teenage engineering OP-1 Portable Synthesizer, Sampler, and Controller with Built-In FM Radio and 4-Track Tape Recorder - 10 Year Anniversary

Over time composing, arranging and producing using a DAW has become something of a chore. The OP1 has breathed new life into my songwriting process. It costs nearly $1,000 because it is worth nearly $1,000. Is there ever price limit on creativity? Here are my favorite things about it: - Full end to end music production. Is it a synth, a step-sequencer, a 4-track or a production workstation? It's all of the above! There's very little competition in terms of anything else so complete yet portable at the same time (except for possibly an iPad). - Portability. I can compose and arrange from just about anywhere. So far: on the bus, on the subway, on a plane, in a doctor's waiting room and in a train station concourse. - The synth engines. They produce a great "low-fi" sound, if that is an aesthetic that you like. - Sampling / Line-In capabilities. If the synth engines aren't what you are looking for, you can sample or record from the line-in (or the onboard microphone, but I recommend the line-in option) - Versatility with external hardware/instruments. You can place the OP-1 just about anywhere in the music production cycle depending on your work flow. You can use this as a midi controller, or you can use it for its synth engines sent as an audio signal to an external DAW, or you can use it as your main work station, with external instruments recorded to the 4-track as line-ins for mixdown and mastering on the OP1. - The cow... Many reviews of the OP1 break its features down into individual "modules", and then compare those modules to other products. For example, its synth engines aren't on the level of other good soft synths on the market, its mixing capabilities aren't as good as a full DAW, etc. However, each of these criticisms misses the point of the OP1. It is deliberately designed to have relatively few bells and whistles to get your creative juices flowing and make music, all while being able to fit in your pants pocket! I'm barely scratching the surface of what the OP1 is capable of, and I could go on for several more paragraphs, but I'll end by saying that I have never purchased an instrument that has brought quite as much joy as this one. **** EDIT (September 2018) 6 months after writing this review, I am still having so much fun with my OP1, and its capabilities continue to amaze me. Here are some "hidden" features that allow you to keep as much production / mixing on the OP1 as possible without "giving up" and finishing the tracks on a DAW: - You can use the built-in gyroscope to "wobble" the pitch of the note (similar to a Roli seaboard)- because "wobbling" the note causes the whole OP1 unit to physically move! - You can achieve sidechain compression using an external drum beat as the sidechain signal through the line input - If you pan one tape track all the way L, and another tape track all the way R, by recording identical parts into each and altering the relative volumes between L and R, you can place an instrument anywhere you like within the stereo field. I'm pretty sure i'll discover even more "hidden" features as i continue to use my OP1. *** EDIT (November 2018) I can see a lot of price gouging on Amazon. DO NOT BUY THIS UNIT FOR MORE THAN 900 BUCKS. Wait and they'll come back in stock. P.s. I'm still having **so** much fun with the OP-1. As I write this, the OP-Z has been released, and many people on social media are (1) complaining about the OP-Z's battery life (3 hrs max at the moment) and (2) regretting not buying an OP-1 instead. *** EDIT (December 2018) I take back the disparaging things i said about the OP-Z. I own one now, and it's a joy to play. If anyone is considering the OP-Z instead of the OP-1, i now have the knowledge to distinguish them here (in case you are interested): - The OP-Z is a sequencer, not a 4-track tape recorder. It has fewer synth engines and tweakable synth parameters than the OP-1. - The OP-Z does contain 8 tracks, and many people think this is "better" than the OP-1. However, the truth is that 4 of those tracks are separate percussive elements (kick, snare, cymbal and sfx), 1 of those tracks is a monophonic bass, 1 is a chord track with 4-note polyphony per step, 1 is a lead track with 3-note polyphony per step, and the last one is an "arpeggiator" track, which is highly annoying and a bit useless. With the OP-1, you can layer an infinite amount of polyphony onto any track you desire, the OP-Z is definitely much more limited in what you can do (even though it has more "tracks" on the surface) - The OP-Z is definitely a lot more portable than the OP-1. Don't get me wrong-- the OP-1 is highly portable, but the OP-Z just blows it out of the water with how tiny it is - The OP-Z does not contain a sampler, or a line-in, limiting its role as a "full production work station". - The OP-Z does not allow you to export the finished songs as a .wav file. In conclusion -- if you're looking for an all-in-one portable workstation, the OP-1 is your best bet. Furthermore, I believe that the OP-1 will hold up far better over time as a unique instrument. The OP-Z is great, but it's a portable groove box that you're unlikely to actually finish a track on. *** EDIT (September 2019) The OP-Z now has line-in and microphone sampling capabilities in the latest firmware. *** EDIT (February 2020) Teenage Engineering appears to be committed to updating the firmware for the OP-1, which is great for a decade-old product. The latest firmware allows the user to further slice up the tape track into half-measures, quarter-measures and even finer slices, making it easier to execute the sequencer in smaller increments to keep your tracks tight. In addition, in an earlier post i advised potential buyers not to spend more than $900 on an OP-1. However, this is now outdated advice, as the price of new first-hand OP-1 units has increased to $1,300 (presumably due to production costs going up as a result of now-obsolete parts being replaced.) So, would I have spent $1,300 dollars 2 years ago for an OP-1, without the knowledge and experience of the unit that I now have? Perhaps not. But with the benefit of hindsight, I would spend another $1,300 on an OP-1 in a heartbeat if for any reason my unit breaks. With that in mind, please please protect your OP-1 if you have one already. I'd get a decksaver and an official OP-1 case, and use both at all times when not using the unit. In addition, if you are comfortable with electronics, buy replacement parts on iFixit- you never know when you might need them!

