Polyend Play Plus is a Mess

I really really wanted to like this device, but the Play Plus from Polyend is a mess at least right now. Let’s talk about it.

Thank you to Zzounds for letting me try this device out, here’s some links to devices I’d recommend spending money on over the Polyend Play Plus (affiliate links give me a commission when you use them for any gear on Zzounds site):

MY GEAR (affiliate links):

#polyendplay #dawless #musicproduction

[DylanParisMusic]

I updated to 1.1 today and am seeing glitches and issues still. Even new ones I hadn’t seen before. This thing is still not ready for prime time and I would recommend not buying one at least until it is stable.

[HelicopterRidesForCommunists]

But Benn Jordan and Venus Theory LOVE Polyend and the Play+. They're definitely NOT shills, so there must be some thing we are failing to understand here.

[jordan_gentry]

im really happy with my OG Play. No crashes. Only lags at loading and loading samples.
don't need the limited synth engines with limited interface, since I have other gear.

[urbannpa]

These hardware companies can't fix the glitches if people aren't reviewing them. Don't feel like your burning a bridge. Right now there's someone sitting in a closet at that company fixing the issues and you've saved someone from running out and realized they've made a mistake.

[dbefore]

The click is relay protection so there isn’t a thump through the outputs to your speakers/headphones. This is a good thing, the tracker mk1 didn’t have this safeguard

[shaneturner]

Seams like the tracker is better when researching both of these. These companies need to stop trying to use us as beta testers all while paying for the product. Don’t release shit until it’s READY to release. This music thing isn’t just a hobby for a lot of us it’s our lives and we EXPECT a certain level of professionalism and dependability out of a product

[TimeScribe]

I can confirm that my Play+ also crashes frequently. Sometimes it freezes on the first sample I load. The load progress screen is shown but the bar does not advance and no buttons react. You can’t leave the screen. The file system needs attention to make it robust. Polyend, please fix this instability. Also, add way to read full file name if it’s longer than the screen width (scroll name). BPMs are often at the end of the file name so I can’t read it from the disk. You have to arrange your samples on the SD: rename, separate into folders, etc., before you can use them because the hardware will not show you the full file name. Polyend please reconsider any workflow that necessitates working on a computer to organize samples. The point of hardware is to do the work away from the computer. These are mostly file system issues so I hope that Polyend focuses attention there first. I know they have new synths coming but I think the stability and usability issues are more important.

[TheBigLou]

I own two Polyend Plays - one for me and one I bought for my brother. All problems, glitches, crashes you mentioned happened to us multiple times. Once the sd card of my brother's play got corrupted (somehow) and its internal folder structure was completely messed up; we had to format and restore the initial data on it with a computer. I had multiple crashes, freezed knobs that couldn't be changed until you restarted the device, values that changed on their own... very often some of the touch knobs switched as if they got touched - even though they didn't got touched. We left the Plays laying on the table and occasionally this would happen repeatedly to both devices. Some performance effects got "stuck" until the device got restarted. Some knobs can be turned to invalid values in specific circumstances (while multiple steps are selected). When using the praised fill feature for Kick/Snare/Hat preset patterns, the used samples won't respect the undo function, so you can't go back to a sample set but only generate "forward" new random sets of your Kick/Snare/Hat samples. Most of the performance Reorder functions (green) make the track only play the first note repeatedly, if that track has a slower playback speed than 100%... I gave it a try... Often... I really wanted to like the Polyend Play... But again and again and again it led to frustration about preventable shortcomings, problems, bugs, ... It just feels not good designed the deeper and more serious you dive into it - in terms of Workflow, Control and UX. Also you have to go crossed-armed for a lot of functions - it wasn't pleasant to work with for longer (unergonomic and tedious/tensing gestures/finger-strains). And in the end they took away the ability to sell it for something what would be worth the effort, by making the upgrade to the better internal board overall as expensive as a new unit (you even have to pay for shipping and tax and everything yourself + the better chip, which should cost a fraction of that price, if you know a thing or two about electronics and chips). Overall and in the end I really wanted to like it but am disappointed with it. Looking forward to buying a Deluge - and some day a Reliq to unify all my hardware.

