The Ultimate Pocket Operator Guide // Which is right for you?
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- Опубликовано: 6 июн 2024
- So excited to present to you THE ULTIMATE PO GUIDE! Now prepare yourself for a massive video description 😅
Looking to buy a Pocket Operator? Support this channel while you're at it with any of these affiliate links!
USA (Perfect Circuit):
►PO-12 Rhythm: bit.ly/2QJBTu4
►PO-14 Sub: bit.ly/2RJzDmv
►PO-16 Factory: bit.ly/3xLcoc7
►PO-20 Arcade: bit.ly/3eCDyKQ
►PO-24 Office: bit.ly/3xHm4V7
►PO-28 Robot: bit.ly/3tGJXsC
►PO-32 Tonic: bit.ly/3aZT15w
►PO-33 KO: bit.ly/2QI0H5D
►PO-35 Speak: bit.ly/3bk6y8g
►PO-128 Mega Man: bit.ly/3gZmm40
►PO-133 Street Fighter: bit.ly/2PJBkj8
UK / EUROPE (Gear4Music):
►PO-12 Rhythm: tidd.ly/46dYQ9O
►PO-20 Arcade: tidd.ly/45weJaC
►PO-24 Office: tidd.ly/3QcVQFe
►PO-28 Robot: tidd.ly/46IX8gS
►PO-33 KO: tidd.ly/3PH70Sk
►PO-35 Speak: tidd.ly/469VggL
EUROPE (Thomann):
►PO-12 Rhythm: bit.ly/3TWfIil
►PO-14 Sub: bit.ly/3QdBg7M
►PO-16 Factory: bit.ly/45rKuS7
►PO-20 Arcade: bit.ly/3RQNLaH
►PO-24 Office: bit.ly/3ZOnOdP
►PO-28 Robot: bit.ly/3PK4oC0
►PO-32 Tonic: bit.ly/3O3Sras
►PO-33 KO: bit.ly/3vCpYCb
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►distrokid.com/vip/liamkillen
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►get.sellfy.com/liam
MyVolt's Kick Starter:
►bit.ly/2SixsqD
What MyVolts is all about (Ripcords for any electronic instrument):
►myvolts.com/
Need help with something? Book a 1 on 1 Consultation:
►www.liamkillen.com/consultation
CONTENT OF THE VIDEO:
0:00 Intro
1:10 Pocket Operator Intro
2:11 PO-12 Rhythm
3:36 PO-14 Sub
5:25 PO-16 Factory
6:19 PO-20 Arcade
7:52 PO-24 Office
9:21 PO-28 Robot
11:23 PO-32 Tonic
12:31 PO-33 KO!
14:07 PO-35 Speak
15:39 PO-128 Mega Man
17:04 PO-133 Street Fighter
17:58 PO-137 Rick and Morty
19:11 How to Reset your PO (You can also just Google this)
19:20 How I use MyVolts
20:16 Outro and thank you!
Dig deeper! All sounds of all Pocket Operators (individual videos):
►bit.ly/3gaN750
Deeper look at the PO KO!
►bit.ly/2YvVkqo
Beat making with the PO-133:
►bit.ly/3taEJGE
Pocket Operator Layering Tips:
►bit.ly/3xETSBB
All other Pocket Operator content:
►bit.ly/2ZV23w6
Pocket Operator Cases:
USA (Perfect Circuit):
►bit.ly/3gLRp2p
UK / EUROPE (Gear4Music):
►tidd.ly/3twdjzJ
And if you're GASsing REAL hard right now- here's a link to my top gear artist pick:
►bit.ly/3AHVbCp
SOCIALS:
►Patreon: / liamkillenmusic
►Discord: / discord
►Instagram: / liamkillenmusic
►Tiktok: / liamkillenmusic
My Music:
►hyperfollow.com/lkmusic
Everything else you'd want to know about me:
►www.liamkillen.com/youtube-de...
The Ultimate Pocket Operator Guide // Which is right for you?
Landing on a Pocket Operator can be overwhelming seeing as there are 12 of them (so far) . This video is the ultimate way of figuring out which one is right for you!
If you want to dig even deeper take a look at my All Sounds fo All Pocket Operators series: ►bit.ly/3gaN750
Shoutout to (at) alliebrowniest (Instagram) for the animations!
#pocketoperator #teenageengineering #poko #review 
Видеоклипы
MyVolt's Kick Starter:
►bit.ly/2SixsqD
What MyVolts is all about (Ripcords for any electronic instrument):
►myvolts.com/
Dig deeper! All sounds of all Pocket Operators (individual videos):
►bit.ly/3gaN750
Nice video Liam,
Do you think one of these would be a good christmas gift for an 8 year old boy ? and If so, which one would be best, eg the most complete *one that does both drums and a synth or sampler, easy to use, and the one that's the least "i'm bored of it after playing with it for 2 days" ???
the PO-32 can actually be any drum kit you want...you can input other kits via the speaker on the front. The kits are created using the software from Sonic Charge called Microtonic. You have to purchase that software, but people share the kits all the time. Also, the ACC isn't somthing you hold while playing live, you would mark the steps you want to be "boosted" on the record page and they will be a little louder when the pattern runs (if there is a certain step you want more pronounced). Just wanted to pass that info along in case you didn't know. Keep up the great content!
I heard about this! Will def check it out
I thought and was hoping the tonic, hence its name and unlike the po-35 speak which can get extra sounds after buying Microtonic, unlocks or comes with a licence for the Microtonic software. Isn’t it so??
nope you can get a bundle with the software but it does not come with the tonic. though like the person above said, people share files for it all the time so you don’t necessarily need the software unless you want to make your own kits.
Thanks, I've been looking for information for a long time and it has never been of much use to me, except for your video. Very useful
Thanks so much KK! ☀️
glad that it helps
I love that you tell us what you don’t like. Makes the video much more useful
Yeah it’s good to know that sort of thing.
I love this video and it’s helped me a lot with with my decision of which POs to purchase. Thank you!
Glad to hellllp!
Perfect PO guide! Thanks for this super concise overview!
Pleasure 😊
Super helpful, keep up the great work my friend.
Glad to help!
Wowzer ... lots of content .. thanks again .. cheers !
Always a pleasure!
This was awesome! You saved me so much frustration.
Glad to help!
Great comprehensive video!!!!
Glad to help!
I’ve put up a couple of albums on my channel, each time using a single PO unedited, it hopefully shows how much versatility each unit has if you get creative with them
Absolutely- so many ways to get creative with these things.
Absolute quality thanks👍
Thanks so much!
Nice job! Hope this helps to grow the community even more :)
Me too! 🙂☀️ Thanks for checking it out
They're songs from the NES megaman. OG Megaman is from NES.
Oh shoot- I think the version it’s sounds are inspired by are snes though.
@@LiamKillen
Not sure I agree with that. Sounds very MegaMan 1 and 2. The SNES games are very rock music inspired
@@LiamKillen yeah this is original Megaman not Megaman X. Very distinct as the character is different too. Capcom is strict on those distinctions but either way way cool overview!
Kind of like how everyone says the OP-133 Street Fighter is from the SNES even though it’s from the arcade version, specifically from Turbo. The drums are a dead giveaway (Yamaha SFG-01/SFG-05).
It’s literally mega man 1 2 and 3 it’s influenced by my dude
awesome video! really useful
Glad to help
Great video, Liam. Thanks. You go into details, features and pros and cons. Do these devices have an internal memory? What cable do I need to transfer tunes to a PC?
You’d have to record via line in
They do have internal memory as in whatever you program onto them is saved
The PO-128 actually takes sounds from the NES Mega Man games, even BEFORE the SNES.
So strictly 8-bit. Awesome video, thanks so much!
Oh oh oh! Thx for letting me know! 😊
@@LiamKillen Check it out: ruclips.net/video/lDC4X8Dgxr4/видео.html Capcom had some amazing artists back in the day. Rumor has it that the team came together again MUCh later in 2008 to create Mega Man 9: ruclips.net/video/90jP3v1dpws/видео.html
Awesome doesn't begin to describe it =)
Good overview! Quite a game changer is the built in modem function to up or download data for k.o., tonic and speak, even the drum kits are interchangeable between each of them. And the acc button on the tonic is accent and makes this 1/16 beat slightly louder to lift out the notes here.
Can you make a video with experience of sync and live play with it? I feel the order from loudest po to not so loud po is importand and maybe I'm not right but can you only sync correct if you start first time the master? On, off one slave kicks him out and will never be synced in the song again. But that would be a nice live feature ,no? At least if he would hock up to the next bar click! Most anoying when you have one "old" po like sub who cannot pattern as much as the metals.... just an idea, thanks anyways !
Ahh i figured that- but when i press it down it also seems to drop out whatever instrument as well.
I have a very special video coming out soon on exactly this and a way around it
@@LiamKillen drop out in live Mode for each Choke group pressing only any of the 4 slots buttons. But it better be the note who led and on the time it leds otherwise you have one wrong note. Ahhh ok maybe this problem you can work around by Pressung acc and one of the chokegroupe notes... have to try that :P
This is the most niche convo exchange i’ve ever had
Great video! Sadly, no mention of the best feature of the Tonic: building your own drum kits in the awesome Microtonic app and “uploading” them to the PO-32.
I just became aware of this! That’ll be for another video!
@@LiamKillen Cool! Don’t forget to check out the 10 legendary drum machine kits they created using machine learning: ruclips.net/video/Uid_P90CnaA/видео.html
Exactly what I thought when I saw the video and with the latest update of Microtonic with all the classic drum machines, along with thousands of possible settings, this is an amazing combo!
Amazing overview! I already own / have owned about five of these but thanks to your in-depth analysis I now want… all of them.
Glad it was helpful! Happy Holidays.
I'm not into electronic and synth music for the most part but enjoy it when it is mixed with other instruments. I am intrigued by those samplers... the KO and the Speak. Probably would want a dedicated drum PO to go with those, either Rhythm or Tonic then and then play string instuments etc over what I create with the PO's. They seem so fragile though and the silicone cases that can be bought doesn't seem the greatest either. Another negative were the fact that they are only battery powerd but that MyVolt thing can take care of that... I'll think about it. Regardless of if I buy a few PO's I'll probably get a few MyVolts sooner or later, didn't know that was a thing but find it brilliant.
Yeah they're the bomb! They're advertising these new cables now- the telephone wire ones which look so damn sexy.
The battery life on the pos last a loooonngg time though, and I just use rechargeable batteries, so it's less waste
@@amberruby4896 Glad to hear about the batteries! They had (or still have maybe) a deal on Teenage Enginerings webstore for The Streetfighter (a reskinned K.O.) and the Megaman as a bundle for a decent price and free shipping, so I bought that yesterday, also got some cables to connect them with. Looking forward to trying them out when I get them (hopefully within a few days).
Well done 👍. Thanks.
My pleasure!
@11:15 i actually liked that you can change the sound in performance
Yeah I wasn't crazy about it.
Thank you for this.
Pleasure
That po20 arcade sounds dope! 🤣 gamerlyfe
Hellz yeah! :-)
I have the KO.. had it for about 6 days and it's great easy to use took me a couple hours to learn the work flow only thing o don't like is the lcd animation makes it look to toyish but i have a Yamaha djx and i get sample one shots of it
Yeah the toyish vibe I guess is a love / hate type situation.
Don't know if you get on often, but I did subscribe because I really liked your review. Interesting,.
Thanks Bronz! Yeah I release about 5 videos a month. Appreciate you watching :-)
I just bought the street fighter one and didn’t realize there are differences…. But I love street fighters so ima work through it
You’ll have no prob making it work
Brilliant, thanks mate. Glad I went for the po33. Got a Rick and Morty too but that's still in the wrapper where it'll stay lol.
Really!? They seemed to have discontinued it for the time being- at least on Perfect Circuit they did
@@LiamKillen yeah I'm sure i read somewhere it was a limited edition, which is why its untouched 👍
Smart move
PO-14 was my first. I still absolutely love it.
Yeah they’re all solid! Except for the 16 imo
Your channel is so underrated and helpful 🙏
I appreciate you!!
This is the Encyclopedia Pocket Operator-tannica! Every music maker should have at least one because they really do get the job done.
I agree with you there! They’re all worth a spin!
Wow, those are some nifty little pieces, :)
Indeed!
IMO, the KO and tonic are the best, the rest are great when theyre accessories linked together
The speak seems very hard to master yet very cool still
Yeah everyone seems to like KO / tonic the best :-)
The "acc" button on the PO-32 is assigned to any step in the sequence (1-16) and will add more velocity to that step. I'm guessing it stands for accent as well because it is like you're hitting the note harder.
