Op-1 how have your opinions matured?

supersuper · Post by **supersuper** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 4:09 am

Interested to know what people think of this bit of kit now that it has been out for a while? Did you keep it? Is it part of your process or is it it's own side story?

Would like to know as it was hotly debated when first released in limited runs.

dan_p · Post by **dan_p** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 5:33 am

Still love it. I travel a lot so its a great thing for me.
I mostly just noodle about on it, Have used it to record a couple of things but mostly I'm not too productive with it. then again I'm not too productive with anything.

It sounds much much bigger than its size would let you believe too. Whilst simple the synth engines can produce some very nice sounds indeed.
It also makes you think differently, its quite unique in its workflow.

I tend to only use it on its own when I am way, or as a bit of fun to use on the sofa. When the OP-Lab arrives then I will use it with other gear, sequencing my Tinysizer etc. It will expand the OP-1's range a great deal.

darenager · Post by **darenager** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 1:55 pm

Feel the same way as when I got it, its my musical notepad that I mainly use at night with headphones, it provides me with drums, synths and multitrack recording in a tidy package, as Dan says it sounds great, so often things created on the OP-1 get finished using just it.

The Oplab will certainly make integration with other gear easier, so I'm looking forward to that too.

jenamu6 · Post by **jenamu6** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 2:07 pm

I sold mine.
A part of me loved it, the other part thought there were to many corners cut.

Digital whine on headphones, noise on the mic, mini jack out, limited fx and synths ....and more mmmm.....made me decide I could use that money better.

supersuper · Post by **supersuper** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 9:31 pm

thanks for the feedback guys; i was sure more people here would have something to say on this topic.

Here is another question: do you think iOS music production apps are going to out compete this thing anytime soon?

mr big · Post by **mr big** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 9:46 am

I have one.

I'm pretty disappointed. It has some nice features but it sounds like hell to me. It can make some unique souds but it makes too many plain ugly ones. Playing poly on many presets just produces an ugly distortion. This was acknowledged by TE when I wrote to them. Yeah that is ugly distortion. Try turning the gain down was the suggested fix.

That help a bit but not enough. It seems weird that they ship it with presets that just sound horrible. What is the point of that?

lessavyfav · Post by **lessavyfav** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 10:00 am

I really like it but it is plagued by noise issues caused by hardware- weird whines/noise that come up as the volume goes down. I travel a lot so it has a special place in my heart because, for me, it blows any other portable hardware out of the water also I love the look feel workflow. It is my main sampler- so quick/easy. Still, beta software is one thing, beta hardware is a valid turn off for most people I think.

Bath House · Post by **Bath House** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 4:50 pm

I love it to death 9 months on - the workflow is just so immediate and intuitive and fun. The synths and effects are idiosyncratic and don't duplicate anything else in my studio - it's just on another entirely different wavelength. I make music with it that I wouldn't make otherwise - it leads me to new and interesting places constantly. I'm actually considering dumping my DAW and using its 4-track at the center of my setup. I'll get a second one the second that they provide some way to sync their transports.

blue_lu · Post by **blue_lu** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 5:00 pm

still loving mine.

indexofmetals · Post by **indexofmetals** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 5:17 pm

great little machine. love the tape pitch slowdown. the kids love using it too. there are lots of things I'd change for but for now I don't know of anything that does what it does in this size. And most of all it gets used on recordings a lot.

darenager · Post by **darenager** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 5:18 pm

supersuper wrote:thanks for the feedback guys; i was sure more people here would have something to say on this topic.

Here is another question: do you think iOS music production apps are going to out compete this thing anytime soon?

Personally I say no, the closest thing workflow wise is nanoloop on iOS in that the interface is not clumsy and uninviting. Most iOS stuff I have tried leaves me feeling that I'm trying to paint my dining room standing across the road with a long broom. YMMV though?

jessem · Post by **jessem** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 9:00 am

I liked it but traded it as it wasn't seeing much use.

I wanted to see better sequencing options (midi pattern sequencing would be great) and velocity for drums etc...

If that happens I may get another one in the future. It's a cool device. It'll be even cooler in a year or two when they are 500$ used.

Liddlepud · Post by **Liddlepud** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 10:45 am

I really tried to like it but I agree with Jenamu6's points above so I sold it.

James Mandible · Post by **James Mandible** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:19 pm

jessem wrote:It'll be even cooler in a year or two when they are 500$ used.

When that happens I'll bite the bullet and pick one up. I really like the sounds I've heard out of these guys, but for $850 US to hear that there's a lot of corners cut on the build quality is disquieting. This is the first I've heard of this stuff and it's a bummer.

dogoftears · Post by **dogoftears** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:27 pm

I used one and REALLY liked it, which sort of annoyed me, because it has so many professional shortcomings. Plus i dont want some whack-ass exposed DIY thing that'll break in my backpack just to get midi-sync going.

