the number of deal breakers is off the chart here, thanks for taking one for the team :) Hope they work on the firmware because it has potential and looks cool as f**k
keep drinking your own tears of fanboism, this shit is ridiculous for a "product" and severely limited in comparison to most software and gear out there @@tothefxckinmoon4540
After the way TE dealt with the serious quality control issues of the OP-Z, (they ignored the issue entirely, I’m still waiting for a response to my multiple emails) I’d be pleasantly surprised if they do anything about this fader thing at all.
Thanks for this video! I appreciate that you are able to provide a review that is both critical and charitable. Well done threading the needle. Hopefully they will address these issues.
Love mine, it’s just fun. Very quick learning curve and makes great sounding songs pretty quickly. It’s not my Roland MC707 but nor do I expect it to be. For what it is and the cost, it is incredible. Looks great, keys feel nice, similar (but not the same) to elektron digis. Again, it’s just a fun device. Mine arrived in perfect condition so was fortunate to not have the fader or other issues. Just like any pocket operator, don’t rely on the internal speaker. If you have one and aren’t thinking fun, you are trying too hard and have undue excessive expectations.
I'm surprised the 6 stereo/12 mono polyphony wasn't a deal breaker. People should know about the Woovebox sampler. It is a 1-man project, but amazingly powerful for the price and size.
Been hearing alot about it! Hope to try it out someday👍🏼 As for the voice count, it’s the same I had on the sp404sx so I guess I was just used to it😅 Thank you for watching!!
@@originalauthor my set up. Arturia PolyBrute as the sequencer/arp and midi keyboard. Lemondrop synth for fx and Boss Looper to record my sample play onto. I won’t be placing the fader knob on and I will definitely be having toilet breaks. 👍🏼😊
Mine works fine and coming from 20 years of mpc 2500 mpc studio beat maker 3 in the iPad. I’m enjoying it, I can see how it has its own vibe and I can see myself making music with it for a long time.
Always appreciate your measured takes on any piece of gear and the way you spend time discussing the important intangibles (does it sound good, what's the learning curve like, is it fun) that go beyond individual specs or inherent hardware limitations. Nice video!
I'm that guy who spends tons of money for boutique synths, I love them, love their sound, love the simplicity... However, this is the best value/price I've seen in last 10 years or so
I also think that the samples are well-chosen and there is a good system in place for organizing them. The sample tool with its various categories is super clear. But!!! When you start sampling with the device yourself, the samples are stored in the next available memory slot. This results in a disorganized mess in the storage space. In the sample tool, I can't simply move the samples to another slot. I have to download them first and then upload them to a new slot. This is simply not well thought out.
Actually, the manual explains how to sample into the specific slot number of your choice. Chapter 10.1 SAMPLE: pro-tip! if you want to sample your favorite acid synth, you can explicitly choose a destination for it by holding sound, typing a number on the pads (like 3..0..3..), pressing (enter), then hit sample!
To people concerned about lack of resampling, the Sp404mkII was given its sequencer in a firmware update. Also, how difficult is it to resample into or from another sampler? Firmware updates give a little boost to sales
Oh man, I can’t wait for this review. I received mine like a week ago, and haven’t touched it much. Everytime I reach for it I double back to my 404mk2…
Bro thanks so much for that! Hope you enjoy this one! (And yeah, the sp404 is WAY more powerful😜, but there’s something to be said about the immediacy of the K.O.II🤩) Looking forward to your feedback on my take on it!
Victim of Fadergate here, returning mine after almost unresponsive Customer Support. I liked it's feel and form factor, it's really fun and easy to use without the fader I'm left feeling underwhelmed. I agree with your take overall but I have a SP 404 and a Circuit Rhythm.
Also dead fader out of the box here. And it doesn't seem to like (re) uploading the factory samples via the companion app either. The machine is very buggy indeed.
I think you hit the nail on the head with the category you put the KO2 in. It's a hi-end toy. It's lego. It just HAPPENS to have many pro features. Like the lego typewriter - it can ALMOST be an actual typewriter, it's this close. Cheers, man! Love your channel.
@@MidlifeSynthesist Wait, business idea! TE can sell return units for orthodontics school so students can build their skills and good ones get a working groovebox 😂 My wife is an artist but I can ask her to paint the dark fader 😊
Great video!! Refreshing to hear a balanced review. Been struggling with deciding between cancelling my order or not since I’m one of those who purchased day one and have been waiting since for my product to ship. These videos help me not want to cancel 😅
Lol, glad I could help my friend!! I’d wait until you get it and have a chance of trying it out👍🏼 if it’s in good condition, worse scenario you can sell it for as much as you bought it probably🤟🏻 cheers!
