Pocket Operators Discontinued? DON'T OVERPAY

Pocket Operators Discontinued? DON'T OVERPAY
It is starting to look like the Teenage Engineering Pocket Operators might be discontinued! No official word yet, but supply has been incredibly low, and we haven't heard a thing for almost a year now. This has caused the used market to absolutely skyrocket, using the hype and fandom of the Pocket Operators to push ridiculous secondhand prices. The point of this video is simply to tell you one thing...DON'T OVERPAY for these! They are simply not worth the inflated prices, there is a lot more gear that is! Enjoy the video :)
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[@PhoenixMoore]

Definitely glad that they seem to be back up and going.

[@PocketOperatorGuy]

That's heart breaking. There's such a huge comeback for these. They've been really popular recently. I tried to find a robot and the rhythm to add and replace some broken ones. it's too bad third party companies are scalping customers.

[@iamYork_]

Picked up the Speak from Amazon, street fighter from B&H in NYC, Tonic from perfect circuit in cali and the KO from teenage engineering… All in the last two weeks… The only other one I see out there currently is the mega man… everything else marketed up and used… Sad to hear they are going out of print… such fun tech…

[@quinnsd13]

I know when I first heard the rumor, I jumped to buy the Megaman. I got lucky to find one on reverb for normal MSRP. It was on my amazon wish/storage list for quite some time, I'm glad I didn't have to over pay, but some of those prices were insane!

[@lucbelaid]

Thank you very much. Free Beat for those wise advices. I thought there were only delayed by chip/component supply like many other things. The PO are still listed in all major UK music gear suppliers.

[@Kuronoichig01]

Just got a K.O. and Tonic. Loving them!

[@SHINdanny]

Can´t wait to see the Pocket Operators FIELD, the ones with displays that will not crash when falling on the ground or starred at to long :D Thanks for your video, I noticed some very high prices on some POs and thought WTH

[@FernandoDCDuarte]

And would cost 1000$ each.

[@Gwyn94]

Great video, pretty much covered anything I would have added to the discussion as well. Used prices are creeping into the range of stuff like the Sonicware Liven series, Volcas, Monologue, or even Model:Samples. Pocket Operators are great for dicking around and sketching ideas when you can get them for dirt cheap, but it's a hard sell when they're brushing shoulders with some of the big boys in music production, when comparing everything from feature set to build quality. I'm seeing a PO-32 Tonic on reverb for $175 atm, and sometimes you can find used digitakts for around $600. Like, putting it that way, at almost 1/3 the price, can you really say the PO-32 is 1/3 the machine that the Digitakt is? It's ridiculous.

[@kronickruesader]

They have restocks coming between may and June. They literally just restocked the P.O.33 everywhere at $99. The third man records version is also available currently at that price. Nobody paid the asking price of $300 for any of them, maybe the Rick and morty but that one sells for $200. Pricing is spot on though. Just hold out for a deal.

[@pendragnx]

there hasn't been any restocks other than the PO-33 😕

[@kronickruesader]

@@pendragnx Ill sell mine lmfao

[@kronickruesader]

@@pendragnx KO, Arcade, and Rhythm are back in stock now.

[@pendragnx]

@@kronickruesader whoa! thanks for letting me know

[@HipHopBeatSource]

Buying the PO33 this weekend. Hyped on these.

[@infinit12]

i was looking for a P.O but couldn't find any that were not crazy overpriced. ended up getting a volca drum. kind of happy i couldn't get one since i am loving the volca!

[@Volcaniced]

Thank you so much for your Input.... unfortunately no music in this video at all.... :(

[@CmdrMic]

I'm really bummed to hear this... they are such a wonderful gateway for people into electronic music.

[@G8tr1522]

they literally were my gateway. i always dreamed of making music, but ADD made it basically impossible to learn a DAW. These helped me so much, especially with how to lay down a drum pattern. At the 'old' age of 26 too. Now i can use ableton pretty well. I prefer my Dirtywave M8 though for the same reasons i loved the POs.

