With a baby due in november, and me being daddy day care, i realised that my days hidden away (miserably) creating music are pretty much done. So, i sold a load of pedals & bought an OP-1.
Now i currently have 2 Octatracks. The idea was to use them solely but since November, when i lost my job, they’ve basically sat there, 1 boxed up & the other not doing much. I just find them a real faff & sapper of energy. All that free time but no inclination to use them. Yes you can do incredible things but i find using them a chore.
Using the OP-1 for 2 days, has completely changed my outlook on music creation & quite literally my outlook on life (another story)
**Quick edit/Update.
I bought a new OP-1, from Amazon.co.uk. After using it for a few hrs it shut itself down. I’d check that the Battery was fully charged, which it was, assuming the battery indicator was working correctly. The only way to switch back on was to connect to my mac via USB. Once back on i disconnected from the MAC & continued to use for a few more hrs until it switched itself off again. It was suggested on Operator-1 forum that i should perform a factory reset, but this didn’t help.
I sent it back to Amazon & got a new replacement. But the same thing’s happening. So, amazing little machine but watch out for a few issues.
edit pt2: Apparently OP-1 batteries/battery indicators can be a little temperamental, so charge the OP-1, even if the battery indicators shows as fully charged.
I recently got this email, from Teenage Engineering.
“The life expectancy of the battery should not be less than 4-5 years, so far we have not experienced any issues even with the first OP-1´s from 2010-2011.
We are working on a way to replace the old batteries, and stock up on new batteries, and we are planning to complete this process before we get the first bad battery sent to us.
Even if a battery should die sooner than expected it is not impossible to repair, we would find a way. We can’t let a customer live with an Op-1 that is not portable!”
Sorry to hear about the job AND the OP-1 problems!
Recently picked one up myself on the forum for a very good price. Got to say I find it a blast to use. Struggling to over come the same problem I have with my iPad synths - great fun, sound amazing, but I can never do anything productive with it. But I don’t mind so much. I had had a lull in writing tunes for a few months and the OP-1 has me enjoying myself again and, importantly, focusing on music. Now I’m finding/making time to sit infront of the computer at my “proper” rig and doing things. Smiling again! So decided to upload some of the guff I’ve done onto Soundcloud as a way of a clearout then starting afresh with new ideas.
Haven’t had any bother with my OP-1 but good shout on the battery indicator. Will keep that one in mind!
at the very least for pure utility, my op-1 is a much better start stop button for all my elektron machines, and much much more fun to play the A4 with the op-1 keyboard.
I recently got this email, from Teenage Engineering.
“The life expectancy of the battery should not be less than 4-5 years, so far we have not experienced any issues even with the first OP-1´s from 2010-2011.
We are working on a way to replace the old batteries, and stock up on new batteries, and we are planning to complete this process before we get the first bad battery sent to us.
Even if a battery should die sooner than expected it is not impossible to repair, we would find a way. We can’t let a customer live with an Op-1 that is not portable!”[/quote]
Do you know if they mentioned if we can do the replacement ourselves? I’m a DIY’er typically, especially if something’s out of warranty! This is really the only thing that bugs me about the OP-1 … the very nonstandard battery, and it’s lifespan…
I recently got this email, from Teenage Engineering.
“The life expectancy of the battery should not be less than 4-5 years, so far we have not experienced any issues even with the first OP-1´s from 2010-2011.
We are working on a way to replace the old batteries, and stock up on new batteries, and we are planning to complete this process before we get the first bad battery sent to us.
Even if a battery should die sooner than expected it is not impossible to repair, we would find a way. We can’t let a customer live with an Op-1 that is not portable!”[/quote]
Do you know if they mentioned if we can do the replacement ourselves? I’m a DIY’er typically, especially if something’s out of warranty! This is really the only thing that bugs me about the OP-1 … the very nonstandard battery, and it’s lifespan…[/quote]
No actual mention from TE as to whether the battery is user serviceable, but i think "We are working on a way to replace the old batteries" pretty much indicates that at this stage they can’t even do it.
Thanks J0n35y ; )
I’m the opposite with the OP-1, full on production mode for me. Can’t believe i’ve sat (musically) dormant for the best part of 9 months, switch on the OP-1 & BAM!!
I’ve always like self contained contained instruments/workstations. Of course i’m not comparing it to a Korg Oasys, (which i used to own) but conceptually i like to see how far i can go within certain boundaries & limitations. That said i am looking at getting another OP-1 + OPlab, to sync them together. I love things in pairs, haha!
