Dirtywave M8 Tracker - Handheld Synthesizer + Sampler + Sequencer

[tl]

Dirtywave M8 Tracker

Portable tracker sequencer and synthesizer M8 is powered by the Teensy micro-controller and inspired with love from the renowned Gameboy tracker Little Sound DJ. Featuring 8 tracks of freely assignable instruments capable of a wide range of sounds including waveform synthesis, FM, virtual analog, sample playback, and MIDI output. Check out #M8Tracker on Twitter and our Discord Server meet-up videos on Youtube.


Sequencer Specifications

• 8 Monophonic Tracks/Voices

• 255 Patterns/Phrases & chains

• 256 Instrument Tables for advanced modulation

• 128 Instruments per song

• Song Arranger with Live mode

• Instantaneous song recall

• Full MIDI input & Output support

Instruments & Effects

• Wavsynth - Classic console & computer chip emulation.

• Macrosynth - Based on Mutable Instruments Braids

• FM - 4 OP 12 algorithm with feedback per operator.

• Sampler - 8/16/24 bit mono and full stereo wav format.

• MIDI Instruments with 10 user definable CCs.

• Global reverb, chorus, delay and a master bus limiter.

• Sample recording and song rendering/bouncing.

• No sample memory or length limitation.

Hardware Specifications

• 3.5mm TRS MIDI (Type A or Type B) input and output.

• Stereo audio input and Headphone/main output

• USB MIDI and Audio compliant

• SDHC Micro SD slot for storage

• 1200mAh USB rechargeable battery - up to 6 hours use.

• High quality 2.8" IPS display with capacitive touch

• Dimensions: 96mm x 133mm x 18~20mm

After following discussions etc. on the M8 Discord, watching several videos about and with the M8 tracker and reading the preliminary manual I'm rather sure this is the right device for me and preordered it...

its basically everything you'd want in a tracker, including multiple synthesis types, sample playback, and midi power out the ass. it's beautiful.

Regards,
tl.

[tl]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjGeywcinCA

[tl]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRf4zOAMO14

[tl]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p2d3fOaH04

[tl]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAm7ULFJafQ

[SLiC]

Cool- still happy with my Polyend Tracker however, works great with a battery pack (but can't hold it in one hand!)

[tl]

Cool- still happy with my Polyend Tracker however, works great with a battery pack (but can't hold it in one hand!)

Great to hear you're still happy with the Polyend Tracker.
Fortunately my personal disappointement with the Polyend led me to the M8.
Preordered the actual device but also ordered a Teensy 4.1 to flash it with the M8Headless firmware as a foretaste...

Regards,
tl.

[tl]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQp8TZRT0tA

Its LIVE mode is similar to clip launching in Bitwig or Ableton...

Regards,
tl.

[tl]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5jjmKOifkI

[thresholdpeople]

I pre-ordered one of these the other day. I'm really looking forward to it. Been looking for a good portable instrument, and wow, this seems to really have a lot going on.

Thanks for sharing these videos. Will be going through them.

Very exciting.

What's the interaction with the touch screen like? What do you use it for?

[tl]

Very exciting.

Indeed... Pre-ordered, too. Can't wait to hold the device in my hands.

What's the interaction with the touch screen like? What do you use it for?

The videos I posted in this thread are collected from the internet... some beta M8s were sent to a small group of people some time ago.
As far as I understand instrument parameters can be mapped to the touch screen and it acts as a XY pad.

Regards,
tl.

[thresholdpeople]

Ahh cool. An XY pad sounds great. I was worried it'd be for menu navigation, even though my impression was that'd all be via the buttons.

Do you know if the main source of discussion and communication about the M8 their discord? The reddit and gearslutz threads I saw were not very active. There's also a thread on muff's, it seems the most active, but it isn't dedicated to the M8 specifically, but generally about the several hardware trackers that were/are imminent.

[tl]

Discord, yes. Tim aka Trash80 the man behind the project M8 is very active there...

[tl]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBVt6wn_b88

[tl]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTCXsZZCCGI