Hey guys,
I really want a portable machine I can use to compose on the bus/train/park ect… I’m drawn to the Op-1, any owners that can share their experiences with it.
What about the synthstrom Deluge?
Thanks 
1 Like
I had an OP-1. Its extreme fun. It may not be to everyones liking but you can spend lost hours composing from nothing but one sample to a virtual tape machine throught its emulators like spring and pulse etc. Its addictive. Its pretty. Great lcd. Huge following on youtube. Gee i want it back!
2 Likes
I recently got an op-1 and haven’t touched my other gear since 
1 Like
Both would work well for the intended purpose. OP-1 more immediate, less flexible, more lo-fi. Deluge much much deeper, takes time to learn button combos (cheatsheet is not always practical out and about), available new with warranty.
The tape is kind of crap. No undo. Once you record with one sound, you can not change it. If you come from Elektron, you will find the OP-1 a much more limited device. It’s sounds great though, and yes, you can sketch easily and quick, but most of the time it just sounds like that, a sketch. The quality in the OP-1 is not the better also, i have one and the keyboard started failing in less than a year. I had to bought a replacement one, because the support they offer is probably the worst in the market right now. So be prepared to take care of it for yourself, and try to find pieces in ifixit.com. To be fare, they made it extremely easy for one to change parts. I don’t have a Deluge. Looks nice. From some videos i’ve seen i get this feeling that is still a prototype? It’s really ambitious. The other thing is that i haven’t heard really GOOD songs made with it. Maybe is too soon? But when you type Digitakt in youtube… damn! Lot’s of really good stuff.
2 Likes
Haven’t tried the Deluge. But from what I’ve seen and heard it’s an amazing piece of gear.
I do own the Op-1, though. And for me that piece of gear is a big factor in how I’ve changed my view on creativity. And it’s the one that made me seriously interested in the “synth/drum machine world” (I come from a guitar/band/singer-songwriter-background). It’s design makes it very easy to create things from scratch. And when you want to go deep, you can go deep. There’s so much you can do with it - just look on YouTube - sampling, hip-hop beats, ambient, electronic etc. If you want you can record whole songs on the device itself - or if you prefer to dig in a bit more, you just transfer it over to your daw (that’s what I usually do, when I decide to really work on a song). I would recommend it to anybody who’s a musician and who writes their own stuff or who just likes being creative. (I only own the Digitakt when it comes to Elektron gear, but it’s a great companion to the Op-1)
The downside might be the price for some people. But for me - in hindsight - it was worth it.
And of course you sometimes gets frustrated by its limitations - 6 minute per track can be one of them.
And, as stated above, their customer service seems to be the worst. I’ve read about a lot of people trying to get in touch with Teenage Engineering to get their unit replaced or fixed and who sometimes never even get a response. Well worth taking into consideration.
Good luck!
2 Likes
Love the OP-1 - not had any quality issues with it. Edit and undo shortcomings are easily overcome by a little extra copying of takes and bouncing. Furthermore i’ve grown to enjoy the sheer danger of unquantised recording and overdubbing with no chance of postedit.
Besides being a great all-in-one device functionality wise (midi controller, multi track field recorder, sequencer, synth, sampler)
it’s extremely good portability and battery makes it my number one on-the-go device.
Most of my initial creativity is sketching 4 to 16 bars - full onward production goes to a DAW (I very rarely get that far).
I’d happily fiddle with an op-1 on a long flight; taking out a Deluge might be just that bit too attention seeking.
3 Likes
As prolific I was with and as much as I loved the OP-1, I get a lot farther, sonically, with Digitone and a battery pack.
OP-1 has some limitations to it that make it more ideal for being a lone road wolf than anything else. It doesn’t interface as well with other gear, and the tape can be fiddly for many but when it’s all you have it gets the job done.
A Digitone and a portable 12v Battery Pack is a great combo and worth consideration.
Like OP-1, it is also 4 tracks, and costs about the same, but you’ve got a lot more to do in the way of just jamming on it, copying and pasting patterns, chaining them, tweaking and hearing those tweaks without “recording”, and so on.
Like OP-1, it has a few “modes” of synthesis. Additive, subtractive, FM, it’s all there.
The reverb is much better on the Digitone as well.
Can do drums, bass, lead, pads, etc.
Sadly, no FM radio but we can’t have it all.
5 Likes
The Digitone might be my next purchase - for the reasons you’re posting. Did a whole album with just the Op-1 (plus a Minitaur and some other stuff) and it can be a bit tricky to get the overall sound to gel with that much Op-1 going on. How is the ‘grittiness’ when it comes to the Digitone? Many of the sounds I’ve been hearing on YouTube are a bit too clean for my personal taste.
wonderful. the master overdrive and track overdrive are different, so there is a broad range of tones available with the combination of both. And the harmonic (additive) parameter gives it a load of range before even hitting those overdrives.
All sounds digitone here.
1 Like
Yep. I like that. Bet it sound good together with all that whiskey
I’ll keep on investigating. Thanks for answering!
1 Like
Op-1 is the only piece of gear I’ve ever had, that I oscillate between wanting to get rid, to wanting to keep it in my life forever.
Love the tape paradigm
Hate the limited saving of stuff (Two sides to an album, no real file management without external kit or a computer)
Love the interface
Hate feeling the synths aren’t that deep
Love the sampling
Hate the cramped knobs
Love the portability (battery life is fantastic)
Hate the noise of the usb
Love I can sketch something that will turn into a track within just a few minutes
Hate that it takes me an age to get a ‘perfect loop’ (although this is more down to me
Love the quirkiness
Hate the quirkiness
Flip flop 
Flip flop
9 Likes
That’s a great point man ! I didn’t think about that ! how much time would you say the battery like this one can last with the Digitone ?
That’s I think the main thing I got from Op-1 owners, this love/hate relationship with it. I feel like that’s a good thing though, it means it has character as an instrument !
I’ve noticed that too, everything coming out of the Deluge for now seems a bit flat…
1 Like
It’s both a Fischer-Price toy and a classical musical instrument
2 Likes
I have the higher model that has a little more capacity and I get 18 hours out of it. So the battery I linked should last 10+ hours with Digitone.
1 Like
That’s awesome man thanks, now I have to decide if I want a portable Digitakt, Tone or A4 MKI
The Monomachine is out? Or already acquired?
In the process of being acquired
1 Like