Goodbye Polyend Play Plus

It's time to send back the Polyend Play Plus. I was hoping it would get more updates since my last video, but nothing has dropped since 1.01 which didn't fix the bugs I saw. This week I give my final thoughts on the device and try to show some stuff I've made (while encountering more bugs on the way).
Thanks to zZounds for letting me borrow this, here's some links to gear I've been digging lately (affiliate links from zzounds, i get a percentage of the profit):
MPC Key 37
www.zzounds.com/a--3981117/it...
Arturia Minifreak
www.zzounds.com/a--3981117/it...
MPC One Plus:
www.zzounds.com/a--3981117/it...
Do not use the links above if you are suffering from GAS, sleep on it for a few days first.
If you enjoy the video please consider checking out my album “There’s Something Better” wherever you listen to music: open.spotify.com/album/6HCemx...
MY GEAR (affiliate links):
Main Mirrorless Camera: amzn.to/3ApKw1a
Main editing machine (m2 iPad Pro): amzn.to/45T6rdR
Small Audio Recorder (used in this video): amzn.to/41myYaB
Audio Recorder: amzn.to/3nEVd8n
Gear Stands: amzn.to/3ah26tv
#polyendplay #musicgear #musicproduction

[@funketude]

Funny you mentioned Maschine+…I’ve experienced crippling bugs with it to the point that I would never produce anything on it for fear that it would randomly be erased along with my entire sample library (happened twice already along with the repeated freezes).

[@damelos4039]

That's why I never upgraded from the MK3. Limited memory and processing power and no ability to add as many plugins as I want.

[@DylanParisMusic]

That’s brutal!! Have you reached out to NI about it? I had issues the first year but later updates seemed to fix them

[@jukeboxfandango]

3:45 - So you basically were presented a potential fix that is reasonably cheap, refused it on principle, and now have made an entire video stating that the Play Plus is hopelessly broken even though you didn't make the most basic attempt to salvage it

[@DylanParisMusic]

This is a weird way of saying I didn’t want to pay more money for a potential fix and chose to present the provided device as it performed. I would say multiple reboots and updating the firmware fall within the most basic attempt to salvage. Paying extra money to replace a component that may not resolve (a component they felt comfortable enough to print their logo on) felt like a personal bridge too far. Definitely fair if you disagree though.

[@radfaraf]

@@DylanParisMusic It's very strange to me because I understand the experience being frustrating enough to want to just return it and not want to deal with it. But you kept using it to find more things to complain about rather the wiser use of energy which would have been either to return it right away since it seemed broken, or contract them to see if they can resolve it. Maybe they'd have sent you a new sd card for free and you'd be happy because it would work afterwards, maybe they'd give you trash support and you'd need to share that with us, maybe they'd expected you to buy a new sd card yourself, or maybe there was another fix, or maybe they would try to be helpful, but have no idea what is going on, but you didn't give anyone the chance to see what would happen and that would have given everyone a better review no matter the outcome.

[@DylanParisMusic]

This is helpful constructive feedback and I’ll take it to heart moving forward. Thank you 🙏

[@shaneturner9336]

HE SHOULDNT HAVE TO ! We are NOT beta testers and I’m sick of paying out tons of money on gear that gets sent out with issues and then going out to spend MORE money for something that may or may NOT even fix the problem . There shouldn’t BE a PROBLEM with an 800$ item .

[@Farold_Haltermeyer]

@@shaneturner9336unfortunately that model is now used across everything from cars to TVs to phones to computers and will continue as long as the issue is kept below a pre-agreed fault ration that is further mitigated by software updates. You're right, the only action you have is to not purchase any item until further into its life cycle. However I think the poster is merely asking, with that intrinsic knowledge there for most hardware users today, why not just return it as faulty and leave it there, which is still valid whether you agree with modern commerce methods or not

[@alanb1303]

Thanks for sharing your experience and thoughts. Polyend has some cool ideas but the execution here seems a little lacking/technically under-baked

[@DylanParisMusic]

Thank you! And agreed, I hope updates can fix this and I hope they keep trying new things, but it’s a shame the state it’s still in

[@Farold_Haltermeyer]

Thanks for sharing. Got my upgrade finally a few week. Paid for it. Have had 0 issues so far with extended use so maybe whatever your bugs came from have been fixed?

