Teenage Engineering OP-1 Synthesizer - Anyone here have one?

[Broken Chip]

500 sold in a day apparently. Someone here must have one who can tell us their thoughts about sound quality, synth programming and overall workflow.

I'm having a hard time trying to figure out if it's worth the money. Youtube video's seem average and Teenage Engineering have no idea how to create a good in depth video to explain each synth part.

I think it's got some fantastic features and may even have the potential to become a great little sketch pad for ideas when you are away from the studio.

So, is it worth the $799 price tag and how good does it sound?

[LeifonMars]

http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php? ... start=4380

[BLuE_Lu]

yeah, I have one - I think it sounds great and I can only recommend it if you want to get away from the computer. Workflow is very distructive, you keep recording over your existing tracks and need to plan ahead quite a bit regarding soundselection, eq-ing etc. To me it sounds a lot more "in your face" than itb - also doing wide stereo images is not really easy at all. I need to invest some time in that - at the end it is just 4 mono tracks though.
Regarding the moneys worth: DEFINATELY worth it. This things skeletton is one block of carved out aluminum, display is beautiful and you get a bastard child of mpc, several great sounding snyhts, a daw, a mic, a radio in a box. and you can take it in the park and jam out for hours. really it is amazing. it is excellent with my sp303 (and I think any other sampler for that matter). the only downside I see sofar is the limited stereo imaging. thats all.

here are some of my sounds done with op-1 (the latest 4 tracks are op-1 only):
http://soundcloud.com/yellow-tangerine

[LeifonMars]

@BLuE_Lu

Have you tested or do you happen to own Octatrack? How does OP1 compares to Octratrack? Sure they are 2 different beasts, but still.

Read somewhere there's no clock in or out on OP1. How do you sync it then?

[Broken Chip]

Blue, that's exactly the info I wanted to hear, thanks man. Your OP-1 tracks sound great. Did you record the individual tracks and mix them in something else, because your tunes have a decent stereo width on them.

[BLuE_Lu]

@BLuE_Lu

Have you tested or do you happen to own Octatrack? How does OP1 compares to Octratrack? Sure they are 2 different beasts, but still.

Read somewhere there's no clock in or out on OP1. How do you sync it then?

No. I wish I did though - in fact I was thinking about getting an octatrack and a decent hardware compressor and leave software / Itb for a while. but the moneyz... also Elektron seems to be a kinda weird about os uptdates, changing up effects and some points in workflow - I don't want to put up with that now - maybe later. another big thing that is holding me off the ot is the limitied outputs (4 ins, two outs I think, right?). I know - op-1 is similar, but also a lot smaller and a different concept. I think op-1 and OT would be a terrific match up!

Blue, that's exactly the info I wanted to hear, thanks man. Your OP-1 tracks sound great. Did you record the individual tracks and mix them in something else, because your tunes have a decent stereo width on them.

youre welcome and thanks for checking out my tracks. just be warned: only the most recent 4 tracks are done enterily in op1 (there is an op-1 set on my cloud) - they were all tracked out in op-1 and recorded as one stereo file with with my audiointerface - no processing afterwards. In fact most of these were just one or two 8-16bar loops manipulated on the fly while recording. it is a lot of fun and can yield very musical and (for me ) different results than working purely itb and tracking everything out beforehand!

both of your projects are pretty hot, btw!

[john gordon]

Great tracks Blue Lu!!

@BLuE_Lu

Have you tested or do you happen to own Octatrack? How does OP1 compares to Octratrack? Sure they are 2 different beasts, but still.

Read somewhere there's no clock in or out on OP1. How do you sync it then?

No. I wish I did though - in fact I was thinking about getting an octatrack and a decent hardware compressor and leave software / Itb for a while. but the moneyz... also Elektron seems to be a kinda weird about os uptdates, changing up effects and some points in workflow - I don't want to put up with that now - maybe later. another big thing that is holding me off the ot is the limitied outputs (4 ins, two outs I think, right?). I know - op-1 is similar, but also a lot smaller and a different concept. I think op-1 and OT would be a terrific match up!

Blue, that's exactly the info I wanted to hear, thanks man. Your OP-1 tracks sound great. Did you record the individual tracks and mix them in something else, because your tunes have a decent stereo width on them.

youre welcome and thanks for checking out my tracks. just be warned: only the most recent 4 tracks are done enterily in op1 (there is an op-1 set on my cloud) - they were all tracked out in op-1 and recorded as one stereo file with with my audiointerface - no processing afterwards. In fact most of these were just one or two 8-16bar loops manipulated on the fly while recording. it is a lot of fun and can yield very musical and (for me ) different results than working purely itb and tracking everything out beforehand!

both of your projects are pretty hot, btw!

[o0o]

what are the extent of the sampling capabilities on this machine

[BLuE_Lu]

dj thomas did a great video on the two sample modes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZbndmVk_Es

of yourse you could just record to tape so with normal tape speed you have 4 x 6 min of sampling acapility. you can then use samples in the two sample engines explained in above video with up to 12s or 6s snippets of sound.

[o0o]

so there are 2 sample slots, and am i correct there is no midi?
if you wanted to use it as an mpc what would be the best way

[o0o]

thanks for the clip by the way.

[BLuE_Lu]

thanks for the clip by the way.

no - there are 8 sample slots (eight drum kits)each for a 12 second drum clip with all the hits fired in sequence - then you assign the hits to different keys.

there is no midi yet(os is officially in beta still). afaik midi out is planned as well as wireless sync with up to 4 other op-1s.
there is no hardware midi out/in only usb btw. so if you want to do lots of midi sequencing with external hardware op-1 is not a good option imo.

[LeifonMars]

there is no hardware midi out/in only usb btw. so if you want to do lots of midi sequencing with external hardware op-1 is not a good option imo.

I'm tempted, but this puts me off. Maybe I should talk my band mate into buying it.

[o0o]

thanks for the clip by the way.

no - there are 8 sample slots (eight drum kits)each for a 12 second drum clip with all the hits fired in sequence - then you assign the hits to different keys.

there is no midi yet(os is officially in beta still). afaik midi out is planned as well as wireless sync with up to 4 other op-1s.
there is no hardware midi out/in only usb btw. so if you want to do lots of midi sequencing with external hardware op-1 is not a good option imo.

gracias for the clarification

[Broken Chip]

@Blue_Lu,
pleased you dig my stuff!
I'm thinking that the OP-1 is a worthy little synth and I'm hoping that more will be made with these midi implementations added by the time the next release come about.