Glad to know that I am not the only one that ordered on day one and hasn’t heard anything. @midlifesynthesist Great review. I sold all of my music gear a year ago and got back into photography and have not been watching music gear reviews anymore but can genuinely say that your videos were always some of the best. Gracias.
Same boat here, I bought it first and THEN looked at this thoughtful review. Guess we'll wait to see if there are any issues. If it's as much fun as OP-1 I think it'll be fine. Quirky expensive toy with vintage calculator vibes. Love.
So with all the negativity about this device, it stills exceeds my expectations. My unit is working fine. If you think about what this can do, the price is a ridiculously good value. I’ve been rocking it since launch and about to get a second…
@@AveragePicker using them together would be wild especially for live performances. So far nothing beats the portability plus fun and immediate satisfaction you can get from this device. I say that and I also have the Polyend Tracker Mini, Deluge and SP404mk2. It’s almost like my early DJ says rocking two turntables lol
Yo thank you for making such a real admission because I'm a hardware artist all my life and I've noticed around the early 2000s the build quality on almost everything is that of a toy .. so glad you pointed out that it's built like shit and that is the number one reason to not buy this item it should be $150 all day if it's going to be a piece of crap. I have this problem with the novation circuit (jumpy pads) and a few other "kickstarter" synths. I really love all these grooveboxes but I had a suspicion that they were all built like crap so thank you for making this video and saving me hundreds of dollars
Im considering to buy it in next batch hoping the problem with the fader and other basic issues will be resolved. I can live with software bugs, knowing TE will fix them but I am expecting no hardware issues though. I’m a OP-1F owner and I’m very satisfied.
Nicely done my friend, and you always provide a fair and honest review! Mine is in the mail and should arrive this week, and I'll be using my wife's tweezers for the fader lol! Great review!!🙏🏾✊🏾💚
Frustrations exist, but you have made some really rad music already with this little box! Love your examples, and I’ve personally been having a ton of fun with my EP-133
Thanks so much for your kind words my friend! I think the best thing I can say about it, is that time flies when I’m jamming on it👍🏼 that’s pretty high praise🔥
No one should be surprised that a lifestyle brand company creates a half-baked instrument. They don't really make instruments for musicians, they make "music focused products" for people to wave around so that others can see they have them.
Have people never bought a device like this before? It's always like this at the start. New product, bugs, things broken, software not great. Over time bugs got fixed, parts get replaced and the software gets patched multiple times until it's way better than at the start. It's why I would never buy a day one device.
The point is no product should leave the company/factory with issues. If you buy a car, you expect the breaks to work. You are paying for an advertised fully working product, not a half-arsed one.
I disagree...I never bought and got a unit with broken hardware...not once in over 30 years! Softwarebugs and so on...okay....but I never had a broken hardware. This is not normal and there is no excuse for that. This thing is "cheap" pile of shit.
Haha, I own a Corolla Hybrid. I give it a 5/5 for its intended purpose, which is a reliable, economical commuter car. It is weak on acceleration, but I leave the transmission setting in “economy” mode to maximize fuel efficiency anyway. Having said that, though, marking the included sample selection and user manual as two out of five killer features is “damning with faint praise” in my opinion, since these are both features independent of the electronics. Sure it is the package you buy, but as one marketing person I know would say, they are “gimme” features, meaning the customer thinks “gimme that but don’t charge extra for it.’’
Bought a deluge. There was something wrong with one of the knobs, it would "skip" or rotate without actually changing functions. Im also in Canada, so quite far shipping. Got a hold of Synthstrom, they got back to me the same day, asked me to send a video, and paid for shipping back and to send the new one, plus a few stickers for the trouble. All this to say, I dont think the poor people who spent 400 on a dud will get the same experience from TE.
I was so close to actually pulling the trigger on this immediately. After putting it in my cart and out about 500 times....it's a no go. The first time TE puts out something like this for an affordable price and its something I don't want or need.
That's also a poorly build Chinese turd toy aswell but your rite that it is a tiny bit better, the state of samplers rite now is shocking tbh and the youth are just accepting it.
Very sensible review. Excellent point about getting in the weeds over specs. Maybe fun factor needs to be part of the specs. I’ll be honest, you’re making me reconsider.
4:55 oh thank you so much for confirming my conclusion that you cannot record yourself when you need both hands like guitar. That‘s one of my main gripes and actually I also thought if using a small weight. Hopefully they add a function to toggle switch recording.
Multiple gear channel owners having hardware issues with the same product is quite damning. Sure, it could be just a bit of really bad luck that a few of a small percentage of defective units ended up specifically in the hands of gear reviewers. But it is a lot more rational to assume that there are simply a lot of defective units and these guys did not get exceptionally unlucky all together. Also TE has a bit of a history of having quality control issues with their lower price products. PO-33 had all sorts of acknowledged hardware problems. Fortunately, TE seems to be very decent about it. I reported weird knob behavior on my PO-33 to them and they promptly sent me a working one, very few questions asked.