[@DylanParisMusic]

Glad to hear yours is working well!

[@robynwilliams3028]

Yep mine is fucking amazing and blows my mind every time I use it

[@RonCavagnaro]

That's ok i can understand why people won't want to keep play+, but for me its absolutely amazing can do so much that many other gear cant! It is wired for experimentation and happy mistakes. Either you get it or you dont, thats my opinion. I haven't talked about the bugs because i haven't run into any. Sorry to hear you had so many issues

[@DylanParisMusic]

Yeah it’s interesting for me to imagine what my time would have been like with it if I had no issues! I’m really glad you’re enjoying yours though! 🙏

[@RonCavagnaro]

@@DylanParisMusic yep shrug i have seen others complain etc and send back but i must have been lucky?

[@cbschrader]

Sorry if you mentioned this, but did you reach out to Polyend about getting a replacement SD card to see if that was the issue? I’ve only ever had great customer service from them and I would be surprised if they didn’t troubleshoot the issue with you.

[@DylanParisMusic]

Interestingly even though I had a contact there before, they pinged the distributor but never me to figure out what was going on. I believe they are going to investigate this unit once it arrives back to zZounds though.

[@jaderington]

You threw them under the train 😅

[@DylanParisMusic]

honestly wasn't my intention, wanted to give an honest review of the experience a customer would have if they received this device

[@dbefore7165]

For balance, i upgraded from original play to the plus and the only issue I had was that weird noisy sample glitch that disappears on reboot and a freeze when loading some samples. I’m using a decent sandisk 256gb card too.

[@dbefore7165]

Also there seems to be an issue with it not showing up over usb with amd platforms without using hubs. Other than that it’s been solid. It is true that company’s don’t seem to bugtest their gear anymore, I’ve had more issues with modern hardware than plugins.

[@DylanParisMusic]

This is good to know! For users who are willing to give it a try and would prefer to stick with it, a new card may be the fix. It hasn’t seemed to work for all on the forums but it seems like a possible one if people want to pay more.

[@sodiumlights]

Beautiful video, clear-sighted thoughts, minimal edits.

[@DylanParisMusic]

Thank you! 🙏🙌

[@sodiumlights]

@@DylanParisMusic Your videos are the real thing, true critique. We are a community that need to share information, flaws & all. That's the only way to improve. And you are the gold standard for truth. (This message was not spooned by Distrokid)

[@shaneturner9336]

I sent mine back too and I find it funny how all of these but hurt bots on here have a PROBLEM with NOT wanting to keep gear that is SHITTY and SHOULD be sent back . If YOU don’t mind shelling out all of your money for overpriced gear that wasn’t even ready to ship out in the FIRST place then feel free to but don’t come on here criticizing people for NOT wanting to keep shit that doesn’t work right and not trying to spend MORE cash for something that might not even fix the issue.. Maybe YOU have endless money to spend but we are NOT beta testers give us shit that works . We are professional music producers that EXPECT professional , DEPENDABLE gear ESPECIALLY when we pay a lot of money for it .

[@jeremydenief]

I'm just going to wait and get the Play + Ultra. Should be out in a few months so start saving now!

[@BrentODell]

When I first got my MPC Live II I had some issues, and ended up exchanging it twice under warranty. Third time does seem to be the charm, thankfully, and I haven't had any issues since. Hopefully this Play is an outlier and/or the issues can get fixed with firmware updates.

[@DylanParisMusic]

That’s brutal about the first live 2s you had! I hope this isn’t a wide scale problem and is easily fixable as well!

