EP–133 guide: what's new

what's new

os 2.5

no headphone jack? no problem! now you can use USB audio with any class compliant USB audio host to connect your KO2 straight in and send audio in and out of your phone or computer.

ko2 supports stereo audio in, as both a sample source and an audio source. as well as usb audio out, to record sound directly into your DAW, or any other class compliant device.

just plug KO2 into your phone or computer and select it as an input or output, or both!

selpmas esrever nac uoy won!

reversing samples is a great way to bring life back to your existing sample library and discover new textures.

to reverse a sample, add it to a pad then press (shift) + (sound) to open (sound)(edit), press (plus) until you reach “tim”. rotate the (knobx) knob until “rev” shows on the display. play the sample again and it will be reversed. now you can go back to (main) and make a beat with it.

add character and use less storage by lowering the recording sample rate.

you can change the sample rate in system settings. press (shift) and (erase) to open (system) settings. press (plus) until you reach “smp” press (enter) and then “rec” will show on the screen. press (enter) again, then use (minus) and (plus) to select between lo, mid and hi sample rates.

lo is 26,250khz - which is very lo-fi.
mid is 32,000khz - which adds some charater.
hi is the standard 46,875khz - which is the standard quality on ko2.

if you want any other sample rates you can import samples at any sample rate directly onto ko2 using the ep-sample-tool.

20 seconds not enough? now you can record mono samples up to 40 seconds long.

just switch the sample type to mono and the sample time will adjust up to 40 seconds, perfect for extra long samples.

to record a mono sample: press (sample), then press choose a mono source with (minus) and (plus) and hold a pad to record the sample to that pad.

precisely slice your samples with equal length auto chop. now all your samples will slice exactly into even divisions, ideal for chopping a vocal or break beat.

select a sample on the (pads). press (shift) and (sample) to (chop). hold a group pad to select the auto chop mode and press (minus) and (plus) to select “EQU”. now you can let go of the group pad and select how many slices you want with (minus) and (plus). go back to (main) and your sample has been chopped.

after many, many requests an arpeggio finally makes it’s way onto KO2!

to activate it, just enter (keys) mode, hold (timing) and press multiple (pads). as long as the sound mode of the sample is either a oneshot or legato type sound it will be arpeggiated.

you can change the sound mode of any sample by pressing the pad it’s on and entering sound edit mode with (shift) and (sound).

audio and sampling

added: Improved timestretching: Heavily stretched samples sound cleaner, preventing beats from doubling or skipping. Ported from EP-1320.
added: Crop sample to trim points: Hold SHIFT+SOUND in the Trim page to permanently trim the file on disk.
added: Playback position display: SOUND EDIT TRI shows position in seconds while a pad is held.

fix: Improved handling of disk full when saving samples.
fix: SHIFT+CHOP chopped the wrong pad after switching groups.
fix: pad LEDs could get stuck after returning to main view from chop.
fix: Uploading samples while in SAMPLE could corrupt samples.
fix: Pressing FADER unexpectedly exited FX send mode.

fix: Crash when transferring samples via EP Sample Tool with unstable USB connections.
fix: Resampling a pattern could stop at wrong time when beat repeat was active.
fix: Sample trim points preserved when exporting/re-importing via EP Sample Tool.
fix: Long sample names scroll in a continuous loop when holding pad in SOUND.

Sequencer and Performance

added: Per-pad pattern copy/paste. Hold a pad + SHIFT+C to copy that pad's notes. SHIFT+D to paste.
added: erase fader automation per-function. erase+fader+pad erases automation for that pad's fader function (level, pitch, pan, etc.).
added: Timing correct, per-pad time shift: Hold a pad and press +/- to shift all notes in that track by one tick.
added: Hold FX during latched resampling (SHIFT+pad) to tweak FX X/Y live.
fix: PO sync (SYNC 8) auto-start fixed after stopping sequencer on internal clock.
fix: FX+GROUP solo now also selects that group as the active edit group.