...so many hardware samplers out there but still there is no device I am totally happy with. I think many people would love something in the blackbox/digitakt price range combing the best features of both. (Stereo sampling, a useful screen, ok effects and a decent sequencer)
i've been debating a sampler to add back to my studio. i'm making a lot of downtempo and trip hop and i spend a lot of time experimenting on my synths and guitar/pedal board. finding the pockets. and i record each track out to tape then back in the box. a sampler would add a whole new level of flavor back in my workflow. this seems like it would be good as an integrative tool more than a brain obviously. it's straight forward. is there any analog layer to this?
Gracias por los detalles de revisión y sinceras opiniones. La única razón q pude controlar mi consumismo compulsivo es porque estoy esperando mi Chompi. Ordenaste uno?
I work at a large tech company in mass market consumer electronics. Our reliability and QA is intense. Maybe some people have heard of “six sigma.” A six sigma defect rate is 3.4 defects out of one million opportunities. I doubt TA is working at that level or better.
Do you have your green or black belt? Does your company also employ Lean and/or Kaizen, with Scrum boards and managers out doing Gembas (lol I just love the secret language of QA systems)
If it wasn't for the slider issue I'd probably buy one but because of that issue I'm hesitant, maybe I'll cave and get one. Seems really fun and welcoming and I love the look of it.
Order 2 pieces for a friend an me. Both had broken faders. Sending it back tomorrow for repairs... i don't know if it will be fixed. I'm not sure how i feel about the EP-133... kinda disappointed
Top Gear was an awesome show. Totally entertaining. Great video and the fun factor was the main reason I ordered on day one. Unfortunately, I'm still waiting for mine...
This is very frustrating review. You’re analyzing this product as if it is a $900+ dollar groove box. For example the effects… you use a product like this on individual tracks or as a single element of an analog s set up. You can record them into your daw and move on to the next sound. Groove boxes shouldn’t be used on full tracks anyway because your mixing would be too limited and not enough diversity of sonic qualities. So for the price and capability of this thing, it’s is ridiculously powerful and convenient. Thanks to TE for helping to set a new industry standard for Value.
I have a speaker gate product, though for now im just hooking up to external speakers and been enjoying it. Once i really figure this out i think it could be a cool drum machine that i can mangle up to go along with maybe my modular setup
@@MyNameJeff.. I didn't get the product for the built in speaker that sucks anyway. I got it to make music. it worked 100% otherwise. I did let TE know but I haven't heard back.
@@MyNameJeff.. when they want to replace it they can. Until then I will jam on it and figure out how to use it. It doesn't hurt my work flow, I have an actual studio with speakers. Don't be jelly, I said I already emailed them over it.
@@mastaboog749 Bro I’m not jealous. I think it’s absolutely insane that you and others even tolerate that shit. Luckily there are actual smart people returning their defective units so it sends te a message. Never in my life have I seen a new piece of gear with more how to fix it videos than actual how to use it videos. I don’t care that you have studio speakers, I do too. That’s not the point.
Really great review best I've seen yet. I've never been into these things but this one seems like it might be interesting at the price. I have an RD-9 which is great but I don't love it and it's huge. Would this make a good replacement drum machine that could be used for other things as well and be way smaller?
Trust me bro, get a SP404 MK2 or if you have that big money then get a nice MPC from akai. This thing is a toy with 16 seconds or record time total and that for 300 bucks where the sp404 has 300minutes and SD card support so its kinda unlimited.
@@TheChameleon2008 i was actually looking at all 3 of those. I already bought the ko2 bro. If I like the concept and kinda get to the point where I need to be doing more I’ll just get exactly what you said. Both 404 and akai eventually.
What do you mean on NO resampling can you elaborate a bit more im new to this whole game. Im looking to sample and chop some old external samples on KO 2 mixing it around. I think that is the whole purpose of this instrument.
I'm curious how good/bad the speaker is because the OP-1 has probably the worst speaker I've heard on anything in the past 20 years. I hope this one is more useable.
I ordered mine on November 25 and like a lot of people, I'm waiting for it to ship. Now with fader-gate, I'm considering canceling and picking up an SP404 MK2. What are your thoughts? The KO II looks so fun, though!
Same, i owned 2 pocket operators and the prices only went up for my resell value was pretty good but to me TE is more toy like and way to focused on looks rather then quality components.
In my opinion, getting EP133 is not just waist of money but also waste of time. You'd better to invest and learn something worthy like Elektron Model Samples that will open a door for a never seen before possibilities in a small portable device that's also built like a tank. Currently they are both 299.