[@youtubevideos415]

This video reminds me of those good old Times, where i loved your videos about Maschine+ because you where so honest about it's flaws. Now i'm just waiting till Polyend Play MK2 comes out and they sponsor your video and you say "it has no cons".

[@DylanParisMusic]

Hahaha I’ve made clear the cost for me to genuinely lie to the audience is 4 million dollars cash. No company has taken me up on it yet. Kontrol mk3 was just me missing a huge key factor in the pre release because I didn’t watch a live presentation during my work hours and didn’t watch the recording of it before I made my video 🤣😅

[@aikighost]

I have to say I really dislike not knowing instantly what's on each step. So much so that I don't find myself interested. I love my polyend tracker, but even then its not my core device but instead its more of a "this makes unusual sequences to resample and put on my MPC" situation.

[@DylanParisMusic]

Yeah that part may be the ultimate killer for me. Going back to these projects and realizing how indiscernible they are without checking each step (assuming it’s playing the sample or synth preset it says it is) is pretty brutal

[@steevsnaps]

it really can't be that hard for them to add colour tagging per step/sample.

[@dustyaudio]

I appreciate the transparency. My tracker Mini has had a few funny little bugs occasionally but nothing like what you showed in this. Great ending 23:36

[@DylanParisMusic]

Thank you 🙏 I appreciate you watching through and sharing your experience! Hopefully Polyend will be able to iron out the bugs on the plus

[@CrankyOldNerd]

I'm not in the market for one of these but at the same time its nice to see someone take a vendor to task. Too often technological products are built half assed and half tested and then get 4 and 5 star reviews. It's been like that for decades. Vendors need to learn people can talk to folks all over the world. I'm sure they'll get it addressed, doesn't look like anything hardware related that would require another refresh, but the entire thing has been a bit of a debacle sadly.

[@Androsynth75]

One of the things that gets lost in the discussion over lots of gear these days is that the gear we use are effectively computers with attached controls and dedicated software. And just like any computer; some folks have more problems with a given model than others. Setting aside Polyends crappy way of handling the ‘+’ additions to the line, I’ve had the opposite experience. Both my Tracker and my Play have been pretty rock solid after an upgrade from the original firmware whereas I have had NOTHING but problems with Machine across the board (on multiple computers and multiple OS’s too). Sometimes it’s not so much that the basic platform isn’t good, it’s just that, as any IT person will tell you, some people with the same hardware are just gonna have 10x the issues.

[@SonicVibe]

i only have a Dirtywave M8 but on the software/bug side i have had none been a super solid tracker for me and sounds fantastic

[@DylanParisMusic]

I keep hearing great things about the m8, may have to try one this year

[@SonicVibe]

@@DylanParisMusic yes the synth engines are great and it is portable the new version 2 just came out and has a built in mic and double the battery life.

[@Monsterism]

I co sign that the M8 is awesome, I thought polyend made me think trackers wasn't for me. No polyend are just crap and the M8 was a revelation

[@dbefore7165]

@@Monsterismvery different workflows though, m8 is more like lsdj? The polyend felt more like an Amiga tracker

[@harveytherobot]

I have a feeling they won’t be offering the upgrade program for much longer, which would be a shame because I would probably do a trade-in once they iron out the bugs. Either way, I’m still pretty happy with the original.

[@joecat4115]

I have a Miyoo - about $80 - functions with an SD but needs faster/larger replacement to be optimal. Given that's around 20-25% of the cost of the device, I understand keeping the price low with an economic SD and letting people upgrade if/when they feel the need. It's also in a value market. But at the price of the Play Plus? Nah. It's said too, 'cause I also like Polyend and I thought this might be a good alternative to the Tracker (which has seen some love but is missing the synth engines), but not in this state.

