Teenage Engineering OP-1 Synthesizer

[samuraipizzacat29]

yeah idk where i was really going with the whole resale value thing. I get all freaked out when something new comes out that I want and have no idea where the value's going to be in six months and whether or not anyone will ever want to buy it again (including me). a la - my venom which I bought cheap, but now am having a hard time even selling for what I thought was cheap. such is life.

and idk if I should even address the velocity comment..... I KNOW ABOUT VELOCITY CURVES!!!! haha. maybe I could've tweaked them a little better, it just seemed that most of the velocities were not very responsive and I had no shot at expressive playing. Again - i should've known better to think that a mk's keys would allow me to play anything with "feeling", but chalk that up to my newbish innocence.

back on topic: i want one. (edit:) at all costs. It's a good thing i don't have a firstborn. he'd be done for.

[polardark]

Looking at the OP1, it strikes me that it doesn't do anything that i really need from a synth. Purely from my personal needs, I don't see the point: It doesn't take synthesis to new advanced levels, it doesn't offer very extensive front panel controls and it's too expensive for something I'd bring with me to the park and risk spilling beer on.

Maybe I'm just getting too old for GAS.

[oopfoo]

The second shipment of OP-1s sold out within 3 hours last week. A LOT of folks are on the notification system, and are buying them up as soon as they hit. It's pretty crazy.

[Stab Frenzy]

Purely from my personal needs, I don't see the point

That's OK, not everything needs to be for you.

[tekkentool]

It's very much geared towards the modern laptop producer who wants a decent compact controller that can be used as a standalone synth and sketchpad for producton. Personally I think it fulfills that goal. It's a sexy little bit of design too.

[tekkentool]

http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2011/ ... p-1-synth/ the shitstorm on Synthtopia is annoying. Somebody mentioned that you might as well go out and buy a 61 key workstation like a korg TR and just compare them. How do you compare a 61 key, Non battery powered workstation with a small battery powered synth/seqencer/controller sketchpad thing?

How can they so expertly trash this without even seeing one?

[samuraipizzacat29]

do you think if moog made it and it were analog, people would be willing to spend the same? I mean - if you put a slim phatty in a casio vl1, wouldn't people line up in droves at $6-700? "oh, wow! it's portable and ANALOG!"

guess what: it's 2011, and there are more waves than square, pwm, and saw.

ok, now i'm done with my tongue in cheek and yet possibly apropo semi-rant. Contrarily, my mega-concern and what will cause me NOT to unhesitatingly throw my hard earned money at it is this little piece of info:

http://www.ponnuki.net/2011/06/op-1-review/
"What is interesting with this tool is that, instead of giving you complete control over all the building blocks like other virtual analogue synth (VCO, VCF,VCA…) , it present you with 8 synth engine that has only has a limited amount of effect and settings"

he goes on to say how it sparks his creativity..... an interesting thought, but i never subscribed to the "less options makes me more creative". That doesn't work for me because I think it up and then put it down. less options means i'm less likely to get it right.

contrarily (#2) this isn't designed for you to make it right the first time. it's designed to be a workstation in a box, and a small box at that. It's interesting - i'll give it that, but I'll wait it out for now.

[Nannerfan]

http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2011/ ... p-1-synth/ the shitstorm on Synthtopia is annoying. Somebody mentioned that you might as well go out and buy a 61 key workstation like a korg TR and just compare them.

that's such a crazy argument.. I never look over there. I can't even put that in context.

All I can say is. Give me any 61 key Korg workstation made in the last 25 years.. and I'll easily make something more interesting on the OP-1... and I'm no fanboy.

[Stab Frenzy]

That kind of thing on Synthtopia is why we mods moderate in the way that we do here. I'm glad VSE is one of the last synth places on teh internets which is generally drama-free.

A friend of mine was on the beta and loves his, it's a whole lot of synth in a tiny package and the UI is very well thought out and easy to use. I think a lot of people who think it's too expensive have some idea in their head that they're paying by the kilo for synths or something. I think if the form factor was like a monomachine people would think very differently about it in terms of value, people are comparing it to the only things they remember with a similar form factor like the SK-1, VL tone and CS-01 even though it does a huge amount more than those things, which makes it look expensive. Compared to a monomachine (which is the thing which it most closely resembles functionally) it's cheap.

[Psy_Free]

I think a lot of people who think it's too expensive have some idea in their head that they're paying by the kilo for synths or something

Spot on. I think the portability of the thing combined with the functionality it provides is something worth paying for. Don't forget all the work that's gone into it too. 800 Euros isn't bad at all really. It's certainly more than a toy/gimmick.

[Automatic Gainsay]

You're all dicks.
I stumbled upon this thread again... did an eyeroll... and then read more. Out of irritation more than curiosity, I watched a few OP-1 videos.
I have to say that I am surprised by the functionality, and delighted by the interface. I couldn't believe that something so dorky and tiny could actually be useful, and I almost broke my optic nerves rolling my eyes at everyone talking about it being a self-contained studio... but damn. I think I was wrong. This is a very interesting tool, and I'm admittedly intrigued by it. I think the interface is really charming. The sample manipulation stuff is absolutely FANTASTIC.
Yeah, thanks a lot, j**k. Thanks for making me like something that I initially thought was lame. Of course, my liking it doesn't mean anything because I've never used one, right? You can only dislike or like something if you've used it.

P.S. f**k that keyboard, though. That's bullshit.

P.P.S. I know this post will be forgotten, because it's impossible that I would like anything that wasn't analog.

[mizu]

any of you have this nice little buddy? it looks nice with a mac pc ( which I don't have).
It seems to have fully programmable parameters, recording, and all sorts of things, its like a carry on back pack work station.

Reviews please and opinions.

Thanks!

[mizu]

btw: the price kills everything

[Phollop Willing PA]

Lest we forget.

You're all dicks.
I stumbled upon this thread again... did an eyeroll... and then read more. Out of irritation more than curiosity, I watched a few OP-1 videos.
I have to say that I am surprised by the functionality, and delighted by the interface. I couldn't believe that something so dorky and tiny could actually be useful, and I almost broke my optic nerves rolling my eyes at everyone talking about it being a self-contained studio... but damn. I think I was wrong. This is a very interesting tool, and I'm admittedly intrigued by it. I think the interface is really charming. The sample manipulation stuff is absolutely FANTASTIC.
Yeah, thanks a lot, j**k. Thanks for making me like something that I initially thought was lame. Of course, my liking it doesn't mean anything because I've never used one, right? You can only dislike or like something if you've used it.

P.S. f**k that keyboard, though. That's bullshit.

P.P.S. I know this post will be forgotten, because it's impossible that I would like anything that wasn't analog.

[mizu]

when are they gunna restock -_- takes for ever does it?

I see them still in Japan, but they got about a 30% increase on the price

btw for midi http://www.iconnectmidi.com/?q=specs