In this episode of Bad Gear, the show about the world's most hated audio tools, we are going to let people pick their least favorite Teenage Engineering Pocket Operator. Which one is the worst? Will democracy prevail?
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Dude .. when he did the novation x-station 49.. I didn't know it was bad gear I got it when it first came out.. I cried a little I have one tattooed on the inside of my right bicep .. .. but fuck this man makes absolute bangers of videos and makes me question everything
Synth nerds back in the day: Fuck, this sounds like shit. Love it. Let's make some music with it. Synth nerds now: A powerfull pocket sized synth engine? Ugh, can't work if it isn't Moog :'c
@@rorz999 Coming from a ham radio background, where lots of homemade gear finds a home in the handy little metal shells, I'd say see if the POs fit in an Altoids tin.
Please cover more of these, It's so nice to see videos like these, including the drumbrute video, that go against the general review feeling of "they gave this to me for free so i'll try not to say too many bad things about it"
Everyone is entitled to their opinions. Mine is that I've seen so many people pull amazing things out of not only POs but bad gear in general that I'm convinced that actual bad gear is hard to find
I have absolutely no idea how this video was recommended to me considering I have really no idea about making music or anything audio related but that was interesting
I have a PO20 and is very fun to play with it. The case makes a huge difference in my opinion, buttons are more responsive and accurate. Once you learn how to use it you dont need to see the screen. For my setup (3 synths, 3 drum machines, Ableton & two midi controllers) is useful to add a few sounds here and there. I agree that is not for everybody and you need more gear (Reverb, delay, modular/sync out hardware) to play live with it and make it sound not just like a toy. As a standalone it sounds like a Gameboy. I had to be creative to make it usable for my setup. Pd: Your channel is very cool 😎
Thanks! I thought about just using it as a kick synth ;)
3 месяца назад
This was the episode that introduced me to the show and I'm so happy that I found it! The PO24 Office was my first one and now I've become a big fan of the series as someone who is both combating and giving into GAS on a very tight budget! Curious if you've ever tried the PO33 or any others in the series, the PO33 really got me started on making my own music and it's super fun. I've also used the PO24 on a few industrial/noise projects as the centerpiece since it can get really gnarly sounding actually! Anyways enough rambling out of me, love the show!
@@AudioPilz when you choose one of the slots on the bottom two rows it'll cut them up into 16 sections that you could use them for drums. I made a few tracks using the K.O. One lesser known fact: while you can chain patterns, you can chain up to 100+ measures/patterns so if you want to actually record a song you already have a complete layout of what your song. (this feature is on mostly all of them). Just saying... :D
I got a PO-32 because I heard they were great. Didn't see what all the fuss was about. Then, I discovered you could change the stock sounds via community generated patches even if you don't own Microtonic.
UGH .. I have a PO-12 and although it does sound pretty good I rarely use it because the interface is just too perplexing. Each button does at least 3 different things and the display was deliberately designed NOT to provide any useful information. What parameter am I tweaking right now? Who cares!! Just enjoy the cute animation of a little man and a giant sewing machine.
@@rorz999 Actually the inclined plane is one of the simplest machines, but that's not important right now. Different people have different spheres of understanding. I played with the PO-12 for a LOT longer than half an hour, and never could master the interface because it just didn't make sense to me .. the display screen was totally unhelpful and I was constantly looking at the info sheet trying to figure out "how do I do X again?" .. however the Empress ZOIA, arguably much more complicated, was a breeze to me and I understood it right away.
That ending jam was peak memedelia. I had some POs a couple of years back. They were really fun to use and broke me out of a long spell of uninspiration and nonmotivation. I also felt like wiggling around the somewhat odd, random scale restrictions between the bass, lead and the chiptune PO taught me a thing or two about composing.
@@annother3350 I sold them off after I had bought some other hardware and found myself just not using them anymore. No point in having stuff around just collecting dust.
One of the most returned items at GC ever! I think it's 3rd most returned after Harbinger speakers and Behringer mixers .... pure crap. Thanks for posting, have a most excellent weekend.
Bad gear suggestion - the Yamaha QX-1 sequencer. It's as though someone wrote a specification for the most awesome MIDI sequencer ever, and then a sociopath implemented it. Don't quite know what it says about me, but I own one and use it in preference to a software sequencer or any other hardware sequencer, but man it's a weird machine.
I don't have much of an explanation, but I bought a QX3 on a whim (people usually tear them apart for the unique key switches) and grabbed a QX1 to keep it company. Unfortunately I need to find a 5.25 inch floppy to get it to boot. I guess if I try one and hate it I'll hate the other one in different ways?
