I sold all of my Pocket Operators except for these // Here’s why

[@LiamKillen]

Distribute your music with DistroKid - 7% Discount Link: ►distrokid.com/vip/liamkillen Join the Patreon community and gain access to weekly exclusive content: ►www.patreon.com/liamkillenmusic

[@djcuvcuv]

awesome overview. i didnt quite get what the po32 has that the po33ko doesnt. does the po33 have drum plus sampler making the po32 redundant as it only has drums? thanks!

[@kathleencoveny3860]

Amazing how a mini pocket operator such as these ...can pack such an enormous punch .. cheers and thank you for assessing the unlimited capabilities of these miniature beasts ..

[@LiamKillen]

Truth be told!

[@phatplates]

Unlimited capabilities? 😂😂😂

[@AmarylisFlow]

I really want a Pocket Operator and then I play around with Koala Sampler app and can’t justify getting any of them. They’re cool as hell though.

[@LiamKillen]

Yeah Koala rips

[@lintec8142]

Well the physical buttons do make a little difference, but yes you can definitely do it all on koala 😊

[@scottlarock7924]

I love koala. But it hasn't drawn me in yet. Life, by xln . . . Drew me in. But that's only off of the demo. I still haven't thrown the cash down. :-)

[@hugefood]

Great video. I'm huge fan/ user of the PO-33 and definitely recommend it if you're only going to get one. The only caveat is that it requires getting really good at sampling in order to generate sounds as clear and balanced as the ones that come pre-loaded on it or the other POs. If you clip or record too low you might not get the rich D&B sounds you hear in other users' recordings. Thx for the vid and keep up the great work!

[@LiamKillen]

It's my pleasure. Thank you for watching :-)

[@tylerwatt5651]

My KO arrived last night and I'm still feeling a little bit lost, so this video has been hugely helpful. Cheers!

[@LiamKillen]

Awesome! Glad that it’s helped

[@fleecefoxes6471]

I've only tried a friends Tonic so far and was thinking how it would sound like together with Rhythm - so I am really glad they were in your top picks. Might pick up both!

[@LiamKillen]

Highly recommended if that's where you're at! :-)

[@grillmeisterflash]

Hands down Po33 and Po12 are the MVPs

[@LiamKillen]

If I was to pick two that would be it 😏

[@d3tuned378]

T O N I C

[@cm9241]

I've had a 33 for awhile, just got the 12 for Christmas, I think the 32 is the priority now

[@miguelangelriccione4950]

PO33 and 12 team here, those are so useful and easy to integrate to any set up, hands down. The other ones look super fun but I suspect they'd end up collecting dust somewhere after a few weeks

[@cm9241]

@@miguelangelriccione4950 check out the tonic. I think the Tonic and KO might be the most versatile pocket operators. Love the rhythm but you're pretty limited on what kind of sounds you can get out of it. The tonic can do a lot of the same stuff the PO12 can do plus more

[@mopanda81]

video encouraged me to bust out my factory and noodle around. I was a little disappointed originally I couldn't program synths AND play over them at the same time but I hadn't really explored the keystyles and there's a lot of variety you can play into a pattern once you've got it down. Super funky!

[@LiamKillen]

Hell yeah! Always glad to inspire. Thanks for being here! :--)

[@jordanWAH]

Nice collection, personally I think you can loose either the rhythm or tonic, because they are essentially both great drum machine's. The tonic definitely is the most advanced and more useful.

[@Dork2099]

PO-35 Speak is my favorite right now because it produces sounds that I don’t know how to produce with any of my other hardware. Just instant wild. I’ve owned about half a dozen POs in the past few years. My PO-12 Rhythm died of a static discharge something something and I can’t even throw it away because I loved it so much. 😢

[@LiamKillen]

Yeah instant wild is a great quick description for sure haha

[@3_0_3aka8]

same and a keeper

[@leewightman8619]

The p.o KO 33 is the damage for hip-hop and dnb even funky house anything sample based I record my track into the tascam eq it and add compression and then I add some stuff from a synth or keyboards or even more stuff from the p.o and it sounds just as good as an MPC well if it's lofi obviously trance and stuff ain't gonna sound legit but people think chip choon when it comes to the p.o but they can sound really good well the k.o anyways and the workflow is simple definitely worth the money

[@LiamKillen]

Yes to all of this! Thanks for your addition here! :-)

[@neguchi666]

Here's a tip: 2:05 - You don't need to hold both. You can hold Record and just tap the number key to start recording. Please don't use the conserved energy for evil.

