EP-40 Riddim: tools, mods & resources

No. The EP-40 is a curated performance/"riddim" instrument with fixed built-in content — it is not a sampler and has no way to import your own audio. If you want to chop and play your own samples, that is the EP-133 K.O. II's job; the EP-40 is designed around its on-board sounds and performance controls.

The device itself doesn't bounce multitrack stems, so the built-in route is to play parts out and record them into your DAW in real time over an audio interface — usually group by group (or track by track), then line them back up and chop in the DAW. The resample function is handy for capturing a part first. For a much faster workflow, desktop tools can convert a whole project into DAW-ready material: EP Toolkit exports EP-133/EP-1320/EP-40 projects straight to Ableton Live, REAPER, DAWproject or MIDI, and PatchStudio helps with samples and patches. Short one-shots or loops can also go through the online tools.

A factory reset restores the EP-40's built-in sounds, so you don't have to undo changes pad by pad. Back up anything you want to keep first, then run the reset. If a reset doesn't fully restore the factory content, download the EP-40 factory sample pack from Teenage Engineering's EP-40 page and import it back over USB. Going forward, keep a backup of a clean device so handing it to a friend can't cost you the original layout.

It transposes. It doesn't tune. The EP-40 doesn't detect a sample's pitch: it treats whatever you recorded as the root note (C) and plays the pads up and down from it, in semitones in chromatic mode or in scale steps when a scale is selected. Changing the key shifts that root. If your sample is really in F# but you set the key to F, the result is still off by the original difference. For results that sit in key, tune or record your melodic one-shots to C before loading them. Otherwise, play in chromatic mode and find the right notes by ear.

Several owners have reported the EP-40 staying on regardless of the power switch and whether it's running on AAA batteries or USB-C power, so it isn't just a dead-battery quirk. First make sure you're on the latest firmware from Teenage Engineering's EP-40 page, since power behaviour is the kind of thing a firmware update can fix. If it still won't power down after updating, treat it as a fault and contact TE support — others in the same situation have had it handled as a warranty/repair case.

The EP samplers can drive outboard gear: they send MIDI out (over the sync jack and over USB), so you can use the pattern sequencer to play external synths and drum machines, not just internal samples. It's a capable but fairly basic MIDI sequencer — great for laying down parts for a synth from the same workflow you already know, but it isn't as deep as a dedicated MIDI sequencer for things like lots of CC automation or many independent MIDI channels. For a simple, fast "sample box that also clocks and sequences my synth" it works well.