Hey folks. Needing to pick up a small synth. Currently have a Digitakt and an SP-404. I’m having trouble deciding between the OP-Z and organelle, and wanted elektronaut’s opinion.
They’re quite different, despite both being similarly portable synth devices.
The questions you need to ask yourself are:
What do you want to do?
and
What makes you interested in either of them?
Organelle is an incredibly open environment, where you can literally make it into whatever you want (within DSP/memory restrictions of course), while OP-Z is almost the exact opposite, with proprietary file formats/addons and a very closed, restricted structure.
If you want to be able to create your own sequencers, synth engines, etc, or even just use things like Orac or the massive amount of pd patches out there, get the Organelle.
If you don’t care too much about making your own thing, or enjoy working with limited systems, the OP-Z might be more your kind of thing. It’s not even very limited, compared to say, the pocket operators, and especially with the step components, it’s quite a powerful sequencer, which would outshine Elektron’s sequencers, but given the somewhat unreliable double triggering of buttons that can cause a number of problems with entering a sequence, not to mention the absurdly small storage space for custom samples, I treat everything I make on the OP-Z to be temporary for those two reasons. It’s still great though despite those flaws.
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Teenage engineering haven’t (yet) covered themselves in glory in developing the ecosystem people might have expected for the OP-Z
Though there is a beta out there for sampling it is high time we saw a far smarter App for managing sounds and devices which was the implication
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Yeah they really dropped the watermelon on that one imo.
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I was debating this same thing, but now that the new organelle is out there are tons available used for not much. The op-z looks like it could one day have some neat features right now it’s a bit limited. So I picked up an original organelle to play with. If I like it I can always upgrade.
If it was me I would get the Organelle, but I already plan on getting one.
When it comes to the gear you have, Digitakt & sp404, I would go for the Organelle as well. I hear one of the best features of the Op-z is it’s sequencer, but you have a midi sequencer on your Digitakt. You can use the Digitakt to control the sp404 & Organelle. Can also run the Digitakt & Organelle thru the 404 effects or 404 & Digitakt thru Organelle effects. There are just a lot of options with these 3 pieces of gear & the Organelle can be whatever you want it to be.
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I’m not sure if anyone can follow my thoughts on this, but for me it’s like comparing an iPhone with a Android phone with a custom room.
Where the OP-Z is the iPhone. Well build, well designed and somehow limited in a good way. Reduced to the basics to get instant success without getting lost in settings.
The organelle on the other hand is pretty much the opposite. The only limitations is your imagination, but you have to fiddle around.
The thing I didn’t like about the organelle is, that every patch UI is different . You can do pretty much everything with it, but you have to invest time.
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That’s exactly why I sold mine - wasn’t investing the time and would forget how to use lots of patches or never learn. Also wasn’t a fan of the amount of menu diving with the limited controls for the more in depth patches.
I still prefer the OP-Z to my Organelle - mainly as it is relatively ‘pick-up and go’.
The OrganelleM definitely ups the ante somewhat, but the OP-Z is a fully fledged sequencer synth sample thingie, with a lot of cleverness in the sequencer and sweet, high quality, punchy (though narrow in tweak scope) sonics.
Don’t get me wrong, Organelle is great fun and with some commitment, has a huge amount to offer between PD’s endless potential and Oracs modularity, but each patch to me is a slightly skittish multi-trick pony, rather than a racehorse.
Great OT/DT fodder as a soundsource and fx loop, but still finicky and limited to the soundscape/tone that PD can provide.
Not selling mine, but the sentiment that the Organelle is a limitless, do anything box, is overblowing it a bit. It’s a tinkerer’s paradise, but not a big beefy sound, not a one-stop-shop nor a truly joyful interface.
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best change on OrganelleM is the raspberry pi 3+ heart!
some of you might know about the „ONDA“ which should have been a cheap Organelle Patch player without a screen but with rgb LEDs and a raspberry pi3 at its core!
it’s so much better to use a quad core and 1gb of ram instead of a single core plus 512mb ram!
But as my midi/Organelle Linux Image has grown with the latest updates like real-time puredata use I can‘t wait to get my hands on the raspbi 4 with 4gb of ram!! great great news.
BTW. it’s 55 Bucks!
DM me if you wanna buy such image! 
Totally agree on the pony/horse comment about the organelle. I don’t know if it’s the noise or pd limitations or my own lack of creativity but I have a very hard time using the organelle in a setting other than ‘the track is almost finished, add some silly crap’
My answer is neither of these. The opz is a cool gadget but probably not the answer in this case. It’s strength is as a quirky sequencer and sample player, not a synth. Are you looking for a versatile synth box? Have you ruled out the op-1 or the Zoia?
Op-z has a quality to it that makes even one’s most uninspired lacklustre efforts find a decent sounding groove.
Start messing about in it with a simple, poor idea, and it can develop into something far better.
Even if just as a starter to finish off elsewhere it has a bit of magic to share.
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I’ve owned an OP-1 and loved it, but sold it recently to refinance. Don’t have room in the budget for another one or a Zoia either unfortunately. I’m wondering now if I should just pick up small mono and poly duo, like a Modal Skulpt and Behringer Model D. Thats what I’m leaning towards.
Or if it’s a budget issue, maybe a volca? The FM is pretty robust, you could load some dx7 patches via sysex. OR the Nord micromodular. Terrific sound, very underrated.
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Axoloti is another much cheaper good choice if you’re going down the Organelle path. Decent IDE, VHS cassette box as a case.
Cheap DIY screen like an Organelle for about €10.
Tinkering heaven and decent results.
Integrates well with DT/OT.
Can do reverb, delay, synth, sampling, looping, sequencing … alt-Zoia!
For budget friendly fun, I would also suggest the Volca FM, they pack a lot into a small package here, and it would cover your polyphonic duties. And for an analog synth I would recommend the Korg Monologue. It has a really great sequencer on it, and I dig the sounds I can coax out of it. Also, both of them can be battery powered for portable jams.
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Do the “hands on” element of them appeal to you or do simply want a sound module for use with your other devices?
If you already have an iphone or ipad you could use a huge variety of reasonably priced synth apps and a bluetooth midi adapter (I use the Quicco mi1 with an iPad mini). This might be cheaper if you already have a device, and since both the OP-Z and Organelle require “some” patch management on another machine it might be the same in the end.
Hands on is pretty important. Had a DX7 and Deepmind-12 and did not like either, spent all my time fiddling and not enjoying myself. I like TE and so the OP-Z feels like the right direction atm.
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Update: Pulled the trigger on an organelle for $370 on ebay. The ability to use it as a recorder as well won me over. I’m excited!
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FYI you can bypass the organelle dac and use a usb class compliant soundcard. I use a Sound Devices Mix Pre D, takes it to another level for me
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