OP2: twice as thick with actual quarter inch outputs and a midi port? and better internal gain staging for polyphonic sounds like mentioned above. then im alllllll over this thing.

or OP1 serious price reduction!

transistor logic · Post by **transistor logic** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:27 pm

i just got my hands on one today , very nice sturdy feel to it . i cant comment much about the sound but what i heard was cool .

digital_steve · Post by **digital_steve** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 4:35 pm

I'd definitely own one if i could afford it.
I think the price on a new one is rather high...

MrBiggs · Post by **MrBiggs** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 8:07 pm

I've had mine for two months. Used it a LOT the first month, not so much this month. I spent two hours on Sunday showing it off to a friend who nearly fainted when I turned on the radio (this is after he saw the samplers and sequencers, so the possibilities hit him like a brick. That was fun.)

I still think the finger sequencer is corny in design and fiddly in use. Programming those stupid teeny 'x' boxes around DJs and monkeys is dumb.

About half the synth engines I find ugly and non-musical. And I agree about the poly distortion. It gets kind of hairy.
The synth engines I do like, the FM and Digital, are seemingly purposefully obtuse in design. They sound great, but the controls are mysterious. Ooh, the blue dot moves and the green dots move and the sound changes. Wheee! Look, the hexagons are overlapping! That means it's louder!

Saving one's own presets is no fun. I still haven't figured it out.

But then I save six or twelve seconds of FM radio, or recorded ukulele into the synth sampler or drum sampler, record the endless or tombola sequencer playing that sample onto the tape with the phone or delay effect, and save those AIF files into Ableton or just record them onto the record player and I'm happy happy. There's nothing like it.

Is it worth $900? I don't know. I sold three modules to buy it using my Paypal underground economy. Was it worth those three modules? Yes absolutely.

digital_steve · Post by **digital_steve** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 8:41 pm

MrBiggs wrote:Is it worth $900? I don't know. I sold three modules to buy it using my Paypal underground economy. Was it worth those three modules? Yes absolutely.

Worth second hand stuff/trade? Sure. I reckon you're right!
I'd probably pick one up second hand... but they seem to hold their value for some reason.
Marketing and hype are really amazing things.

MrBiggs · Post by **MrBiggs** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 10:26 pm

digital_steve wrote:
MrBiggs wrote:Is it worth $900? I don't know. I sold three modules to buy it using my Paypal underground economy. Was it worth those three modules? Yes absolutely.
Worth second hand stuff/trade? Sure. I reckon you're right!
I'd probably pick one up second hand... but they seem to hold their value for some reason.
Marketing and hype are really amazing things.

That's not really what I meant, though I can see how it came across that way. What I meant was compared to a 12u case of modules, $900 isn't that much. I played with an op1 at the Philly synth meet in December for five minutes and knew I wanted one. It was easier to sell a z8000 and a few other things than wait until $900 appeared in some other way. It was rather risk free as well since the used market is extremely good on the op1.

Marketing and hype

had nothing to do with my buying it and certainly nothing to do with my plans to hold onto it. It fits my way if thinking and making perfectly. It's extremely well designed and its planned "limitations" prod me into directions I'd not consider otherwise. My only gripe is that Teenage gets a little carried away with the "fun" while making some puzzling decisions regarding usability and clarity.

rockmanrock · Post by **rockmanrock** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 11:40 pm

Always reminds me of this.

mbleming · Post by **mbleming** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 1:15 am

I've had mine almost a year now, and it's by far the most fun I've had with any instrument. ever. Totally worth the $800 I paid for it, without a doubt. I've had a fair amount of gear - elektron boxes, ems vcs3, doepfer euro, nords, laptops/software, etc and this thing just fits in with the way I like to make sounds. I've taken mine to work every single day since I bought it...the size and the ability to do so much fun stuff wherever I'm at are what I really love about the OP-1. I guess it has its drawbacks, but everything does. I have an ipad with a TON of music apps on it and I just can't gel with it...playing hardware- keys, knobs etc is just so much more enjoyable.

Post by **Joe.** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 2:04 am

rockmanrock wrote:Always reminds me of this.

Wasp T12 was a marketing fail, it needed an "awesome" name like "Scientific Youth T12" or "hip kids designs T12" to make it sound like it had been created by your cool piers, and not old men (in their 30s, omg ancient).

I'd still buy a wasp t12 tho, just because it works on the moon

bryantcheramie · Post by **bryantcheramie** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 2:36 am

The new finger sequencer and drum synth really enhanced it.

vassili · Post by **vassili** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 3:27 am

I got the beta version and never sale it!It's unique and so inspiring.

I take it everywhere with me !

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Op-1 how have your opinions matured?

Op-1 how have your opinions matured?

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