4 ms·

> A 3D-printed enclosure is fine for a prototype, but a real product likely needs injection-molded parts, which require expensive tooling. For kid-friendly toy

by fainpul 11mo ago

> A 3D-printed enclosure is fine for a prototype, but a real product likely needs injection-molded parts, which require expensive tooling. For kid-friendly toys, yes. But for older users not necessarily: https://teenage.engineering/products/po https://teenage.engineering/products/po

speedgoose 11mo ago
I have two of those. They are great additions to my drawers. One has a silicon case and is nicer to use though.
- NoSalt 11mo ago
  You say "they are great additions to my drawers". Is that because they suck, or is it that you don't have the time to enjoy them? (which I totally understand) I have seen these before and didn't know if they were worth the money. What is your opinion on them?
  - brudgers 11mo ago
    On one hand, $100 will buy a lot of hamburger. On the other hand, it's relatively low for a musical instrument and pretty easy to justify when if you suffer from gas. I am only speaking for myself, but I have a drawer of small musical electronics that I use occasionally. I bought them because I was curious.. I keep them because they are musical and not worth selling.
  - speedgoose 11mo ago
    I have the PO-12 (drum machine), and the PO-33 (sampler). They are somewhat limited but that can a good creativity booster. I don’t use them often because I’m not a great musician. I think they were worth the money, for sure.
elric 11mo ago
Wood is also pretty child friendly. But neither injection molding nor carpentry will protect a synth from a child dunking it in a puddle of water.
- analog31 11mo ago
  That's what backing up the design is for. ;-)
- smj-edison 11mo ago
  Isn't there some kind of water proofing spray you can put on the circuits? I guess you'd still need some way to protect the batteries, but I think it is doable.
  - Doxin 11mo ago
    "conformal coating" is the thing to google, though that only protects the PCB and not the tricky bits. You'd still need to figure out a way to waterproof connectors and buttons and moving bits like that.
- eimrine 11mo ago
  The spare board will solve this.
NoSalt 11mo ago
How are these, are they worth the money? I have seen these before, but thought they might be crappy "jokes". However, if they are decent, I would love to play around with them.
- mlyle 11mo ago
  They -are- decent modular chunks. They have a bit of opinion pushing you in certain directions as far as sound goes. Each one does a pretty limited set of things and combining them can be annoying. But you get a lot for the money you spend on them.
  - brudgers 11mo ago
    combining them can be annoying The strong design opinions about how the Pocket Operators interact with other musical gear are a big part of why I haven’t had high enthusiasm for using the small PO’s when I’ve had small PO’s. For me, Volca’s are a similar ecosystem but to a lesser extent…maybe because the Monotrons sit lower in Korg’s product portfolio while the PO’s are rock bottom of TE’s product line.
    - franky47 11mo ago
      I gave my kids (5 and 2) two Volcas (Beats & Keys) to play with. The Keys is a bit too advanced (too easy to get no sound at all, or something that sounds horrible), but the Beats is a wonderful machine for kids, as it's virtually impossible to make it sound bad. Also great to teach them rhythm.
- mock-possum 11mo ago
  It’s pretty capable hardware, but in my personal opinion the UI sucks. It falls into the category of “why did you make this hard on purpose” and I resent it.
  - joemi 11mo ago
    Yeah, I agree. The size and price are attractive and they are pretty capable, but the UI is a bit more complex than ideal. It either needs better labeling of functions/combos (which is hard to do with the size) or more buttons/knobs to reduce the number of combos. On that note, the cases do a bit to aid with the labeling, but they also increase the price by more than one might expect. With better UI, they could have been truly amazing.
kentbrew 11mo ago
Maybe consider vacuforming? https://www.instructables.com/Vacuum-Forming-for-Free/ https://www.instructables.com/Vacuum-Forming-for-Free/

by fainpul 11mo ago

speedgoose 11mo ago

I have two of those. They are great additions to my drawers. One has a silicon case and is nicer to use though.

NoSalt 11mo ago
You say "they are great additions to my drawers". Is that because they suck, or is it that you don't have the time to enjoy them? (which I totally understand) I have seen these before and didn't know if they were worth the money. What is your opinion on them?
- brudgers 11mo ago
  On one hand, $100 will buy a lot of hamburger. On the other hand, it's relatively low for a musical instrument and pretty easy to justify when if you suffer from gas. I am only speaking for myself, but I have a drawer of small musical electronics that I use occasionally. I bought them because I was curious.. I keep them because they are musical and not worth selling.
- speedgoose 11mo ago
  I have the PO-12 (drum machine), and the PO-33 (sampler). They are somewhat limited but that can a good creativity booster. I don’t use them often because I’m not a great musician. I think they were worth the money, for sure.

elric 11mo ago

Wood is also pretty child friendly. But neither injection molding nor carpentry will protect a synth from a child dunking it in a puddle of water.

analog31 11mo ago
That's what backing up the design is for. ;-)
smj-edison 11mo ago
Isn't there some kind of water proofing spray you can put on the circuits? I guess you'd still need some way to protect the batteries, but I think it is doable.
- Doxin 11mo ago
  "conformal coating" is the thing to google, though that only protects the PCB and not the tricky bits. You'd still need to figure out a way to waterproof connectors and buttons and moving bits like that.
eimrine 11mo ago
The spare board will solve this.

NoSalt 11mo ago

How are these, are they worth the money? I have seen these before, but thought they might be crappy "jokes". However, if they are decent, I would love to play around with them.

mlyle 11mo ago
They -are- decent modular chunks. They have a bit of opinion pushing you in certain directions as far as sound goes. Each one does a pretty limited set of things and combining them can be annoying. But you get a lot for the money you spend on them.
- brudgers 11mo ago
  combining them can be annoying The strong design opinions about how the Pocket Operators interact with other musical gear are a big part of why I haven’t had high enthusiasm for using the small PO’s when I’ve had small PO’s. For me, Volca’s are a similar ecosystem but to a lesser extent…maybe because the Monotrons sit lower in Korg’s product portfolio while the PO’s are rock bottom of TE’s product line.
  - franky47 11mo ago
    I gave my kids (5 and 2) two Volcas (Beats & Keys) to play with. The Keys is a bit too advanced (too easy to get no sound at all, or something that sounds horrible), but the Beats is a wonderful machine for kids, as it's virtually impossible to make it sound bad. Also great to teach them rhythm.
mock-possum 11mo ago
It’s pretty capable hardware, but in my personal opinion the UI sucks. It falls into the category of “why did you make this hard on purpose” and I resent it.
- joemi 11mo ago
  Yeah, I agree. The size and price are attractive and they are pretty capable, but the UI is a bit more complex than ideal. It either needs better labeling of functions/combos (which is hard to do with the size) or more buttons/knobs to reduce the number of combos. On that note, the cases do a bit to aid with the labeling, but they also increase the price by more than one might expect. With better UI, they could have been truly amazing.

kentbrew 11mo ago

Maybe consider vacuforming? https://www.instructables.com/Vacuum-Forming-for-Free/ https://www.instructables.com/Vacuum-Forming-for-Free/