Yes you do because they never up the build quality, they lower it to make more money, this is all over very bad, the new mpcs are plastic Chinese turds, the new sp404 is a toy build quality wise, but this just takes it to new levels of mockery.
![ง้อ (ALRIGHT) - FOURTH Prod. by URBOYTJ [ OFFICIAL MV ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Qs8ZeV6Dqj8/mqdefault.jpg)
5:08 best joke ever...it caught me totally off-guard and I laughed out loud on a jam-packed train🤣 great vid, mate👏
😂😂 thanks for watching my friend! Sorry for the late reply, cheers!
+1, that was funny!
the number of deal breakers is off the chart here, thanks for taking one for the team :) Hope they work on the firmware because it has potential and looks cool as f**k
Seems like most are firmware update fixable.... V1.1 should be pretty soon to address some immediate bugs.
FFS just wait a year until they fix the QC issues@@damelos4039
Lol @ off the chart
Hyperbole much?
keep drinking your own tears of fanboism, this shit is ridiculous for a "product" and severely limited in comparison to most software and gear out there @@tothefxckinmoon4540
Ofc. its the internet :P
After the way TE dealt with the serious quality control issues of the OP-Z, (they ignored the issue entirely, I’m still waiting for a response to my multiple emails) I’d be pleasantly surprised if they do anything about this fader thing at all.
Yea they're doing nothing....
Except accepting all claims for replacement or refund, no questions asked
Man I’ve had nothing but a good experience with how they handled my issues with the KO II. I have a replacement on the way at the moment 😁
@@SEKI7800 that’s good to hear, wish they’d done the same with the £500 OP-Z 🤷♂️
I canceled my order last week. It does seem like there is fun to be had with it, but not quite what I hoped it would be. Really like the look of it….
Same here... And bought a SP 404 MKII instead , for the same price :o
@@Samichlaus01 nice… SP 404 is a good one. I mostly use it either as an effects box or to make loops for other devices, but skies the limit.
Thanks for this video! I appreciate that you are able to provide a review that is both critical and charitable. Well done threading the needle. Hopefully they will address these issues.
Can’t thank you enough for your kind words my friend!! Have an amazing day, hope to see you soon🤟🏻
Love mine, it’s just fun. Very quick learning curve and makes great sounding songs pretty quickly. It’s not my Roland MC707 but nor do I expect it to be. For what it is and the cost, it is incredible. Looks great, keys feel nice, similar (but not the same) to elektron digis. Again, it’s just a fun device. Mine arrived in perfect condition so was fortunate to not have the fader or other issues. Just like any pocket operator, don’t rely on the internal speaker. If you have one and aren’t thinking fun, you are trying too hard and have undue excessive expectations.
Bro, resampling is there. Just use a splitter from out to input...
It's an expensive toy (in the current FW without separate fx at least), you've convinced me! Thanx for the review!
I'm surprised the 6 stereo/12 mono polyphony wasn't a deal breaker.
People should know about the Woovebox sampler. It is a 1-man project, but amazingly powerful for the price and size.
Been hearing alot about it! Hope to try it out someday👍🏼 As for the voice count, it’s the same I had on the sp404sx so I guess I was just used to it😅
Thank you for watching!!
Woovebox is a bit small for my fat fingers haha
I want to like that thing but there is only so much menu diving that I am comfortable with
Menu diver hell...polyphony isn't a deal breaker...12 voices mono is plenty
if it hurts to push a button fun tends to fade quickly ^^
Lovely review, beautifully put together. Your final statements are exactly what I am looking for. Fun, quick, simple. I’ve ordered one.
Say hello to that fader for me
@@originalauthor my set up. Arturia PolyBrute as the sequencer/arp and midi keyboard. Lemondrop synth for fx and Boss Looper to record my sample play onto. I won’t be placing the fader knob on and I will definitely be having toilet breaks. 👍🏼😊
Mine works fine and coming from 20 years of mpc 2500 mpc studio beat maker 3 in the iPad. I’m enjoying it, I can see how it has its own vibe and I can see myself making music with it for a long time.
Always appreciate your measured takes on any piece of gear and the way you spend time discussing the important intangibles (does it sound good, what's the learning curve like, is it fun) that go beyond individual specs or inherent hardware limitations. Nice video!
Thank you so much for your kind feedback my friend! Cheers!
I'm that guy who spends tons of money for boutique synths, I love them, love their sound, love the simplicity... However, this is the best value/price I've seen in last 10 years or so
What about the sp404 mk2?
I also think that the samples are well-chosen and there is a good system in place for organizing them. The sample tool with its various categories is super clear. But!!! When you start sampling with the device yourself, the samples are stored in the next available memory slot. This results in a disorganized mess in the storage space. In the sample tool, I can't simply move the samples to another slot. I have to download them first and then upload them to a new slot. This is simply not well thought out.
