Teenage Engineering Pocket Operator Synths

[juiceciuj]

cool track btw but the one that played after is lush as fuck

PO-32... I am new to this thing, and it's just the best. Microtonic is already one of my favorite drum machines, and this takes that and adds so much to it. I had a Volca Beats, and it was OK, but in comparison to this good good drum machine, it was nothing. The thing that blows my mind is that, other than multi-outputs, it has all the best features of $600+ drum machines, with value added from the live effects, and the fact that, with morph, you can use up to 32 Microtonic patches at a time... (in 4 choke groups, which is a really nice limitation.)
Syncing this up and making hardware jams is so fucking fun.

Heres an all hardware jam, with the drums & drum effects all coming from the PO-32 (stock patches in this one)

 

fyi 99% chance they're about to announce another collaboration with sonic charge. leaks indicate a new po called speak so probably bitspeak? should know this week.

[modey]

cmoooon sampler

 

having a pocket sampler would be amazing for found sound beatzzzz

[juiceciuj]

part of me thinks this, yes. part of me realizes that i have a smartphone and nanoloop for $ which is a very capable sampler/sequencer (but no fx!)

 

the final part of me realizes that these are essentially my adult pokemon and i gotta catch'em all

[modey]

Very true. I can't go back to the phone version of nanoloop though; the GBA version is so much better (no sampling though). I need buttons!

[sweepstakes]

Very true. I can't go back to the phone version of nanoloop though; the GBA version is so much better (no sampling though). I need buttons!

Yes. I can't do the touch screen thing, I think it's a (sub-)generation gap.

 

And oh man I don't need another sampler but I NEED a sampling PO. Would be amazing to go sit with a monologue and some fx - sample patches as I go, all synced up and self-contained, beats for days.

[ganus]

 

Very true. I can't go back to the phone version of nanoloop though; the GBA version is so much better (no sampling though). I need buttons!

Yes. I can't do the touch screen thing, I think it's a (sub-)generation gap.

 

And oh man I don't need another sampler but I NEED a sampling PO. Would be amazing to go sit with a monologue and some fx - sample patches as I go, all synced up and self-contained, beats for days.

Yeah, I think folks that are 100% comfortable with touch screens are probably just now up and coming. I also feel the need for buttons, at least for extended use. I'm 26, but that means I'm old enough I came up on Win 95 and didn't have a smart phone til my 20s, so I get tiny screen fatigue very quickly. Nothing like the ever increasing speed of technological improvements to make you feel old. 256GB microSd cards are the most magical shit to me.

[thawkins]

I don't really mind the touch screen because I think it's possible to learn and get really good at it. What bugs me more is that I can't seem to trust the underlying operating system - it is either Android, which is full of Google thingamajigs all constantly doing *something* or the apps themselves always feel kind of flimsy to me. I do not have a lot of iOS experience, I think it's probably way more reliable as a music making platform.

 

I think all this is a professional pet peeve as a software developer, because in the interests of the planet it is very cool and good if you do not need to make a new thing with buttons each time you make a new thing if you could instead achieve the same result with software.

[ganus]

I don't really mind the touch screen because I think it's possible to learn and get really good at it. What bugs me more is that I can't seem to trust the underlying operating system - it is either Android, which is full of Google thingamajigs all constantly doing *something* or the apps themselves always feel kind of flimsy to me. I do not have a lot of iOS experience, I think it's probably way more reliable as a music making platform.

 

I think all this is a professional pet peeve as a software developer, because in the interests of the planet it is very cool and good if you do not need to make a new thing with buttons each time you make a new thing if you could instead achieve the same result with software.

Also tho touch screen stuff is terrible for the environment and expires quickly; I'm sure you're better off a piece of dedicated hardware and having it last forever, than replacing a tablet every few years

[thawkins]

Don't know about that - it seems that old tablets can last quite a long time if you do not try to keep up with the software updates constantly. But definitely the more complex the technology, the more some factory in China is going to pump out some sludge, so yeah..

[Stock]

Well TE just posted another very acid-y clip on their Instagram. If the other PO is a 303 emulation i'm gonna implode

[juiceciuj]

nah, pretty sure it's going to be the sonic charge collab centered around bitspeak called "speak:. magnus posted this in the sonic charge forums today. has the same "pudding" sample:

 

https://soundcloud.com/malstrom/happy-new-gear

 

also the above referred new te instagram post: https://www.instagram.com/p/BeU47Nzg1qI/

[juiceciuj]

yep. they're up:

[YangYing]

feels a bit mean.. they kinda destroy the previous po-s.. hell, the speak has the whole tonic inside of it!

