Frequently asked questions

Pick one master clock and split your gear into two sync worlds. The OP-1 field and the K.O. IIs speak MIDI clock, so run MIDI/USB from your master (the TX-6 works well as the hub) to those devices and set them to follow external clock. Pocket Operators don't do MIDI — they sync to an audio click on the left channel, so feed them a sync signal from a PO set to send sync, a dedicated sync box, or a MIDI-to-audio-sync converter, and chain the POs from there. Decide up front whether your MIDI master or your PO chain is the timing reference and derive the other from it, so everything starts from one tempo.

Definitely. The K.O. samplers are designed to be immediate: you sample a sound, tap pads to play it, and you're making a beat within minutes, which makes them great for a curious beginner or a rhythm-minded kid. The EP-133 K.O. II is the full-size one with the deepest features; if budget or ruggedness matters, the pocket-sized PO-33 K.O. is much cheaper and just as playful. Either is forgiving to noodle on, and the manuals are short — the main thing is the willingness to experiment.

Not by data transfer. Transfers only move patterns and sounds between Pocket Operators of the same model, so a PO-12 can't send its kit to a PO-33. You can resample it, though: the PO-33 is a sampler, so play the other PO's sounds into the PO-33's line input (left jack) with an aux cable and record them into a drum slot (pads 9–16), which splits a run of hits across the pads. A recording of someone playing through the kit works too. The two units can also simply run in sync side by side on the same cable chain.

The PO-33 doesn't auto-slice — you build the chop by hand. Sample short segments of the break into separate sound slots (sample each hit/section over the line-in, trimming each one), so different pads trigger different parts of the loop. Or sample the whole break to one slot and re-trigger sections live in a pattern. Keep segments short (the PO-33's sample memory is small) and match the source tempo so the slices line up when you sequence them.

You sample into the PO-33 through its line-in — play the audio from a phone, computer, or mic into the input and record it, then trim the start/end and it lands in a sound slot. There is no USB, so you cannot drag WAV files onto it from a computer; everything is sampled in over the audio input. Match levels going in to avoid clipping, and remember the total sample memory is small, so keep clips short.

Pocket Operators have no USB or file storage — your patterns and samples live in battery-backed memory, so they persist while the batteries are good but there is no project file to export. To "back up" a track, record the audio output (the 3.5mm line/headphone jack) into a phone, recorder, or computer. There is no way to save the PO-33's sample memory or patterns to a file, so keep your source samples on a computer and re-record them if you ever lose the memory.

Pocket Operators have no power switch. They auto-sleep after a few minutes of inactivity (the screen goes off) and wake on a button press, so there's nothing to "turn off" — just leave it and it sleeps. To force it fully off, remove the batteries (or unplug external power). Because patterns/samples live in battery-backed memory, don't pull the batteries mid-edit if you want to keep your work.

They suit different people. The PO-12 Rhythm is the simplest: its drum sounds are fixed, each one has two tweakable parameters, and it's the quickest to pick up. The PO-32 Tonic is a drum synthesizer (its engine comes from Sonic Charge's Microtonic) whose sounds can be replaced. You can design kits in the paid Microtonic plugin, or load free patches someone else made by playing their audio file into the PO over an ordinary aux cable, so you don't have to buy the plugin to get new sounds. The PO-33 K.O! is a sampler: you record your own drums or loops through its mic or line input. That makes it the most flexible, but the drums are only as good as the samples you put on it. Get the PO-32 if you mostly want punchy, editable electronic drums. Get the PO-33 if you want to build kits from your own recordings.

Pocket Operators run on two ordinary AAA batteries, and alkalines are fine. Rechargeables work too and are the eco-friendly choice. NiMH cells such as Eneloops last for ages, and USB-rechargeable lithium AAAs are common, though lower-voltage (1.2 V) cells may not quite reach full volume. Take the batteries out if the PO will sit unused for a long time, since leaking cells can damage the board.