[@LiamKillen]

Thx for the tip ! I think that the Discord community would appreciate your synth knowledge - if you're interested in joining! :-) discord.gg/xj8J2xJuBP

[@jimlampshady]

Geez. Have you tried the Microtonic app from Sonic Charge? Game changer. Turns the PO32 into the front end of an extremely powerful sound design tool. Particularly the feature which allows you to assign different patches to A and B and morph between them is insanely deep and flexible. With the Microtonic app, the PO32 is not a good machine "for it's size" but just a good machine.

[@LiamKillen]

That's one thing I haven't tried!

[@vishnusriram]

Wow that beat on the PO12 slaps man

[@LiamKillen]

Hey thanks ! You seem like someone who would enjoy my Discord ! Here's an invite :-) discord.gg/xj8J2xJuBP

[@vishnusriram]

@@LiamKillen thanks for the invite, Liam! Will check it out 😁

[@vishnusriram]

In case anyone’s specifically wondering what I’m talking about I mean the one at @8:36, the space / sound of kick is really phat

[@SpeccyMan]

I have the PO-32 and the PO-33 and I will definitely be adding the PO-12 at some point soon. The PO-35 is not for me, so I'm thinking the sub or the arcade as number 4.

[@LiamKillen]

Soon you'll be the PO master ! :-)

[@CargoShorts7]

Hey there! I've been watching your PO vids and am super intrigued by them. I'm coming from the world of guitar playing and recently got real fascinated by exploring ways to create music without my guitar, and then hopefully be able to combine the two for some cool pieces eventually. I have no experience with POs or really even sequencers//samplers and want to learn, but also not be too quickly bogged down by the learning curve. I want to work my way up to making some cool/complex pieces, but starting out, I'd love to be able to just quickly get some sounds and piece together some ideas. Which PO or maybe even PO pair would you recommend for a beginner? Cheers!

[@LiamKillen]

I personally would say PO-12 and PO KO

[@CargoShorts7]

@@LiamKillen Hey right on , thanks for the suggestion man. I actually ended up ordering a PO-20 yesterday, but I'm thinking about getting one more to pair with and and use on it's own. Do you think the learning curve is too steep on the KO for a first Pocket Operator? And which would you choose between the PO-12 and 32 Tonic? I've seen you praise the 12 in a couple vids and it sounds really cool, but I also know the 32 gets a lot of love too. Thanks again!

[@robertgray4904]

Yeah it’s pretty amazing what these PO’s are possible of 😋

[@LiamKillen]

Truly!

[@MisterRorschach90]

There are really cool dual, triple, and I’m sure quad cases for these things. Since you only have these left. They also just have normal calculator cases for them. So cool.

[@LiamKillen]

Yo ucan get them direct from Teenage Engineering!

[@MisterRorschach90]

@@LiamKillen I know they have their cases. I guess I didn’t express the idea well. There are custom cases on places like Etsy or reverb and they look 1000x cooler. And the ones TE has already look cool.

[@alex-r-t]

Have you ever loaded a Tonic drum kit into the drum section of the Speak? I'm pretty sure they're compatible. **Edit:** Actually, now that I'm looking through your old stuff, have you ever featured the Microtonic desktop software or loaded a new kit onto your Tonic?

[@LiamKillen]

I haven't done the microtonic thing yet! Def something to explore in a future video.

