Dont be triggered by the instagram 2 bar comment - Its merely an observation. These devices are products of Instagram. Manufacturers love it - free advertising by clever clogs and his 2 bar loop with flying cat animations. More power to you if you are managing full tracks on it.
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i havent been on there for a few years so that side hasnt really penetrated my worldview
Over the years - would have saved Ā£Ā£Ā£Ā£ if i stayed away from Gearspace and Insta
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Totally understandable!
I love the ones who say āThis thing sucks. I played with it the whole weekend, and I canāt remember any of it! And why doesnāt it have XYZ functionality?? Sending it back!ā
Like, you probably need more than a weekend to learn a musical instrument lol
And if you took a breath before you bought it, and read the manual, or even the spec sheet, you would have known that it didnāt have XYZ.
And if youāre asking for more functionality, that means there will be more to learn.
Good gravy, peeps are lazy.
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more fx/ inserts would be nice on any beatmachine whether hardware or software but like you alluded to there are limitations that the devs face, but even more importantly imo is that the whole culture surrounding these kind of choices has to change, because the culture hasnāt caught up with the technology for example like I said there are limitations for the devs to face whenever they are ready and willing to get there but they are not there yetā¦the majority of the culture is still exploiting the ethos of how much can we get out of how little tech, and actually things have regressedā¦back in the day there were limitations on processing prowess and memory and beatmachines had very little of both but at that time they were trying to do the best they couldā¦
but there is no reason in todays day, age, and pricing for a k.o.ll to even exist with the specs that it has, of course we have to always keep in mind that these are creative endeavors and any developer can create anything they want under the sun for any reason and thatās all the validation they need but from a resource/price perspective + tech capability it makes no sense for someone to come out with a beatmachine made for making sample based music and only put 64mb of memory in it, lack any sample editing standardsā¦ or to continue down the whole line of the development of that product through the lens of that same culture. Some people call this kind of thing pseudo development or just an example of developers being novel because they can but not really trying to serve the beatmaking community etcā¦
I can understand where all points of view are coming from because on a personal level I believe that anyone creating anything should do so how they want first and foremost, but I also understand musicians that believe in standards and wish that the era of deliberate hamstringing of beatmachines was over and I think itās only natural, they are looking around at their peers and the majority of other kinds of instrumentation you donāt have to face thisā¦ in the synth world whether itās traditional or modular etcā¦ devs are for the most part trying to figure out how to get more out of their creations as opposed to the beatmachine market heavily leans towards trying to get less out of the instrument
but it looks like things are gradually turning around with devs like synthstrom, sonicware, roland and even elektron are moving in the other direction with beatmachines like the deluge, lofi-xt, sp404, and the digitakt 2 so the future looks promising if we can just be patient while still encouraging themā¦ Ableton putting out the Push 3 and the MPC line just continuing to do what theyāve always done and not fall off is all immensely helpful in reminding devs of the viabilityā¦ the M8 2 is improving, the polyend tracker +is really making improvements so the tide is turningā¦ weāll see if T.E. improves with the new OP-Zā¦ canāt wait for that to dropā¦
the irony with the whole beatmachine issue is that other types of instrumentation have bases that are really clamoring for groundbreaking improvements, people want to hear something theyāve never heard before or do something theyāve never been able to do and those devs are really trying to answer the call in the synth world rather than dash everyones dreamsā¦ but in contrast in the beatmachine world for the majority they just want more sample time and space to do what they are already doing or in alot of cases used to be able to do and donāt understand why in going forward they arenāt able to continue to doā¦etcā¦ and more precise edibilityā¦ but itās the beatmachine world that faces the most resistanceā¦ unfounded imhoā¦ also the beatmachine world is usually using the oldest and least expensive tech, but willing to pay whatever if they just got a knod in the right direction.
A poorly articulated gist if there ever was one but there it is
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I finally ordered one yesterday. Should be here to morrow. I am taking a different approach than many. Not expecting it to compete with my MPC Live II, MC-707 or even my Circuit Tracks. What I do want is an updated PO. I had fun with the POās and have most of them, but I want something between a PO and a MPC 1. This seems to be it.
My question, has anyone used it to sample their PO collection? Does it get you in the ballpark? Iām surprised I have not seen a PO sample set for sale, or maybe I have just missed it.
i havent seen any drumkits specifically for the ep133, some people were hoping the backup utility would allow that (which seems needlessly complicated to me since you can just load samples with the tool) but i have to imagine this deep into the POās lifespans theres gotta be some general kits out there.
i guess the important part is what you would consider to be in the ballpark of the POās. some people are real bummed by the lack of recording punch-in fx and the lack of scene chaining, i would kinda consider the recorded punch-ins to be in the PO ballpark, in the ep133 ballpark the stakes are raised, you gotta do it live.
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@te-david Here is a wild idea, how about an import function in the sample tool to restore projects from the po33 to the po133? Would love to make po33 loops into full projects on the ko2.
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Synthās can be the same, people complain all the how the sequential synths only have one lfo or only 49 keys, and are some of the most expensiveā¦
Some brands just make instruments that seem arbitrarily limited but are created to be simple so you focus on what is there instead of complication. It might not be for everyone but Iām really drawn to these types of instruments. The fact the 133 canāt really back up forces me to just work on stuff and move on and not get too invested in one project on itā¦ I do wish you could record the punch in effects though.
