Like the much vaunted Japan made brand of Chef Knives that had very famous commercials from the 80s, the Teenage Engineering Sidekick comes with its own characters across the front, signifying that this mixer is also good for cutting up stuff, but in this case not food but beats. It much like the famous infomercials of yesteryear, it leaves you wondering, do I really need this when my _fill in blank_ sampler/drum machine already has built in effects, and the short answer is no, but you will want it. You will want just like you wanted those knives in part just to see how good they were at carving stuff up, in this case beats and samples, and I will say so far it delivers, in my opinion. Its a great companion to the Teenage Engineering KO 133 series including the Riddim, the original Pocket Operators including the PO 33, the much coveted MPC Sample, and heck anything that you can purchase a Y cable, from zZounds of course, to covert down to a 3.5 mm stereo jack signal. Even fits snug next to the SP 404, but this may be EFX overkill, but again, who cares, get yours now for... well whatever zZounds is offering it for (infomercial voice) , and this is a totally independent review. Are there some downsides? Seems like the gain and compressor may lead to digital clipping if not restrained, at least in my initial straight to camera audio test. It's not a full size and fledged mixer, but it does also work as a USB C audio interface, including to stereo channel outs, for DJ mode, including… read more 2 Cue buttons going to the headphones, good for tablet or laptop DJ software, haven't tested it with Serato, but class compliant USB C should be ok.

Sound
The sound quality seems pretty solid, but again, note that the connections are only 3.5 mm, so I don't know how "quiet" this mixer is under real scrutiny, but so far it sounds good, but have noted some clipping from having the gain and compression settings too high.

Features
The select-able 3 band EQ (DJ eq, and 2 other modes, including DB gain) built in compressor, and channel gain (2 Stereo Channels, not the AUX channel), and the USB C audio interface functionality including the DJ - Multi Out- mode.

Ease of Use
Being that it is a mixer, you have to connect it to a sound source to get sounds out of it.

Quality
It's made out of solid plastic like the other KO 133 sampler series, similar knobs and build just slimmer in width.

Value
Absolutely, especially considering the next "mixer" from TE sells at a much higher price point, which has great features, but is more of a portable DAW recorder, where this is designed to sit next to a groovebox/sampler set up in my opinion.

Manufacturer Support
Not directly with a customer service issue, but have purchased directly from them in the past.

The Wow Factor
It has very high appeal, and is in line with Teenage Engineering's other KO line of products.

Musical Background:
DJing, Keyboard playing

Musical Style:
Hip Hop, 90s sampling style, 90s style Dance/House music, Reggae, and Downtempo Dub style music. read less