[@kierenmoore3236]

I know nothing … but from that quick comparison, seems the rhythm is like the 909 of the two, and the tonic the 808 … (or possibly, the 707 and the 727 … ?!) … 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

[@LiamKillen]

I find that they all kind of differentiate themselves from the classic roland drum sounds ansd are in this IDM / Gameboy dance music sort of category.

[@kierenmoore3236]

@@LiamKillen I just meant relative to each other - not that they actually sound like the Roland units, which they clearly don’t. Seems like the Rhythm hits a bit harder, and the Tonic’s sounds are generally a bit softer … ? 🤷🏻‍♂️ Again, allowing for their size

[@somefilmaboutboston1924]

Hey Liam, you probably are too busy for this, but if you happen to get a few minutes to check this, I've started doing modern dance classes, and, as a pianist, I'm replacing a drummer that used to play for the classes exclusively, and I'm trying to figure out the best way to not have a lot to lug across campus. I JUST need percussion (I'll play it and then start mashing keys with it). If I load some beats in that I made before hand, and I just have to connect it to the room's speakers, and I set it and forget it, I could do that with that, right? Trying to figure out the lightest possible setup. I currently have a Maschine MK II, a 2016 laptop, a Zoom H5 (used as an audio interface) all connected together and I'm making up beats in Maschine for it. Thanks for any insight.

[@LiamKillen]

Yes you could use a Pocket Operator for this but in all honestly, it's SUPER limited - chances are you'll want something else pretty quick. I would recommend the TR-6S for what you're looking for because it's super portable and still very capable. Thanks for watching! :-)

[@pedrogoyamusic]

Liam, do u know if there’s a randomize all the synth engines on the Po32 and tonic? Just like the uTonic vst can do?

[@LiamKillen]

Ummmm not to my knowledge. If you have other synth related question though, hit up my Discord for some community vibes: discord.gg/xj8J2xJuBP

[@teamphil]

I love my po-12, I’d get another if I could find one on the cheap

[@LiamKillen]

Po 12 squared

[@musicbyethan]

Great video as always my friend. All the PO’s are on my no sell list along with my slightly bent opz. :)

[@LiamKillen]

You're gonna be so pissed about the "gear i'm selling" video that i'll be putting out in coming weeks.

[@musicbyethan]

@@LiamKillen noooo! not the little pocket operators! they are too cool to sell ❤️ . They are my post apocalyptic dawless setup when the power grid goes down 😂. Cant wait for the next video as always my friend. Looking forward to what you come up with next! ❤️ 🍚 🥕 ☮️ 🕊️

[@killurtv319]

I've had an issue with some of the button functionality and oxidation, has anyone else had this issue and any solutions? I have PO-20 and I love the chord feature and I'm looking for a P.o. KO and Tonic

[@LiamKillen]

Yeah they're built ok but I wouldn't say they're built to last forever - very finicky !

[@user-jt5vm3mi1w]

Wish these were released as a smartphone app

[@LiamKillen]

there actually is a kind of app versions of these called pixel.

[@user-jt5vm3mi1w]

@@LiamKillen sweet thanks

[@MemesFromUnderTheBed]

What is your headphone that look good and i need headphone

[@LiamKillen]

those are TMA-2 wireless + :-)

[@bendjams9379]

Cool. Case link says it's currently out of stock. Any other recommended cases...? Anyone?

[@LiamKillen]

Hmmmm MyVolts has a pretty cool po case

[@lucienverse]

I would love to get one of these but they look very overwealming still when im very new to music

[@LiamKillen]

I get it for sure - but they're actually quite straight forward once you understand the workflow ! :-)

[@starpause]

Nice! Checked affiliate links section to find out what cases you're using but didn't see them.

[@LiamKillen]

Oh yeah no affiliated for those!

[@drkosa]

Wow that delay unit at 8:55 seems interesting...