[@Thedrumsthebass]

I let go of mine too, such a shame that it didn’t get nearly as much use as I would have hoped . Still ❤ my tracker though . That’s indispensable

[@DylanParisMusic]

Yeah I don’t think I’d get rid of my tracker unless I got a mini and could live without the pads for live playing or they make a stable mk2

[@dreamstaticsounds]

What a shame. I loved my Tracker and might get the mini someday. But the Play Plus just seems like a mess. The synth engines had my attention but not with these kinds of issues. Thanks for the no bullshit approach!

[@DylanParisMusic]

For sure! Others are saying I may have a lemon, but I can only speak to my experiences

[@dbefore7165]

The synths are great and there’s more coming in future firmware, I think that adds lots of value as a standalone instrument.

[@Tuvalu977]

It's such a pity to see those bugs happening... With the Tracker I always had/have consistently a very good feeling about sturdiness, reliability etc. And the project load process in my opinion is the best out of any groovebox I know. Always feels like working in a DAW where everythings loads up exactly as you left it... Polyend seems to be expanding too quickly, with Play, Tracker Mini, Play Plus, maybe thinking about Tracker Plus. Sure it all brings them revenue, but they definitely have to be super careful not to destroy their image, which at least for the og Tracker was quite flawless...

[@DylanParisMusic]

Agreed, I hope they get all the new devices patched and make sure their next devices are ready to go before releasing them. I still think they're a really cool company that makes cool stuff but this device was a bummer.

[@RDHamel]

Really liked the broken version of the first tune. But frustration understood.

[@DylanParisMusic]

Thank you!

[@thelemetric]

I was butthurt about the price drop after I bought it, encountering these bugs after paying 800 + 400 for upgrading would make me go ballistic jfc. super fair video man, weird how you did you best to be levelheaded, still get some dumb comments. definitely watching your channel. music bangs too btw.

[@DylanParisMusic]

I appreciate that 🙏 thanks for checking out the music as well!

[@ChumpyDumps]

I’ve tried three different Polyend devices (Play, Tracker, Medusa) and they’ve all been weirdly buggy and just weird workflows. Not being able to stream samples off the SD card when other companies have figured out how to stream samples off slower media storage devices is so weird and limiting. I did find it funny that a few days after they announced the Play+ being a hardware revision Elektron dropped an update for their 10 year old Rytm while Polyend was demanding more money for a device that people didn’t feel was properly updated to begin with. I understand people like the company but I won’t ever buy from them again based on my experiences.

[@Antonio_Ortiz]

Bro! Great minds think alike! LOL!

[@DylanParisMusic]

Hahaha wild timing!

[@Antonio_Ortiz]

Sold it and got an MPC One Plus. Soooooo much happier.

[@mrclaytron]

Oh man... These are some next level bugs. Companies have to stop releasing products before they are ready, effectively making their paying customers into beta testers! I know a lot of people love Polyend, but I've never had GAS for any of their products... Which is truly odd because I GAS over everything haha. Great video, let's hope Polyend can sort these issues out soon for those people who invested time and money in this thing... I believe it will eventually become stable, it's just a shame that it's released in such a broken state.

[@DylanParisMusic]

I hope the same! The best outcome is definitely working devices for all the people who paid, especially if they traded in and upgraded an original

[@TheRhyne91]

Nice bro. More Push 3 and Deluge?

[@DylanParisMusic]

Still haven’t tried the deluge but love the push 3

[@rustknuckleirongut8107]

All USB wires are not created equal. Not having a properly shielded wire will cause massive noise. Use the one included or buy a good one if you require USB-C to USB-C.

[@DylanParisMusic]

I’ve had issues with multiple including the Polyend one, and others I use with a usb c audio interface without issue

[@DylanParisMusic]

Good call out though!

[@rustknuckleirongut8107]

@@DylanParisMusic I thought I had gotten broken unit since I just plugged it into a USB wire I had hooked up to my computer for charging my phone and had insane noises and distortion even when just running power from the wire.