[@smashhead9728]

I would like to ad that the original cases are really bad! A tiny lunchbox is the best thing to carry it around. Use kitchen sponges to stop it from bouncing around in the box

[@RaverOperatorGeeza]

Yeah I don't like the original cases either, buttons are too hard to push reliably. I prefer the after market ones. Not gonna lie, I did but the luxury MPC style one, and the buttons work very well, but I can see the cheaper hard cases and clacky button versions working well too and came very close to buying some, otherwise I like using it raw!

[@d3tuned378]

The original cases suck. The only way to make them halfway playable is to cut halfway around the button so it isn't so stiff to press. I guess you might not notice it if you don't do a lot of live playing into the PO. Or live playing in general.

[@TrickmanTerry]

The original cases also require you to break off the top hanging tab of the PO to fit it in the case. For something like the Street Fighter and Mega Man especially, this is a deal breaker.

[@d3tuned378]

@@TrickmanTerry why do you want to keep the tab on though?

[@TrickmanTerry]

@@d3tuned378 I like the way they look with the tab intact.

[@os4mike]

Anyone having trouble with the 3.5mm jacks ? My KO's 'OUT'' only works now plugged in, ie, unplugged and it thinks it's still plugged in and won't access the internal speaker anymore.

[@DetroitMicroSound]

So they can return at a higher price, in a few months?

[@synaesmedia]

Could this be due to the chip shortage? Maybe they can't make them at the moment. Actually it's an interesting question as to who does actually make them. Presumably TE just design them and they are physically made in China or somewhere. But it could be supply chain issues.

[@eNikoltsios]

They are still available from TE on their main website throughout Europe, so I don’t expect that they would be discontinued. Also I can’t see how it would make sense business wise to discontinue a cash cow like the PO line as they don’t even need to advertise and they sell. Maybe they are focusing on production of their other lines and they lack cash for production of the PO line at the moment.

[@dadtorrent]

what do you think about the new price for the old versions?

[@eosiswastaken]

any news on possible restocks ?

[@briandavidgregory]

I just checked and the K.O. is currently in stock?

[@pendragnx]

yeah I was afraid of that .. I even tried tweeting at teenage engineering on twitter.. no response .. I only recently got the PO-33 for ~ $100 ... can't seem to find *anything* else new whatsoever..such a shame

[@myreviewdotcom]

5-6 months ago I sold several that I didn't need and so good that I keep PO33, PO14 and PO16. PO16 is in original pack.

[@tonykellydjt2805]

I've been asking about this for a minute.

[@hitmixhyepock9405]

Glad I got my SF, arcade and sub last year.

[@zooblestyx]

If discontinued, TE will likely replace them with a "PO Field" line, priced at $399.

[@SplotchyInk]

In case they start getting too expensive afrermarket, are there alternative small standalone synths that fit a similar niche to the Pocket Operator?

[@CartoonCityKid]

I was gonna go find a video I saw about the Woovebox...and it's on this guy's channel!

[@EscapeTheCloudsOfficial]

I didn't really vibe with many them. I owned all of them (except the Office and Speak) and sold all of them, except the Tonic and PO-33. I also have a broken Robot. Get the OP-Z or an MC-101 instead. So much more capability.

[@andreash3906]

Been trying to find an Office to weeks, without any result :( Perhaps due to the global chip shortage, TE is putting their focus on their more expensive crap which has a higher profit margins than these beloved little devices. It also wouldn't surprise me they did this on purpose as a marketing stunt, creating extra attention within the community to these devices and raising their prices, before pumping them out again at increased prices. It would be strange, and a real pity to abandon a product that still today has a big demand and basically has no competitors in its very niche market. The closest thing they could compare to are perhaps Volca's, though more limited, there's just a unique feel and experience using any of the PO's. Wonder where TE will take this, anything is possible from this wacky company.