Actually, the manual explains how to sample into the specific slot number of your choice. Chapter 10.1 SAMPLE: pro-tip! if you want to sample your favorite acid synth, you can explicitly choose a destination for it by holding sound, typing a number on the pads (like 3..0..3..), pressing (enter), then hit sample!
@@DeepSpaceus Thank you, I actually overlooked that. 🙏
To people concerned about lack of resampling, the Sp404mkII was given its sequencer in a firmware update.
Also, how difficult is it to resample into or from another sampler? Firmware updates give a little boost to sales
Resampling is coming, as per TE
Thats what im saying, if you want resample just re-record from ur pc or something. Its a little more work but still the same.
Got mine on Monday, is fine. I did not put on fader and used one I designed which is available on etsy now.
Oh man, I can’t wait for this review. I received mine like a week ago, and haven’t touched it much. Everytime I reach for it I double back to my 404mk2…
Bro thanks so much for that! Hope you enjoy this one! (And yeah, the sp404 is WAY more powerful😜, but there’s something to be said about the immediacy of the K.O.II🤩) Looking forward to your feedback on my take on it!
You will love it. It’s not a SP404mk2 but it still holds it own and is an incredible value for the price..
Victim of Fadergate here, returning mine after almost unresponsive Customer Support. I liked it's feel and form factor, it's really fun and easy to use without the fader I'm left feeling underwhelmed. I agree with your take overall but I have a SP 404 and a Circuit Rhythm.
Same here bud, unresponsive fader straight out of the box, disappointed because the sounds and feel of everything else is great !!
Also dead fader out of the box here. And it doesn't seem to like (re) uploading the factory samples via the companion app either. The machine is very buggy indeed.
I got the broken fader too. also feels like if it’s not broken now… it won’t be long until it is.
That hold down pad to record thing tho.. I really hope they can add that in the firmware. 🤞🏼
Standby - can't say when, but it will!
Doesn’t it have a threshold? I saw them use it in the first 2 videos that demo’d it.
The whole thing is a dud and only them die hard TE fans buying it for their toy collection.
I think you hit the nail on the head with the category you put the KO2 in. It's a hi-end toy. It's lego. It just HAPPENS to have many pro features. Like the lego typewriter - it can ALMOST be an actual typewriter, it's this close. Cheers, man! Love your channel.
Too late! Something is totally off with my calculator ~ it WORKS! 😂 and very phunn to play with! 🎉
Jajaja!!! So happy to hear that! I was one of the lucky ones as well!! It is FUNNN!
Same! No issues and I'm enjoying mine!
@@MidlifeSynthesist Wait, business idea! TE can sell return units for orthodontics school so students can build their skills and good ones get a working groovebox 😂
My wife is an artist but I can ask her to paint the dark fader 😊
Great video!! Refreshing to hear a balanced review.
Been struggling with deciding between cancelling my order or not since I’m one of those who purchased day one and have been waiting since for my product to ship. These videos help me not want to cancel 😅
Lol, glad I could help my friend!! I’d wait until you get it and have a chance of trying it out👍🏼 if it’s in good condition, worse scenario you can sell it for as much as you bought it probably🤟🏻 cheers!
Glad to know that I am not the only one that ordered on day one and hasn’t heard anything.
@midlifesynthesist Great review. I sold all of my music gear a year ago and got back into photography and have not been watching music gear reviews anymore but can genuinely say that your videos were always some of the best. Gracias.
Same boat here, I bought it first and THEN looked at this thoughtful review. Guess we'll wait to see if there are any issues. If it's as much fun as OP-1 I think it'll be fine. Quirky expensive toy with vintage calculator vibes. Love.
@@williamfrench9910 i ended up returning mine. It had some hardware and software issues. Got an SP404mkii instead.
"borrow my wife's orthodontic pliers" is a new level
🤣
Thanks for the in depth review. Great channel. I’m going to order one and try it out (I’ll make sure to use some pliers 😉)
Thanks so much my friend! Hope you enjoy it🙌🏻
So with all the negativity about this device, it stills exceeds my expectations. My unit is working fine. If you think about what this can do, the price is a ridiculously good value. I’ve been rocking it since launch and about to get a second…
Why would you buy a 2nd one? At that point you're getting deep into the price point of much more capable samplers.
@@AveragePicker using them together would be wild especially for live performances. So far nothing beats the portability plus fun and immediate satisfaction you can get from this device. I say that and I also have the Polyend Tracker Mini, Deluge and SP404mk2. It’s almost like my early DJ says rocking two turntables lol
@@Epicfuzz make sure to buy a third when the other two fail.