Furthermore, the PO is setup with four vertical channels and holding down any button in jam mode will drop out the entire channel. (You can do this with multiple channels at the same time.) Anyway that's why the channels were dropping out, not because you held down the "acc" button. Cheers
Thanks for this! 🍻
Man you're the best, I will get the po KO thanks to you. Also you may have a French cousin who reviews rétro games: le joueur du grenier. You guys should collab 😁
Oh thanks for letting me know! I’ll be sure to check that out.
Great video
Cheers- glad to help.
I think the Speak & Mega Man is my next POs :) i have the KO, Tonic & Sub rn
I’m really digging the speak right now
Oh lordy lord thanks dude, so much garbage results till i found you, the dude that actually explains the hw differences. Praise you brother.
My pleasure! Thanks for watching.
Dude. You can design new sounds with the Sonic Charge software (costs extra) and import them into the Tonic. Not limitless, but a HUGE range of sound design possibilities makes this PO uniquely powerful. The other powerful feature you didn't mention/don't know about is the Tonic's capacity to morph between 2 sounds. Knowing this in the sound design stage also opens up many new possibilities, for example a work-around for there not being a per part level control.
I heard about this! Thx for your input 😊
20:14 are you saying "muchas gracias" ?
Muchas gracias I say to you, for helping me decide wich one to buy!
Glad to help!
Thank you
My pleasure
came here to know more about pocket operators and discovered a thing I was looking for without even realizing. infinite batteries. I always wondered why in 2022 we still have the necessity to use alcaline batteries and can't stand it. thanks
Glad to help! Cheers
Hi thanks a lot for the en guide. Witch one is the must funy to create chiptune between arcade and Megaman please
Mega man!
Thanks for the detailed review.
So does it make sense to combine the 133 with the 14 for some fat bass effects, or will one PO be enough? I'm slightly confused...
It really depends on how you're using it but personally I think that the 14 is pretty fat on its own! :-)
@@LiamKillen Thanks for the feedback. I just got my hands on a PO-133 - this will keep me busy.
Hi, very nice video! But most of them are not for sale right now on Ebay or Amazon... Could you please tell me, why? Are they discontinued?
yes some are discontinued unfortunately at this point.
I already got the PO-12 for drums but I still need some melodies. Which do you think works best for melodies between PO-28 and PO-128?
I’d say 128 because you can choose any more you want
maybe a unique feature of the tonic is that you can mute and solo sounds while jamming, i dont own it but for me thats a huge selling point
and really nice video :))
With the acc button you mean, right?
@@LiamKillen i dunno since i dont own it :(
but coulb be yes, maybe by holding acc and holding a sound button you solo it and by holding sound and a sound button you mute it, something like that, if i find out I can write you :)
Yeah it’s an interesting mystery button 😂
@@LiamKillen heyo :)
i checked and holing acc and a sound button will mute the sound, and holding sound and a sound button will solo the sound :)
Awesome thank you!
Can you do a PO jam with the 424? I'm interested to see how these little guys might sound when given the lofi treatment.
Thanks!
I can tell ya that they sound dope through the 404! Do you have one?
@@LiamKillen I do have a 404. I've also got the 202 😁.
Ouf- the 202…would love one of those.
@@LiamKillen it sounds amazing, shame it doesn't have a sequencer though. I also copped the DR-202 drum machine to sequence it but it's too much hassle to setup every time.
I feel u
Wait so the 128 is more than the 28 Robot? Thought it was functionally exactly the same with different sounds
Different sounds and the ability to program any chromatic note (with the 128)
Would you guys recommend the 12 or the 14 for a complete beginner?? I feel like 12 will be better but I love the fat bass.
Lovee.
12 all the way
“I just wanna Love You!”
-you
😂
i got all but the tonic and speak witch one would you get out the 2 ? also i hear the speak has 3 hidden features
Speak all the way!
So, I'm interested why you would buy something like this when you can use something like Ableton or FL Studios ?
I think they're really cool but I want to understand their use
Yeah FL / Ableton kills all hardware gear.
