasty too.

@modey if you don't mind, I have a few of questions ;) 

1. aside from the Quick Start Guide, is a manual already available ?
2. you said it's "the most detailed hardware sequencer [you] own" (awesome !!) : can the M8 do anything remotly like note probability / conditional triggers ? Not a deal breaker at all obviously, but once used to working with those...
3. have you tried to hook it to a computer, be it with audio or MIDI ? Or other bits of gear ? Genuinely curious on how it works and what it can (and can't) do.
4. do you know if the dev is open to reasonable feature requests ? If not already implemented, Link comes to mind.

Anyway, I'm thrilled and super impatient to get mine. As I said in the GAS thread, a M8 and an iPad with a nice synth could be an insanely fun, super compact / ultra portable and equally as inspiring alternative set-up for me.

  On 4/25/2021 at 7:11 PM, Nil said:

aside from the Quick Start Guide, is a manual already available ?

There's a somewhat incomplete manual here. If there's something missing (or you have a question), jump on the Discord and request it; someone should be able to either help you out or update the manual accordingly.

  On 4/25/2021 at 7:11 PM, Nil said:

can the M8 do anything remotly like note probability / conditional triggers ? Not a deal breaker at all obviously, but once used to working with those...

No conditional triggers as yet, but there is the CHA (chance) command which can either be applied to a note (trigger chance) or parameter (chance the parameter is triggered). Also, there is the RAN command, which repeats the last command with a random parameter, within a specified range. Those two together can get close to making some generative stuff, as well as using tables in 00 speed mode (table will only advance when a note hits). If you're wondering what tables are, consider it like a little sequencer per instrument that can run at a division (or multiplication) of the tempo, or the aforementioned 00 speed mode where it acts almost like a sample and hold, but any commands can be placed in the table, so it can get pretty complex.

  On 4/25/2021 at 7:11 PM, Nil said:

have you tried to hook it to a computer, be it with audio or MIDI ? Or other bits of gear ? Genuinely curious on how it works and what it can (and can't) do.

Yes! I've used it with the TouchDesigner patch to stream, and stream USB audio into my DAW. I've also used it to control my QY70, NS5R and some other things. And controlled it with my Keystep + RK006. It's pretty solid as a MIDI sequencer. You get 10 automatable CCs per instrument instance.

It's not 100% there as a live playing synth/sound module though. Its primary use is as a sequencer, so currently there's no release phase on the envelope, for example. Or polyphony, unless you use something like the RK006 to split polyphony into different MIDI channels.

  On 4/25/2021 at 7:11 PM, Nil said:

do you know if the dev is open to reasonable feature requests ? If not already implemented, Link comes to mind.

Yes, trash80 is very prolific with features. It's being updated constantly, with the most recent firmware released yesterday. There's a Trello board (can't find the link but it's somewhere on Discord) showing the roadmap, but jump on the Discord and have a chat if you've got something in mind. I'm not sure if he's planning on implementing Link but the MIDI sync/position implementation is getting pretty robust.

  On 4/25/2021 at 7:11 PM, Nil said:

M8 and an iPad with a nice synth could be an insanely fun, super compact / ultra portable and equally as inspiring alternative set-up for me

Yeah, once I'm not completely overwhelmed with uni stuff I want to get really stuck in to making some M8 tunes, either standalone (it's actually mindblowing what it's capable of internally) or with aforementioned sound modules like the QY70/NS5R for those lush pads.

Thank you so much !!!