An amazing portable synth, drum machine, production tool. The OP-1 can be one thing or many things depending on how you use it. To me it's an instrument unto itself. There's a lot of features and it takes some time to learn to use it effectively for recording or live performance but it's definitely worth the effort. As a synth it's great. A great variety of synth engines that are very customizable. You can sample your own sounds to create your own unique patches or use the stock engines to create new sounds. The drum machine is as nice as the synth. You get a lot of nice stock patches that can be customized and it's very easy to sample sounds to create your own drum patches. I personally love taking spoken word stuff and chopping it up using the drum sampler. Recording is intuitive and easy. The hardest part is playing in time. It's just a very unique machine. I've used it as a complete recording tool to record entire songs and as an external instrument. You can also use it as a MIDI controller if you like. This thing doesn't try to sound analog. It sounds the way it sounds and it's not trying to be something it isn't. It has its own unique sound that is going to be recognizable if you just use the stock patches but it's so easy to customize the sounds that you can fit it into just about any genre of sound and it would be hard for someone to say "oh yeah, that's an OP-1". I write and record mostly guitar driven music but have been incorporating the OP-1 into my songs lately. It's really given things a different feel and texture. It's expensive and when I bought it I immediately thought about returning it the next day because of the price tag but once I started playing with it I fell in love. It's a very inspiring tool. I had written a new song within an hour of playing it for the first time. To me the sampling feature is the most addictive. I also love the different sequencers for both drums and synth. If you have the means this is a full DAW, MIDI controller, synth, and drum machine that is incredibly portable. It's actually quite a bit heavier than it looks and feels very solid and well made. The keys took me a bit to get used to. It feels weird to play keys on what are essentially Mac style computer keyboard keys with a scissor mechanism but now I really like it. The keyboard itself if kind of small but it makes it easier to play some things and doesn't really make things difficult. You could send MIDI over USB to the unit if you want to use an external keyboard but that's not really common and I personally wouldn't bother. Anyway, there's so much to say about this thing but the bottom line is that I love this thing.

What a wonderful creation. It's a synthesizer, a drum machine, and a digital audio workstation all-in-one. It's the perfect device for quickly sketching out musical ideas when inspiration strikes or for spending an evening crafting that idea into a full-fledged track. Every time I power it on I get carried away prodding its keys while the hours slip by. I find myself reaching for it when I'm bored because I know that even if I'm not feeling creative I can still find entertainment among the unique and otherworldly sounds this device can produce. Now I know it's easy to be apprehensive about the OP-1 thanks to its luxury price tag. Here are a few considerations that might help if you're on the fence about spending one-month's worth of rent on what looks like a toy: Do you play an instrument? Is it the piano? Do you know your way around a drum set? Do you understand music theory? Have you used DAW software before? Are you familiar with different types of electronic synthesis? Do you understand how frequencies work in regard to mixing a track? Do you have a good ear for that sort of thing? Are you patient? I don't mean to sound elitist, but the OP-1 definitely has a steep learning curve and having foundations in music, *especially* in electronic music production, will greatly increase your enjoyment with the OP-1. Of course, you can disregard what I've said and the OP-1 will be a fun little noisemaker for you, but the more times you answered "yes" to those questions, the more likely you are to get your money's worth out of the OP-1. I'm by no means a professional producer; I'm a hobbyist at best. I don't sit down and expect to craft the next chart-topper, I create music for myself because it's fun, and that's the mindset you need to approach the OP-1 with. It's easy to fall in love with the OP-1 after watching virtuoso users like Cuckoo and Red Means Recording create masterpieces on YouTube, but in reality it is a lot harder than it looks. The OP-1 is an intentionally limited device, opting to use a tape recorder with only four tracks that emulates the analog days of yore instead of modern pattern-based composition. There is no undo function with tape. It also lacks a lot of the visual aids found in modern DAW software, requiring you to use your ears instead of your eyes to find out what a sound is doing. This may sound like a drawback, but Teenage Engineering's vision of "finding inspiration in limitation" often leads to happy accidents that reveal new ways of working with a sound, and this is what the OP-1 does best. It's important to leave your expectations at the proverbial door if you decide to invest in an OP-1. A good portion of your time at the beginning will be spent haphazardly pushing buttons and twisting knobs, exploring the convoluted interface of this Swedish monstrosity. The first sounds and tracks you create will not sound good, I can guarantee that. But once you get the hang of the workflow, once everything "clicks", you might find yourself intoxicated by the endless possibilities hidden within the OP-1.