This is more for the fun of making beats in the go. The sampling POs are also very cool and unique in their workflow.
You gotta make that po-sub little bass run a@4:23into a song!!
😏
@@LiamKillen fingers crossed 🤞 brother!
I seen this on TikTok and I need the MegaMan one! If I got one and took it with me to use out and about, what's a good travel case?
TE sells cases directly. If not Analog Cases is the best basically for any electronic instrument, including POs
@@LiamKillen
Thank you for the reply. Definitely wanting to try this out and will most likely use it out and about so I was curious. Thanks and keep it up
Is the microphone sampler on the 33 garbage? The only reason I would buy it is for the sampler, and if you can’t even do much with it it’s probably not worth it
It’s actually surprisingly crisp
if you do sample over the street fighter samples can you get them back?
Yes! Hold pattern + write while putting batteries in to reset PO
Hey, I'm curious if the pitched POs can change key? Like do you always have to be based in a certain key, or can you change it?
The only one when you're free to be in any key is the PO 128
@@LiamKillen Thanks! I want to play my banjo with it!
Crazy the prices have doubled since this video was made😂
Yeah that's bonkers ...
Come talk about it in my Discord if you're not already a member :-)
discord.gg/xj8J2xJuBP
As someone who doesn’t own a pocket operator with music knowledge, should I get the PO20 or PO128? I’m really into 8 Bit music
The 128 is more flexible to program any melody that you want- something to consider!
Ok thanks
cheers
Po 20 is more accessible
Really seemed like bros opinion on every pocket operator but still somewhat informative
am I bro?
@@LiamKillen wdym
You can still buy all the Po's but the rick and morty one, I wanted to start off with 2 of them and that was one of them XD
Oh is Ricky and North not for sale anymore? Wasn’t aware of that!
@@LiamKillen only available used on reverb, usually for $200+. unless you're collecting I think you can get other samplers and just get a Rick and Morty patch for nearly the same cost.
I produce music mostly on computer. Drum sounds are crucial. Sampling is helpful . Synths should be just good.
Can POs help me get better results?
It depends what you’re going for they have a very particular sound
@@LiamKillen the sound of the PO12 sends my thoughts to house music. Actually i was advised to look for toys that delivers analog sound. Is that the case of the PO?
Oh yeah it’s great for house- only thing is you can’t bounce your drums individually
@@LiamKillen Can you at least solo an an instrument while listening to it play?
I believe not
Has there been anything released that's you would say is a good competitor or alternative to the POs? I have a couple, and I am bored of them now.
The next lvl up from that would be the opz- it has a similar sort of workflow. POs are great but def limited
Daniel Parker: check out the Korg Volca range of affordable but powerful gadgets .
One question: these patterns that you can create, how many bars can they be?
They're all one bar but you can chain all 16 ofg them together - so yeah it's pretty limited in that sense.
Trying to get my robot to sound like what I've played and failing, no idea why but it's extremely annoying. And yes I go into write mode and choose the sound but still it sounds different?
Try experimenting with which fx you’re using it auto “vocoderizes” it
For PO 128 the Mega Man sounds are from the NES, not SNES. Specifically it's Mega Man 2.
I always mix em up 😅
I was like, 'Hey! That's Megaman X, not Megaman." 🤔
But the 12 doesnt have a microphone to make samples. Is it possible to change the samples?
It is not
I pick the po-office one cause the factory one sounds bad
I just want the robot one but its not saleable
Yeah I’m not a fan of the factory either
@@LiamKillen for the next I'm ordering speak or robot cause they are both good, and I want speak cause it's giving pc-music.
my man
😏
my PO-33 build in speaker won't make any sound. still work with headphone, Does anyone know how to fix it ?
i replace the battery with many brand but it still won't work. I also clean the headphone jack but no hope
make sure the volume is up, if not there mighrt be an issue with the unit - not sure.
Can anyone tell me, would this be a good christmas gift for an 8 year old boy ? and If so, which one would be best, eg the most complete and easy to use, and the one that's the least "i'm bored of it after playing with it for 2 days" ???
