# FastTracker II

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/fasttracker-ii/

6 people recommended FastTracker II in Hacker News comments, 2 had mixed feelings and none criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 12 months, in 3 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

4 of the 6 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “Fasttracker II clone in C using SDL 2”.

**Verdict:** Recommended for its nostalgic, intuitive, tactile interface, which many people learned music making with. Its PC speaker output option is criticized as poor.

Summary written by Claude from 8 comments.

## Why people recommend it

- Nostalgic and fondly remembered (3 comments in the sample): "For me, Fasttracker II still remains the most nostalgic, intuitive, immersive DAW ever made." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49094616)) "What a nostalgia. I make Finnish dance chart track back in 98 with ft2" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49164442)) "Anyone who has fond memories of FT2 is a friend of mine!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49148101))
- Intuitive, tactile interface (1 comment in the sample): "how intuitive and tactile it felt to get things done in it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49094886))

## What people warn about

- Weak PC speaker output (1 comment in the sample): "FT2 did have a really shitty PC speaker output option, because almost all of them are shitty" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49145973))

## Other music trackers people recommend

- [Renoise](https://hackerapproved.com/p/renoise/): 6 recommend, 3 mixed, 1 criticize
- [ScreamTracker](https://hackerapproved.com/p/screamtracker/): 5 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "FastTracker II", https://hackerapproved.com/p/fasttracker-ii/ (6 recommend, 2 mixed, 0 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 3 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.