teenage engineering Pocket Operator PO-16 Factory Lead and Chord Synthesizer and Sequencer Bundle with Blucoil 3-Pack of 7" Audio AUX Cables, and 4 AAA Batteries

The variety of sound that emits from this small card is astounding and, without much detail to go on, you can spend hours or days trying to get predictable sounds into and out of it.I bought it for an 11-year-old, hoping to augment his interests in music, but it's daunting for all but a savant of that age, and was a challenge for me, despite a fairly decent background in music and electronics. The documentation is the box itself, and the front and back of one sheet of paper. (The web site doesn't extend that, either). The makers apparently assumed that everyone who touched it would be a sheer experimenter, and they offered no further in-depth documentation, and referred the purchaser to YouTube videos to get the hang of it.The YouTube videos are mostly 1 to 5 minutes demos of someone's creativity, or one or two particular features. Even following the lead of a 20 minute extended demo, I was unable to repeat the example despite following every step in the uncut video.It might be useful to have a documentation of every sound, every effect, every drum beat; an explanation of the sequencer; even a simple explanation of whether the mini-out is audio only, or there is a real sync signal that is passed to other devices. If I had a few more days, I might have figured out how I could reliably lay down tones or beats. The two effects buttons and the two pots are easiest to work with, creatively, but even they could benefit from detailed documentation.Here's a clue if you get stuck: pick one of the 16 pattern keys that is least interesting to you and clear it (pattern + number; and then hold the infinity key + pattern together to clear that pattern).Hit the play button; hit Sound + number; hold down the Write button and play a sequence of sounds on the number keys [this will presumably create a new pattern that you can then play with in FX etc and Write]).It's not even very obvious, at first, that you turn the card off by hitting the Play button so its led goes off, and waiting two minutes (red leds will turn off, but the display remains on)....And $39 extra for a case? There's something very punk about punching tiny buttons on a bare electronics card with a wire stand, but I imagine those who already have cracked phone screens or dented cars won't fare well with one of these without a case. Oddly, once you stick a case on the thing, the labels on half the buttons change to some other name or picture (since I didn't get one, I don't know if you can see the red led very clearly either).I also echo those who find the notion of one tonic scale limiting; and, unless I'm missing something, 4:4 is the beat, period. It definitely makes complex sounds, but you'd be forgiven if you thought they were somewhat random -- improvisations lead more by the synthesizer than you, in some cases.

I got this for my music loving brother, and he uses it and a few more to make awesome music!

I bought this because I already had the PO14 Sub. The basic boards are excellent for chaining together but kind of leaves a little to be desired when playing solo. If you want a PO that's going to be used as a standalone operator get the KO of the Tonic.

Fun, tiny gadget that sounds great, but it is quite complicated and requires patience.

About as close to a full synthesizer you can get for this price

Alot of fun once you figure out how to use it.

This thing is great to just bust out and jam anywhere. Hard to put down.

This device is neat but is difficult to learn how to really develop anything musical. The deal breaker for me is there is no on/off switch.It goes off when you stop using it but it is impossible to transport. I put it in my carry bag but if it touches anything it turns back on. The only way to really transport it in any way is to remove the batteries which is fragile in itself as current owners well know.