You don't need to spend much. Pocket Operators are small and inexpensive, so a pricey case is usually overkill — a silicone bumper, the official PO silicone cover, or a small zip pouch protects the exposed board and buttons fine, and many people just keep them in a pocket or a little hard case. If you're weighing a 50–60€ case against an ~80–100€ device, lean toward a cheap protector and put the rest toward another PO or sounds.

Treat a PO as what it is: a bare circuit board with an LCD on the front and the batteries clipped on the back. Many units run for years, but owners regularly report cracked or glitching screens, bent battery clips that cut the power, and buttons that become unreliable with heavy use. Build quality also seems to vary between batches. The consistent advice is to fit a protective case from day one, either the official silicone one or a hard printed or commercial case, and to keep the PO away from the bottom of a heavy bag. A case that covers the buttons also stops the unit switching on in transit.

A working PO mutes its speaker as soon as a plug is fully seated in the output. First check the socket: the output is the right-hand jack, and the left-hand one is the input/sync jack, so headphones plugged in on the left change nothing. Make sure the plug is a standard 3.5 mm stereo (TRS) plug and is pushed all the way in. Then try a cheap pair of earbuds to rule out the headphones. High-impedance studio headphones can sound very quiet from a PO's small output, so turn the volume all the way up (hold BPM and press pad 16) or put a small headphone amp in between. If the speaker keeps playing with a known-good plug in the right-hand jack, the jack's switch is likely faulty. Try a factory reset first, then consider a repair.

No. A PO has one tempo for everything, so you can't give individual patterns, or two instances of the same pattern in a chain, their own BPM. The usual workaround is rhythmic: program the "slow" section at half-time (or the fast one at double-time) within the same tempo, which uses extra patterns but sounds like a tempo change. A second PO or an external clock can also drive a different part of a setup.

You need a real audio input. A plain USB-C (or Lightning) to 3.5 mm headphone adapter is output-only: it's a tiny DAC for headphones, so a PO plugged into it through a splitter records silence. Use a small USB audio interface that has a 3.5 mm or line input and works with your phone. iRig-style interfaces and compact USB-C interfaces are the usual cheap picks, and on a computer any audio interface's line input works. Run the PO's right-hand output jack into the interface, then record in any app (a voice recorder, GarageBand, a DAW, or a sampler like Koala). Set the PO's volume high and the interface gain low for a clean level. To capture video and audio together, pick an interface your camera app can use as its microphone.

Only if you need to. Removing the tab gains or loses no functionality. It's just a piece of the PCB with a hole for hanging the PO up. The main reason people snap it off is that the official silicone case, and many third-party cases, only fit without it. A tab-less PO is also a bit more pocketable. Reasons to keep it: you can't reattach it, some owners prefer the look, and an intact tab helps resale value, especially on limited editions. If you're undecided, use a case that fits around the tab, or leave it on until you've picked a case.

Turn up the PO itself. Its master volume isn't a knob: hold BPM and press a pad, where pad 1 is quietest and pad 16 loudest. A PO left at a low setting sounds thin through anything you plug it into. Also check that the cable is in the right-hand jack (the output), and on a PO-33 that individual samples weren't recorded or trimmed too quietly. Weak batteries lower the level as well. If you're recording into a computer, plug into a microphone or line input and pick that input in your recording app, not the laptop's headphone socket.

There's real overlap — the K.O. II can do most of what a Pocket Operator does and more — so a PO isn't essential. Where they earn their place is portability and immediacy: a PO lives in a pocket, so it's the thing you grab to capture a bassline or beat idea the moment it hits, then bring back to the K.O. II to flesh out. Specific models also have their own character (the PO-33 K.O. sampler, the PO-32 Tonic drums, the Sub bass). Treat it as a fun, cheap idea-scratchpad rather than an upgrade.

For a first Pocket Operator, the PO-33 K.O! is the crowd-pleaser because it lets you sample your own sounds, which keeps it fun long after the novelty wears off. If they're more into drums and beats, the PO-32 Tonic or the PO-12 Rhythm are great, and the PO-20 Arcade is the playful gateway for melodies. They're all cheap, self-contained, and run on AAA batteries, so any of them is a low-risk way to dip into the TE world — pick by whether they want to sample, drum, or write tunes.