Teenage Engineering PO-12 rhythm

This little guy came to me as a big surprise from TE when they teamed up with Cheap Monday; being known for their 600¤ synth and then coming up with this thing for 70¤. Nice unique sounds and effects, a really, REALLY good speaker (better than the Volca series), clear display, sturdy for a portable setup, good battery life (runs on regular AAA). It can even tell time.

Being only a barebone PCB with buttons+display on top, it doesn't even have the on/off button (it has auto-sleep though), but that doesn't stop it from delivering a serious punch. Editable parameters can be motion sequenced too, patterns can be chained and tempo and shuffle is also editable (up to 240BPM). Has an included stand (a fold-out metal piece).

I wish it has some of these things (but then it wouldnt cost so little):
-channel mute
-display light
-on/off (although I think the newer PO-2x series will have that)
-more pattern spaces
-maybe better saving (if you remove the batteries, sometimes it wipes your patterns)

But I think I'll buy a few more, these things have great charm and usability, I even made an EP solely done on a PO-12.

Teenage Engineering have a reputation for making deceptively simple and intuitive but amazing sounding products - the PO-12 is no exception. The onboard FX are great. Anyone who enjoys pushing buttons and DAWless jamming is going to have a wonderful time; it puts a smile on my face every single time! Highly recommended.

NB: Get one of the cases if you can - while they're pretty tough little units, dust and dirt can quickly build up, especially if you're travelling with it.

This device delivers an impressive sound. Really!
From all the PO's from Teenage Engineering+Cheap Monday it's the one that covers more ground (rhythmm, bass, melody, filters).

You can vary the pitch of every sound in the soundbank, very customizable, syncable, and the filters are one of the best things, way above it's price range!

Although one must deal with it with great patience in the beginning (this has a tricky and steep learning curve) it's definetly usable for laying down ideas for rhythm and bass on the fly or while commuting. The controls aren't really intuitive, but once you get the hang of it and do it methodically, it's very fast and fun to use.

Especially for the price, i really like it! I had one that broke down, I returned it, but Thomann (and Teenage Engineering) were great and sent me a new one :)