@@Rayndalf Both the big QX sequencers share the job menu approach to accessing commands, with a reference printed on the front panel. Apart from that the QX1 and QX3 are quite different. Yamaha definitely streamlined the workflow of the QX3, but there are quirks to the QX1 that I quite like. Check out Espen Kraft's video on using the QX3 if you've not already, as he made a great demonstration of how to use it. As for the QX1 floppy drive, I have a HxC floppy emulator in my machine. You need an adapter to convert the 5.25" floppy connector but they are cheap and easy to find. You'll also need a mounting bracket, but those are also readily available.
I'd love to see an "all of them". I don't really see the point behind them, but then again, I suspect I'm not in the target market for them. When you said ultimate democratic process, I was so expecting you to say Reddit for some reason... That playful shot at Ricki Tinez was cute too.
Great jam at the end there, and kinda makes me want to look back into the PO series, though the Speak was easily the most interesting for me, both for the speech synthesis take on sampling and the microtonic voice (which extends to the R&M version).
"All of them." Thank you, internet! Had my PO-33 for less than a day before I put up the ad to sell it. Music just sounds better without a PO(S) in the mix.
Considering the fact that they're just PCB's they're still very expensive. A 3d printed case would only be an extra few euros and make it infinitely more usable and reparable.
@@AudioPilz Rubber is a bit better but an actual hard case would be preferable for me, for something like this I would want to be able to throw it into a bag and not worry about something else snapping it in two or cracking the traces on the PCB.
Ich hab jetzt jedes Video von dir geschaut und dein Output und deine Qualität sind außergewöhnlich. Ich bin mir sicher, dass dein Kanal noch explodieren wird - Synth-Tube hat jetzt selbstreferenziellen Meme-Status erreicht. Das Cuckoo Spiegel Ding - *chefs kiss*
I know these are VERY subjective, but as somebody who loves the PO devices AND the Volcas, it's because I have this weird love for working with the most restrictive shit out there and figuring out how to make it do what I want/need. Is it masochistic? Probably. But there's some fun in the challenge of it all. That said, I would agree that of the four POs that I own (Rhythm, Robot, Arcade, R&M) it is absolutely my least favourite to use.
I love my pocket operators. Out of all of my gear they're simply just the most fun and instantly gratifying. But I would NEVER by that fucking Rick and Morty abomination
I like my po 33 but by far the worst thing about it is that you can't turn it off, guess what? it was beeping in my pocket all the time so much so I stoped using it!
What I don't get is how some pocket operators are able to sample while the Volca Sample can't. Even so, the build quality of these pocket operators doesn't convince me; and the cases are almost the same price of the PO. What the heck.
Could you do an episode on KRK Rokits ? I mean people seem to have so many different opinions about them and it would vary a bit from synths. As usual amazing work here, really laughed at the cuckoo and Ricky Tinez jokes !
Love both Cuckoo and Ricky but I simply had to😅 I've done quite some studio, pro audio and guitar stuff and but it seems like the algo put me into synth corner and wouldn't let me out 😂 After all, synth people are the nicest among all musicians
I wanna hear that schranz lol. I feel like they missed an opportunity with the 33, give it a bit more memory for starters. I get the idea of being creative with minimal restrictions, but it's 2020, I mean we have the technology so why not give us the choice? also, something didn't really carry over in the sound, it's like they wanted to market it as lofi but when compared to other lofi samplers it just doesn't sound as good imo. the microgranny is a much better example of a nice sounding lofi modern sampler. some sort of frankenstein combination of both would be the ideal.
You should do a bad gear episode about the Yamaha Reface CS. People hate it because of its underpowered VA synth engin, its mini non touch sensitive keys and its heavy price tag.
Yeah baby! Oh. Wait! You're not my girlfriend. How did I get here? This is not my beautiful life! Pocket Operators. Named after knob twiddlers everywhere, just not the kind that watch this channel. I bought one of these because I couldn't afford an OP-1. Surely some of that magic must have rubbed off onto the PO series, right?! I mean, PO, OP? Same letters backwards. Nothing gets past me. Imagine my surprise when I prised my knobs (plural) out of the box and was met with an offcut from a plastics factory. Hmm, there's music in thar somewhere, I imagined. I'm still convinced of that thought, I'm just waiting for the blisters on my fingers to heal before I have another go. In the mean time I am sending TE random amounts of money in order to save myself from actually buying any more POs. SCHWIFTY!
