New Teenage Engineering products

OP-Z

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huh, interesting. Iā€™ve read up on it a little and perhaps a happy medium between the two might be ideal, ie. not keeping it charging constantly but also not letting it discharge completely.
(edit: keeping it charging while in use isnā€™t really an option imo)
Either way, 16 hours of battery time is pretty amazing, and even if it decreases to half that in 6 months Iā€™ll be happy. Shit, even my gameboy micros running nanoloop only last about 5 hours max.

Z-transformation?

[quote="ā€œpseloduxā€"]

huh, interesting. Iā€™ve read up on it a little and perhaps a happy medium between the two might be ideal, ie. not keeping it charging constantly but also not letting it discharge completely.
(edit: keeping it charging while in use isnā€™t really an option imo)
Either way, 16 hours of battery time is pretty amazing, and even if it decreases to half that in 6 months Iā€™ll be happy. Shit, even my gameboy micros running nanoloop only last about 5 hours max.[/quote]

well, with respect the OP-1ā€¦for home use, charging in use should be doable. get a really long cable if needs be. for portable use, what I was considering was powering it with one of those micro-usb power packs that are pretty common/cheap right now. not quite as sexy but not a PITA either and if it protects my 900 euro investment Iā€™m all for it.

thatā€™s something that Iā€™ve considered if the battery ever becomes unusable. It wouldnā€™t be too cumbersome if it were physically attached to the back with velcro or adhesiveā€¦

perhaps you donā€™t ā€˜getā€™ what Iā€™m saying, my misgivings arenā€™t with feature set. theyā€™re with well documented build quality issues. if youā€™re ok with build quality ranging from so-so to significant, frequently documented problems for a premium price, then thatā€™s ok too ā€¦ but I just want to make sure weā€™re on the same page here.[/quote]
BloopityDoopity Iā€™ve got a second-hand OP-1 for 18 months now, and all I can say is that the build quality of it is impressive. The battery still last something like 10 hours, and I do test its longevity quite often.

As soon as I leave the OP-1 on my desk, my son sneak and play with it while Iā€™m out, usually brutalize the encoders. Yet I havenā€™t noticed any problem so far on this side (or any other for that matter).
My son even let it fall on the floor from his 1m-high handā€¦ I shout very loud, and the OP-1 shows a little scratch, but here again, no trouble with anything, it still works like a charm.

Some people lately encountered problems with the display of a recently acquired OP-1, but it seemed the package had had some trouble. In one case that I know, some component quality was not as expectedā€¦ In each case the OP-1 was replaced oc.

When someone has some trouble, usually operator-1.com ace community comes up with advises and get it sorted.

The people that built it even put some Easter eggs inside (hw+sw), which shows some level of commitment with what they were building at that timeā€¦

I really feel like the OP-1 is very seriously built to last, and I canā€™t understand why you talk about quality issues on a device you apparently donā€™t own.
I do believe you have no real clue what youā€™re talking about.

and posts like this are the kind of ā€˜cult of personalityā€™ ā€¦ or should I say ā€˜cult of brandā€™ that one comes to expect when trying ti dispassionately discuss a products pros and cons in the presence of those who have ā€˜drunk the kool aideā€™

I donā€™t know how you go about spending 900 euro, but I, and I imagine others like me, tend to do a bit of research first. Particularly user feedback. Have I mis-represented myself ? No. I have represented myself as someone who likes the feature set, wants to buy one, but can not overcome the documented issues with build quality. Have I no right to express this POV ? Is that what you are telling me ? I have not pretended to be an owner, nor have I made my comments in an ambiguous fashion that someone could come away thinking that. My comments are clearly made. And you are entitled to wade in and say ā€˜oh, but I own one and mine is fineā€™ ā€¦as you have done. Do you think it renders my POV moot ? I donā€™t think so ā€¦ I never suggested that I encountered 100% dissatisfaction in build quality when researching the topic. Just that it comes up frequently enough for me to cool my proverbial jets.

As far as the Li-on batery side-topic goes, once again, if you have some reason to believe I ā€˜dont know what Iā€™m talking aboutā€™ - by all means say so. My research on this topic is that fully discharging to preserve battery life is a myth, and that keeping such batteries charged as much as possible is best in the long run. I have invited others not to take my word on this - but to research the topic fully themselves. Again, if you find this POV objectionable I advise you to perhaps drink less of the kool aide.

good day.

