Wunderkammer WoO.1 is a new battery-powered portable sampler and looper for on-the-go, launching this week on Kickstarter.
Update: it’s now on Kickstarter for an early bird price of $319 and later for a special price of $359. The retail price will be $429.
A hardware sampler is a musical instrument capable of sampling sounds. There are complex ones, as well as instant samplers, where you sample with one or two button presses and build a chromatically playable instrument.
This week, on August 20, the new Chinese company Wunderkammer from Hong Kong is launching the WoO.1 on Kickstarter. It combines many beloved aspects: portable, fast, and intuitive, plus battery-powered.
Wunderkammer WoO.1
WoO.1 is a new portable hardware sampler and looper. From the outside, it reminds me a bit of the Teenage Engineering design with the white case, built-in speakers, and orange knobs.
It is striking that there is no display; everything is controlled by buttons, Scissor-Switch keys, knobs, and lights that guide you.
Wunderkammer has created a custom engine for the WoO.1 that hosts a dedicated sampler and looper mode. On the technical side, it offers 44.1kHz / 16-bit stereo sampling and has 247MB internal storage, giving you up to 24 minutes of audio.
According to the official website, there are seven modes to explore that spark creativity; exact details of what they can do are not yet available.
Sampling & Looping
Everything starts either with 161 built-in instruments or with a sampling session. This can be done either intuitively via the built-in microphone or by dragging and dropping samples to the device via USB-C. The device lacks an audio input, which is a shame.
For the sampler task, there is the sampler mode, letting you capture sounds instantly. and convert them into a chromatically playable instrument. Plus, you can store them in any of the 140 sample slots. The sampler mode also features resampling and remixing capabilities.
If you want to take the sampled sounds to rhythmic fields, there is also a looper mode with unlimited tracks and sound layering.
Also, the looper of the Wunderkammer WoO.1 features a resampling function with which you can resample stored loops from the sample mode.
Additionally, you apply dynamic playing effects with the function knob and mix/refine any individual track in your loops with various built-in effects: lowpass filter, highpass filter, bandpass filter, and pitch shifter. Not a lot, but I hope they add more in the future.
You can save multiple customized loops into grooves and connect up to 16 grooves with up to 32 bars to form a full track. Alongside this, you have handy functions like a one-button undo and a built-in arpeggiator.
Thanks to the Scissor-switch keys and free sound assignments, you can also use the Wunderkammer WoO.1 as a finger drum sampler device.
Connectivity
On the side of the unit, you have a USB-C port for MIDI and power duties, a 3.5 mm headphone output, and an ON/OFF switch. As already mentioned, there is no audio input, which means that the “sampling” function is limited to the built-in microphone.
Wunderkammer promises that the battery will last up to 50 hours with headphones and up to 5 hours using the built-in speakers.
First Impression
At first glance, this looks like a fun portable sampler. However, for me, the sampler engine is very basic and doesn’t offer any real highlights. It lacks, for example, envelopes or even more fun effects for mangling the samples.
The lack of audio input, which would allow for a wide range of audio sources, is also a downer. Nevertheless, the WoO.1 has potential, and since it has digital firmware, there are still a lot of features that can be added.
Wunderkammer WoO.1 will be available via a Kickstarter campaign, starting on August 20, 2025. You can sign up on their website to reserve the limited 35% OFF discount (save $150) with an unusual $3 deposit system.
Keep in mind that crowdfunding campaigns can involve risks. See this project site for details.
More information here: Wunderkammer Tech / Kickstarter
Sign up to save $150…
Yeah naw.
crazy without Display and No Sampler without Input
sorry. didn’t saw the built in Microphone
The era of audio input-free samplers. We’ve gone so digital, we actually thought a sampler without an input is a good idea. Its not.
It’s a pity that you can only transfer files through USB rather than an Audio In on the actual unit.
Nope i backed up” chompie” and sold the dam thing immediately.
And this thingie has no audio input source.
Yet another kickstarter that is not gonna happen.
No audio input = Sample player.
Not a sampler.
it has a microphone so it can sample so a sampler 😉
This. Just a toy which does nothing different or more than any sampler, hard or soft. This whole thing is so well thought through, as their announcement page with no price tag, but a coupon for 35% and $3 money down thing.
Why no line in?? It’s insane that they still do this!!! Effects not the most interesting either. Must say though, any new hardware sampler will always get my interest and attention. Still think I should’ve bagged a Chompi. Ah, the one that got away…
what happened to the chompi?
They were aquired by Chase Bliss.
https://youtu.be/zaz1qXxDPao?si=QPywaX-9RMBcALKd
They expect to sell this thing for $429? Looks like they took inspiration from Teenage Engineering on the price structure too.