Do something about the Yamaha QY series! (btw I loved my QY22 but sadly I lost it during a vacation) AKAI S2000 could also be very interesting, I guess it's the most hated AKAI Sampler
@@AudioPilz I think the newer ones are ok but they have a strange way of incorporating harmony in their pattern system. What do you think about the S2000?
@@rorz999 the po-33 is the best one they have and I've considered buying that one just for it being a mobile bit-crusher. But it would of xost them 10¢ more to cast a plastic case and sell it for the same price but they just don't :(
@@rorz999 Their unit cost is about $3. For how they're built and offered bare naked, if they were closer to $30, you could call that pretty cheap and not at all overpriced. That being said both the pocket operators and the big OP-1 are functionally pretty unique and well thought-out, so you also can't call either of them strictly overpriced.
I love my qy70, appart from the sounds (except for classic house) and the chicklet keys it's actually a better sequencer than most gear out right now thanks to yamaha's obsession with cramming features you really don't need into everything. I have a full gm soundset and a guitar amp sim in my drum module, why? Don't ask me.
I can’t do music for shit but I love Burial. I got the PO 14 and just playing around with it is a lot of fun. Great video, really hit the nail on the head!
Despite my username, i still don't have a Pocket Operator... yet. I often forget they exist and can never really figure out which one actually suits my needs the most...
@@AudioPilz Yeah that would be awesome! The Pocket Operator Pocket Calculator for the Operator ;) Including special Keys for Melodies. In a way Kraftwerk themself had that before. On their interactive website. A flash animated interactive pocket calculator. I loved fooling around with that, many years ago.
Yeah I thought they'd be flimsy. While to me seeming okay-ish , it seems like quite a bit of money for a hit or miss product (I was thinking of getting the sampler)... But it's size and simplicity is perfect. What would you lot recommend instead? I have zero knowledge in synths.
The Volcas, while a bit more expensive, are still compact and can be used in more advanced setups too. Maybe start with the Sample and get a Keys a little later. You can make entire arrangements with just these two
PO-20 is pretty much a tiny standalone groovebox. Has polyphonic drums, melody, live effects, and easy chords. It's a bit limited, yes, but personally I find it a great place to get started. Also, in increasing price: Korg NTS-1 (monophonic synth / effect box, you can upload custom patches so very expandable), Volca drum (drum machine but capable of melodic stuff as well), Volca fm (full fledged FM synth minus proper keybed), Arturia Microfreak (crazy feature-packed synth!). Or maybe a stylophone :)
As an owner of Volca FM, NTS-1 and PO-33, I can say NTS-1 is definitely the best value/money (many different oscillators, beautiful reverbs, there even is an open source looper which you can install in e.g. delay effect slot), but I'm not sure if I'd recommend it to a beginner. PO-33 is quite the opposite - very limited functionality and the manufacturer doesn't want people to enhance it in any way (e.g. backup format is a secret), but even a total beginner should be able to create some music with it without any additional equipment on the first day. Using NTS-1 without external MIDI keyboard or sequencer is a pain, although you could probably use a smartphone for that, but then you could just as well replace PO-33 with a smartphone app. As for Volca FM, it is definitely easier to use than NTS-1 while still being a very powerful synth with a built-in sequencer and somewhat usable keyboard, but it's the most specialised out of the three and also the most expensive. I don't think it's possible to create a full song with Volca FM alone, no matter what genre. BTW, my next mid-priced synth purchase is going to be Microfreak, most likely. But I already have two devices with decent FX.
I really enjoy your videos. But could you complete your bio (name, what do you do of you don't make these vids) or do an inttoduction video perhaps? Thanks anyhoe.
AudioPilz Sure it is. But some context, just as you do with the gear ;-), would be nice. But hey, it is your channel. Or as we say in the Netherlands, it is your party.
@@AudioPilz My first and most hated synth, fell for the marketing campaign without reading enough comments. Roland really dropped the ball with the JD-Xi, they could've made a great machine but cut corners everywhere they could (probably so it wouldn't cannibalize their other products) with minimal hands-on controls, tiny screen, scratchy surface, no way to mute drum sounds, keys just break apart, no song mode, can't overwrite the cheesy presets, etc, etc, etc. It makes for an ok sequencer though and the analog part really shines through. Anyway, great series. I never miss an episode.
the hanger is supposed to be broken off, i believe. (if you have some use for it, sure, keep it, right?) but this design decision is part of the overarching idea to ultra-minimise parts, covers AND packaging, is it not?