[juiceciuj]

feels a bit mean.. they kinda destroy the previous po-s.. hell, the speak has the whole tonic inside of it!

i mean? not really. i don't think it's nearly as full featured as the tonic. i haven't been able to watch demos yet, but you probably can't swap out sounds on it can you like you can on the tonic? and it's mono

[YangYing]

 

feels a bit mean.. they kinda destroy the previous po-s.. hell, the speak has the whole tonic inside of it!

i mean? not really. i don't think it's nearly as full featured as the tonic. i haven't been able to watch demos yet, but you probably can't swap out sounds on it can you like you can on the tonic? and it's mono

you can! thats what amazed me!

 

edit: and sold me

[juiceciuj]

oh shnarp! that's pretty dank. so the only thing is that it's mono? weird

[Stock]

According to their website, drum sounds are replaceable if you own the microtonic VST (which is probably something I'll end up buying too).

I'm very glad I didn't bought the PO-32 when it came out, getting a PO-35 has been a no brainer ! I wanted a PO and something to manipulate my voice for a long time now so I'm very happy.

 

It will probably be a nice thing to jam with while commuting. Just discovered that pleasure with nanoloop on my smartphone and I'm sure the PO will just take that feeling further :)

[ganus]

I dont really see the point of having hardware dedicated to the Bitspeek effect, so I'm fine with having the PO-32 - it is a drum machine, and has more capabilities in that aspect, and that's what I wanted. I do recommend Microtonic, but it never goes on sale and is $100... I use it enough and have for years so its worth it.

KO seems pretty cool, but I'm not in a rush to get it.

[sweepstakes]

KO is literally a dream come true for me. It's not even a usual GAS thing, it's such an obvious damn thing that somehow nobody has done properly in 40 years of sampling and 20+ years of me lusting over samplers. And after the PO-32 I don't see how they haven't absolutely nailed this, unless somehow the build quality is complete garbage, and even then it's a hundred bucks. They've laid out exactly what this is, there's no flashy specs (aside from battery life) or surprises or bullshit to hide behind. I don't even care if there isn't a backup option. Just beautiful. Thank you TE.

[modey]

Yeah, I ordered the KO immediately.

 

Having said that, the Speak is also a sampler but also contains one microtonic voice? I'm wondering if I should have got that instead.. surely there's something unique about the KO's sampling that makes it worth it though..

[markedone]

Yeah, I ordered the KO immediately.

 

Having said that, the Speak is also a sampler but also contains one microtonic voice? I'm wondering if I should have got that instead.. surely there's something unique about the KO's sampling that makes it worth it though..

The tutorial above mentions that the speak is a vocal synthesizer (audio is processed through the synth as you record), not a true sampler like the KO.  Someone else probably knows more about what this implies limitation-wise

[YangYing]

edit: post above

[modey]

 

Yeah, I ordered the KO immediately.

 

Having said that, the Speak is also a sampler but also contains one microtonic voice? I'm wondering if I should have got that instead.. surely there's something unique about the KO's sampling that makes it worth it though..

The tutorial above mentions that the speak is a vocal synthesizer (audio is processed through the synth as you record), not a true sampler like the KO.  Someone else probably knows more about what this implies limitation-wise

 

Yeah shortly after posting that I watched Cuckoo's overview, it looks really good. Glad I got the KO but I can definitely see myself getting the Speak as well..

[sweepstakes]

 

 

Yeah, I ordered the KO immediately.

 

Having said that, the Speak is also a sampler but also contains one microtonic voice? I'm wondering if I should have got that instead.. surely there's something unique about the KO's sampling that makes it worth it though..

The tutorial above mentions that the speak is a vocal synthesizer (audio is processed through the synth as you record), not a true sampler like the KO.  Someone else probably knows more about what this implies limitation-wise

 

Yeah shortly after posting that I watched Cuckoo's overview, it looks really good. Glad I got the KO but I can definitely see myself getting the Speak as well..

 

Same here. Honestly I think it's apples and oranges. The KO seems like basically what I wanted the volca sample to be (although the VS still has its own strengths) and nice for a relatively conservative sort of 90s drum machine and sampler workflow, but the Speak honestly sounds like there's a lot more to play with, at the very least it's super novel. From what I've heard so far it's the most capable one of the whole line for making full tracks in, unless you really love chippy drums, arpeggios, and swells in standard major-scale chords and then there's the Arcade.

 

Also this is totally dumb but I love the way the Speak looks with that turquoise.

[YangYing]

 

 

Also this is totally dumb but I love the way the Speak looks with that turquoise.

lol not at all! I agree