EP–133 K.O. II 64 mb sampler, drum machine and sequencer with built-in microphone and effects

As a longtime fan of Teenage Engineering's design philosophy, I had high expectations for the EP-133 K.O. II, and it has completely blown them away. This device is pure, distilled fun. It's a sampler that removes all the friction between having an idea and making a beat, and it has quickly become the centerpiece of my creative workflow. The Workflow: Immediate and Inspiring This is where the K.O. II truly shines. The workflow is incredibly fast and intuitive. From sampling a sound off my phone or its built-in mic to chopping it and sequencing a pattern takes literal seconds. The layout, reminiscent of a vintage calculator, is brilliant. Every button has a clear purpose, which encourages you to play and experiment rather than get lost in menus. The "commit" function, which duplicates your pattern and lets you build on it, is a genius way to evolve a track without losing your original idea. Sound and Performance: The K.O. II has a sound all its own—it's punchy, a little gritty, and full of character. It makes samples sound better just by being inside it. The real magic, however, happens with the live performance features. The "Punch-In FX" are absolutely incredible. Being able to add stutters, filters, and other effects on the fly is not only fun but a powerful tool for transforming a simple loop into a dynamic performance. The pressure-sensitive keys feel great for adding variation to your patterns. Design and Vibe: In typical Teenage Engineering fashion, the K.O. II is a design masterpiece. It's lightweight, durable, and the perfect size to throw in a backpack. Running on batteries and having a built-in speaker makes it the ultimate portable music-making machine. It's a device that begs to be picked up and played with, wherever you are. Conclusion: The EP-133 K.O. II is more than just a sampler; it's an instrument of inspiration. It's perfect for both beginners who want to learn the ropes of sampling and seasoned producers looking for a fun, fast, and powerful tool to capture ideas. It's one of the most enjoyable pieces of gear I've ever owned, and I can't recommend it highly enough.

AWESOME! IT DOES EXACTLY AS ADVERTISED AND MORE!! Very fun and user friendly. Only downside is it didn’t come with the free “Ting” like the ones from the earlier releases.

Let me preface this by saying I sympathize with everyone who received a faulty unit or damaged the fader when installing the cap. Teenage Engineering cannot sell a product with such a glaring design problem and poor quality control. At the very least they should have the fader cap preinstalled. Now despite that intro, I'm about to do a complete 180 and gush about this little machine. Having received it completely undamaged and opting to use a Lego pumpkin for the fader cap, I have felt nothing but overwhelming joy in the short time I've used the KO II. Having no experience with music production outside of playing around with FL Studio and my OP 1, the KO II is welcoming in its approach to beat-making and anyone can put together a solid track in no time. The illuminated icons and 8-segment display give me all the info I need without needlessly clunky menus, making the musical process feel intuitive. The preloaded sounds feel punchy and the onboard effects, while a little limited, have a lot to offer and don't even get me started on its sampling capabilities. The actual body of the device feels solid in the hand and all the buttons, dials, and slider have a good feel to them(assuming the unit passed QA before shipping). My only real complaint is that the onboard speaker is kind of faint, especially on the lower frequencies but I assume most of you are probably going to use headphones or some other audio output. In conclusion, I have high hopes for the KO II. According to the TE, this is the start of their new "EP" series and from what I've seen on the body it looks like there are Lego peg holes on both sides of the unit which leads me to believe there will be more of versions that can be connected to make an entire EP panel, but I'm getting ahead of myself. In an ideal world, I'd give this my full recommendation to anyone even slightly interested in music production. But the truth of the matter is it wouldn't be fair to everyone who was promised this magically little device and got a hunk of malfunctioning plastic instead. I hope this review does reach TE because I think its message resonates with the community; We love the idea but we're disappointed with its execution.

Exceeded my expectations, it’s so much fun to use it really helps you start getting ideas down quickly. I plug it to my computer with usb c to c and from there I use midi pipe to connect my midi keyboards, it lets you input to patterns with the full key range. You can easily plug it to your phone to draw samples from anything on your phone too like garage band or synth one.

