Pocket Audio HiChord is a pocket-sized chord machine with 882 built-in chords, a Synthesizer, drum machine, and looper.
Tools that allow you to create chords even without a musical background are enjoying great popularity. Software includes plugins like Scaler 3, which turns anyone into a chord pro.
The same trend can be seen in hardware. Many synthesizers and MIDI controllers have clever built-in chord generators. There is also dedicated hardware, such as the Pocket HiChord, which entered the fourth pre-order batch.
Pocket Audio HiChord
When I saw the key button layout first, I had to smile because it reminded me of the David Guetta keyboard meme. I can reassure you that Pocket Audio HiChord may look small, but it offers quite a lot.
HiChord is not only a chord machine but also a Synthesizer, drum machine, and looper, a groovebox on the go. But instant and seamless chord generation is the key feature of this small musical instrument.
Using the seven key buttons, you can trigger chords generated using the Nashville Number System. Each button is pre-mapped to diatonic chords in your select keys, letting you trigger full, harmonically balanced chords instantly without finger acrobatics.
The engine offers 6,048 chord voicings (12 keys × 21 types × 3 inversions × 4 octaves × 2 slash chords) with 882 built-in ready-to-use chords. Additionally, smart scales prevent you from playing wrong notes, so everything sounds good, promise the developers.
Chords can be modified on the fly with the joystick on the left side. You can shift to minor, add suspended tones, or extend with 7th/9th intervals in seconds.
Built-in Synth & Drum Machine
Pocket Audio HiChord can be played with your favorite MIDI gear or with the built-in sound engine. At its core is a 96kHz DSP that powers both a neat Synthesizer and drum machine, plus a looper.
According to the developers, it’s a 12-oscillator digital synth with FM synthesis and multiple multiple waveforms (sine, saw, triangle, and custom). They joined by a lowpass filter, ADSR envelope, LFO, and built-in effects such as tremolo, delay, and reverb. Very basic but sufficient for quickly capturing ideas.
The synth engine also has an arpeggiator. Alongside this is a drum machine that is loaded in the dedicated drum mode. Here, the buttons will host drum sounds mapped in three drum kits including kick, snare, closed hi-hat, open hi-hat, high tom, mid tom, and crash cymbal.
The sequencer isn’t freely configurable per step; it automatically triggers drum rhythms in sync with your set tempo. Synths and drum can be record into a dual looper for seamless playback and live layering.
On the backside, you have USB-C connector with MIDI out functionality, and a line output. It also has a built-in speaker and is powered by a rechargeable LiPo battery for on-the-go performances.
More features are on the way. The developers previews that there will a multi-track looper with metronome, new effects such as chorus as well as many improvements and bug fixes.
First Impression
A fun little device that can be helpful for finding chords in DAW-less setups. You certainly won’t buy the HiChord for its synth engine or drum machine. Those are neat extra goodies. The easy chord functionality is definitely the key feature here.
Pocket Audio HiChord is available now for pre-order in the fourth batch in an aluminum edition for 280,95€ . It’s designed in Toronto, assembled in Penang Science Park, Malaysia. It ships in late fall 2025 with an EVA case.
More information here: Pocket Audio
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