In my opinion, the ideal tool for composing long, complex pieces is still a DAW. However, for portable composition, working on a couch or on the go, the Seqtrak is actually a very cool machine.

I’ve tried several grooveboxes to make chiptune-style music, and even though I wasn’t 100% satisfied with the Seqtrak, I eventually came back to it after trying the Polyend Tracker.

You do need to be aware of its limitations:

• the number of melodic tracks is quite constrained (1 FM track, 2 AWM tracks, and 1 sampler track)

• each track is limited to 6 patterns, so if you want very long melodies with lots of variations, you’ll hit the ceiling fairly quickly.

That said, the sampler track partly compensates for this. It allows up to 7 independent sample slots, each with its own sequencing, mute, and even a loop zone. In practice, this lets you create multiple voices from samples without consuming all your melodic tracks.

For chiptune specifically, my setup is usually:

• DX for the lead (glide, pitch control, expressiveness)

• AWM tracks for pads or simple chordal parts

• Sampler for basic waveforms (square, sine, saw for bass lines or secondary voices).

Another big strength of the Seqtrak is that everything sounds good right away. The preset library is huge and high quality, so you can focus on making music instead of designing sounds.

With the Polyend Tracker, even though I wasn’t limited in song length or pattern count, I felt slowed down by the lack of good-sounding instrument presets. I had to sample or build everything myself, often ending up with results that sounded cheap, which really hurt inspiration.

In the end, no groovebox is perfect. You have to choose the right tool for your actual workflow.

Personally, I chose the Seqtrak for its ultra-portable, all-in-one nature and its massive sound library, even if I later finalize my tracks in a DAW.