“I wanna keep this channel pg13” killed me 😂
🤣🔥
it feels like you don't want anything from me and its so refreshing
Yo thank you for making such a real admission because I'm a hardware artist all my life and I've noticed around the early 2000s the build quality on almost everything is that of a toy .. so glad you pointed out that it's built like shit and that is the number one reason to not buy this item it should be $150 all day if it's going to be a piece of crap. I have this problem with the novation circuit (jumpy pads) and a few other "kickstarter" synths. I really love all these grooveboxes but I had a suspicion that they were all built like crap so thank you for making this video and saving me hundreds of dollars
One of the best reviews of the KOII I've seen. I'm still waiting for mine to arrive but I learned a lot here to prepare me!
Im considering to buy it in next batch hoping the problem with the fader and other basic issues will be resolved. I can live with software bugs, knowing TE will fix them but I am expecting no hardware issues though. I’m a OP-1F owner and I’m very satisfied.
Nicely done my friend, and you always provide a fair and honest review! Mine is in the mail and should arrive this week, and I'll be using my wife's tweezers for the fader lol! Great review!!🙏🏾✊🏾💚
Thanks so much my friend!! Always a pleasure seeing you here! It’s definitely fun and I think you’ll enjoy alot! See you next time!
@MidlifeSynthesist Just did my final video beat set for the year, so when it arrives I'll lock myself away for a while and learn the workflow!🙏🏾✊🏾💚
@@lindassonhope everything works fine bro👍
Frustrations exist, but you have made some really rad music already with this little box! Love your examples, and I’ve personally been having a ton of fun with my EP-133
Thanks so much for your kind words my friend! I think the best thing I can say about it, is that time flies when I’m jamming on it👍🏼 that’s pretty high praise🔥
love my TX-6, OP-1 and OB-4 and looking at the TP-7 and CM-13 next year that look like great pair.
No one should be surprised that a lifestyle brand company creates a half-baked instrument. They don't really make instruments for musicians, they make "music focused products" for people to wave around so that others can see they have them.
Yea, because nobody is inspired and having fun making music with TE samplers...they're just flexing
Thank you for saying this
LOL that "I want to keep this channel PG-13," line got a big laugh from me. Great video as always, man. Loved the shot at 0:08 too :)
Any indication of the resampling being included in a firmware update?
Are the major bugs mostly fixed yet?
Have people never bought a device like this before? It's always like this at the start. New product, bugs, things broken, software not great. Over time bugs got fixed, parts get replaced and the software gets patched multiple times until it's way better than at the start. It's why I would never buy a day one device.
The point is no product should leave the company/factory with issues. If you buy a car, you expect the breaks to work. You are paying for an advertised fully working product, not a half-arsed one.
I disagree...I never bought and got a unit with broken hardware...not once in over 30 years!
Softwarebugs and so on...okay....but I never had a broken hardware.
This is not normal and there is no excuse for that.
This thing is "cheap" pile of shit.
Bugs are one thing but build quality with thousands of units affected is unacceptable and an embarrassment.
There’s Pros and Cons to being the first. Just like A movie just released and you don’t want anyone to tell you about it.
@@MrMissingReeland yet still people buy it. Still out of stock. Go figure. I guess social hype is too powerful. I’m glad I didn’t buy it
Haha, I own a Corolla Hybrid. I give it a 5/5 for its intended purpose, which is a reliable, economical commuter car. It is weak on acceleration, but I leave the transmission setting in “economy” mode to maximize fuel efficiency anyway. Having said that, though, marking the included sample selection and user manual as two out of five killer features is “damning with faint praise” in my opinion, since these are both features independent of the electronics. Sure it is the package you buy, but as one marketing person I know would say, they are “gimme” features, meaning the customer thinks “gimme that but don’t charge extra for it.’’
Great review sir! Very intuitive and informative.
@@ElNabulsi thanks so much!!🤘🏻
Bought a deluge. There was something wrong with one of the knobs, it would "skip" or rotate without actually changing functions. Im also in Canada, so quite far shipping. Got a hold of Synthstrom, they got back to me the same day, asked me to send a video, and paid for shipping back and to send the new one, plus a few stickers for the trouble.
All this to say, I dont think the poor people who spent 400 on a dud will get the same experience from TE.
I was so close to actually pulling the trigger on this immediately.
After putting it in my cart and out about 500 times....it's a no go.
The first time TE puts out something like this for an affordable price and its something I don't want or need.
The SP 404MK2 costs a wee bit more and is a real sampler that can also do resampling and dual bus to send FX way better than the gimped KO2!
They said once they get it totally stable resampling will come next.
@@wurlinnawurlwhich would you get
@@brianj6314 I got the ep133 but I have other samplers. I'm not a huge fan of the 404 though.
That's also a poorly build Chinese turd toy aswell but your rite that it is a tiny bit better, the state of samplers rite now is shocking tbh and the youth are just accepting it.