ā€œdocumented issues with build qualityā€ Nice. Thats it?

:slight_smile:

Besides that, letā€™s try not to make this thread spin out of control and become a flame war. New stuff at NAMM guys. OP-Z.

I think Dalai was just asking for some clarification on the build quality issues youā€™ve researched. Iā€™ve looked into the OP1 a fair bit and it seems like as long as itā€™s not defective out of the box and you donā€™t mind having a non-replaceable battery, itā€™s good to go for years of abuse.

Tips for extending the lifespan of liion batteries:

  • Donā€™t fully discharge unless you need to reset the battery indicator
  • If youā€™re not going to use the device for a while, the optimal charge level is around 70%. Fully charged and fully discharged are equally bad here.

I wonder what this OP-Z is. Could this be an actual OP-1 successor as well as the rumoured new Pocket Operators?

You have right to express whatever you want.
Sorry if I seemed too passionate. I like this instrument for what it does, even if some things are lacking like stereo recording for instance.
I bought my OP-1 second hand for less than 450ā‚¬ and I have no trouble with the instrument. I do use it quite a lot, even crafted whole tracks with it.
Iā€™m not sure about ā€œcult of brandā€ thing, all I said about TE is that their instrument shows quite some commitment from its builders, both inside hardware and software. Iā€™m not sure Iā€™m a TE fanboy. I like their toys, for sure.
Now about battery there are two things to know :

  1. The battery meter does not systematically totally reset when the battery is fully charged. A way to reset it is to eject the OP-1 from a computer like a USB-key. Anyway, the OP-1 works its 10 hours OK, even if Roxane does not reach the red light.

  2. When the battery of the OP-1 is totally down, it takes a lot of time to charge and come to life again. Itā€™s something about the nature of the battery, I read somewhere on operator-1.com

I havenā€™t read something about build quality flaws on operator-1 (a site that I often visit).

BD I found you were a bit insistant on the poor quality of an instrument I actually know very well, so I felt like I had something to say to this matter.
Now I donā€™t want this thread to burst in flames, so letā€™s keep it cool, alright.

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Looks interesting -

https://www.teenageengineering.com/products/op-z

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No complaints about the build quality of my OP-1, in general. A lot of OP-1 users complaint about noise when the USB cable is plugged into a computer - thatā€™s about it.

One thing you cannot tell from pictures or videos is how surprisingly heavy it is. Ok, not as heavy as a Hammond B3, lol, but the housing is not what it appears to be (plastic) - its a much more robust material.

One of the comments here says next OP-1 update is coming in April. Unlike the Octatrack OS updates. seems like half the OP-1 updates since the initial release have been to add major functionality (new synth engine, new drum engine, new sequencer).

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New PO info online as well. Arcade might be my first PO purchase. Robot sounds like it might overlap. Maybe I need to get both. :joy:

https://www.teenageengineering.com/products/po

VERY interesting. Intriguing button layout.

Hopefully the absence of a large OLED screen will mean it is priced closer to the POs than the OP-1.

just ordered the new 3 ā€¦ i liked the sound demos ā€¦ arcade and robot sounded more interesting than office.

theyr good for sample fodder .

that Z thing looks interesting but its probably a little expensive.

only other thing thats been of interest for me is the volca fm (if its real)ā€¦
and itll be interesting to see how those new software modules open up the aria fx units.

and waiting for new os for elektron boxes.

VERY interesting. Intriguing button layout.

Hopefully the absence of a large OLED screen will mean it is priced closer to the POs than the OP-1.[/quote]
Holy shit! 16 tracks! Video synth!
I think there might be a screen on there, canā€™t imagine that much complexity without it.

HYPE.

OP-Z looks very interesting to me. ā€œVideo synthesisā€?!

Not fussy for the PO pieces to be honest but great to see some more nice and affordable bits of gear

VERY interesting. Intriguing button layout.

Hopefully the absence of a large OLED screen will mean it is priced closer to the POs than the OP-1.[/quote]
Holy shit! 16 tracks! Video synth!
I think there might be a screen on there, canā€™t imagine that much complexity without it.

HYPE.[/quote]
Maybe the video synth means itā€™ll be hooked up to a computer all the time hence the lack of screen? Or am I missing what a video synth is? :joy:

That purpdaddy Arcade is calling my name! Office is a collection of resampled vintage gear, and robot has its own digital synthesis engine from what I hear. Arcade is all about da chip tunes