PO-32 Pocket Operator Tonic Drum Synth

poco da dire, semplicemente fantastico!!!! una volta familiarizzato con l'utilizzo è difficile non divertirsi, drum machine strepitosa in un formato ridotto ma realizzata in maniera superlativa!!! sequencer con 64 step ,16 effetti pazzeschi e comprando il software su pc puoi riprogrammare i suoni a bordo inserendo quello che più ti piace, cosa volere di più? la luna in una scatoletta, moon in a little box!!!

Un peu limité, mais tres sympa a utiliser. Difficile a battre pour le rapport qualité prix. J envisage le po33 en complément !

Looking for a simple way to start out in the world of drums? Then go into the kitchen and band some pots and pans with wooden spoons. However if you fancy dipping your creative toe into the world of drum machines then the PO tonic is a great place to start. As small as a calculator and easy enough for a trained chimp to program in some sick loops. I can think of no better way to have fun with a battery operated gadget. Actually I can but let’s leave that. Bid beats from a small package. Programmable, portable and cheap. Get one and summon up your inner Neil Peart. What a banger!

Product is what I ordered but, arrived partially defective because of horrible packaging. It should've been shipped in a box and NOT an envelope. And of course there are no refunds. Rather frustrated as it is not exactly the cheapest little gadget.

I have the PO-12 Rhythm and a few of the other melodic Pocket Operators from this series. The PO-32 Tonic is just better than those other devices. What makes this unit interesting (and arguably worth the $30 higher starting price) is that it's not sample player, but more like a stripped-down version of an analog drum machine stuffed into a microcomputer the size of a credit card. For some background, the "full" version of this sound engine is MicroTonic - a PC and Mac-based drum machine plug in first released in December of 2003. Not only does the PO-32 Tonic operate a simpler version of MicroTonic, but the designers of that program collaborated on the production of the PO-32, and it is capable of loading sound patches and pattern data if you have the full paid desktop version (costing $100). MicroTonic actually looks like a great program, but I didn't much interest in buying a $100 VST to use with a $89 drum machine. But as it turns out, I don't think you have to be a MicroTonic owner to appreciate what the Tonic does. It ships with 16 different instrument sounds, and as with the other Pocket Operators, these actually can be pitched and morphed with both the A/B modifier knobs and an even-more-awesome collection of 16 effects that can be applied live or on a per-step basis. The performative aspects of the Pocket Operators and implementation of effects are arguably the strong point of these devices, and the Tonic is the best example yet of that. Along with distortion, bit crush, and filter sweeps, there are several time based "delay" and stutter effects, including a crazy accelerating delay that sounds like a bouncing rubber ball. However, since the patch transfer is accomplished by fax-style data bursts (either through a built in mic or direct line transfer), you can back up your own data as 30-second data bursts, or grab other data bursts off of YouTube or SoundCloud. So, while you won't have the ability to customize your own sounds, you can still expand the palette of the PO-32 with a surprisingly effective transfer method (I tried it a few dozen times without reading the instructions too closely and it worked every time - both from PC and from smartphone). The Tonic sound engine seems impressively powerful and varied. I've heard patches that run the full range from classic analog drum machines (808/909/etc), to more driven, electro-style kicks and blips, to almost acoustic-sounding drum sets. All the normal caveats for Pocket Operators apply - these things are small and they are FRAGILE. The failure point that concerns me the most are the super thing metal tabs that hold the AAA batteries in place. If those begin to fatigue and no longer hold pressure, I assume my PO's will be done. The PO-32 has a workflow that isn't necessarily intuitive from the instructions, but there's actually quite a bit of depth there and you pick it up over time. Same goes for the pulse/CV synchronization with other hardware. It took a bit of trial and error and watching some YouTube videos to get each device in the proper mode, but it did work well after that (except for the problem that devices earlier in the chain are significantly more quite than those closer to the output). Minor gripes aside, there are some seriously great sounds in the PO-32 Tonic. I think the melodic Pocket Operators are more limited because they really suffer from limited scaling and no MIDI or external note sequencing capabilities. But the PO-32, like the PO-12 before, is a self-contained drum machine, and an extremely fun one at that.