This is a quick tutorial meant to help anyone trying to backup their pocket operators as it is not the easiest method.

Requirements

  1. Pocket Operator PO-32, 33 or 35
  2. Audio Interface or recording method (This can be a regular audio interface for your PC or a hand held recorder.)
  3. 3.5mm inline cable PO-32
  4. 1/4in split mono to 3.5mm for PO-33 and PO-35 (https://amzn.to/2CAGxjY)

PO-32

The PO-32 is the easiest to backup and restore from. All you need is a 3.5mm inline cable and a way to record. Just plug in the cable into the headphone jack on the PO and then press Write + Sound to start the backup process. This will last a couple of minutes and it will eventually complete. To restore patches, put the cable in the line-in port on the PO. Then press Acc + Sound on the PO and start playing the recording back into the PO. This will go sound bank by sound bank restoring the setup from the previous configuration.

PO-33 & PO-35

These pocket operators are slightly more tricky to backup and restore as they rely on stereo to process their data. This is easily achieved by either using a physical recording device and a 3.5mm headphone jack, or by using a mono split cable. Using a recording device such as a Korg Mini Kaosspad (https://amzn.to/2Kbp7yn) or Zoom hand held recorder (https://amzn.to/2QRjWbF ) will allow you to record directly from 3.5mm in as they support stereo input. If you do not have this and instead have only a audio interface, you can purchase a split mono cable for relatively cheap and do the same. You need the split cable because audio interfaces only record in mono. To gain stereo sound you can use both inputs on the interface to record at the same time. Just plug in both 1/4 into the inputs on the interface and the 3.5mm to the output of the PO and press Write + Sound + Play (PO-33) or Write + Sound (PO-35) to start the transfer process. This will last a couple of minutes. Once it is complete, to restore press Write + Sound + Record (PO-33) or Write + Record (PO-35).

Cheapest Audio interface on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Sst9nL

This audio interface will work fine for Pocket operators, but if you are looking to record vocals as well, take a look at this one: https://amzn.to/2Va84jA