[@LiamKillen]

Meris LVX! Here's a full review: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iZXQXpaPeZt_o9Esi=TUGwplusDzjS35xv

[@villaribabambule]

sorry , but i have to ad that the PO 35 does not sample, it synthesizes the recorded sounds. That's the reason why the PO 35 has longer recording time than the PO 33. And the PO 32 doesn't stuck to its factory sounds it's just th3 opposite: The PO 32 Tonic could get all the sound from the Microtonic VST and those sounds a really easy to transfer and share.

[@LiamKillen]

Hey I appreciate these additions- I should have added about the 32 that I was referring to the standalone unit. Thank you

[@d3tuned378]

​@@LiamKillenwould you use tonic files if I uploaded them? Audio transfer files for the tonic are few and far between. Contemplating making a series of data for those who don't have microtonic vst.

[@triplenickelniner]

So is this operated through MIDI? Or a stand alone sampler? And does it have its own built on speaker or does or need a output like headphones or a amp?😊

[@Sam_splatter]

They are portable. No outside hardware required. Yes it has its own speaker.

[@LiamKillen]

What sam said.

[@LiamKillen]

Thanks :-)

[@triplenickelniner]

Thanks so much. I am seriously thinking about getting one. @@Sam_splatter

[@MindlessTurtle]

Pocket Operators are so fun. Breaks my heart they didn't get more popular.

[@LiamKillen]

I think they’re still pretty popular!

[@OCEANSINSPACE]

heys whats that dope big yellow case? Cheers!

[@OCEANSINSPACE]

oops, found link.thx!

[@LiamKillen]

My volts!

[@LiamKillen]

Cheers

[@SemahIbrahimBenAbdelaziz]

noob question: can you straight sample songs from a mic or Spotify into these?

[@LiamKillen]

with the PO-KO you can sample your voice into the mic on the unit- and yeah you can sample direct from your computer headphone out into the PO-KO or any other sampling POs

[@SemahIbrahimBenAbdelaziz]

Thank you! 🙏

[@stephpicher]

Who needs Chinese violin samples when they have your voice? :)

[@LiamKillen]

😅

[@SplotchyInk]

I ended up losing out, these were so affordable but now they are $100 a piece D: Kind of wanted to just hop in and see if sampling and all that was something I'd like, but its a bit too pricey now D: Unless maybe they will go on sale in the future maybe???

[@LiamKillen]

Still very affordable in comparison to most of what's on the market these days! :-)

[@KulaniDulani]

I bit the $100 bullet (from Perfect Circuit through one of Liam's affiliate links), and honestly, it's totally worth it. Hopefully that translates into a bigger cut for Liam!

[@SplotchyInk]

@@KulaniDulani Same, though in my case I ended up buying second hand, got the KO for an absurdly low price, and the Megaman for $20 off, both on ebay. Keeping an eye out on a Tonic cause after playing around with these I can see the advantage of having a dedicated normal drum machine in the sequence.

[@KulaniDulani]

@@SplotchyInk awesome! Yeah the tonic is on my radar too, maybe I'll check second hand listings as well

[@sidneiribeiro3883]

The key 8 on my PO35 is locked 🤔

[@LiamKillen]

hmmmmm

[@josephwright5921]

Try getting some canned air and spray it

[@dorijoe]

How about SUB? You haven't got rid of it, neither kept it. Or did you sell your SUB too? I really like SUB. Bad Boy. 😅

[@LiamKillen]

Thwe SUB is GONE - it's great for bass tones though :-)

[@patjlinnane]

Im an operator of my Pocket Operator 😊

[@LiamKillen]

Hell yeah ya are

[@LaithRihani]

nwo this is what i clal music

[@LiamKillen]

IDM! :-)

[@djnodj]

I'd give Sub a solid place in that group, depending on what one likes. Also it seems that with Microtonic and PO32, you might not need PO12 Rhythm? And thanks for all the vids and tutorials like this one, SUPER HELPFUL. (And since you chose the entire "Metal Series", did you ever wonder if there was a PO-34? Maybe didn't make it out of the concept or lab stage?)

[@LiamKillen]

Honestly with TE you never know what's coming next lol. Although they're focusing a lot on non synth related stuff these days.