[@sonicmistress]

Lol, when you copy the phrase 'global chip shortage' can you tell us which ones....And are the short ones used in these?

[@InkyDaCaT]

🤣 table anyone?? Sorry couldn't help it 🙏🙏

[@JakHart]

I think, the next step from this video, is to start calling out sellers that are asking crazy exorbitant numbers, and to also share sellers that are the go-to people.

[@user-qx4xm1uy3w]

Would be cool to ask TE *officially* if they decided to stop making POs. Please do it

[@DocBolus]

If they go there will be a gap in the market for some introductory music machines which are just a bit more serious than the usual toys.

[@rayderrich]

The PO's are still in stock in Europe for the normal price. That being said I would not spend a dime on any of them. They all look like near future electrical waste to me. Power to those who got something good out of them, Free Beat being a very good example.

[@memorytheater]

The TE store has jacked up the prices of the Rhythm and the Arcade to $100, which is stupid, but possibly a sign they might be coming back!

[@FreeBeat]

Wow I missed that, that is absolutely awful. If they come back in stock I will definitely have to do a follow-up video lol

[@sonicmistress]

That's how marketing works....Hope they don't, much better gear around for the same money that will last years longer than these crappy things, they'll soon disappear when the next 'craze' hits the www....

[@leewightman8619]

I paid 85 UK pounds for mine from amazon about a week ago there seems to be an abundance of them again..might grab another k.o just incase

[@FreeBeat]

That's a great price for the 30 series!

[@BigMuff520]

I had four of them I bought all at once for $50 each. I immediately found them to be worthless, sadly. My issue with them was the audio signal coming out of them was so quiet I found them unusable. Just not loud enough to bother with. So I threw them in a box where they sat for 8 months. I sold them all this week for $100 each. I was glad to see them go. Tho I did like how they operated, too quiet, too fragile. Definitely not worth more than you said to pay.

[@FreeBeat]

Did you change the volume on them? I've never had signal issues at all haha. Thanks for watching!

[@StinkyBlack1]

Maybe he needed a line out amp for whatever device he was connecting too. Not uncommon

[@4rmWillSee]

WHAT HAS CHANGED NOW? They are available as of nov lmk.

[@mastaboog749]

The KO is in stock and has been in stock on their website. But it's the only one

[@danielkrogh9748]

I bought my ko a month ago, no problem

[@jboulderct]

Dang....sold my Pocket Operator Brief Case too soon....RIP

[@AlexanderShelestov]

It depends on why you need them. For making music, they're probably not worth it. But as collectibles... They're all cute and you can't stop buying them :)

[@ChiefExecutiveOrbiter]

Tchotchkes

[@AmarylisFlow]

I’ll stick with the Koala app, it’s fantastic and kills my gas for any PO’s.

[@tricksterent]

Damn I haven’t touched a mobile po in a minute. The last thing i had related was drum pads 24

[@BOMBPHONICS]

well that's annoying I knew I should have got the other 2 or so I wanted. I have the tonic and ko

[@houseof50]

Coozies are the way I carry them around.

[@drcowbeef]

Too bad they've always been too expensive IMO.

[@cristobaldion]

I did overpay for a second copy of the PO133 Street Fighter, but I don't care, still much cooler than the original PO-33KO! lol

[@SonicVibe]

Even though I love the pocket operators I can’t support this company anymore after the products and direction they have went the last few years as a company . And the ghost 👻 edition po33 or the Kyle beats po 33 looks like all they selling these days in limited amounts .

[@makotohan166]

Just ordered the Mega Man one open box from an eBay seller for $89

[@mr.a.1125]

Just picked up the KO for $100 on eBay... was going for $155 on amazon...

[@gnarlethar]

Wow I sold my arcade and tonic recently for cheap 😅😭

[@JAK_Makes_Music_]

They’ve liked every comment I’ve left about the 32 so I’m really hoping it’s coming back. Forever kicking myself for waiting in that one

[@d3tuned378]

same :/ but i just pulled the trigger on a minifreak so...

