picoTracker (Original)

Open sourceMicroDigital

Pattern-based composition fits into a DIY handheld built around the RP2040 microcontroller. The original picoTracker pairs a 2.8-inch, 320 x 240 display with mechanical keys and a tracker interface for arranging samples, MIDI instruments and experimental SID and OPAL synth instruments.

Current firmware for the original hardware provides eight song channels, 256 chains, 128 phrases and 32 tables, with 8- or 16-bit samples up to 44.1 kHz and stereo audio output. Projects and samples live on microSD, while a shared headphone/line output, TRS MIDI input and output, and USB MIDI output connect it to other equipment. USB-C supports charging and firmware updates. CPU and memory limits can restrict simultaneous playback across all eight channels, and the DIY kit requires additional parts and assembly.

Released

2023

Status

Product links

Official site

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Videos

picoTracker v2 Build Guide

picoTracker v2 - DIY sampler, plugin synths and MIDI tracker / sequencer - walktrough and tutorial!

Alt Firmware

picoTracker Doom
firmwaregithub.com
picoTracker Doom is a port of the classic first-person shooter Doom to the original RP2040-based picoTracker, using the device's LCD, buttons and audio output. The picoTracker's keys are mapped to play it: the D-pad moves and navigates menus, Enter fires and confirms, Edit runs, Alt opens doors and uses switches, Nav shows the automap and Play pauses or opens the menu. The firmware does not include game data. The player converts their own Doom WAD file into a compact image with the included converter tool and writes it to a fixed area of the device's flash; the documented method uses an SWD debug probe, and the firmware itself installs as a UF2 file. The game image stays in place across later firmware loads unless the whole flash is erased.
pT_dx7
firmwaregithub.com
pT_dx7 is standalone FM synthesizer firmware for the original RP2040-based picoTracker that turns the device into a six-voice DX7-style synth with a reverb on the master output. It loads DX7 SysEx patch banks from a folder on the SD card, 32 patches per bank, and the screen shows the current patch, levels, preview note, USB MIDI state and battery. A single cursor menu selects the patch and bank, sets master and voice levels and the reverb's mix, feedback, damping and input gain, where turning the reverb off frees processing for more polyphony, and switches the output between headphone and line level. Play holds a preview note and Enter acts as a panic button. The synth plays from USB MIDI or the TRS MIDI input on any channel, with program change and bank select for patches and volume and expression control, and reflashing the standard picoTracker firmware returns the device to the tracker.
midiTracker
firmwaregithub.com
midiTracker is alternate firmware for the RP2040-based picoTracker that turns it into a MIDI file player, MIDI and SysEx recorder and four-track MIDI looper. The player streams standard MIDI files and SysEx dumps from the SD card over TRS or USB MIDI, with pause, scrubbing and adjustable tempo, and has experimental playback of WAV files and MOD, S3M and XM tracker modules. A built-in chiptune-flavoured synth, pariSynth, can voice MIDI files without external gear or be played live over MIDI, multitimbral across 16 channels, with editable waveform, envelope, filter and modulation settings saved as preset banks and an optional lo-fi reverb. The recorder writes incoming MIDI, including inline SysEx, to type 0 MIDI files, or captures SysEx bank and patch dumps as .syx files. The looper's four tracks each have their own input and output channels and free or bar-based lengths, with overdub, mute and pause, per-track or whole-session saving, internal or MIDI tempo, transport control, a metronome and count-in. A theme editor customises the colours, settings persist on the card, and a two-line footer explains the button combinations on every screen.
copingTracker
firmwaregithub.com
copingTracker is alternate tracker firmware for the RP2040-based picoTracker. It keeps the tracker workflow of songs, chains, phrases and tables across eight song channels, and builds its instrument set around sample instruments with a built-in General MIDI sound bank, MIDI instruments, a chiptune synth, chiptune drum kits, LSDJ-style drum kits and a stack instrument for pads, chords and supersaws. Samples can be 8 or 16 bit, mono or stereo, and output is 16-bit 44.1 kHz stereo. The mix adds a global effects chain starting with delay, global and per-instrument EQ and compression, slewed panning and per-step volume. Drum and bassline phrase generators create starting material, a project-wide phrase length supports other time signatures with a matching metronome, and the help and command reference are built into the firmware. A desktop build of the same code is available for development. With many sample channels playing at once the RP2040 may struggle, while the chiptune instruments are lighter.

Synthesizer

Format

Micro, Workstation

Synthesis

Digital, Sample-based, Chiptune, FM

Battery Powered

Yes

DIY Option

Yes

Open source

Yes

Voice

A/D

Digital

Workflow

Arpeggiator

Sequencer

Yes

Mod Matrix

Memory

Expression

Aftertouch

Velocity

Additional

Nine mechanical keys for tracker navigation and note entry.

I/O

Audio Out

1 x 3.5 mm stereo headphone/line output

Headphone

3.5 mm stereo headphone/line output

MIDI

In, Out

MIDI Type

USB, TRS (3.5mm), Type A

Ports

USB-C, MicroSD Card, Headphone, Line Out

Wi-Fi

Last updated Nov 5, 2026

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Xiphonics

xiphonics.com

Redwood City, CA

Xiphonics is an independent company specializing in versatile tools for music creators, offering customizable open-source solutions alongside portable hardware instruments. It produces the picoTracker Advance, an evolution of the original picoTracker, which provides a low-cost, DIY music tracker platform with a classical tracker interface, supporting 8 monophonic channels of 8- or 16-bit samples up to 44.1 kHz and 16-channel MIDI output.

picoTracker (Original)

Product links

Build Difficulty

Videos

Alt Firmware

Specs

Reviews

Videos

Alt Firmware