Teenage Engineering EP-133 K.O. II

After my Polyend Tracker’s “first gen” rounded vs square buttons, and unfixable audio pop issue, I’ve come to realised manufacturers are always trying to rush things out without proper QC like before. No matter how much GAS was being lit, I’ve learned not to rush to buy the first round and just wait. Sorry to hear such issues and hopefully it will be fixed by the time I come around to it.

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It’s a strange thing but when I started buying more expensive synthesizers like moogs, I realized boutique, hand crafted, hand built, limited edition does not always mean less issues. Plastic mid range massive factory made products from large manufacturers honestly tend to just not have as many issues come up. But they are very “safe” products.

It’s just one of those things you have to deal with when companies like TE take more design risks in manufacturing.

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It is about how much QC test cycles a manufacturer goes through. I had a friend working for an Apple sub-con and he said the amount of test cycles Apple made them go through to ensure QC, it was insane. The product was ready a year before it even got to the retail chain, but the testing and refinements right to the day it was green lit for production took time. And yet, there are still issues sometimes. But mostly those issues were within acceptable margins, and does not affect daily use. I don’t know if TE applies the same amount of time to a $299 product as to a $1999 product from their lineup, and fix things as the product lifecycle moves along. Software can be done, but hardware… 💁🏻

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I just can not believe that during stress testing at TE nobody pushed the fader cap down and their fader had issues.

The fader cap is such a tight fit that when pushed down there must have been a percentage that had issues.

Mine arrived and the fader didn’t work and then when u tried to push the cap on barely half way it went from not working to jamming in numbers in the position it was when I pushed down so something else happened when putting on the cap.

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Soo, i started to sample like a champ now and of course maxed the sample memory quickly :slight_smile: But i sampled stereo loops, not a surprise then. I want to trim/truncate the loops now but is the trim function only non destructive? I can‘t find other ways (should i give chop a try? but thats not what i‘m looking for) and started to get nervous a bit 🫣

I guess I’m being overly picky, but you are right, I’m too used to the option of popping out a card and plugging it into anything.

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The EP-133 seems to be much closer to a Volca sample than to an MPC :yum:. It doesn’t even have a proper display. Maybe you should lower your expectations regarding sample editing. It’s a fun machine, not a production tool.

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That‘s certainly how I feel about it. The moment I think of it as a production tool, I want to sell it. The moment I think of it as a past-time play thing, I love it.

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ehm sorry but a sampler (volca is just a sample player!) thats not able to trim samples properly, really? That wastes a lot of ram. And the function is already there, it just needs a“truncate“ button.

My expectations ARE low, that‘s the reason why this is the first time i get upset with this thing. I don‘t want to use it as a loop machine, i just sampled some of my synths and want to cut out the best parts. And delete the rest. Really not much i‘m expecting here from a sampler.

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Hey @te-david apologies for the unhealthy tags.
I truly love this piece of gear.

I’ve only been running on usb power so far.

Edit. Also running latest firmware. Updated it right out the box.

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This is by far the truest KO statement in a sea of comments

See I’ve only been using it with usb power since I’ve got it. I haven’t even taken the battery compartment off my unit yet.

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I spent about an hour experimenting with the EP133, and there are a few aspects I’m uncertain about. I would appreciate clarification from more experienced users.
Based on my current understanding:

  1. It seems there is no sample gain or any method to adjust the volume of a sample.
  2. To mute a group, it appears the only option is to reduce the volume using the slider until it reaches zero.
  3. I couldn’t find any function to double the pattern length while also copying the notes. Is there a feature for this?
  4. I attempted to double the pattern length and copy/paste the notes, but the results were mixed. I’m unsure of the correct procedure and whether it’s supposed to work as intended.
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  1. Hit the Sound button then turn orange knob for gain and black knob for pitch.
  2. yes, this is the mute method. You can hold the group button and slide fader to zero also.
  3. not that i know of
  4. yes, copy and past should work. If you are starting with say one bar. Extend it to say 4 bars first. Bars 2 trough 4 will be blank. Then Copy bar 1, then paste to bars 2 through 4. Using Shift combined with + or - will scroll through bars, just + or ~ will move step by step.
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Anybody have any good ideas for how to carry this thing in a carry on without removing the knobs and reboxing it? Wonder if anybody has tried 3d printing something for it?

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There are two ways to mute a group: [fader button + 7, sliding fader] and [group button + sliding fader]. Note that each has an individual mute state.

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Interesting, yesterday I muted group A, but was unable to unmute it with the fader, I tried all the “logical” keys/fader combination and finally had it unmuted but if you ask me, I don’t know the exact combination that actually unmuted group A.

Sorry. No seats for my lego people :smile:

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hell yeah, just got my shipping notification :sunglasses:
after 18 days, but welp I’ll take it

given all the waiting and fadergate/memorywipegate my hype is a bit low now

you know what’s the best part about the EP-133? reading the forum got me hyped for making music and I was very productive with my M:S and Microfreak for the last 3 weeks

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I just bought a hand-assembled $9000 CAD Leica camera and it has fit and finish issues. I’ll take Chinese robotic precision over German handcrafted any day.

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