Yeah single sequencer in use at a time, so you record to tape when happy with a sequence. The finger sequencer can hold multiple patterns, one per key, the other sequencers have 1 memory which you over write when using each time.
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In terms of sequencer variety, it stacks up very nicely - you’ve got multiple sequencers with very different styles. None of them will give you the fine honing of p-locks on an Elektron box, but neither will an Elektron device give you a tombola or an Etch-a-Sketch to sequence with.
The OP-1 is great if you have difficulty committing, because you have to commit to progress. Want a filter and an echo on a track? You need to commit that filter to tape Want to hear two tracks at once? You need to record one of them. That’s a big shift from Elektron-style composition, but if it clicks with you then it can work fine and you’ll be hopping around the tape collating and collecting stuff, and doing things that might not have occurred to you on a more traditional sequencer.
Much of what it does could be waved away as novelty, but for me its playfulness is the main attraction. If you’re interested in where a piece of gear can take you, it’s a great choice. If you’re looking for a portable all-in-one, the limitations might frustrate you. Or they might inspire you - the OP-1 is basically an expensive gamble with a solid jackpot.
In terms of mobility, the battery is a killer feature, though USB packs have made it less of a marvel nowadays. But an OP-1 and a pair of headphones remains a winning combo. As always, I really wish it was cheaper so schools could have music labs full of them.
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its great as an esoteric mini DAW.
it is its own thing and if you accept that and go in without having expectations of it doing a particular thing. then i think you will love it.
I love using it when my inspiration is low, just to sit with on the couch and make nonsense. and sometimes magic comes out.
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The sequencers are pretty nice on the OP-1. Some of them, like the Endless sequencer, are polyphonic and can add rhythmic variation to the sequence you input. It has a 128-step max, but it’s still somewhat endless due to the variations.
The often overlooked thing about the workflow is knowing what you’re going to do after you record everything on tape.
The tape FX are cool, but limited 3. The master FX is a global, so everything in the tape will be nondestructively affected by it. The Album (another tape track) will record the master out, so you will be able to record your performance onto it as an exportable stereo file.
The OP-1 is just not really an Elektron, which may or may not be a good thing. (I will only trade mine + something else for an MDUW if that is relevant to how unique it is).
When I’m messing with the OP-1, I keep realizing that it is a great device to make commercials (for radio) or backing tracks to videos - it’s all self contained and clutter-free… it has a different approach to composing.
I recommend it, but not entirely so due to how expensive it is (I paid $1,224.69* for it on Amazon).
:- )
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I don’t know if this comes into play, but I just wanted to add that it’s a beautiful piece of engineering (technically if not esthetically).
I have shelved mine countless times, mainly because I’m not compatible with the tape thing (and the commitment aspect so well described by @NickD ^^) and got fed up with the “toy” character of its synths. But I still kept it because I think that’s a great object. It went in and out of my setup several times, and now I find myself using it again, this time as a 4 track looper and for synth pads (it looks like a toy but it does not necessarily sound like one when you know how to tweak it).
What I mean is there are so many different ways to use it that the OP-1 often finds its way into a setup 
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I had an OP-Z and sold it, and I’m glad I did. My reasoning hasn’t changed. But I’ve been making less music since I sold it because I almost always had it with me. I’d start songs on the OP-Z and finish them in Ableton. I don’t start songs in Ableton nearly as often.
I miss that. I was looking at the Deluge and the OP-1 and finally decided to get the OP-1. It’s more portable, but I also like that it’s so self-contained and not built around a step sequencer. And I figure if I hate it, it shouldn’t be hard to sell for enough to pick up a Deluge.
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I thought that was a really terrible review by Stimming, it seemed like he didn’t understand half the functions.
I dunno 
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I thought it was pretty good, actually made me want to finally get one
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I’m surprised he didn’t try to sell his new mastering chain box again. Seemed like a low hanging fruit, as people complain about the op-1 sound quality a lot 
Hahaha- fare enough. I guess I was just underwhelmed by his lack of power use.
(Amatuer commenting about a pro here🙃)
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Well i sold mine due to the very lofi and bland reverb, I don’t think the stimming box would add a half-decent room hall pr plate effect
Stimming’s take on Tombola was similar to mine - loved the concept as described in the literature, struggled to get desirable results in practice.
It was only later that I learned it can be pretty good for ambient stuff when used with long release synth tones. Also great for musique concrete-ish sample mangling. Hainbach otoh seemed catch on to stuff like that in short order, but then again I’m guessing he thinks about sound and music very differently.
I kinda came to appreciate more and more the synth engines. Particularly the digital and dr wave ones. With a slow free running LFO modulating one of the parameters they become alive in unpredictable ways. Little fuzzy clouds of digital randomness emanate from the main sound every now, making it irresistibly interesting. This is my latest attempt to capture the beauty of the synth engines.
From stimming’s review I had the revelation that the phone fx on the master channel is stereo and holy cow it sounds absolutely gorgeous on rhythmic material! I need to experiment more in that domain.
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will his mastering chain remove the ground hum?
It was not worthy of connecting to his mastering thing
I am sorry. I did it again 
Continuing my most successful video “The poor man’s OP1 for Casio VL-1 and Monome Norns”, I thought about making a new try with a different setup. This time using the new Dirtywave M8 Tracker and (again) a Casio VL-1.
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Just bought back an op-1 (after selling it a long time ago.). This machine still gets me. The design, the programming, the simplicity and quirkiness and the community (unfortunately almost dead now, huh?).
What an amazing invention. To think this was their first product, and they never made anything that surpasses it (imo).
I’m an Octatrack fan - but this is a complete different ballpark to me. I love using these two ‘opposites’ together.
Just a brief love letter.
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Even if I should sell all my instruments some day, the op-1 would probably be the last one to leave the house.
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yea its a beautiful piece of kit. 
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