fix: SHIFT+FADER (fader reset/recall) disabled during playback to avoid conflicting with fader automation.
fix: Legato mode, notes no longer stick when playing keys over a running pattern.
fix: Beat repeat (FX+1) could silence a note still playing when engaged from bar 2 onward.
fix: Beat repeat could cut off the wrong note when used with mute groups.
fix: PO sync auto-start now restarts from the beginning.
fix: Rare crash while switching patterns.
fix: Undo icon now lights up when erasing notes with ERASE+GROUP while playing.

fix: Pasting a single track (TRK) no longer shortens the destination pattern.
fix: Note repeat with swing. notes could be cut short or skipped in LEG and KEY play modes.
fix: Audio glitch when switching scenes while sequencer is playing.
fix: Crash when switching projects ("ERR SCENE 109").
fix: Sequencer "reset all controllers" now also resets local pitch bend and mod wheel state.
fix: Sounds no longer cut off instantly when song reaches the end.

keys mode

changed: New scale/key selection. Hold KEYS + turn X knob for key, Y knob for scale.

added: Three new scales: Blues (BLU), Harmonic Minor (H.MI), Melodic Minor (M.MI).

changed: Scale and key are now saved per project.

MIDI and sync

added: CC 64 sustain pedal support for Key and Legato voices.
added: CC 12/13 control for FX X/Y parameters

added: MIDI identity request/reply now works over TRS MIDI.
fix: Improved SYNC 16/24 IN handling of noisy start/stop signals.

fix: Avoided stuck notes when changing MIDI channel in SOUND EDIT.

improvements

FX dry/wet balance: Reverb, delay and chorus now preserve more dry signal as wet is turned up (ported from EP-40).
Mono panning: Constant power panning — mono sounds no longer get quieter when panned.
BLE MIDI clock: Reduced jitter by measuring BPM per beat rather than per tick. Improves timestretch and sidechain sync over BLE.

BAR time stretch now syncs correctly in non-4/4 time signatures.
fix: Song mode SPP. MIDI Song Position Pointer is now relative to song start, not scene start. DAW playhead navigation works correctly.
fix: improved file transfer reliability and reduced audio pops during transfer.

fix: Improved SHIFT+X/Y finetune of trim points: Holding shift zooms to a 1 second window.
fix: Firmware update rewritten for improved robustness against transfer errors.
fix: Battery power dips now cause a clean reboot with BAT message instead of audio glitches.

update your device here

os 2.0.5

release notes

improved audio stability to reduce glitches.
restored SYNC OUT continuous clock output.

fixed: bug fixes and performance improvements for EP SAMPLE TOOL.
fixed: various UI quirks related to faders, sampling, and chopping

fixed: turned-off LEDs could sometimes glow dimly.
fixed: various MIDI bugs.

os 2.0.2

new features!

added: Show "disk low" warning message when pressing SAMPLE and there is not enough disk space to record 20 seconds.
added: midi reset all controllers on sequencer stop. this is now system setting 140 (on) and 141 (off).

project management

fix: project erase did not reset scenes
fix: Project erase did not reset some pad settings (e.g. MIDI channel).

fix: Swing was not updated when loading a new project.
fix: After loading a project, erasing notes would not enable the undo umbrella.

sound editing

fix: With a perfectly timed stop, the sequencer could stop past pattern end. (E.g. 5.1.1 for a 4-bar pattern.)
fix: Only record note repeats for the currently selected group.

fix: For some notes, LEDs were not lit for the full duration. This caused misleading blinks at note-off.
fix: Stuck notes when using punch in fx pad 0.

sampling

added: Show "disk low" warning message when pressing SAMPLE and there is not enough disk space to record 20 seconds.
fix: When hands-free sampling 20 seconds of stereo, the device would incorrectly display "FUL" and discard the recording.

fix: Newly recorded samples would inherit settings (like pan or pitch) from the pad's previous state.
fix: faster storage cleanup after deleting samples.

