New OP-1 'field' - 'just' £2000 (update- now velocity sensitive!)

[foosnark]

TE is weird, kind of interesting to consider, and also frustrating IMHO. They seem to be successful, despite a lot of musicians saying their stuff is overpriced. They certainly get talked about.

If you can get along with the tape bouncing paradigm, you can produce albums with the OP-1 alone (and probably do it on a single battery charge, from what I've heard).

The new OB-X8 is $5000 and arguably not nearly as capable in terms of functionality. But it looks like a big, professional, luxury synth, and it has those key words "Oberheim" and "analog" in it, and people are comparing it to vintage OB-Xs at $12K+. There's no question that the audience is studios and serious pros, and it no doubt sounds like butter, and us random internet schlubs aren't really complaining that Oberheim is oberpriced

Meanwhile the OP-1 looks like a kid's toy that was designed by Dieter Rams... and I guess the closest comparison might be.... I don't know, a Critter & Guitari Organelle? A Nintendo Switch running Korg Gadget? Or a DAW? And it's kind of hard to tell what the audience is for it. The company sends mixed signals, with stuff like the Pocket Operators but also a $2000 instrument that has a $75 accessory kit consisting of a plastic crank and some Legos.

[SLiC]

I could be wrong, but I honestly think TE have totally misjudged the market with the pricing of these new field devices, unless of course the point is to sell less but at a higher margin...a lot has changed since the OP-1 was launched in terms of choice.

Any fully digital synth can be run on an iPhone or iPad (the power in the M1 iPads is insane). If you want analogue, there is only one route and its hardware, if you want emulation and digital you can have an entire studio with apps that are far better than the little fun synths in the OP-1...TE have just relaunched a 10 year old product that was novel at the time with a few tweaks at double the cost.

The more interesting proposition for example is the 'mass produced' hand held computer from STEAM that is sub £500, very powerful, big screen and can apparently run Bitwig and VCV Rack which would be hard to beat as a portable set up!

https://www.musicradar.com/news/valve-s ... ack-plugin

[ghettosynth]

The new OB-X8 is $5000 and arguably not nearly as capable in terms of functionality. But it looks like a big, professional, luxury synth, and it has those key words "Oberheim" and "analog" in it, and people are comparing it to vintage OB-Xs at $12K+. There's no question that the audience is studios and serious pros, and it no doubt sounds like butter, and us random internet schlubs aren't really complaining that Oberheim is oberpriced

This is also fetishism though. To me it just looks like an old outdated synth that doesn't need to be that big anymore and has lost the plot with respect to panel space and value as a musical instrument. To be clear, I like larger panels, but copying the late seventies in a world of surface mount is every bit as silly to me as this Teenage Engineering stuff.

My god that Superbooth OP-1 video is LOL cringy.

Now, does this sound great?



I'm going to say no, I think it sounds ok. It sounds like what I'd expect from old-tat that was limited in its day due to costs and doesn't need to be so limited today. I would use software before I used this, even if you gave it to me.

[elxsound]

I could be wrong, but I honestly think TE have totally misjudged the market with the pricing of these new field devices, unless of course the point is to sell less but at a higher margin...a lot has changed since the OP-1 was launched in terms of choice.

Any fully digital synth can be run on an iPhone or iPad (the power in the M1 iPads is insane). If you want analogue, there is only one route and its hardware, if you want emulation and digital you can have an entire studio with apps that are far better than the little fun synths in the OP-1...TE have just relaunched a 10 year old product that was novel at the time with a few tweaks at double the cost.

The more interesting proposition for example is the 'mass produced' hand held computer from STEAM that is sub £500, very powerful, big screen and can apparently run Bitwig and VCV Rack which would be hard to beat as a portable set up!

https://www.musicradar.com/news/valve-s ... ack-plugin

I don’t think your wrong about misjudging the market. I’ve never seen them not sell out on the first day of a new release.

From their own site, it’s still available to purchase.

When people get tattoos of an OP-1 it leaves me with little doubt these will eventually sell, but at a much slower pace.

