The brilliant KO II sampler gets a special Champ Edition package alongside a unique vinyl record. Greg Scarth explains why this limited-edition bundle showcases the true spirit of sampling.
Teenage Engineering EP-133 KO II Champ Edition is a limited-edition take on one of our favourite new product releases in recent years. The KO II was the first release to showcase Teenage Engineering’s large ‘EP-format’ instruments (followed closely by the EP-1320 Medieval sampler). The Champ Edition builds on that original concept by bundling in a 10-inch vinyl record, designed specifically to encourage you to create music with the KO II.
We already reviewed the KO II when it first arrived, loving its sheer fun approach to making music with samples (short recordings of sounds taken from elsewhere). Most of all, we loved the way it brought proper old-school sampler vibes to an affordable entry-level price point. The KO II isn’t the last word in sampling power or a no-holds-barred do-everything sampling workstation, but at under £300 it’s a hugely fun and creative instrument which can be used by beginners to electronic music or experienced producers in search of an inspiring new approach.
The limited Champ Edition doubles down on the original point of sampling. We live in an era of convenience, where samplers come ready loaded with sounds including a variety of drum hits and melodic elements to work with. Once you get bored of them, you can download or buy sample packs from hundreds of online sources, expanding your sonic palette whatever your chosen genre may be. That’s all great in terms of convenience and immediacy, but it misses the elephant in the room: samplers are made for sampling – that is, the process of recording a sound and turning it into something you can play back.
To that end, the Champ Edition includes a strictly limited-edition 10-inch record, EP-133 KO II vinyl volume one, created as a companion piece for the EP-133. On side A, a mix for inspiration, “to make you laugh or love”. On side B, a selection of individual sounds for sampling. The intention of the Champ Edition is for you to sample sounds directly from the record, so you’ll need a turntable and a way of connecting it to the EP-133’s stereo line input. Once you’re hooked up, simply enter Sample Mode on the KO-II, record a series of samples to the pads, then chop or loop as appropriate and make music with your own choice of originally sampled sounds.
The Champ Edition taps into a long and proud tradition of sample-based music. Entire genres have been built on sampling, from hip-hop to vaporwave and everywhere in between, much of that based on sampling from vinyl. When sampling broke through as a technology in the early 1980s, sampling a drum hit or a loop almost invariably meant grabbing it from a recording on vinyl. As B-boy culture and sample technology grew alongside each other, vinyl releases began to reflect trends in breakbeat culture, most notably the Ultimate Breaks & Beats series, which compiled popular breakbeat tracks and soon found favour as sources of samples for producers.
As DJing evolved into turntablism, dedicated ’battle tools’ emerged, compiling dozens of scratch-ready sounds onto vinyl ready for DJs to use them in their performances (and, of course, for cunning producers to sample and rework into yet more tracks). So, in turn, Teenage Engineering pay homage to the legacy of sampling with the Champ Edition. The EP-133 itself lets you make sample-based music in a distinctively retro way, so why not embrace that vinyl tradition in full?
If you already own an EP-133, the Champ Edition may or may not justify the upgrade (unfortunately you’ve already missed out on buying the ultra-limited vinyl on its own), but if you’re weighing up a KO II purchase then the Champ Edition might just be worth shelling out on. Sample the vinyl, learn the process and unlock the rich history of sample-based music.
Greg Scarth
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