fix: When fixed-length resampling a pattern, start recording instantly, also  capturing any initial silence. This preserves the timing relative to pattern start.

sound editing

fix: Trim in would not always move to sample start.
fix: Small trims would not enable the scissors icon.

fix: The UI did not refresh after pasting a pad.
fix: Keep pad settings when browsing sounds with +/- and returning to original sound. Numpad selection acts as a fresh load.

fix: Pads would leave mute groups when changing sound.
fix: Improved initial BPM and bar length detection for samples imported via EP SAMPLE TOOL, especially those with custom sample rates.

midi and sync 

removed: midi program change support. program change can still be recorded and relayed but is no longer mapped on the device.
added: midi reset all controllers on sequencer stop. this is now system setting 140 (on) and 141 (off).

fix: Recording fast external MIDI aftertouch/pitch bend messages no longer causes audio stutter on playback.
fix: Stuck notes when changing pads while playing on MIDI controller.

fix: Sync icon blinked with wrong rate.
fix: Do not record MIDI Channel Mode messages
fix: TRS midi out could sometimes fail. (running status wasn't reset)

misc 

fix: System settings did not show navigation after punching in a number.

fix: A rare issue where some machines would display a garbled error message on startup.

fix: Allow switching scenes by MAIN+single digit.

os 2.0.1

scenes

Erase Scene ((ERASE)+(mAIN)) Update:

Hold for 2s:

If the current scene is empty and not part of the song, it is deleted (displays “DEL”).

Otherwise, its contents are cleared (displays “CLR”).

SONG MODE

changed: stop the song when it reaches end.
changed: when stopping a song, go back to the position where the song was started.
 
fix: undo while recording could restore the wrong pattern.

fix: pause song progression when LOOP mode is active.
fix: when recording, notes sometimes got quantised to the wrong pattern.

fix: stay in active scene when leaving song mode.
 
fix: Improved song mode cut/paste visual feedback.

sampling

new: allow chopping a sample from one group to another.

(Example: Press (groupa), select a sound by pressing pad, press (groupB), CHOP!)
fix: hands-free sampling was allowed on already recorded pads, causing a weird state

fix: hands-free sampling did not stop automatically after 20 seconds.
fix: lag when retaking a sample.
 
fix: the sequencer sometimes did not stop after fixed-length pattern recording.

fix: in hands-free sampling, prevent changing the fixed recording length using (plus) / (minus) after recording has started.

connectivity

new: added system setting MID -> CHN -> OFF (127). When selected, pads only send and receive MIDI voice messages if a MIDI channel is assigned in SOUND EDIT.
new: reduced latency by enabling running status on TRS MIDI OUT.
fix: weird behaviours when recording with external clock.
sync in start did not exit record arm mode.

in some cases, stop did not stop recording and metronome.
fix: Program Change and Channel Pressure messages on TRS MIDI OUT.
fix: OMNI/basic channel MIDI notes were forwarded even if MIDI THRU was OFF.

fix: SYNC24 OUT did not work well with some devices (e.g. MC-202).
fix: Improved USB reliability when connecting to Windows PCs.
fix: handle unsupported characters when uploading sounds with EP SAMPLE TOOL.

sound edit

fix: SOUND EDIT trim out audition was broken if trim in was greater than 0.
fix: sound pitch could get stuck at 0.00 when finetuning.

fix: AMP could be displayed instead of PTC when changing sound pitch with Y knob.
fix: timestretch did not work with external clock.

fix: Sound timestretch BAR setting did not save and load correctly.
fix: Holding SHIFT+SOUND to save a sound now works during playback.

projects

fix: sidechain settings were not loaded correctly.

fix: project erase did not reset pattern length.

fix: Project load did not reset pattern position.

punch-in FX 

fix: Weird behaviour of punch-in FX when sequencer is stopped.

fix: punch-in FX ENTER could sometimes cut out very long notes.

fix: out of sync time-stretched samples when using tape-stop-punch in FX.

