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 (Stabilising Input). Don’t press anything on the PO-32 yet.
3. When it says Start the Backup Now, press write + sound on the PO-32. It plays its data dump.
4. Recording starts when the sound does, and a full backup takes up to 40 seconds. It stops by itself after 5 seconds of silence. Stop ends it sooner.

If your input is quiet, the app waits up to 75 seconds for the sound. Select Record Now to start without waiting.

PO-PatchStudio decodes the recording and tells you what it found, such as how many sounds 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.

If the Backup Breaks Off

If a take comes through only in part, PO-PatchStudio keeps it and shows One More Play Needed, with the point where it breaks off. Don’t change any sounds or patterns on the PO-32. Select Record Take 2, wait for the lead-in to end and press write + sound again. The app reads the takes together and fills the gap where it can, and tells you when the backup is Recovered From 2 Takes.

Up to three takes are combined. If a take comes through whole on its own, Use Take N keeps just that one. If the takes disagree, or a part is still missing after the third, the app says so: try another cable or input, or move the PO-32 closer to the microphone, then Start Over. Save WAVs keeps every take as a file.

If you leave while a recording isn’t saved, the app asks first.

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.
• 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 Send to PO-32… from its menu. Transfer opens with the backup ready: select Send to PO-32…, put the PO-32 in receive mode (acc + sound) and press Play Transfer. Export Transfer WAV saves the same transfer as a file to play later.

Before a restore plays, the app asks Replace What’s on the PO-32? A restore writes over all 16 sounds and every pattern the backup has steps in, and sets the tempo, swing and chain. Patterns the backup has no steps in keep theirs. Back Up First is selected: it closes the question and takes you to Get from PO-32 with Record ready, so you can back up what’s on the PO-32 now. The backup you were restoring stays on the page, ready to send once that’s saved. Replace and Restore plays the transfer.

Delete Local Backup in the same menu removes only the app’s copy. It never touches the PO-32. The backup goes to the Recycle Bin, where you can restore it for 30 days.

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 parts skipped: part of the dump was lost. Record again in a quieter room.
• Ended early: the recording stopped before the dump finished. Play it again and let it run to the end.

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