Hello!
I have or have had a Deluge, MC-707, MC-101, Circuit Tracks, Circuit Rhythm, Woovebox, Force, MPC, a 168hp 6U modular, a TR-8S, TR-6S, P.O. 133 KO II.
The 707 and OP-Z both great boxes though I did end up selling both of them.
MC-707
While great, the 707 isn’t battery powered nor portable so it’s a bit of apples to orange when comparing it to the Tracker Mini. The 707 is great and can definitely be your studio brain, sampling on it isn’t great/fun but it has a ton of amazing sounds. Yes, you can get deep using the menu, but will you? Probably not, deep editing of presets is tedious and very divey, and I rarely did it other than assigning something to the knobs. My current favorite studio brain is the Akai Force, which supports many different workflows, and is very fun to perform/jam on.
OP-Z
I had the OP-Z for about 6 months. While I loved it, it’s one of the boxes that’s amazing on paper but doesn’t quite deliver on the specs. It is very inspiring though, and I really enjoyed using mine. My main issues with it were the build quality (absolutely terrible), I had to purchase 3 NEW units to get one with zero issues. If you purchase an OP-Z, I recommend you get it from a place that sells an extended warranty because you will have issues in a couple years. The ergonomics are quite poor and my hands would cramp after using it for about twenty minutes. the corners are very sharp which will dig in your hands as well. Sampling and finishing tracks is MUCH better/easier on the Tracker Mini. The dials are amazing though, and I would love the Tracker Mini MKII to have something like that. Another big plus is the battery life, I get about 6 hours of use “real life” use which is amazing.
Freebeat has a video where he talks about the Polyend Tracker being his favorite groovebox. I was pretty skeptical but now I can’t imaging taking anything else on the go (Woovebox would be close second).
It’s honestly hard to explain why I’m jiving with the Tracker Mini so much. First, the form factor is nice, comfortable to use, and easy to throw in a bag. No knobs or parts will get caught on anything. It’s pretty comfortable in the hand, though you have to press the buttons pretty hard which I don’t like very much. I think my favorite thing about Tracker Mini is the workflow, it’s fast, fun, and very inspiring. It’s also very easy to finish tracks and export them in song mode (as long as you figured out that you can add a new empty pattern). It’s a bit light in modulation and is missing a few things that come standard on other grooveboxes (such as the ability to have different track length, and no insert effects on sample tracks (non-destructive). I also love that it has internal synths. Though many of the presets aren’t super usable, the synths themselves seem versatile.
Hope that helps but feel free to ask any questions!