Backup and Restore

The PO-32 can play everything it holds (all 16 sounds, the 16 patterns and the timing) as a burst of audio. PO-PatchStudio records that burst and decodes it, so you get a backup you can keep, edit or split up. It happens in Transfer & Import, under Get from PO-32.

You’ll need a microphone or an audio interface. The first time you open Transfer & Import, your computer or phone asks for permission to use the microphone.

Back Up Your PO-32

1. Open Transfer & Import and choose your microphone or interface under Input device.
2. Select Record. PO-PatchStudio counts down from 5 while the input settles.
3. When it says Ready, hold write and press sound on the PO-32. It plays its data dump.
4. Keep recording for about two seconds after the tone ends, then select Stop.

PO-PatchStudio decodes the recording and tells you what it found, such as how many voices and patterns came back. If the recording clipped or was very quiet, it says so: adjust the level and record again.

If you already have a recording of a dump, select Open transfer WAV instead.

Use the Backup

• Load in Studio loads everything into the Studio. If only part of the dump came back, the Studio keeps its current values for the missing parts, so you can combine two partial recordings.
• Save backup to library keeps the whole PO-32 as one Library item. It’s available when the full dump came back.
• Save sounds only (kit) keeps just the 16 sounds as a kit.
• Save recording WAV keeps the original audio of a live recording, exactly as it was recorded (on desktop, in your Downloads folder). It appears after you record, not when you open a WAV.

You can also decode a dump straight into the Library, without touching the Studio: see The Library.

Restore

To put a backup back on a PO-32, open the backup in the Library and choose Play transfer to PO-32 from its menu, with the PO-32 in receive mode (acc + sound). Export transfer WAV saves the same transfer as a file to play later.

Restore hasn’t been tested on hardware yet

A backup keeps the decoded data, not the original recording, so a restore rebuilds the transfer from that data. Restoring this way hasn’t been tested on a real PO-32 yet, and effects written on the device may not come back.

Restore From the Original Recording

After recording a backup, press Save recording WAV to keep the original audio. To restore, put the PO-32 in receive mode (acc + sound) and play that file into it, ideally over a cable. This is Teenage Engineering’s own restore method; I haven’t yet tested it with recordings saved from the app.

If the Recording Didn’t Work

• Clipping: lower the input level, or move the microphone further away.
• Very quiet: raise the input level, or move the PO-32 closer.
• Damaged spans: part of the dump was lost. Record again in a quieter room.
• Ended early: the recording stopped before the dump finished. Record for longer.

Troubleshooting Transfers has more, including microphone permissions on each platform.