Hmm that’s always a tricky situation but I would go with the most animated one- mega man is great and pretty easy to use
PO-128 or PO-35 are my two cents
@@LiamKillen Thanks a lot :) I'll have another look Mega Man one and might pick one up next month, so i can play with it myself (muhahaha) before repackaging and giftwrapping it :) LOL
lollll
Someone please reply to me about the cord to the right, what is the PO connected too i’m so confused
That’s the audio out! Plug a speaker / headphones in there
Hi! Do you have to connect them to something to hear the sounds?
you can connect them to whatever you'd like! Either a speaker or straight into your headphones :-)
Late but in case you still want an answer, no you dont. They have a speaker themselves
Did you completely omit that the PO-32 is reprogrammable
I certainly did- found out after making this video!
These things doubled in price in 2 years 🤨
Yeah it's bonkers.
It’s been a while since I bought an Arcade and I was just looking at current prices thinking “I didn’t pay $100 for mine did I?” haha
Literally man i was gonna buy another cos ive had an arcade for 2 years and i looked expecting like 50 quid but 85 QUID
Can you change scale on 133
No you cannot
“Quirky 8bit sound throwback to 90s snes”, snes didn’t synthesize it used samples maybe your thinking of the genesis? Though it was a fm synth the Yamaha ym2612. These are 70s to 80s 8bit not 90s 16bit my dude :).
Smashin it in the comments section
I’m a dumb i can’t program my sub 14
What are the Steps ?
Make sure you’re in record mode
Sir how to get this instrument nd what is the price please let me know
Check the description of this video for more details on all that :-)
14:18 i ran from kitchen to turn this off! lol
😂
I have the PO-20, PO-28 & PO-33, almost can deal with anything...
Yeah you’re stacked with that
I think you mean "quirky" right? Or do you mean that Pocket Operators sound like cork?
Is that spelling mistake made in the description? lol- i've been spelling it wrong forever
@@LiamKillen Sorry I'm such a pedantic ass. Thanks for the vids on all these Pocket Operators, you really do a great job!
The Factory is pure Daft Punk!
Interesting take! 😊
Snapped off the hangers 😣
You know it
Did these all double in price in two years??
Maybe not double but I’m sure the price went up
Amazing work! Now I just need to figure out which one to get my five year old daughter…
Hmmm good question maybe one of the simpler ones like the 12-32b?
@@LiamKillen simple is better but the office one is tempting too!
@@stephennapolitano i told my dad about the office and he said i was too young for office sounds lol
Yeah it’s a great one to combine with others
Lol what’s that supposed to mean? lolol
This isn't a review/guide, this is an opinion piece.
Lol
why are these double the price in the UK
No idea
In two years, these things have doubled in price. Not complaining though. More surprised it was ever that cheap. What a steal.
They’ve doubled?? Woah didn’t know that
@LiamKillen they're all $99 now. Megaman is out of stock too 😢
Great comparison. Thanks. I guess, the pocket operators are not for me. It seems they require creativity beyond my capacity. :(
They’re not for everyone! 😊
I'm waiting for the bobs burgers 🍔 pocket operator to drop, Gene edition
😂
A: all of them
So the SNES is a 16 bit system. NES would be 8 bit. BUT, I see what you’re getting at.
Ah damn
I do wish I had a snes though.
There’s probably a bunch of emulations out there by now no doubt. OG is something special though
@@LiamKillen Yeah my brother has a video arcade he built.
Jealous!
@@LiamKillen Yeah it’s 17,000 games from Atari to everything else you could imagine. Even stuff I have never heard of.
Plogue's instruments area great alternative!
Anyone notice how the Megaman one is low volume compared to Street Fighters? Or is mine just low 😳
Turn up the volume yo!
can you do a Donda stem player and this
I contacted them about Donda- no response!
@@LiamKillen u might just want to buy it, and if you are, can you get one for me too ? ( they wouldn't ship to Canada...)
Lol! I’m also in Canada though
@@LiamKillen we need to meet...
Haha maybe one day!
✨🏆✨
Thank youuuuu
Unfortunately, scuttlebutt says TE has killed production the entire line, less the PO-133... sucks!😥😒😡
Woah really!
@@LiamKillen Yeah, such a shame because they are such a wonderful gateway for newcomers into electronic music and electronic music gear. TE has so jumped the shark. WTF.
they are fabulous, but yeah, disposable batteries and no bluetooth puts me off
Usb powered batteries now exist with MyVolts! Makes me feel like a better human lol