Taking their CEOs word as correct it shouldn’t come as a big surprise. They are after all a design company first. A small design company that also does work for other businesses.
Everything said about them could be true… they’re hipsters they charge too much. We can do more with a smartphone or a computer for music making.
blah de blah
I appreciate anything that looks like thoughtfulness and artistic expression were involved unlike some modern buildings or run of the mill cars that appear to be from the mould.
Some pay more for something that looks like details and materials are important. Then there’s the artistic aspect.
Does the Honda Fireblade give the rider everything they need to ride fast and be dependable. In the main yes. Yet if you want something that looks like you want it in the front room because every part has levels of detail that drip of intent you’ll be wanting MV Agusta F4
Having them around made the electronic music gear world more interesting even if that’s all true on some level - the thing with them being a design company is that they are fulfilling some purpose just by having the gear out there as a statement. I’d never wanna use an OP-1 for my own music but it fascinates me and I’m glad it exists
I saw a panel interview with Tobias and like every single audience question was about the OP-XY price, the crowd showed little interest in the design philosophy, which I felt was a bit sad.
Hello,
i don’t have a sound card so i think about the sidekick ; how is the sound quality ? Compared to a sound card like SSL2. My plan is to rec my Lyra 8 on ableton or VCV and use FX in the box.
Thanks
Is it safe to say the OPXY didn’t sell the way they expected? Based on the discounted offerings and now this, I’m just guessing a little bit of saving face with the announcement.
OPXY is the one that made the most sense to me I still GAS for it, but I get the following for OP1 even if I never gelled with it.
The whole “we’re not making synths anymore” thing really feels like an actor who proclaims that they’re retiring early, only to return to acting relatively quickly.
Could also be that market conditions have made it impossible for them to continue.
They already get so much grief for their pricing (just read any of the comments on this announcement on Reddit or Insta to see a bunch of people being completely normal about them) but in this insane inflationary market (thanks AI) it’s possible this just isn’t a viable business anymore so they’re gonna focus on their consultancy work which is probably more profitable.
I just hope they keep making interesting things for the EP-series. I’m very into the idea of the rumored EP-CD, that would push me over the edge into buying the sidekick mixer to pair it with my KO II
I think on the high-end industrial design music gadget space they are doing cool things as well (really want a TP-7) and that could continue and not be “new synths”
I actually think it’s a pretty good call, as much as i love their products. There is so much variety in synth options nowadays and there is not much that has not been done. Not to mention the power and workflow of software. The world does not actually need more synths.
In a way it’s reassuring that the company , if I’m reading it correctly, felt they designed the best synths they could within their niche.
What i mean by that is , With the xy and op1f for example—any meaningful upgrade in a (hypothetical) next iteration kind of puts them in competition with mpc and such. I don’t think that’s what they intend to do. The point was limitations so releasing a slightly more powerful version makes no sense. Maybe they felt they designed the best portable, playful, useful, unique instruments they could. Then moved onto other things. Which I’m not mad at.
I just hope they continue to support their instruments as long as they can, at least to address the bugs. Then again, it’s only a matter of time until a custom OS comes out