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havent touched my ep-133 in a while, but yesterday sampled some synths from microfreak and did some burial-esque future garage, had a lot of fun
played with punch fx when recording to daw so some of it sounds bad lol, but I like the drums groove overall
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I do appreciate the simplicity of the sequential synths, I kind of feel like they always back up their choices though like many complain about the p5 being mono but then again it still sounds gloriousā¦
I also want the 133 to have better utilities and punch in fx recordingā¦ sometimes when it comes to the beat machines it just seems like the most mundane request are like pulling teethā¦ youāll ask for something like sub folders in the sample directory and someone will jump out and be like Hey bud youāre trying to change the vision! 
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im misunderstanding the desire for everything to be at computer level capability simply because its technologically possible. like we have so many things that are capable, both within and without a DAW environment. im not sure why everything should be the same with the same features, then whats the point of them being different? i dont really see how innovation comes from following the status quo
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different things are different inherentlyā¦ look at us humans we all have the same arms and legs but that doesnāt mean we lack in diversityā¦ or how about all the mpcs, they all feel different even though they have the same core workflowā¦ if the digitakt 2 gets proper sample slicing, or the ko 133 gets proper sample sling and resampling they wonāt at all feel like an octatrack or an mpc or an sp404ā¦
I donāt think if the k.O 133 gets punch in fx recording that itās gonna make people feel like there is no difference between it and the P.033ā¦
and when it comes to utilities thatās not trying to be just like a computer (which they are anyway) thatās just good house keepingā¦ who wants to be bogged down by sample organization when youāre trying to make some music?
more than anything else though I think we live in a time where we donāt have to be so polarized if we donāt self impose that polarization on ourselvesā¦ thatās the important part about technologyā¦ our technology is advanced enough and affordable enough to satisfy alot of different kinds of artistic wants and desires without forcing anyone into anythingā¦ if youāre the kind of person that canāt wait to install a new firmware and check it out then youāre good, and if youāre the type that doesnāt feel like anything but an 1.0 version of a firmware will do then you donāt have to install a new one
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i deleted my comment before i saw you reply heh wasnt quick enough.
i guess from my perspective if its a feature that was never on the devs vision board, then adding it in will likely just be a less good version of a feature thats way better on something that was designed to have it from the get go. im thinking of things like the digitakt slice mode, sp404mk2 step sequencer and how people reacted to those
like for example, i love the way samples are organized on the ep133. i can zoom through them super fast and have never considered why i would want it any differently. are you saying subfolders would be a helpful thing on the ep133? i figured the suggested organization they give in the sample tool is basically subfolders, along with using the numbers to access those subfolders instantly instead of scrolling through folders within folders
no that was just a general exampleā¦ that often happens with samplersā¦ I just think we shouldnāt be afraid of the evolution of any of these instrumentsā¦ I used to wanna throw my mpcs in holy water every time I thought about all of the plugins they released for themā¦ but then I asked myself whyyy
I donāt have to use them if I donāt want to lolā¦ I ended up having to douse my torch and put away my pitchfork because I just wasnāt being reasonable
I wish the Devs would share their vision boards more often because most donāt so there is no way to tell, and to make things more complicated they all ask for suggestions, ideas, and request for future updates
aint that the fun though?
i dunno, glad people out there like updates. my fires dwindled.
imo yeah thatās part of the fun, but for me thatās when it comes to new ideas that the dev or base comes up withā¦ when it comes to the standards like sample slicing and such, those are more like utilities that I need in a beatmachineā¦ like a filter in a synthā¦ I donāt want a synth without filters, or a sequencer without automation, a drum set without pedalsā¦ if the instrument is a sample based instrument then proper sample editing is expected.
for example I donāt consider more sample memory on a sampler or more storage space an artistic thingā¦ itās because we love working on these samplers so much that we want more space and time to do itā¦ so Iām so grateful for elektron doing that for the Dt2ā¦ but I guarantee if T.E. does that for the k.o.133 people will love it because they will be able to work with it more, especially if they are able to record the punch-in fxā¦
I like sonic wareās attitude with features like the mixtape, and Roland with features like the skipbackā¦ these are features that would be wonderful on any beatmachine we talk about on these forums and those kind of features stem from them thinking āwhat would people really into sample production like to doāā¦
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okay this relit my fire and i think i can articulate my thoughts better now.
i think i have connected so well with the ep133 precisely because it does not seem it was made for the general āpeople into sample productionā audience. based on the friction so many people experience with it, it seems like it was designed for a specific kind of person who isnt worried about sample editing. and it feels like i am square in that target market because its clicked so much better with me than any other sampler has (digitakt, polyend tracker, m8, Ableton, sp404mk2, all of which have far more in depth sample editing abilities). because i have come to find i actually dont care about editing my samples beyond release amount. im recording chords and synths one shots, i just want to arrange the sounds i sampled.
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I totally agree. What it does, it does sublimely. Possibly better than anything else, if it clicks with you. If it doesnāt, then itās easy to list weaknesses. To me, itās an instant modern classic. Field version please.
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