[@ChaswellQuint]

Fundamentally you are correct, if they shipped broken SD they gave you a broken device. But, surely as content creator you have another SD card somewhere laying around you could try to know. Why die on that hill? You didn't even pay for the device so you don't have any leverage with polyend anyway.

[@DylanParisMusic]

Because I’m approaching it from the perspective of the consumer and the principle of it. Also I don’t actually have a spare card since I only get things like that for gear that needs it, it would require removing one I use such as my audio recorder I used in this video and flashing it which would make the recorder not useable

[@matthewgaines10]

It sounds like a great concept even though it isn’t remotely my thing. It is funny there aren’t others pointing this stuff out. Like you said, try it out for yourself.

[@DylanParisMusic]

Agreed on all counts

[@Geekraver]

You probably got a bad unit. Screech sounds like a corrupt sample. But if it works second time around more likely bad RAM than a bad SD card.

[@DylanParisMusic]

Yeah it seems possible this is one of the lemons out there, definitely curious what the overall fail rate is on these

[@Geekraver]

I haven’t used mine too much but personally haven’t had any issues. Had far more issues needing power cycles with my Deluge.

[@ThoseLittleVoicesSEVRUN]

Sick shirt, best movie ever

[@DylanParisMusic]

Thank you 🙏 it’s so gooood

[@MyNameJeff..]

Bruh… I know this has nothing to do with the polyend… But the op-1 field actually clicked with me this time. Fell in love with it dude. Haven’t been able to put it down. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I love the tape. I HATED it the first time I had it, but something changed this time and I finished a few songs. The new merge feature is sick. Wanted to let you know lol!

[@DylanParisMusic]

Oh snap!! I’m glad it’s working for you dude! 👏🙏😎🔥

[@MyNameJeff..]

@@DylanParisMusic haha thank you man. I was fully expecting to be like, nah I’m insane, off to return. But it absolutely clicked. Plus, it’s a bluetooth keyboard for the live 2 and logic pro 🤙

[@DylanParisMusic]

@MyNameJeff.. that’s sick dude! I do wish they’d make just a Bluetooth keyboard that size with that design for like 200, would be a killer

[@MyNameJeff..]

@@DylanParisMusic it would be for sure! Doing audio over usb-c to logic pro and lp on ipad pro (finally caved in and got that too to try) is pretty sick. It makes it so much easier to complete songs. Because you can switch from controlling midi and sounds in logic and recording audio from op-1.

[@djkanyon]

SD cards are so outdated. Today any manufacturer can allow to have good flash memory (it costs peanuts), but it seem slike they stuck with this outdated piece of tech.

[@DylanParisMusic]

Facts

[@phild5322]

I find Polyend baffling, how they are so close but at the same time so far from creating nailed on products. They are pricing Play + not far off Elekron boxes, so proper connectivey, an Overbridge solution and probably bluetooth should be as standard

[@dbefore7165]

its handy for backups and swapping projects /samples between machines. even wit flash stoarage its not unvommon to use an SD card, the waldorf quantum does this exactly

[@DylanParisMusic]

@@dbefore7165 fair point! I think having the option for expandable storage if it works is good, I generally use it with MPCs even though they have internal drives. Obviously you want the cards to work there too but fair point!

[@djkanyon]

@@dbefore7165 yup, WITH flash storage it's all good

[@Monsterism]

Try deluge

[@DylanParisMusic]

It looks like a beast! Pricey these days and I have a few devices that are similar, but it’s always on my maybe list

[@neonvoid]

a VST synth in a box

[@dbefore7165]

Like every digital synth for past decade?

[@neonvoid]

​@@dbefore7165 technically, even the DX7 from 1983 is already a fully digital synth. access virus came out in 1997, almost 30 years ago, completely digital, the entire synth engine is software. so its more like all synths in the past 30-40 years, minus the niche ones for collectors. in 2024 the most capable synth engine you already have is your laptop. or even your phone, which is a very capable computer. pair with your favorite controller of your choice & have fun.

