Teenage Engineering EP-133 KO II

Teenage Engineering’s portable workstation offers retro styling and an equally old‑school approach to sampling.

I’ve often thought that Teenage Engineering’s Pocket Operators are deceptively capable little beasts, held back by the size and spec of their hardware. They have a fast workflow and really effective momentary performance effects. The EP‑133, or KO II is, in concept, a scaled‑up version of the PO‑33/KO! micro sampler. It says ‘EP Series’ on the bottom, so I hope we can expect more grown‑up POs in the future.

The EP‑133 keeps the basic idea of the KO, providing both drum‑machine style one‑shot sample playback and chromatic sample pitching. You still have onboard sampling and ‘punch in’ effects, and both step and real‑time sequencing. The KO II remains very portable (potentially still pocketable, in some generous cargo pants) but has massively enhanced capabilities such as full‑resolution audio and sampling, four bank layers, unquantised sequencing, velocity‑sensitive keys and USB connectivity.

In its new form, the KO II will likely be weighed against other compact workstations like Roland’s SP‑404 and Novation’s Circuit Rhythm. However, my impression is that the key design reference for TE was early Akai MPCs.

Form

Much of the buzz around the announcement of the EP‑133 focused on the reasonableness of the price compared to some other TE offerings. Perhaps more significant, though, is what a desirable‑looking thing it is. It has a retro style reminiscent of old Casio calculators, hardware MIDI sequencers or a miniaturised MPC‑60. I should say that Retrokits beat TE to it visually with their RK‑008 MIDI multitracker, but the KO II has a unique vibe thanks to its display. This pairs a basic three‑character read‑out with a bank of backlit indicators, maintaining the PO’s relationship to handheld games of the ’80s: an almost unfair card to play on those of us of a certain age.

As well as the pressure‑sensitive mechanical keys (a favourite among gamers and hipster typists) there are three knobs and small slider/fader which are used for all continuous controls and settings across various modes. Some users have reported faulty faders, though it’s not clear whether this stems from a component issue or packaging failure. The review unit thankfully showed no issues.

The device really is a lovely thing to pick up and play with, being about the size of a vanilla iPad and surprisingly thin. It’s solid, though, with stable rubber feet for tabletop use. Although there’s no rechargeable battery, power is handled excellently. Four AAAs keep you working for a good 20 hours, but because power automatically switches to USB when plugged into a computer or charger, I’m still on the first set after a month.

As well as power, the USB port provides MIDI I/O and sample management via a computer, but it can’t do audio over USB or direct MIDI hosting. The top edge also sports stereo audio input and output connections, multi‑format analogue sync in and out, and TRS‑A MIDI ports (adaptors are not included). The audio output doubles for both line out and headphones, and there’s also a built‑in speaker for casual pickup‑and‑play sessions.

The KO II’s connections are all found at the top and feature a USB-C port and 3.5mm sockets for sync and MIDI I/O, audio input and audio output.

Function

Each of the 12 dark grey pads hosts a sample, and there are four Groups to play with. The first few projects come pre‑loaded with sounds, but you can easily swap any pad’s sample by engaging Sound mode and using the +/‑ buttons to step through the 999 sample slots. You can also type in a number to go directly to a sound. The pre‑installed sounds are categorised by hundreds: kicks from 001, snares from 100, and so on. You can also sample directly to any pad, but more on that in a bit.

Each Group can be finger‑drummed as a kit, or you can flip a single pad into Keys mode and play it chromatically (or within a scale) from the pads or a MIDI keyboard. Melodic and one‑shot mode lanes can coexist happily within each Group, giving you plenty of scope to build up layers, although voice stealing will kick in when you max out the 12‑note polyphony. Sequence recording can be punched in momentarily by holding Record, or latched with Record and Play. Sequence length defaults to one bar, but can be adjusted up to 99 bars! While stopped and in Main mode (note the MPC nomenclature) you can step through the sequence in the current Bank with the +/‑ keys, auditioning as you go. Holding Rec allows you to place hits into steps at your leisure.

Recording is not limited to the grid unless you want it to be. You can Quantise tracks after recording, and even quantise selectively in real time by holding specific pads during playback in Timing Correct (MPC again) mode. Holding the Timing button engages Note Repeat, which can be used in conjunction with varied pressure on the keys to quickly capture dynamic patterns — we are ticking off my list of must‑have features pretty quickly here.

Commit

Everything going on sequence‑wise within a Group is lumped together as a Pattern, and you can flip between 99 different Patterns in each Group. A snapshot of which Pattern is currently active in each of the four Groups is called a Scene. Foundational to the EP‑133 workflow is the Commit operation, which instantly duplicates the current Scene and moves you into it. This is exactly how I like to work on Push or Maschine, but on a modern MPC it’s a fiddly, multi‑step process, so I’m glad to see Teenage Engineering going their own way here. You can quickly build an idea, then create variations and song sections without stopping.

Structure‑wise, then, you have Patterns in Groups, Pattern combos in Scenes, and Scenes (again up to 99) in Projects (up to 10). By default, flipping between Patterns and Scenes is instantaneous, picking up at the same step in the bar. Again, this is absolutely my preferred workflow, making it easy to perform a fluid arrangement. The only slight hitch is that having to type in a two‑digit number to select a Scene slows you down a bit. However, you can use the +/‑ buttons to advance quickly through adjacent Scenes.