[@Hakucho64]

I have the PO-33 and PO-35. The PO-35 really shines when you give it speech (your own or from a sample) rather than singing, because it turns the speech into a synth that you can play chromatically with all sorts of interesting effects applied. I love the vocoder, synth, and fifth effects.

[@LiamKillen]

I love my POs and they've been super fun - but finally i'm goign to be getting rid of mine ! They've served me well. If you wanna talk about it over on my Discord, here's an invite, lol: discord.gg/xj8J2xJuBP

[@leewightman8619]

I love the po ko33 its a great little sampler for what it is it can sound great if u record it into a daw or multitrack and add eq compression and duplicate the tracks and pan them both.. i like talking my ko out when im walking so i can work on a beat while im on the move iv used it with other gear to and it always does the job

[@LiamKillen]

Yeah it's perfect for that! On the fly usage! :-)

[@mo-draws]

You just made me wanna get my POs out again and relearn to use them. :)

[@LiamKillen]

Mission accomplished 😏

[@ArtemV-lov]

Nice to watch videos about PO in 2023. I bought my first PO-33 few weeks ago and have started diving into functionality

[@LiamKillen]

Yeah people are still using them!

[@monoswinger]

actually I have the 33 since 2018 I guess, now my kids (9,11) started to doing music, so I decided, to give them a 12 and an arcade for christmas - so we can make band together at the kitchen table :) - maybe a sub instead of arcade

[@LiamKillen]

Haha that's so fun! :-)

[@monoswinger]

@@LiamKillen yeah, i hope so. I mean, if they don't like it, I am happy to use :D

[@panacea.palace]

did your kids end up enjoying them?

[@the_dan]

For my top PO list I replaced the 35 Speak with the 14 Sub, the 35 don't really vibes for me. I purchased the 133 Street Fighter almost 2 years ago and this year I bought the 12, 14, 28, 32 and it's been a blast playing with them, only the 28 Robot is a bit to dry for me, but I still find it fun. Thanks for all your PO videos, you've been an inspiration and life saver when I decided what POs to buy!

[@LiamKillen]

Awesome!! So glad to help 😊

[@herjenmusic]

Tonic is my fav!

[@LiamKillen]

Yaaaaa!

[@dumafuji]

Nice choices. But you know you can load “patches” into the Tonic through microtonic or audio transfer files, ya? Maybe I missed that part? It’s a flexible beat tool. I do like the sub a bunch too.

[@LiamKillen]

It’s something I haven’t checked out- and so now I’m even more glad that I kept the tonic. Def will exploring this app Thanks for the addition!

[@smellymala3103]

Haha holy cow 30 minutes ago I put these in case with a pocket clock-it opz and nts1 😂 weird wave. Same cases, too, except the rhythm is in its black/green silly.

[@LiamKillen]

😏 great combo :-)

[@TurboLoveTrain]

... this is like the HARDEST way to build a MIDI file... this is like using a pocket calculator to emulate excel... I guess you CAN do it but why the hell would you.

[@LiamKillen]

It's sort of a different thing all together.

[@darkwing11]

My feeling is that the PO’s you will be keeping are also the ones you will have a hard time finding new in stock.

[@LiamKillen]

Actually the ones I’m keeping are for the most part the most basic ones- except for maybe the speak, which I’m actually planning on letting go lol

[@hellf.o]

POs are just great pieces of gear! Whish they did a PO fx unit so much..!

[@LiamKillen]

Ohh that would be amazing!

[@CNTRRNDM]

I just love pocket operators😁

[@LiamKillen]

PO for lyfe yo

[@erichutchinsws]

I came by here while relearning my my Pocket Operators. Just ordered my Woovebox and realized how crazy it will be to link them all! 😎.

[@LiamKillen]

You're in for some good times for sure ! :-)

[@maxsmart9116]

1:50, sounds like the Afrique version of Soul Makossa

[@LiamKillen]

Ouuu interesting taaaake!