Very sensible review. Excellent point about getting in the weeds over specs. Maybe fun factor needs to be part of the specs.
I’ll be honest, you’re making me reconsider.
4:55 oh thank you so much for confirming my conclusion that you cannot record yourself when you need both hands like guitar. That‘s one of my main gripes and actually I also thought if using a small weight. Hopefully they add a function to toggle switch recording.
Hey great video. What is that small analogue-looking synth on the left?
The mighty Make Noise 0 Coast! Thanks for watching my friend!
Very good and helpful assessment. Thank you!
Multiple gear channel owners having hardware issues with the same product is quite damning. Sure, it could be just a bit of really bad luck that a few of a small percentage of defective units ended up specifically in the hands of gear reviewers. But it is a lot more rational to assume that there are simply a lot of defective units and these guys did not get exceptionally unlucky all together.
Also TE has a bit of a history of having quality control issues with their lower price products. PO-33 had all sorts of acknowledged hardware problems.
Fortunately, TE seems to be very decent about it. I reported weird knob behavior on my PO-33 to them and they promptly sent me a working one, very few questions asked.
...so many hardware samplers out there but still there is no device I am totally happy with.
I think many people would love something in the blackbox/digitakt price range combing the best features of both. (Stereo sampling, a useful screen, ok effects and a decent sequencer)
Another issue that seems to be bugging/catching people off guard is voice stealing. I also can't sequences samples (like a pad) beyond just one bar.
I appreciate your candor. Confirmed that it's not something I'm interested in at all.
Would be legit as a Cassette Futurism set prop, though.
Thank you for the video
Thank you for watching!
My doubt was whether you could load much quality sound with the 64mb it has.
I don’t how they do it but this thing sounds CRISP👍🏼
i've been debating a sampler to add back to my studio. i'm making a lot of downtempo and trip hop and i spend a lot of time experimenting on my synths and guitar/pedal board. finding the pockets. and i record each track out to tape then back in the box. a sampler would add a whole new level of flavor back in my workflow. this seems like it would be good as an integrative tool more than a brain obviously. it's straight forward. is there any analog layer to this?
Patiently waiting for an OP-Z v2… hopefully this funds that!
Gracias por los detalles de revisión y sinceras opiniones. La única razón q pude controlar mi consumismo compulsivo es porque estoy esperando mi Chompi. Ordenaste uno?
Have the issues been resolved with the new batches? Does anyone have any idea?
Dang, your fun is infectious, I hadn’t wanted one at all but you’ve got me thinking about it!
Great vid!
SP404 -> KO 133
@@TheChameleon2008 yeah, cuz its double the price
I’m gonna wait at least a couple of months before picking one of these up.
I work at a large tech company in mass market consumer electronics. Our reliability and QA is intense. Maybe some people have heard of “six sigma.” A six sigma defect rate is 3.4 defects out of one million opportunities. I doubt TA is working at that level or better.
Do you have your green or black belt? Does your company also employ Lean and/or Kaizen, with Scrum boards and managers out doing Gembas (lol I just love the secret language of QA systems)
I love it. Only thing is I really want to be able to record the punch in fx like the og KO
Yea pad effect should be an update!! That feature is on old MPC’s!!!
Mine was broken on arrival :(
If it wasn't for the slider issue I'd probably buy one but because of that issue I'm hesitant, maybe I'll cave and get one. Seems really fun and welcoming and I love the look of it.
Mines perfect, I’ve had tons of fun with it. I just mess around on it. It’s my favorite toy atm 😅
@@pentiumradeonYea, we’ll see about that in a month or two. Let me know what broke.
@@MyNameJeff.. will do
Great video, thank you… 🙏🏻
🫶🏼
Any update on the resampling? Great vid btw!
Order 2 pieces for a friend an me. Both had broken faders. Sending it back tomorrow for repairs... i don't know if it will be fixed.
I'm not sure how i feel about the EP-133... kinda disappointed
thank you so much for this video
Thanks so much for watching!
Love your takes, thanks for sharing
Quality control and frustrating work flow was a big turn off for me.
I like your Swatch. I collect them as well 😊
Top Gear was an awesome show. Totally entertaining. Great video and the fun factor was the main reason I ordered on day one. Unfortunately, I'm still waiting for mine...
Clarkson made Top Gear and the Grand Tour awesome shows with his offbeat humor and the chemistry with Hamster and Captain Slow!
Great tutorial - thanks
This is very frustrating review. You’re analyzing this product as if it is a $900+ dollar groove box. For example the effects… you use a product like this on individual tracks or as a single element of an analog s set up. You can record them into your daw and move on to the next sound. Groove boxes shouldn’t be used on full tracks anyway because your mixing would be too limited and not enough diversity of sonic qualities. So for the price and capability of this thing, it’s is ridiculously powerful and convenient. Thanks to TE for helping to set a new industry standard for Value.