[elxsound]

The new OB-X8 is $5000 and arguably not nearly as capable in terms of functionality. But it looks like a big, professional, luxury synth, and it has those key words "Oberheim" and "analog" in it, and people are comparing it to vintage OB-Xs at $12K+. There's no question that the audience is studios and serious pros, and it no doubt sounds like butter, and us random internet schlubs aren't really complaining that Oberheim is oberpriced

This is also fetishism though. To me it just looks like an old outdated synth that doesn't need to be that big anymore and has lost the plot with respect to panel space and value as a musical instrument. To be clear, I like larger panels, but copying the late seventies in a world of surface mount is every bit as silly to me as this Teenage Engineering stuff.

My god that Superbooth OP-1 video is LOL cringy.

Now, does this sound great?



I'm going to say no, I think it sounds ok. It sounds like what I'd expect from old-tat that was limited in its day due to costs and doesn't need to be so limited today. I would use software before I used this, even if you gave it to me.

Even though I don’t know the OB range beyond SEM clones, I was somewhat surprised that they kept the large format.

After reading their website and how they were contacted to make some builds for a very select number of buyers Im just guessing this is the niche market they see an opening for.

Honestly it’s a strange time for new gear. There’s a slew of entry level hardware at software prices and then there’s releases like these.

Maybe we need to see where the dust settles

[digitalboytn]

Just wait for the Behringer version

[martiu]

just buy, buy now

[AnX]

What is it?

[m-ac]

I want one.

[pekbro]

I'd like to have one, but it's pretty unlikely that I would buy it, considering I could never bring myself to buy the previous version for quite a bit less. I have been surprised at the numbers of folks that are already ordering them seemingly (at MW and whatnot), even the little mixer as well. I guess if my pockets were as deep as theirs, I might do the same, excluding the mixer, which I would have no interest in.

[Constructed Identity]

I could be wrong, but I honestly think TE have totally misjudged the market with the pricing of these new field devices, unless of course the point is to sell less but at a higher margin...a lot has changed since the OP-1 was launched in terms of choice.

Any fully digital synth can be run on an iPhone or iPad (the power in the M1 iPads is insane). If you want analogue, there is only one route and its hardware, if you want emulation and digital you can have an entire studio with apps that are far better than the little fun synths in the OP-1...TE have just relaunched a 10 year old product that was novel at the time with a few tweaks at double the cost.

The more interesting proposition for example is the 'mass produced' hand held computer from STEAM that is sub £500, very powerful, big screen and can apparently run Bitwig and VCV Rack which would be hard to beat as a portable set up!

https://www.musicradar.com/news/valve-s ... ack-plugin

That's exactly right. They know they will sell less, so charge more.
Their market isn't people like me, it is people with brand new Power Macs making six figures on 'content creation' with a million followers.

[digitalboytn]

Q : How do you make a million dollars in the music industry ?
A : Start with two million dollars

[SLiC]

Wow- TE just added velocity sensitivity to the OP-1 Field!! I don't have one so I can't comment on how good it is but that unexpected! If they just add a midi sequencer like the OP-Z I am back in!

Blurb...

Velocity has three settings - off, soft and hard. to access these settings, hold shift and press tempo. using physical touch, generally the harder you play, the louder the sound. and vice versa - the softer you play, the more gentle the sound will be. this basically means the volume of the sound will respond to how hard you play the keys. the benefit of the off setting is that you can be sure to get the maximum volume from a sound, even with soft playing. the result will always be evenly loud, which can be desired in some situations.
velocity sensitivity also works with internal sequencers, as well as over external midi, improving the experience when using OP–1  as the main controller for other devices, including your computer.
other additions in this update include:

the ability to adjust tape speed to external clock - if OP–1  is in midi sync mode and midi clock in is enabled, the tape speed will automatically match incoming external clock.
a mono / stereo setting for line in - use ochre to toggle while on the input screen with line in connected.
pre tape panning - adjust with shift and orange while on the tape screen.
syncing fm transmit frequency with OB–4 - when using the fm transmitter, your OB–4 can be automatically synced to match the optimal transmit frequency.

[SLiC]

https://teenage.engineering/now#velocity

[kritikon]

Manbun music tech. Or dreadlocks tied up in a bun. Or a Chelsea bun tied up in the dreadlocks.