A gaping hole in the functionality at launch is any way to back up or load your Projects and Scenes. When you’ve filled the slots, you’ll need to delete something to start any new ideas. There may be something healthy in the idea of finishing something and moving on, but if you’re a live performer, you’ll want to be able to load up tunes. Thankfully TE say that a solution for backing up and restoring projects is just round the corner, as well as a way to reload the factory sample content.

Sampling

The EP‑133 can sample from the line input or a built‑in mic. Tap the Sample button, adjust input gain, then hold down a pad to sample; it’s a fast and immediate process, but if you need both hands to produce your sound, you’ll struggle. The Sound Edit mode provides top and tail trimming, pitch mapping, an attack and decay envelope, and a choice between one‑shot (triggered), key (gated) or legato play modes.

You can also time‑stretch samples, either relative to a tempo or to fit to a bar length. The time‑stretching quality is a bit ropey depending on what you use it for, but it’s a really welcome option for working with loops. One thing you can’t do is sample during playback. It would have been great to be able to grab phrases and loops in time with the Scene. You can’t resample within the device, either. Resampling has never been part of my own approach, but I know it’s important to many on devices like the SP‑404.

Sample chopping is available, using either the MPC ‘lazy chop’ method of dropping slice points on the fly, or automatic division. Either way, chop points can be tweaked afterwards. A chopped sample takes over a whole Group, with a slice on each pad ready for resequencing. If you do a tempo match before chopping, all the slices will be in time, which is great for jungle breaks. Another fun jungle trick is to use the Bar match option on a drum loop, then put it into Keys mode. This lets you play the loop at different pitches while maintaining the tempo, with a distinctly Akai S‑series grainy stretch. Marvellous.

Sample management is handled slickly via a web tool without interrupting other work on your KO II.

Sample management and OS updates are handled directly from your computer via web tools, negating the need to fiddle with SD cards or special modes. The EP Sample Tools auto‑connects to your device and lists all the sample slots. You can drop samples from your computer into the slots, and can assign samples to pads by dragging to a representation of your KO II. A graphical editor syncs with the hardware, which, as well as facilitating mouse‑based editing, provides an enhanced display that responds to the device in real time. This made me think of the OP‑Z, which takes advantage of iOS devices as an extended display, but the EP editor doesn’t work on mobile devices.

Effects & Fader Modes

A single master effect slot is available, with multiple modes to choose from including reverb, chorus, distortion and delay, each with two parameters tweaked from the two knobs. The delay is particularly fun. Each Group can be sent to the master FX by degrees using the fader. This scheme works well for performing, allowing you to easily divide a song into basic food groups (drums, synth and so on) and apply effects to them with broad brush strokes. However, the lack of a way to individually treat sounds with effects is one of the KO II’s major limitations.

This extends to all the other fader‑controlled parameters that you can see labelled above the trigger keys, such as level, pitch and filters. Each of these can be assigned to the fader, with one assignment per Group. This is not as restrictive as it sounds, as every sound also gets its own individual controls for level, pan, pitch and envelope in Sound mode. Groups having to share one filter and send is the main restriction, although for me, the lack of any filter envelope is also a shame (the Circuit Rhythm also lacks this, incidentally). On the plus side, fader movements can be automated and layered.

True to its Pocket Operator roots, the KO II has a suite of 12 performance or ‘punch‑in’ effects. These are momentary effects that mangle the whole performance in various ways. By holding the FX button and pressing the main keys you can apply filters and bit crushing, stutters and loops, slow‑downs and pitch warps, and so on. It’s not all audio effects: some of the punch‑ins scramble sequence pitches, or which samples are played.

The coolest thing is that the effects are controlled by pressure, so filters can be swept, stutter times adjusted and so on by varying how firmly you push the buttons — and you can hold multiple effect buttons at the same time. While the FX button is held, the Group buttons operate as momentary (and stackable) solos and the fader continues to do whatever it’s doing, so you can perform endless interesting breaks, fills and builds. A bonus is the Loop mode, which grabs and loops the output while the two knobs adjust start point and length in real time.

It’s A Knockout

The EP‑133 is super‑cute, and affordable by Teenage Engineering standards, but does it have the functionality to compete with other portable sample workstations like the SP‑404 or Circuit Rhythm? Yes and no. It has more voices than the Circuit, but lacks that unit’s depth of sequencing and arranging abilities. It is outperformed in pretty much all raw specs by the SP, and has a fraction of the others’ memory.

Once you’ve learned the basics it’s just so quick to create on, and it lends itself to jamming out ideas through organic play rather than fine programming.

And yet... having spent a lot of time with all these devices, I have a hunch this is the one I’d most often come back to. Once you’ve learned the basics, it’s just so quick to create on, and it lends itself to jamming out ideas through organic play rather than fine programming. The sampling workflow is fun and old‑school, a throwback to the wonderful Casio SK1 that brought sampling to the masses. You have a core early MPC/SP toolset ideal for Madlib/Dilla sample‑chopped hip‑hop, or a performance groovebox for improvising a whole house set. I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next to the EP party.