I haven’t even gotten the one I ordered yet, and I’m ready to just sell
It unopened 😂
Everything about this video (and the one you just posted!) is great, a shame about that thumbnail though, woof - hope it was worth the clicks!
I have a speaker gate product, though for now im just hooking up to external speakers and been enjoying it. Once i really figure this out i think it could be a cool drum machine that i can mangle up to go along with maybe my modular setup
What? You people are insane. You have a faulty product but aren’t returning it? Get help bro.
@@MyNameJeff.. I didn't get the product for the built in speaker that sucks anyway. I got it to make music. it worked 100% otherwise. I did let TE know but I haven't heard back.
@@mastaboog749 lololol ok dude. Cope harder.
@@MyNameJeff.. when they want to replace it they can. Until then I will jam on it and figure out how to use it. It doesn't hurt my work flow, I have an actual studio with speakers. Don't be jelly, I said I already emailed them over it.
@@mastaboog749 Bro I’m not jealous. I think it’s absolutely insane that you and others even tolerate that shit. Luckily there are actual smart people returning their defective units so it sends te a message. Never in my life have I seen a new piece of gear with more how to fix it videos than actual how to use it videos. I don’t care that you have studio speakers, I do too. That’s not the point.
For the record, this and Circuit tracks are by far the biggest bargains on the market
You get what you pay for. drop a extra 400 and get the sp404
Really great review best I've seen yet. I've never been into these things but this one seems like it might be interesting at the price. I have an RD-9 which is great but I don't love it and it's huge. Would this make a good replacement drum machine that could be used for other things as well and be way smaller?
Was about to get it , but , already have polyend mini and play , with a lot of overlapping , so finally contained my gas and skipped :9
So now you got the sp404?
If I know little about music and just want to mess around and make some beats is this a good product?
Trust me bro, get a SP404 MK2 or if you have that big money then get a nice MPC from akai. This thing is a toy with 16 seconds or record time total and that for 300 bucks where the sp404 has 300minutes and SD card support so its kinda unlimited.
@@TheChameleon2008 i was actually looking at all 3 of those. I already bought the ko2 bro. If I like the concept and kinda get to the point where I need to be doing more I’ll just get exactly what you said. Both 404 and akai eventually.
I got a lemon but they are fixing it :)
What do you mean on NO resampling can you elaborate a bit more im new to this whole game. Im looking to sample and chop some old external samples on KO 2 mixing it around. I think that is the whole purpose of this instrument.
Hey great video! I have a question, the memory is just only 64MB? or could I add more?
Nice video brother!
Thank you my friend!
Small question: can you chain the scenes to create full songs? I do not mean manually but in an automatic way...
I feel like this is a streamlined Circuit Rhythm... with the Rhythm being more functional (?)
Hey, have you tried using it with the MicroMonsta 2 yet? That's my main synth, and I wonder how they play together.
What would you like Teenage Engineering to improve and add to the KO II in future firmware updates?
I'm curious how good/bad the speaker is because the OP-1 has probably the worst speaker I've heard on anything in the past 20 years. I hope this one is more useable.
look at the side and the price. Any 20 dollar chinese speaker will out perform it.
40 lemons out of 200 are not lemons, thats a whole box of marmalade
I ordered mine on November 25 and like a lot of people, I'm waiting for it to ship. Now with fader-gate, I'm considering canceling and picking up an SP404 MK2. What are your thoughts? The KO II looks so fun, though!
And what did you do? I also got the MK2 and its a beast.
Unrelated, but what watch is that you are wearing?
I have heard of every problem ya can think of I’m good 😂 TE after this and the opz prove they can’t do affordable
Here is a “stupid” way to do resample: get two K.O.II unites, sample each others samples…😂. Like how DJ have two turntables.
🤣👍🏼
Yep, it's sound so F.... Good, i hate TE for his prices but this thing simply nailed the spot.
Same, i owned 2 pocket operators and the prices only went up for my resell value was pretty good but to me TE is more toy like and way to focused on looks rather then quality components.
In my opinion, getting EP133 is not just waist of money but also waste of time. You'd better to invest and learn something worthy like Elektron Model Samples that will open a door for a never seen before possibilities in a small portable device that's also built like a tank. Currently they are both 299.
The product can look pretty but it has to work 1st.
💯
Oh NO! Batterygate! LOL
🤣
Mine was DOA it’s been 3 weeks and TE still hasn’t gotten to my case let alone sent another one out. Worst company I have ever dealt with
You never but the very first batch
Yes you do because they never up the build quality, they lower it to make more money, this is all over very bad, the new mpcs are plastic Chinese turds, the new sp404 is a toy build quality wise, but this just takes it to new levels of mockery.