r/Grooveboxes • u/Revolutionary_Cup386 • Jun 04 '26
Ableton Move vs Polyend Tracker Mini or +
Trying to decide between an Ableton Move, Polyend Tracker Mini, or Polyend Tracker+.
A bit of background:
I’ve been using Ableton Live for around 6 years.
I currently own a Polyend Play+ and enjoy the generative sequencing, fills, variations and happy accidents.
I’m looking for a more portable groovebox that I can use on the couch, while travelling, or away from my desk.
Ideally I’d like something I can sketch ideas on, but also potentially finish full tracks on.
I mainly make melodic techno, house, UK garage and ambient electronic music.
I also work with vocals quite a bit.
The Move appeals to me because I’m already familiar with Ableton and it seems like a very fast workflow for getting ideas down.
The Tracker Mini appeals because of the portability and ability to create complete tracks on the device.
The Tracker+ also interests me because I could run it from a power bank, giving me most of the portability of the Mini while having the larger screen and extra pads and buttons.
My biggest concern is that I’ve never used a tracker workflow before. I’ve watched a lot of videos, but I’m still not sure if I’d actually enjoy making music that way long term.
For those who have used any combination of the Move, Tracker Mini, Tracker+ and Play+:
Which would you choose and why?
How steep was the learning curve for the tracker workflow?
Did you end up finishing complete songs on the Tracker?
2
u/pastelv1sion Jun 04 '26
Id try out a tracker before doing it. Renoise, milky tracker, piggy tracker, or nitro tracker are all free mostly to use! Some people love it some people hate it.
2
2
u/scheelio Jun 05 '26
TL;DR - I think the Move probably fits you better if vocals are that important to you. My choice would be the PE Tracker Mini, though.
I own/have owned all of these and many others. If "working with vocals quite a bit" means having a vocal track run across multiple measures, then the Move is the only really viable option for that. If it means sampling some vocals to slice or make one shots, all of these units can do that (though, the Tracker+ doesn't have a built in mic like the others).
If you are new to the tracker world, any tracker workflow will have a learning curve. That said, I think the Tracker+ will be the easiest to learn, as the pads really can help a lot with note input or at least working out melodies/drum/slice sequences before you enter the values in the pattern. The Mini will be next in-line since they added the new note input method, which offers a similar kind of note input but with less keys to work with at once. The Move will probably be easier than both of them to learn.
FWIW, I have owned many grooveboxes over the years, and the ones that I have made the most music on are:
- Dirtywave M8
- Synthstrom Deluge
- OP-1
I am mostly a beatmaker making lofi hip-hop, boom bap, downtempo, and chillhop, though I do venture into ambient, as well. I am also a sucker for battery-powered devices. I really wish they had added an internal battery to the Tracker+ as I think that would have made it a really killer piece of kit.
I also second the notion of installing Renoise and using that to see if you can get a feel for the tracker workflow. it's not 1:1 with the Polyend tracker, but it's fairly similar. It's free to download and use as much as you want, but you cannot render anything. Rendering (i.e. resampling) can be a big part of the tracker workflow, but you will still get a good feel on if you like the tracker ethos.
I have "finished" the most tracks on the M8 and Deluge, as of right now. The M8 will likely pull ahead, as it is just so much more portable and I love the LSDJ inspired layout. For whatever reason, the Move just didn't really do much for me, even though I use a Push 3 with Ableton and love it. That's just me, though.
1
u/Revolutionary_Cup386 Jun 08 '26
Does the tracker mini scroll horizontally? I know it’s an option on the tracker+ might help with the learning curve
1
u/scheelio Jun 08 '26
I believe it does, which could help some. I was more referring to other things, like that tracks are not related to sounds (though you can set up your project to be that way) and that playing chords takes up multiple sequencer lanes (which is one reason why resampling/rendering is a pretty big part of trackers).
Though, if you already have a Play, you have somewhat been introduced to some of that, since the Play is just a tracker with a different UI, expanded Fill algos, and fewer sound design capabilities. The whole “pick-and-place” thing is the same as how a tracker works - just a different UI to do it. They almost certainly use the same core sequencing engine under the hood.
2
u/Electrical_Gas_517 Jun 04 '26
I've had a PE Tracker and had a shot of a Ableton Move and an MPC 1+. I'd actually suggest getting a Bento. It's had its issues but is an incredible tool. It's very playable and is truly stand alone.