[@dbefore7165]

@@neonvoidnot really, early digitals used custom chips to make the sound, more solid logic rather than software, virtual analog and dsp modelled oscillators came in the 90s with korg, yamaha and nord

[@Gear-Tube]

Waddup early Dylan gang 💛

[@DylanParisMusic]

Whaddup!! 🙌🙌🙌 🙏😎

[@Gear-Tube]

Ah man dont be too hard on your beats! Sometime i dont even feel it's bad and when you say it is it programs me to doubt. But heh, it's natural as an artist 👍

[@Gear-Tube]

It's Music Gear Meta BTW, i'm re-branding but wanna keep the rapport we're building in those comment chats.

[@DylanParisMusic]

@Gear-Tube oh nice !! Appreciate you letting me know!

[@CrusaderGeneral]

Great decision!. PE tried to get rich quick, instead of releasing a redesigned product, after thorough SDLC, they rushed to release a half baked prototype, disguised as a new product

[@davelee1935]

Machine plus I had to sell ….glitch fest hard out

[@DylanParisMusic]

Brutal to hear, mine was glitchy for a few months but got a lot better over time

[@davelee1935]

@@DylanParisMusic I hope the same happens with the Play I have a tracker mini so to me it’ll be a nice little combo …. But if it’s a glitchfest I’m not taking the plunge ! Maybe Deluge ? But the synths on it sound a bit meh

[@DylanParisMusic]

I hope so too! Deluge always looked cool but a bit too spendy for me to justify with the other gear I have

[@blue.sunset]

Excuse my sincerity but this is probably the worst musical hardware you have presented to date!

[@GizzyDillespee]

2:23 Here, you complain about spending MORE of your own money, to buy an SD card... right after you said you didn't have to spend a dime for the groovebox itself, because they sent it to you for free... it doesn't look so good for you to complain about that.

[@DylanParisMusic]

I mean the consumer spending more conceptually but I hear you!

[@DylanParisMusic]

This is the danger of how I make my videos because I don’t write stuff sometimes I can phrase stuff a little off, my bad there!

[@dbefore7165]

the point being the average customer would have to pay extra for a new SD card, just so the product would function properly. thats not really great

[@rustknuckleirongut8107]

@@dbefore7165 Or just get a new one from the warranty. You need to at least try to fix a problem.

[@fcf8269]

Don't want to diminish your experience by any means, but you are not reviewing the device, you are reporting bugs and issues. Many people do not get those issues, so clearly it is not a firmware issue nor a hardware issue on all the units... It could be that you got a tampered device or something like a lemon? Have been using the Play Plus for a while and didn't get major issues at all, except one crash that never repeated itself again. Of course you evaluate it based on your experience, and that is fine; but credibility is built by looking at what you have, and then research to see if that is a problem with the design itself of the device, or if it is a problem you are experiencing... How many people get those issues? How frequently? For every 10 people getting an issue, there are another 1000 that do not get it, because they do not complain :) So clearly you "hear about problems" only by people having an issue, but you won't hear from ones not getting the issue. And that is what is interesting to look at. Again, not minimizing your experience, but people looking at this review may think that EVERY Polyend Play Plus has issues that you found; which is clearly not the case.

[@DylanParisMusic]

I mildly disagree but I hear you! I mentioned that others have had similar issues in the video a few times but didn’t go into full detail because I don’t want to put anyone on blast or breach anyone’s trust. That said I know KZbinrs and creators who had / have this device provided by the manufacturer who told me they had the same issues I had but haven’t publicly mentioned it. That’s their business but it’s worth noting. The amount I’ve heard vs what I’ve seen on KZbin seems disproportionate in the opposite direction of what you’re saying here. I think more people have had issues than have publicized it but I also agree there are certainly others who haven’t or there’s no way Polyend would have shipped this device when they did at a 100 percent fail rate

[@HIFI1965]

Enter Push3.

[@DylanParisMusic]

It’s a beast!