[@returnofthegoth2220]

What has happened to TE?😭

[@wiggesobk]

300 Dollars? 🤯 holy cow!

[@tonykellydjt2805]

Seen on reverb for $599 sealed.

[@domingoleija3436]

That's a OO7 GADGET. A DETONATOR OF JOY and semi Burst of endorphins like a fiesta woody falling slightly short of the second coming

[@RSTypeContent]

too bad i HAVE to overpay if i live in anywhere other than america

[@spdycar13]

TE is to busy right now trying to sell ugly yellow bags and $1600 tables.

[@d3tuned378]

and a modular system that sounds like crap (lets be real, the oscillators are awful and the filter is weird and nothing about it is inspiring at all)

[@Guacamole1000]

dude wth is up with that? Like who is their target audience? Hipster music producer hypebeasts that somehow have a ton of money to waste.

[@sonicmistress]

@@Guacamole1000 They are targeting people with too much money and not much brains also KZbinrs who need this crap to make copy/paste afillitate linked BS Videos with similar titles.....Yawn....

[@Light-DelaBlue]

they charge now 99E for one ..... yhea f that.

[@anthonytalley55]

I'mma number 1 fan

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes save your money until you have enough for the Teenage Engineering Field Desk 😅

[@subiesojourner777]

and now their new $1,200.00 microphone.

[@tzodearf2596]

Good idea, but you still have it backwards. A $10 discount is more justified than an equal markup. All gear is overpriced and manufacturers count on customers not doing due diligence to negotiate a lower price. I've decided that I'm not going to pay retail for any music gear. You've got 7 or 8 pocket operators and TE should sell you the next one for no more than $15 or $20. Musicians need to make mfc's justify their prices before justify ing the need to pay those prices.

[@Guacamole1000]

Every piece of music gear that I own has been bought used and I intend to keep it that way. Keeps the circular economy going and also produces less waste in the world (not to mention saves me money). Everyone should be using reverb, eBay, offerup, facebook marketplace for doing any purchases for music gear and electronics in general.

[@zachariahpoltergeist4516]

And how do you determine that they are "overpriced"?

[@tzodearf2596]

@@Guacamole1000 even so, if you automatically pay the asking price you're only doing the seller a favor. I prefer buying new products because I want the mfc warranty and the illusion of being first. But, I'll leverage my ability to live without against the market's desire to take me for a complete, complicit fool. Buyers have a say in the value of a product and to leave that decision to the seller is irresponsible.

[@Guacamole1000]

@@tzodearf2596 To that I would also say I almost always negotiate the price, unless it's a price that is far cheaper than retail. For example, a purchase I made recently was an SP404mk2 on eBay for $440 free shipping that came with 4 extra 32gb SD cards and extra set of "fat" knobs. Retail price on an SP404mk2 is $560 new (plus tax). The unit was in the box in essentially brand new condition. I saved over $100 and got extra stuff, I feel like there's really no way to argue that that's a bad thing. I agree not having a manufacturer's warranty can sometimes seem scary but I'm not buying things that are worth significant amounts of money anyway. To give an arbitrary number I would say over $1000 USD is when I would start considering the risk/benefit of buying used without a warranty. The most expensive thing I've ever bought used (aside from my car) was the M1 Macbook Air that I'm typing this comment on. Got it for $700, a large discount from retail price ($1000) and again it was in essentially new condition, and since it was within the first year of sale it still had the Apple basic warranty on it for a few months. But if you can't fathom the idea of using something that someone else (aside from the person who made it) has touched then yeah I guess it would be difficult to buy something used.

[@tzodearf2596]

@@Guacamole1000 You obviously know how to negotiate and spot a good deal. I'm trying to encourage musicians to negotiate and stop letting mfcs and retailers holding us over barrels. Call me Don Quixote.

