PO-33 K.O.! Cheat sheet, Notes and Practical Guide

January 10, 2026

I recently started using the PO-33 K.O.! by Teenage Engineering and decided to collect my notes in one place.

This post is a personal reference and cheat sheet rather than a full tutorial.

Interface overview

Buttons

Sound - Select and edit sounds
Pattern - Select patterns and chain them
BPM - Tempo control
1-16 - Sound/pattern slots and effects
Record - Sample audio, clear sounds or patterns
FX - Apply performance effects
Play - Start/stop playback
Write - Write steps, copy data, set parameter locks

Knobs

Knob A - Volume, pitch, trim start, BPM (context-dependent)
Knob B - Filter, slice count, trim end (context-dependent)

Sound slots: melodic vs drum

The PO-33 has 16 sound slots divided into two sections.

Melodic sounds (slots 1-8)

Keys 1-16 represent pitches in a scale
Each key plays the entire sound
Suitable for bass lines, leads, chords, long samples

Drum sounds (slots 9-16)

Keys 1-16 represent slices of the sound
Samples are automatically sliced on recording
Suitable for drums and rhythmic material

Interaction patterns

Most operations follow a consistent pattern.

Select - Sound/Pattern + 1-16
Copy selected - Write + Sound/Pattern + 1-16 (destination)
- cpy on the top right corner of the screen
Clear selected - Record + Sound/Pattern
- clr on the top right corner of the screen

Basics

Record sound - Record + 1-16
Select sound - Sound + 1-16
Copy selected sound - Write + Sound + 1–16 (destination)
Clear selected sound - Record + Sound
Select pattern - Pattern + 1-16
Copy selected pattern - Write + Pattern + 1–16 (destination)
Clear selected pattern - Record + Pattern

Chain patterns

Hold Pattern
Press patterns (1-16) in sequence (up to 128)

Live recording (writing steps)

Play
Hold Write
Trigger sounds (1-16)

Writes sound triggers into the active pattern.

Change master volume

Hold BPM + 1-16

BPM

Press BPM to loop presets: HIP HOP (80 bpm), DISCO (120 bpm), TENCHO (140 bpm)
To fine tune BPM hold BPM + turn Knob B

Swing

Hold BPM + turn Knob A

Specs

Connectors: 1 x 1/8” (3.5 mm) TRS Input, 1 x 1/8” (3.5 mm) TRS Output
Power Source: 2 x AAA Batteries
Sampling rate: ~23.5 kHz, 8-bit

Storage

~40 seconds total sample memory
Shared across all sounds

Pattern chaining

Up to 128 patterns per chain

Backup and restore

Backup

Connect output to recorder
Write + Sound + Play

Note: backup output is stereo.

Restore

Write + Sound + Record
Play backup audio into input

Note: if the restore process fails, try at a higher volume. If it still fails restart your PC and retry.