tedmanzie Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 I wondered if anyone here has owned or played one of these? https://www.teenageengineering.com/products/op-1 They are expensive and seem to attract a love it or hate it reaction! Looks very interesting I thought. Quote
BigRedX Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 Like any synth this unit will live or die by its sounds and the user friendliness of the interface. Unfortunately no matter how good it is I can't help thinking of the Casio VL-Tone when I look at it... Quote
Zenitram Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 I think they must have been aware of the VL when they designed it. They clearly have a sense of humour; it's in their name. I'd love to have a play on one. My recent acquisitions: Microbrute Streichfett Volca Keys Quote
Zenitram Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 And according to the Wikipedia page, "CEO Kouthoofd has stated that "limitations are OP-1’s biggest feature". The synthesizer's designers attempted to use the limitation of physical hardware to encourage the unit to stimulate creativity, which might become unfocused in a limitless environment". I've always thought of the OP-1 as being very feature rich, funnily enough, although I suppose that comes with a silent "given the size of the thing", which rather proves their point. Or mine. Or something. Quote
BigRedX Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 I think the problem with it looking like the VL-Tone is that you expect it to have a similar sort of price... Liking the look of the Volca range. Also for something completely left field, I'm looking at getting something from [url=http://bleeplabs.com/store/]Bleep Labs[/url]. Quote
tedmanzie Posted March 16, 2015 Author Posted March 16, 2015 [quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1426506161' post='2718532'] Like any synth this unit will live or die by its sounds and the user friendliness of the interface. Unfortunately no matter how good it is I can't help thinking of the Casio VL-Tone when I look at it... [/quote] Me too. But apparently it is milled from solid aluminium and built like a tank. Check out some of the videos, it's a really interesting/original piece of hardware/softwareI think, but not sure I can justify around £600 on it.. If it was £300 I would go for it. https://youtu.be/E7GEzeir2wE Quote
tedmanzie Posted March 16, 2015 Author Posted March 16, 2015 [quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1426507074' post='2718544'] I think the problem with it looking like the VL-Tone is that you expect it to have a similar sort of price... Liking the look of the Volca range. Also for something completely left field, I'm looking at getting something from [url="http://bleeplabs.com/store/"]Bleep Labs[/url]. [/quote] I bought the Volca sample - it's definitely fun but getting samples into it is a bit of a faff (iphone app). It has very limited pattern storage too. Having had a couple of months I'm left a bit frustrated with it - I would prefer a slightly more featured version for a bit more money. It's in the toy bracket (actually feels like a toy) but then again it was £99 and it could be fun for a couple of tracks. Bleep things look fun, have you seen the small/fun Teenage Engineering devices, they are about £39 eg. https://www.teenageengineering.com/products/po Quote
Zenitram Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 If you're looking for a fun sampler, the Korg MicroSampler is a fantastic and fantastic-sounding bit of kit, really intuitive, quick to get samples in and playing around, pattern sequencer, effects from the Kaoss series, some very clever thinking went into it. Quote
tedmanzie Posted March 16, 2015 Author Posted March 16, 2015 [quote name='Zenitram' timestamp='1426510635' post='2718593'] If you're looking for a fun sampler, the Korg MicroSampler is a fantastic and fantastic-sounding bit of kit, really intuitive, quick to get samples in and playing around, pattern sequencer, effects from the Kaoss series, some very clever thinking went into it. [/quote] Thanks I'll definitely read up on that. Very much looking for something with tweakability of samples - you have one I take it? Quote
xgsjx Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 One of my friends has an OP-1. Fantastic bit of kit & it does sound the biz too. Quote
BigRedX Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 [quote name='tedmanzie' timestamp='1426510213' post='2718587'] Bleep things look fun, have you seen the small/fun Teenage Engineering devices, they are about £39 eg. [url="https://www.teenageengineering.com/products/po"]https://www.teenagee...com/products/po[/url] [/quote] I started [url=http://basschat.co.uk/topic/254374-pocket-synths/]this thread[/url] about them when they were first announced but few people here seemed to be interested... Quote
edstraker123 Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 I got Dawsons to demo it for me and concluded it should cost £100 tops. The sales assistant seemed quite embarassed by the price. Quote
tedmanzie Posted March 16, 2015 Author Posted March 16, 2015 £650 seems high I'm not sure anyone could ever make it for £100, not even Hasbro! I've read loads of reviews over the weekend going back several years, and I would estimate of people that have owned one 75% seem to absolutely love it, 15% liked it but moved it on, maybe just 10% thought it was no good. It is true there are lots of venomous haters but they haven't owned it and take the stance of overpriced limited toy - which is the opposite of what the most users report. They are going for £500 on ebay so there must be something interesting about them. To me it seems overly limited but I'd still like to get my hands on one Quote
BigRedX Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 Having skimmed through the manual, I think it's definitely a synth you need to try before you buy it. But then again I can hardly talk. I spent £600 on a 1st generation Tenori-On on the basis of a 5 minute demo at a music show! Quote
tedmanzie Posted March 16, 2015 Author Posted March 16, 2015 [quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1426542768' post='2719235'] Having skimmed through the manual, I think it's definitely a synth you need to try before you buy it. But then again I can hardly talk. I spent £600 on a 1st generation Tenori-On on the basis of a 5 minute demo at a music show! [/quote] Quote
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