[@ukbloke28]

yep. it's surely a Manu Dibango loop

[@Tim.Traveler]

Get 4 PO KO's and sample specific instruments to each one - wonder if that would be cool....

[@LiamKillen]

I'm sure you can find a way to make it cool :-)

[@brokenscart7989]

I love them but they’re so fragile. My rhythm just died one day. So I’ve sold all but Arcade and Speak, but I want another rhythm.

[@LiamKillen]

Yeah rhythm is def my favourite.

[@Densmode3dp]

What makes you like the rhythm? I’m thinking about trading mine for an Arcade. I’ve got the KO, Sub, Factory and Office as well. Anything particular about the Rhythm I’ll miss?

[@enriquetoons7042]

Someone please tell me What are they connected to, the thick cord on the right is making me so confused

[@LiamKillen]

That’s the audio out! So connect to your speakers or you can plug your headphones into there

[@enriquetoons7042]

@@LiamKillen OHHH OKAY THANK YOU SO MUCH

[@djangofett4879]

gimmicky Street Fighter thing? these things are all gimmicky as hell. Thats kind of the main selling point

[@LiamKillen]

I disagree! To a point... I find that the earlier models are not gimmicks. The PO-KO is actually a really fun and useful sampler and the PO-12 is a fun drum machine! :-)

[@benm12310]

I just got a po-32 tonic. Nothing gimmicky about that thing.

[@menyazovutvron]

​@@benm12310about to get myself a vocoder PO, now i wont need a microphone to jam with korg kaossilator and kaosspad)

[@filthyhernandez8657]

Ur trippin

[@tawmifm]

Isn't it the same as the KO, but the graphics and pre-loaded sounds are Street Fighter themed? Sounds p cool for a fan tbh

[@marcvanderholst8268]

extremely irritaating to buy into my time 3 times per day pls stop thx

[@LiamKillen]

Im assuming you’re talking about my content popping up in your feed? I would suggest not watching + commenting if you don’t want to see it lol - the algo will feed you whatever you engage with the most- the burden is on you

[@noodlessoul8356]

Where can you get the cases?

[@LiamKillen]

Direct from teenage engineering!

[@nthjcksn]

Should I get the 33? It's only 30 bucks rn.

[@LiamKillen]

Yes!! Get it!

[@dorijoe]

Can the Tonic sample? Or is it like the Rhythm where you are playing with the same sounds?

[@LiamKillen]

Standalone it cannot sample - there's an app that goes along with it that I never ended up checking out which I THINK can sample ? I'm not 100 % sure though. If you have other PO questions, my Discord might be a good resource! discord.gg/xj8J2xJuBP

[@HA11EYS_COM3T]

I probably would’ve picked the sub but that’s only cause I love fat bass

[@LiamKillen]

For some people it’s all about that bass

[@robertito_dobbs]

All that talk about the po32 and no mention of microtonic? Best features of the 32 and sampler models is the data transfer.

[@LiamKillen]

Yeah that's something i haven't gotten into yet - this video is about the standalone units.

[@robertito_dobbs]

@@LiamKillen ahh right on. The data transfer is a game changer. TE put a handful of preset packs for po32 on their website, great content for a new video ☺️

[@the.shtyrkin]

PO-14 SUB: 💀

[@LiamKillen]

😏

[@jasonpierce4518]

distrokid is evil

[@LiamKillen]

nah

[@d3tuned378]

I recently bought a cherry po-32. It's unreal how good it sounds.

[@LiamKillen]

It packs some punch!

[@goosegaskins]

Is it possible to find "acoustic" drum sounds? Like, could I put in the sound of John Bonham's snare, and Dave Grohl's kick drum? Or are the available sounds only electronic drum sounds?

[@0e0]

@@goosegaskins ya definitely. it's a sampler..you can put any sound you want.

[@goosegaskins]

@@0e0 Excellent, thanks!

[@d3tuned378]

​@@goosegaskinsI was referring to the tonic, a synth drum engine, the 33 ko is the sampler. I'm sure you figured that out by now :)