[@NURDVEVO]

Tulip mania all over again

[@ukbloke28]

"I've hyped these up for years. Now they are hyped up. Don't hype them up."

[@FreeBeat]

They are worth the hype at their retail prices. Not at these crazy inflated ones. Was I not clear enough about that?

[@ukbloke28]

@@FreeBeat if you hype things up, the price goes up dimwit. You're part of the problem by your own admission. Was I not clear enough about that?

[@LaChona420k]

Made $500 over msrp selling my complete collection. Good time to sell these things.

[@sonicmistress]

No you didn't, now go outside and find some real friends....

[@LaChona420k]

@@sonicmistress ok you caught me made 478.34 over still good :)

[@subiesojourner777]

@@sonicmistress 🤣

[@ChiefExecutiveOrbiter]

Were overpriced at launch.

[@anthonytalley55]

$69 & $99

[@Mr.Batsu12]

Oh wow. I hope they are discontinued. I have the KO which I never use and wouldn't mind seeing the price go up so I could ditch it.

[@chevy4x466]

Teenage is a sketchy company. I don’t like companies that artificially create scarcity in their product line. Whatever, I downloaded koala for a couple of bucks and it’s better and on my phone. C u later teenagers

[@d3tuned378]

but then you have to use your phone

[@tonykellydjt2805]

The difference is that apps/software like Koala require a better than average device (read:expensive) to properly operate on. So it's not that much of a bargain.

[@chevy4x466]

@@tonykellydjt2805 ya true, my iPhone 📱 costs nearly $1000. Having said that, there is no world 🌎 where I go leave me house without my iPhone. Therefore the portability aspect of po has limited value. I would gladly pay $80 for a new tonic, or a sub bass. I don’t enjoy buying anything used and refuse to do it except for my house which is full of thing that r old and need to replaced 😠😡😩. I guess this hits close to home for me as a detroiter. Here we do cars. As soon as chevy, ford or dodge has a hit on their hands 🙌, it’s put and deposit down, enter a lottery for the privilege of paying thousands over msrp. Harley Davison does it too. I understand that some runs sell out, u could only risk a run of 100k of units. Demand ended up being one million, u could not have known. But please let me get a new sub bass or tonic for a fair price new. Seeing auto companies treat the consumer poorly my whole life, I guess it hit a nerve. As Ringo would say, peace and love. Have an awsome day ☮️

[@hirudo881]

Everyone overpayed right from the start, so... 😉

[@steveedwards4495]

Doesn't work like that bud. If everyone's paying $60+ for pos, that's what they go for.

[@FreeBeat]

The entire point of this video was to tell people that it's simply not worth it at that price in my opinion. I'm not trying to argue what they're going for lol.

[@sonicmistress]

Nope, doesn't work like that bud....You only pay what you want to pay....The last one I saw was offered to me for £18 and said no, junk disposable landfill toys....Got a DE7 here I paid £35 for but they all sell for over £50 so why didn't I pay over £50....See how it really works now bud....

[@the.hatero]

HERE IN SPAIN IS THE FU..ING SAMME SHIT MAN.. THE PEOPLE IS CRAZY .. ONE OF RICK MORTU 250 EUROS !?! WTF

[@commodoor6549]

Teenage Engineering reduced the price of the OP-1 Field by about 26%, from $1,999 to $1,488. I posted a comment here two days ago, talking about what I think is going on at TE; I believe they're experiencing cash flow problems. It's not that they want to discontinue the PO series, they just can't afford to do a run of all the POs while supporting their new product lines. TE has miscalculated the success of their new high end product lines strategy. If TE goes under, the PO series will be done. It will be interesting to see what happens over at TE in the next couple of months. One things is for sure, the people who bought the OP-1 Field at full price are going to be PO'd

[@subiesojourner777]

Not sure about the possible cash flow problems as they just released a $1,200.00 microphone. 😳