Dirtywave M8 Tracker thread - Model:02 now available for preorder!

Michael_R_Grant

It's an absolute crime that we don't appear to have a thread about this on here! The marvellous Dirtywave M8 Tracker is a very portable piece of hardware about the size of a Game Boy - which is unsurprising, considering that its interface is modelled after a GB 'game' called LSDJ. LSDJ was an early example of tracker software, was a bit of an underground hit among the tracker community, and was therefore formative for many such musicians. But not me! I never played it and have basically hated trackers for the longest time. I could never get my head around the workflow, was thoroughly confused by Sunvox on iOS, etc.

BUT the M8 Tracker has really got me into it! I finally understand, and if I can do it, so can anyone! Despite having absolutely loads of depth in its several synth engines and its sampler, its many sequencing possibilities and its tables (which are like sequencers within sequencers, proper Inception stuff!), I've found that the workflow is surprisingly simple. If you've ever used a piece of Elektron hardware, the sequencing is basically just that turned on its side. Drambo skills translate, too! It's actually really user friendly! But beneath the surface simplicity - and there are some brilliant workflow tutorials on YouTube in the guise of 'Discord meet-up' videos - there is so, so much depth. You can do a veritable fuckton of stuff with this thing, and it continues to be updated with new features by the super-talented one man band developer, Trash80.

Did I mention that it's incredibly portable (better for this than pretty much anything else), has a rechargeable lithium battery and you can hook it up to your other gear if you so choose, whether via MIDI or USB? It shows up in AUM, for example.

EDIT: Model:02 is now up for preorder:

Welcome the Model:02 - A significant update to the beloved M8 Tracker. Same brains with >improved physical features including:

New machined aluminum design
Larger 3.5" IPS TFT display (from the original 2.8")
Improved battery - Up to 12 hours of battery life
Built-in microphone for sampling
USBC (device-mode only)
M8 Tracker Model:02 includes a soft microfiber bag, travel case, USBC cable, MIDI TRS-A to MIDI >DIN adapter, and a 64GB microSD card with song demos, presets, and samples. Manual and firmware updates will be found on the support page.

Note: Future firmware features and support for the original Model:01 will be continued and identical to the new Model:02, with different download links.

https://dirtywave.com/products/m8-tracker-model-02

dendy

absolutely fantastic piece of gear ... i have mega GAS for this one, just unfortunately it's sold out .. hope one day i will be lucky enough to grab one ..

For long time i was in doubt how tracker can be effectively controlled by just few buttons.

But RMR's video broke me .. the UI is just genius.

And no, in my opinion SunVox is nowhere close to this thing..

FordTimeLord

I have a teensy board I’ve been meaning to set up the M8 headless with but I’ve not got around to it yet. This thread might give me the boot up the backside to sort it out!

Michael_R_Grant

@dendy said:
absolutely fantastic piece of gear ... i have mega GAS for this one, just unfortunately it's sold out .. hope one day i will be lucky enough to grab one ..

For long time i was in doubt how tracker can be effectively controlled by just few buttons.

But RMR's video broke me .. the UI is just genius.

And no, in my opinion SunVox is nowhere close to this thing..

Once you learn the shortcuts, you fly around the UI. Getting a song structure in place is so simple.

Michael_R_Grant

And just to prove it, here's my first song on the M8. I'm not doing that much more than the basics here, but it turned out well!

Carnbot

Yeah the M8 is great, I don't have the official hardware yet but I do have it running on a teensy and use it either via windows or on a RG351V handheld, It's a Groovebox so it's all about the onboard instruments and FX and the tracker. In that way you can't say it's better or worse than SunVox, it's just different. Both are very good.
SunVox is modular and can do many things M8 can't, but it cannot be controlled by a small number of keys like a game, so it's fun to pick up.
Tables are very cool in this and the sound engine is very good too.

Krupa

@Carnbot said:
Yeah the M8 is great, I don't have the official hardware yet but I do have it running on a teensy and use it either via windows or on a RG351V handheld, It's a Groovebox so it's all about the onboard instruments and FX and the tracker. In that way you can't say it's better or worse than SunVox, it's just different. Both are very good.
SunVox is modular and can do many things M8 can't, but it cannot be controlled by a small number of keys like a game, so it's fun to pick up.
Tables are very cool in this and the sound engine is very good too.

Oh mad, do you need the teensy, it can you run it directly on the anbernic?

Carnbot

@Krupa said:

@Carnbot said:
Yeah the M8 is great, I don't have the official hardware yet but I do have it running on a teensy and use it either via windows or on a RG351V handheld, It's a Groovebox so it's all about the onboard instruments and FX and the tracker. In that way you can't say it's better or worse than SunVox, it's just different. Both are very good.
SunVox is modular and can do many things M8 can't, but it cannot be controlled by a small number of keys like a game, so it's fun to pick up.
Tables are very cool in this and the sound engine is very good too.

Oh mad, do you need the teensy, it can you run it directly on the anbernic?

Yes you need the Teensy and it has to attach via the usb

Krupa

@Carnbot said:

@Krupa said:

@Carnbot said:
Yeah the M8 is great, I don't have the official hardware yet but I do have it running on a teensy and use it either via windows or on a RG351V handheld, It's a Groovebox so it's all about the onboard instruments and FX and the tracker. In that way you can't say it's better or worse than SunVox, it's just different. Both are very good.
SunVox is modular and can do many things M8 can't, but it cannot be controlled by a small number of keys like a game, so it's fun to pick up.
Tables are very cool in this and the sound engine is very good too.

Oh mad, do you need the teensy, it can you run it directly on the anbernic?

Yes you need the Teensy and it has to attach via the usb

Interesting… 🙏

(Yay new rabbit hole 😅)

Michael_R_Grant

As I've added to the opening post of this thread, the new model of the M8 is now up for preorder. Features a bigger screen, longer lasting battery, USB-C charging and an onboard microphone.

Welcome the Model:02 - A significant update to the beloved M8 Tracker. Same brains with improved physical features including:

New machined aluminum design
Larger 3.5" IPS TFT display (from the original 2.8")
Improved battery - Up to 12 hours of battery life
Built-in microphone for sampling
USBC (device-mode only)
M8 Tracker Model:02 includes a soft microfiber bag, travel case, USBC cable, MIDI TRS-A to MIDI DIN adapter, and a 64GB microSD card with song demos, presets, and samples. Manual and firmware updates will be found on the support page.

Note: Future firmware features and support for the original Model:01 will be continued and identical to the new Model:02, with different download links.

https://dirtywave.com/products/m8-tracker-model-02