Only on day 1, but this thing is awesome. I had to run a firmware update, which went super smooth - the main catch is you have to get the manual from the developer's web site. There is literally no book or instructions other than an overlay vinyl cheat sheet with the device. On their site they only show you one topic at a time with no way to print the entire manual - luckily there is a support forum where a user has done just that - was able to print out the 46 page manual which is actually very very detailed and well written. This thing is overwhelming at first, but once you understand the buttons/layout and potential functionality it starts to make sense! Very sturdy as others have mentioned (it's like a block of metal) and the screen is super sharp. I wouldn't do anything using the built in speaker - you really need headphones or some real speakers to output to... but in a pinch it's better than nothing! One Item I'm not too confident in is the ability to charge - mine looked like it was charging (buildup of green lights topped with a red) - i got a little excited and went and turned it on to try it out once it had a little charge - now the lights flash once, then never go into their charging animation. When I press the help button it only lights up one light (supposed to light them all up for a full charge). Anyway - if you look through their forums there are a ton of charging/battery related issues. It may be that the charge is full but the display won't share that information.. no idea where the issue is. Not a huge deal yet but for something this $$ you'd think something like battery charging would be a non-issue. The only real lack of usability I feel is with the knobs - if you don't spin them fast enough on the menu screens they won't start to scrub through the options, so i feel like I'm having to flail around a bit to get the functionality to catch and start responding (I wouldn't call it lag, it's just the way they set up the hardware talking to the software that's a bit funky.)

I have to state the obvious... This is very expensive. It looks like a toy, but has the price of a large synth. You could buy a ms-20 mini and a minilouge for this price. However, I absolutely LOVE this thing. The only synths I have are 2 volcas, and I wanted to try something more premium, but I couldn't decide on a sampler or a polyphonic synth. I also don't use any DAW yet. So I took a gamble and bought this device, half way expecting to return it. I never expected to love this this much. When you hold it, you instantly know this isn't a toy. This feels like a professional tool, making the Volcas feel like plastic toys. The OP-1 has the weight of an advanced piece of hardware, but it lets you have fun using it! Instantly you will have fun with this. Getting the hang of the menus may take a few tries, but you will always be making fun creative sounds the whole time. It really is like a sketchbook, where you may open it not knowing what you want to do, but by the time you close it you had made something wonderful, and had a ton of fun doing it too! You can watch the countless videos on YouTube (check out Cuckcoo on YouTube) to hear the sounds and see how it works. As someone who plays music as a hobby with no intentions on being a musician, this device will make you rethink that. Imagine how you felt when you played Rock Band on Xbox, but you are creating the music from scratch. Again, it's expensive, but you'll get your money's worth in the first week!

It is a fun device. There is much discussion on wether or not this is 'just a toy.' I would argue that it is toylike in most ways, but this is OK. It has attachments for lego parts, for goodness sake. The world is full of nice but impractical and expensive toys-Ducati's for example. If you want one, then you probably will get one, and will not be disappointed. It can be frustrating if you are used to using DAW or traditional hardware synth/sequencers. Much of what you will want to do can not be easily done. This seems to be intentional, part of the 'limitation spurs creativity' thinking. If you want to sequence something and you find yourself looking at a screen of 2 drum playing monkeys, or if you see a cow when you want to filter something, you might be frustrated. The manual seems intentionally vague. I suspect they want the user to playfully experiment with random dial twisting. Does this mean that the product is aimed people without experience in synthesizers? Maybe, and that group will probably like the interface. At times it can drive you nuts if you want to do something specific. From an engineering perspective, it is inscrutable. I had to attach it to an oscilloscope to see what was happening, and for several of the instruments, I am still not sure. From other internet reviews I can not see that anyone has cracked exactly what engineering is going on under the hood. Ultimately this is not a device for polished productions. I doubt that many will make a living producing with this device. Still it is rather nice, and I like it. I will keep it. It is sitting on my coffee table next to my VL-tone, and I play with it quite a bit. I just had to get over the fact that this is quite the opposite of an infinitely tweak-able, and engineering friendly device. For that we have our DAW's.

