Teenage Engineering Pocket Operator

I picked up the Teenage Engineering PO-33 K.O. At a record shop for $89. It fits in my palm, this tiny circuit board with a built-in speaker and rubber buttons that feels like a calculator mashed together with a drum machine. Sounds that come out when I sample a clip from my phone and chop it into loops are thick and crunchy in a way full-size production gear never quite replicates. The screen is a tiny LCD showing a grid of 16 pads and a waveform. Navigating requires memorizing button combinations that feel like cheat codes. Hold this, tap that, twist the knob, and suddenly you've got a beat layered over a melody over a vocal sample. At high volume the speaker distorts in a way I actually like, compressing the sound and adding gritty warmth. Through headphones the audio cleans up and I hear details I missed through the speaker. On the bus, sitting in the back seat chopping up sounds I recorded on my phone, the portability changes the relationship between making music and being somewhere specific. The studio becomes wherever I happen to be sitting. Battery life on 2 AAA batteries is about 12 hours, generous for something this small. The exposed circuit board looks fragile but I've dropped mine twice with no damage. I run my fingers over the buttons all the time even when it's off because the rubber has a good resistance. Not mushy, not stiff, just enough feedback to feel like pressing something real. My roommate hates the built-in speaker sound but admits the design is interesting. I'll take that.