misc

fix: punch-in FX ENTER could sometimes cut out very long notes.
fix: display BAT when powering down due to critically low battery

fix: Improved handling of disk full when saving settings and pattern data.

fix: loop mode sample start position was off when using external clock or tape-stop punch in fx.

crashes

fix: crash when playing song with external clock.
fix: crash when switching project with a queued scene change.

fix: crash when pressing (shift) + (groupA) in song mode while the song is playing.

fix: error 'pattern 30' when loading a pattern.

os 2.o

stack effects, make a beat from a beat or combine samples, all using the new resampler.

just hit (sample) then press (plus) until RSP shows on screen. you can then hold (shift), press a pad then press (play) to sample the length of the currently selected pattern. you can even switch groups after you’ve engaged hands free sampling to sample sounds from another group.

learn more about resampling here

use song mode to chain scenes together.

hold main then press (enter) to open the song list editor, you can then view and edit the current song position as well as add up to 99 different song positions. combining that with a maximum pattern length of 99 bars that means you can create songs as long as 9,801 bars! this fight might just need some wraps...

learn more about song mode here

sometimes you need both hands to play an instrument, and you want to sample it. use hands free sampling and let ko2 hold the buttons for you.

when sampling hold (shift) and press a pad to engage hands free sampling. you can then sing, play, shout and strum, ko2 will take care of the rest. once you are done just press sample and ko2 will stop sampling. remember to adjust your threshold and gain and combine hands free sampling with the new resampling feature send your beat back into the ring.

learn more about hands free sampling here

kick and bass not getting along? sidechain will duck the volume of the bass when the kick comes in.

press (shift) and (fx) to open output, then (plus) to switch to sidechain. select the sidechain source by holding a group pad and selecting a sound on the pads, then select the destination groups by holding (shift) and pressing the group pads. dial in how hard they punch by adjusting the length and shape with (knobx) and (knoby) respectively.

learn more about midi sidechain here

with increased polyphony, ko2 goes from 12 mono/6 stereo sounds to up to 16 mono and 12 stereo sounds.

no need to pull your punches anymore but watch out for time stretched, stereo and high pitched samples as they may reduce the polyphony.

struggling to land your kicks on time? what about adding one bar loops? try out the new larger note intervals, now you can hit your target every time and record perfect four on the floors.

ko2 now supports 1/1, 1/2 and 1/4 timing intervals!

bonus! hold (shift) while in timing to latch the note repeat so ko2 can hit the hats for you while you focus on the kick and snare.

learn more about larger note intervals here

ko2 now supports midi thru so it can pass notes along to other machines.

hold (shift) and press (erase) to open the system settings then press (plus) to go to mid, then (enter), press (plus) twice to go to thr, then (enter) again and then set it to on with (plus) and (enter) once more. boom! now any incoming midi messages will be passed along to midi out and usb.

ko2 also features a bunch of midi improvements such as:
a system setting for midi in and out channels
sending and receiving program change messages
a new midi note map so you can play any sound on any pad with an external controller
incoming pitch bend and mod wheel messages now affect sample playback
Pads now by default send midi notes to the system midi channel
the sound edit midi channel now changes the midi in channel for that pad too

learn about all the midi changes here

as well as all the huge features we have added there are also smaller ones,
here is a comprehensive list of the rest.

(main) + numpad can now always switch to any scene 1-99.
hold (SHIFT) + (SOUND) two seconds to save sound edits.
changes are now saved to disk also during sample playback. this means we no longer need the brain icon to show unsaved changes.
in MAIN mode, (minus) and (plus) now moves by steps even after bar 10. Since a position like 10.1.2 will not fit on the display, steps are shown with the TIC display.
sound pitch setting is now step-less.
snap to zero crossing when changing TRIM IN on mono sounds.
sync live project switch to bar end.
made swing a project setting instead of a global setting.
system setting 412: SEQ/SCN/PTN. Sync scene changes with pattern end.

update your device here