OP-1 field

Can’t believe that with this new OP-1F and the massive cost of it, that you still can’t sequence more than one sound…

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Want to sequence more than one sound? Get an OPZ.

That’s one of the things that made perfect sense to me as soon as I started using the original - it’s all centered around the tape model and committing sections to a recording. It’s a really smart design move that provides a huge amount of the device’s ‘character’. It’s one of the few aspects I’d have considered locked in for any revision.

Typing that (for some reason) I’ve realised what’s really missing here (for me) is an equivalent to the performance FX on the OP-Z and POs. I assume the Tape Tricks are still there, but something like the PO-33’s effects that you could perform over a sequence and record to tape would be a great addition. It wouldn’t swing me towards a purchase, but I’d feel happier for everyone who did buy one.

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@NickD beat me to it with his reply. Being able to sequence more sounds simultaneously wouldn’t really add any substantial benefits to the whole workflow of the op-1 based around the tape. Maybe if you want to sequence it externally via midi it would be kind of useful but there you would be missing exactly what make the op-1 so special (to me at least).
It’s a bit like asking why the analog heat doesn’t have 37 weighted piano keys at its price point. They just wouldn’t add anything useful to its workflow.

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Really? If the OP-1 could sequence multiple synth and drum tracks at once it wouldn’t be an improvement???

Having more tracks would have been great though…imagine hooking up the TX-6 and recording 6 stereo sources to 6 tape tracks at the same time!

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If you want to use it like any other synth or drum machine with multiple tracks, sure, that might be an improvement to you then. But there are other devices that do this kind of sequencer workflow way better, such as the elektrons or the abovementioned op-z. None of those devices works like the op-1, though. So I’d say, for me it would not be an improvement as I would never use this functionality on the op-1.

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Yeah, I agree, that would be pretty cool.

I do wish it had a straight up sequencer you could live-record into. I don’t find the experimental sequencers useful for much at all–not to say I don’t like them, they’re just not for me.

I end up connecting an OP-Z and using that, but it kind of defeats the point of a single box.

Have you used the OP-1 a lot? I find that overdubbing the tape one instrument at a time is one of it’s most powerful features. You are focused at one thing at a time, adding and building your loop/track in many small iterations. Also, when recording live without any of its sequencers you can easily capture happy accidents and feeling. All depends on what workflow you prefer, a lot of options available nowadays.

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I had my OP-1 for many years (longer than mist gadgets I own!) and the tape thing was fun, new and pretty unique…after a while though I really missed having a regular step sequencer ‘as well’, you know, 4 tape tracks, 4 midi type tracks (just put the OP-Z step sequencer in it!)

I’m still tripped out about the encoder colors. Maybe it’s fine in practice but they’re very similar.

@MichaalHell
Can you send audio and midi from the op-z to op-1 via usb. Wouldn’t that essentially let you sequence a bunch of tracks at once?

The tape on the reels seem to progress according to the the timeline, are they “working” tape reels now? That would be such a cool touch :smiley:

Also, the effect on high frequency stuff using Disk Mini sound amazing!

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No, I’d say not. There are scores of devices that can do that much better at a much lower price, and this new device bascially wouldn’t be an OP-1. You wouldn’t really need the tape, and it would change how you interact with the device and what you get out of it in return.

I do realise that combined with the price, this kind of talk is at least on the outskirts of Pseud’s Corner, and I’ve got no plans to buy a Field unless something very magical happens in my life like an unknown rich aunt being hit by a bus. But the OP-1 is a classic because of its workflow design, not because of the sounds it can make or its deep sampling potential. That’s a balance it’d be foolish to disturb, I think.

Having said that, I do think it’s a very conservative update - I’d have expected more new sequencers, synths and effects (I don’t think a couple of post-tape, pre-album send & return effects would be ‘cheating’). But I guess ‘update’ is the keyword here - it’s not an OP-2, it’s more like a firmware update for the original that requires some hardware changes. Although I’m not splashing out, I hope it sells well and enables TE to release a load of new PO-style devices.

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Nikon/Canon make their cameras waterproof in the Professional range. Ive been asking for years now for waterproof electronic equipment, but if this is genuinely a field device then it must be waterproof. How it would be implemented maybe the same way that cameras do. I have to accept its not as im waiting for it to arrive, but being Professional minded it would be cool.

I think if TE went down that path they’d go all-in, just so they could have a photoshoot with somebody playing the OP-1 in scuba gear.

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They would make great surf boards in wicked colours :slight_smile:

Yeah I dig the tape and I get that the tape is the heart of the OP-1. I just want lo-fi tape looping and multiple instrument sequencing all at once :grin:. Not that I’m ever gonna spend this much on an instrument!

Given that the OP-1f is an update to the OP-1 and costs 2k now I also would have expected substantially more such as 8 tracks, Master FX with sends per track, unlimited tapes, full-fledged synth sampler, new instruments incl. quality VA/FM/Wavetable/Granular synths, new FX incl. quality Reverb/Delay/Chorus/Compressor/Limiter/EQ. Stereo path with 32 bit, 8 tapes, new synth and new reverb are nice but more like the bare minimum to call this now a tool for both fun/on-the-go music creation as well as serious studio use.

Nonetheless, it‘s still unique on the market so unfortunately no one is forcing TE‘s hand! I‘ll likely still get one to use as a mini-DAW together with my iPhone (for quality synths/FX) and guitar headphone amp (for sampling).

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