But the main factor in my decision to sell most of my gear & get the OP-1 was a change in life circumstances & frame of mind. Sure, if i won the lottery i’d probably convert my garage & kit it the fuck out. But at this time i want/need space (baby getting my room) focus & most importantly the desire to make music & get some some enjoyment out of it. People have said it before about the OP-1, but playing it takes me back to buying my 1st synth. It feels like a new experience. It’s immediate & fun but certainly not a toy when considering the type of music i make. Baby aint getting a go though. MINE!
I really have fun with my OP-1, and I’m glad that my money went to support such a unique company as TE.
That said, I wouldn’t buy again. It is a total giggle to play around with, I love the monkey drummers, I really dig the CWO filter, playing some radio & sampling it… but I’ve had it out on an extended loan to friends, and I’m not really missing it.
You nailed it when you said “it’s like getting your 1st synth” again. Totally get that with it. I love mine, gonna spend proper time with it during my work commutes and see where I get to. The CWO filter is sublime!
I’ve got two boys and my eldest loves it. Samples himself and plays about with the sample!
Splash! Pulled the trigger on an OP-1 for a steal on MF with 1 day shipping for $743.00. Now I just wait and read up on it and watch some videos for a peek inside. Freakin’ Monkey Drummers!
no one should ever get talked out of getting one. if you embrace it it’s a rad device. the synths are all quirky and nice with a rather narrow sweet spot.
it’s definitely inspiring to play(!) with and totally up to you where you take it.
just gotta tame that inner control freak for a bit
there used to be a bug with ghost pops on blank tape sections which is sorted mostly. sometimes it means you have to record over it
however the issue with pops on non zero crossings is still there. so getting a pad loop over x amount of measures can get very tedious. kinda like sampling in the OT with zero fin/fout.
I started out using it as a on-the-grid-loop-away kinda thing and that’s (at least for me) its weakest point… mind you people like DJTW do exactly that.
i get best results by working destructively with lots of live overdubbing tape>album bouncing and short beat snippets fed by either the monkey band or coming from tape so I somehow run not as often into any clicks/pops.
but it’d be fanboy-ish to just neglect their existence. some synth engines at certain settings get that crackle too
Also owned and sold and OP-1. Really fun device, though the tape clicking annoyed me too much. Also found it difficult to eq everything to sit properly, might just be my lack of skills though. I was sampling it into the Octatrack and then realised that if that’s all i’m doing I might as well get a synth that sounds better (i.e. Monomachine). If they make a MK2 I would buy it…
I can’t and I won’t… I have three it is a musician’s sketch book. it is the best way I know to think musically on the go. I have three each tells it own story. but in the end yeah one is so worth having i wanted the flex without the loss. get one get one get one!!!
Never has an instrument occupied more of my time… How well does the oplab play with modular? Im getting a happy ending rack and Im thinking about picking up a second hand one. I also am waiting delivery of my Iconnect midi+4 so I dont know if the oplab would be worth it…
I’m interested in the OP Lab. Might not be ideal for me but I quite like the thought of syncing my iPad with the Op-1 for midi and then routing audio back into the OP-1 (if possible). But then I also dont want to bog down either the iPad or OP-1 experience!
Need to pick the OP-1 up some more. Having an awful lot of fun with the OT/A4 & Ableton combo. Got latency through my Octacapture interface down so low that I’m able to really use the OT’s FX & sampling off Ableton working a treat. A few more weeks of practice and I might actually churn out something productive…
I´ve got the OP-1 july/2013 and fell absolutly in love with the gear. It´s funny to use, the sound embraces all it´s digitalness, not trying to emulate analog stuff, the interface is great and you can quickly make a nice beat.
It changed and improved a lot my music production, and I recommend the OP a lot to everyone that never achieved a good workflow with DAW.
However, isn´t exactly easy to do polished stuff only with the OP-1 (but I´m trying to focus my production on it, engaging on the old ohpeewon/new operator-1.com beat battles), and I understand and agree that it works better as sketchbook (although it can be used to fully produce songs, with a some effort and patience!).
There´s also some dirt on it: as you overdub, it can get noisy, with some clicks and pops, and isn´t exactly a charming trait (as it isn´t a vinyl record warm click n´pop, but an annoying digital one). However, it´s a little bit random and not very expressive at all. But it´s important to know that if you focus your production strictly on the OP-1 you will need to accept it´s “personality” and learn how to overcome some of it´s glitches.
turn down overdrive all the way and if you have some outboard gear, even a simple interface just boost the gain there and it will be a lot cleaner.
this was done on the OT & the OP-1 processed with some A4 reverb. Endless sequencer and cwo filter on the simple 4 step sequence playing through out and being tweaked on the OP-1. recorded in one shot of course
no pops or clicks on the OP-1, didn’t use the tape and just played and manually synced with matching bpm.