Playing the drums is fun. Playing guitar is fun. So why shouldn’t playing a sampler be fun? I’ve only had one evening with the EP-133 and I have already had more enjoyment with it than I have in 4 years of owning an SP-404SX. I tried for years to vibe with the 404 but it always lead to frustration. I thought if I gave it more time and practice it would click but I gave up and decided to try a new company. As a long-time Teenage Engineering hater I approached the EP-133 with skepticism but it really is as instantly fun and user-friendly as people say it is. Favorite aspects so far: the Punch-in effects and the display. The screen just looks awesome and the icons are really cool and fairly intuitive. I haven’t delved into sampling and deeper functions yet- made one beat and have been spending hours playing with the effects and learning the fader controls. The punch-in effects are so gd fun. Criticisms: I wish the enclosure was aluminum but the overall construction and material quality is very nice. I think people’s complaints about the durability come from the initial batch with the fader issue. I build cabinets and furniture professionally and guitar pedals on the side so I know craftsmanship when I see it. I think this thing is built to last. The potentiometers have a little wobble but it’s absolutely nothing compared to how bad the SP-404’s are. The pads on the EP-133 are very small, tightly grouped, very touch-sensitive and made of smooth plastic, not rubber- so accuracy is an issue. Final thoughts: Thing is friggin sweet. It’s so nice to sit down with a sampler and have fun for once. If you’re on the fence read the manual and if you see no real dealbreakers give it a try. Buy a used one and resell it if you don’t vibe with it.

After debating weather to get the original K.O., I recently discovered the K.O. II and started to look into it some more as I had been interested in a proper sampler and not just use my Casio SK-1 or Yamaha VSS-200. After reading about the complaints regarding the fade slider having issues, I decided to bite the bullet. The price wasn’t terrible and I figured I’d get it because my electronic capabilities would be sufficient to replace the slider if needed. I got the sampler and I have to say that the packaging looks great. It instantly invokes the thought of a record LP. My wife was even surprised at the packaging, as it did not look like a synth package. Opening the package was a challenge. That thing is in there extremely snug. There are finger holes to remove the sampler but if you tug too hard you will probably rip the outside sleeve. I gently shook it out on my bed with my finger guiding it. So far my biggest complaint stems from the packaging. While beautiful and extremely functional, it may be too functional. Like an IKEA box, no space was wasted, and this led to the curiosity of why Teenage Engineering shipped this without the knobs attached on the slider and pot. Not attaching the knobs only saves about 1/4” of space and they surely could have made the box bigger to account for such dimensions. I would think this might alleviate some of the issues people have had with the knobs, as I have read it may stem from people attaching them to firmly but as I opened the box, I also noticed marks on the inside where the packaging rubbed against the knob less pots and slider. I am sure that any good hit or jostling could potentially cause some damage, like when you ship a Faberge egg with zero packing peanuts. I followed some YouTube video suggestions carefully, such as gently attaching the knobs and when it came to the slider, not pushing it all the way down and attach the knob while the slider is positioned all the way up or down. I did notice the knob on the slider was a bit harder to get on than the volume or BPM knobs. The unit itself feels well built and while the buttons are plastic, the tapping seemed alright and played into the retro aesthetic. The lights and display are very intuitive and the inner packaging has a quick start cheat sheet. I wish there was a heavier duty instruction manual but I knew going in that probably wasn’t going to happen knowing Teenage Engineering. I was able to start making my own sound bank within 5 minutes. So overall, I feel this thing is worth the money. Who knows. Firmware updates in the future may resolve some issues and if they do a revision on packaging or components you might be able to get this one at a good price, although I doubt it as their products seem to hold value really well. …and after a thorough testing the fader is broken out of the box. Does not respond one bit. Looks like this will be returned and while the sampling and use seemed easy out of the box, what good is it if this is faulty from the beginning?!

First things first it is not a toy. In my opinion it’s cheaper than it should be. It’s a solid unit mechanical buttons that feel good when you press them. Be warned that you will need to upgrade the software to the latest and greatest but that’s easy to with a browser. And to the most important part the sound. Every sample that it comes with is amazing and sounds great. You can record your own samples and mix like a pro. Yes the song in the video is a sample that I did. It was easy to sample from the built in mic but you can connect to the input jack and sample from there as well. The samples that you record are stored on the device was will. The instructions for this might be a little difficult to master but with YouTube university you can learn everything you will need to know. I have used this with my OP-1 Field as a MIDI instrument and it open a whole new world. If you’re looking for solid sampler, look no further.

Extremely fun to use, with very cool features such as velocity sensitivity, built-in sampling (no external mic required, but you can use one if you wish!), and pretty robust for the price