Fantastic little machine; it won't wash the dishes for you but if you have some understanding of how music works you can create some nice little ditties. Perfect for my purposes--to get the creative juices going again. Not everything is going to be a Grammy winner, but "everything" can be done quickly. It's fun, easy to get the hang of, and well designed. Unit is much more solid than it looks--it is heavy. It is built like a tank. Within seconds after turning it on, you're ready to roll. I just start looking for sounds, tweaking them, and then playing patterns here and there. Something will catch my ear, and I'll decide to lay it down--whether drums, bass, synth, or other (sample). You can also record vocals on the condenser mic! I wouldn't consider this unit as a full-fledged recording studio, as it is much too limited for that.But you can definitely generate and develop ideas on it for full songs... and import them into a DAW as easy as copying the source tracks (four of them, in .aif format) to beat #1 in the DAW.

Incredible instrument that will bring countless years of productivity and joy to your music life. Well worth investing in!

This is without doubt the most creative, fun and flexible instrument I've ever owned and an absolute delight to explore and play. It is so robust but portable, so effortless to explore and so, so wonderfully simple to generate interesting sounds, melodies and songs with. My biggest problem is not having enough time to just sit down and enjoy it regularly! The capabilities of this machine (particularly relative to its size) are pretty mind blowing and make it worth the money. Nothing is as portable and comprehensively featured as this. Although it has limitations, they can be used to focus your efforts on particular areas and really hone your craft, forcing you to work in particular fashion but developing ideas effortlessly and rapidly - something many DAWs lack. If you have done your research and think an OP1 might be of interest to you I would very strongly recommend saving up or taking the hit and plopping down the cash. It is a seriously fantastic bit of kit, enhanced by the recent (Nov 2016) update that adds a new synth, arpeggiator, presets and bug fixes. It may be several years old but it remains unique, powerful and highly sought-after. The OP1 will always hold a special place in my heart and my collection of instruments and gadgets. It is utterly unique but highly practical and useable. It is expensive but it is very powerful and hugely entertaining. For reference I also own a Novation Circuit, Volca Kick, Keystep, Korg Monotron Delay and plan on getting a Waldorf Blofeld and Elektron Octatrack very soon. I kept a very close eye on the Amazon price and bought it when it dropped pretty low. I would strongly recommend only buying from Amazon or proven reputable 3rd parties as I've heard of people being burned by dodgy sellers - likely scammers.

El aparato esta Increíble, creatividad ilimitada y miles de sonidos y posibilidades para crear lo que se te ocurra. Super.

Lo que más me ha gustado es que tiene muchas funciones en poco tamaño.Es muy compacto y tiene un chasis metálico muy robusto.Lo que menos es que es un poco caro.

Zugegeben war ich anfangs ein wenig entsetzt: -keine "richtige" Klaviatur -keine Anleitung dabei -die wichtigsten Tasten/Knöpfe waren mit einer aufgelegten Folie beschrieben -die Anzeigen im Display erinnern etwas an die 1. Gameboyvariante -es lagen doch tatsächlich 2 Gummibänder dabei,mit denen man das Styroporcase zumachen kann ...und das alles für schlappe unter 1000 Euro! Jetzt das große ABER: Das Ding ist absolut wertig verarbeitet,klein und für den kreativen Kopf von unschätzbarem Wert! Es macht unheimlich Spaß,immer wieder neue Funktionen zu entdecken und hat man sich erstmal ein wenig in Sampler&Co eingearbeitet sprudelt es eigentlich nur so von Ideen und "was-passiert-wenn-ich-hier drücke"-Ereignissen und man kann sich kaum mehr von der Kiste lösen.Man ist dauernd am Experimentieren und aus dem ganzen vermeintlichen Chaos kommen später die wahnsinnigsten Sachen zustande!Als Tip sei hier auf die vielen Videoportale hingewiesen. Fazit:Wer ein Jukeboxmusiker ist und nur nach Noten spielt,wird hiermit wohl nicht glücklich.Wer jedoch selber vorzugsweise elektronische Musik macht und evtl. seinen Gerätepark etwas erweitern und aufhübschen möchte,ist hier goldrichtig!

A distanza di 10 anni dalla sua uscita è ancora un prodotto incredibilmente completo... vale assolutamente ogni euro speso e il divertimento è assicurato