sorry you’re right! I was monoing the channel thinking it was stereo DOH! will correct my post. Thanks 
Thanks. Excellent, I’m very grateful you took the time to try this👍
And who could blame her?
1 Like
Sampling comparison audio files! Not sure this will work but give it a try if you are interested in sampling quality (you might not like the song but it’s good for testing purposes I think - Broken Flowers by Danny L Harle - just a 10 second clip! Moderator please note
A - original in mono
B - Digitakt sampled
C - OP1 sampled
ABC - which is one verse each joined together.
Original in stereo for reference.
I have adjusted volumes to match. It’s not super scientific but it was quite fun…
48khz wav. Link here:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wv05euz2cyyitds/AAC4pyuaD4rL6ZiTMSOuh5rCa?dl=0
3 Likes
Thanks for doing this.
I listened to each one several times and could not pick any difference, but for what sounded like a very ever so slightly crunchier tone on the B sample when she sings the word “see”, which is distorted in the original anyway.
And if anyone says I’m wrong, I probably am.
Side note does anyone know the actual sample rate of the OP-1?
From their website:
“…your OP-1 has a built in tape feature with 6 minutes of recording time (in normal tape speed and 44.1 kHz/16 bits)”
2 Likes
Brilliant. Thanks. Certainly no difference relevant to making a great track. I’m very grateful you took the time to post this.
Thanks! not sure how I have never found it… not gonna lie teenage engineering’s website looks great but I hate navigating it and trying to figure stuff out on it, its like a maze of terrible yet beautiful UI. so I guess technically a bit lower quality than the digitakt which is at 24bit 48khz not that I could hear any difference between them in the test that just got posted. I did mean the sample rate that it brought in samples not the internal sample rate… its probably the same though.
The Digitakt is actually 16 bit, not 24 as far as I know. 48khz though.
You are both right. Converters are 24-bit, samples are first normalized and then converted to and stored as 16-bit.
2 Likes
Hmm does that mean that the internal engine is still running at 24bit? Like the filters and fx on the digitakt?
No idea. I assume it’s running at 16 bit to keep things efficient, but I really don’t know.
I think the chip they use has a 24bit architecture, so FX and stuff would be done in 24bit.
A thought occurred to me about the OP-1, one that I sort of sprung upon myself as someone asked me in another thread why I sold the Deluge.
The Deluge, for all its worth, was a groove box with all the reasons I should love it. I have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for Synthstrom as a company and Rohan Hill’s efforts as a developer to create the Deluge. It is a brilliant piece of kit, and easily competes with all the big ones out there in terms of value and design.
But what I loved most about the Deluge was everything about it and for what it was, but not for actually something that I wanted to sit down and properly work with. Its overall workflow never grew on me, and in the end, the emotional part of me just won over the rational part and said that hey, the Deluge’s perfect on paper, but it’s just not working out. Don’t analyse. Just accept it.
With the OP-1, I wonder if it might be a bit of the same, for some. You love everything about it, and what it is and what it stands for - but as you sit down and just want to work with it, record some stuff and build something of it, it’s still that in the moment-experience that determines if this is going to work or not. It’s an instrument, after all, and if you don’t connect with it, features and specs and coolness just won’t matter in the end.
I have the opposite relationship with my Sub37. There’s not a whole lot I can do with that instrument, compared to for example a Deluge or an Analog Four MKII. But when I sit down and play it, work the sounds and come up with new ideas, I’m thinking - I don’t fucking care if it’s just one voice, a shoddy sequencer, no fx and miles away from something finished, with cables, other devices, computers and fx in between.
I just love it, all the same.
It’s that kind of relationship I’m seeking with a piece of kit that can bring ideas to the finish line, as well.
4 Likes
It was exactly like that with the OP-1 for me.
Been eyeing this thread carefully, as my op-1 arrives next week. I have had no chance to play with one in the flesh, so my decision to purchase was made purely from the subjective opinions of those that have.
I have been looking for some machines that make me approach things differently, and so decided on the OT mk2 and the op-1. I plan to do what appears to be the standard with the op-1, and to use it to sketch whilst on the sofa. I am hoping thay this paradigm will enable me to be creative - differently
So until next week, I won’t know which camp I fall into, which makes contact conversations like these more relevant to me.
Buy the interface not the features. Usability is really the most important thing.
6 Likes
I’ve had the OP-1 for a while, at one point thinking about selling it, since I got into modular as my sound source. Trying out different recording options with the modular (laptop, ipad, looper), the OP-1’s tape mode has grown on me. I don’t care about “tape tricks”, but as a four track recorder that lets you record, cut, copy, paste, bounce, loop and speed up or down, it’s what I wanted, before I knew it. Especially if you’re interested in working off the grid, which is a problem for me with groove boxes. To me, it’s a recorder that lets me stay in the flow of making music. Besides I like the mixbus effects (eq and drive) quite a bit.
3 Likes
As far as workflow goes, I’d take either Deluge or Digitakt over OP-1. I have all 3, the Deluge is basically a DAW. Digitakt is a great sampler for live performance. Digitakt recording quality is def the winner I think out of all 3. The OP-1 is more of a sketch pad and synth than anything else- imo