[softersounds]

The Play/Play+ is probably my favourite device I’ve ever owned, I just honestly think they marketed it wrong.

It’s by far the most intuitive IDM and experimental music sequencer on the market.

Yeah, if you’re just loading the stock sample packs and hitting beat fill you’re definitely not getting the most out of it.

But it has incredible randomization options, Euclidean sequencing, dozens of different retrigger styles, probability, and performance effects. The folder system is amazing for auditioning and varying up your beats in a way that perfectly fits a lot of electronica styles of music: there’s a reason all the presets are named after AFX, BoC, and Autechre songs.

A few of your comments here just sounded like you were coming at it expecting something more like a production workflow (specific tracks for kick/snare/hats, EQing for a professional mix) rather than a weird generative drum and synth box.

So yeah. Incredible device, but mismarketed, I think.

The 1.0.0 firmware it shipped with was a bit buggy for sure, but the 1.0.1 beta is definitely more stable and I never really had a problem with the OG Play.

[radfaraf]

Your shift + select way to select the sound to figure out what it is can be done in a slightly simpler way. Press and hold for like 1/4th second. That will show you what that one is if the Sample knob is active, click too short and it treats it as delete.

[littlehelix]

I don't have any problem with mine, but I have the first version. It has some really nice features, I love this machine

[steevsnaps]

damn I really appreciate this video bro. Play has been next up on my list as soon as I can afford it since release, now replaced with Play Plus, and this is one of the most genuine videos I've seen talking about the downsides. hope Polyend sees this.

[dustyaudio]

I have a tracker mini & it has been solid so far, had it for a few weeks but really using it for beats with an occasional melodic sample. I can’t say that I’ve pushed it to its limits but I like it a lot.

[djcolinturnbull]

Thank you!! Even loopop said that the didn’t add features they promised from the play.

It’s underdeveloped. Just like the play was. And I don’t want to pay for a product that needs multiple firmware updates to be fully functioning again in the future. I will not upgrade. I will keep my play and use it once in a while.

The bad trend for software and boutique hardware is releasing unfinished products and letting reviewers, beta testers, and end users complete their R & D.

An 800 or 900 $ groovebox should be a finished product. 👍🏻

[mrgumy]

I have a Medusa, tracker og and play. It’s embarrassing for polyend to say this is the device they wanted to make. Instead of an upgrade I bought a used mc707 for £50 more, and I have no regrets. Polyend have a lot of software improvements to make this work. It’s worrying to think they are trying to support OG trackers, tracker minis, OG play and the beta play plus. Somethings gonna give, and that will leave a bunch of customers disappointed.

[ToastedGhost]

Used in live performances no glitches or crashes… mine is the original

[slackalope_streams]

I upgraded my play to a play plus when the option was given. The unit I got was horribly buggy and crashed a lot and features were missing.

I updated the firmware to the 1.0.1 beta and it went from unreliable and frustrating as hell to just a little jank.

Make sure you update your firmware and it's much more usable

[bourianboubbov]

Thank you so much! I was so close to buying one...!!

[ChumpyDumps]

I’ve own several Polyend products and they’ve all come out buggy and the bugs never get 100% sorted out. I’d the Polyend Play Plus was the product they wanted to release all along perhaps they shouldn’t have charged people $800 when the original wasn’t worth that much to begin with (new one isn’t worth it either, if we’re being honest… it’s a $100 midi controller with a $50 chipset in it).

I won’t ever support Polyend again. Stick with Elektron if you want quality products.

[marchellner]

I've had the Play for a week now with no glitches, crashing/freezing or long waits for launching projects.