i was actually wondering if it actually had tape in it or it was just an emulation
Is it actually HiFi? everything Iāve heard from the sampler (my friend has one) sounds pretty bit-reduced. and the synth engine always sounds very chip tunes to me unless Iām missing something?
Yeah the sampler is gritty, synth engine is pretty hifi but thereās plenty of aliasing and noise from the outputs. I never wished for higher sound quality when I had one, the interface more than makes up for it.
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Yeah itās not the machine to get if you want 24/96 stereo sampling. I ended up selling mine but it left an OP-1 shaped hole in my sound palette, that the OP-Z has only half-filled, both figuratively and literally 
I guess so? But my understanding of what chipmusic sounds like is more broad than most other people. The FM stuff I make in nanoloop 2 doesnāt sound anything like typical gameboy/NES sounds, and OP-1 is capable of similar FM, soā¦ I guess that statement is true?
The engines are pretty diverse imo. They can get that lo-fi SRR/bitcrushed sound if you wantāin fact, I miss the dr. wave engine the most for the super lush automation of those kinds of soundsābut I definitely remember making silky, warm ambient sounds with it. As with anything you just need to know how to push it. āChip tuneā isnāt a negative thing, it just means you may need to do some strange things in order to get the sounds you want out of it. If (possibly weird) workarounds arenāt your style, fair enough, go and get a synth where the sounds you want to make are easier to dial in 
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The new finer tape marker resolution is great for precise edits, especially when wanting to place events exactly where you want without using sequencing, and making little micro loops/layers and so on.
Edit: Just read some of my old TE email beta feature requests, I asked for this in 2011, along with a bunch of other stuff, and a hardware interface to connect the OP-1 to other gear - obviously before the Oplab came out, I totally forgot 
See the attached screenshots if interested.
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Though the overall sound quality is not as high or as good as any Elektron machine I donāt agree that the OP-1 sounds āchip tuneyā generally speaking in respect of sampling capabilities because that depends on how and what youāre actually doing with it.
I must admit that āchiptuneā isnāt one of my favourite genreās though some of it IS great but itās too reductionist and way off the mark to classify the OP-1 to that kind of sonic pallet in general.
Itās an extremely varied and capable machine depending on the user.
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Iāve seen somewhere the pcbās are in prototype fase, so I think a few lucky people are building the synth and testing?
Meanwhile Iāve found another cool Op1/OTTO style synth thing, but no tape or sequencer mentioned?
https://www.sonicware.jp/elz-1-1
my guess on the āchip tuneā comment is they were referring to the Dr Wave synth. which can sound VERY chip tune. thatās absolutely not the only sound the OP1 does though. youāre not going to get the greatest minimoog emulation out of it or anything, thatās just not itās thing. but thereās a lot of lush sounds in there.
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For me the most valuable aspect of the op-1 is how it leads you to come up with new and unique ideas, which would probably have never occurred with other gear. A recent example:
I sampled some sounds of ocean waves into the op-1. I already had a nice drumbeat, a bass line and pads going on 3 of the 4 tracks on the tape. By routing the G-sensor to the cut-off frequency of the lowpass filter of the sampler engine which had the wave sounds on it, I could āplayā the crashing of the waves to the beat by tilting the op-1 around. The main result could have also been achieved with other samplers which have filters, but probably not in such a fast, fun and organic way.
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Admittedly I have had limited exposure to the device. I have always heard it referred to as deep and capable, but was always confused by what I head from it - I have no doubt results vary based on the user.
Not to mention the inclusion of a small speaker on the device while enabling flexible, on-the-go use does not encourage full-range sound design (when using the speaker, as my friend is prone to do). I suppose decent monitoring is a must when attempting to get the most out of it
haha well thatās understandable - the speaker on it is worthless - same for the OP-Z and all the volcaās too - I really donāt get these inclusions on portable devices - itās just a way to annoy not only yourself but everyone else around you while you ājam awayā - They freak my cat out too.
So they do have a use after all. Iāll try a Volca on mine and report backā¦ I didnāt actually realise that OP-1s have mini speakers as well.
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Why is op1 forum basically dead? Many views but not many replies! So many issues even with the latest update! So many questions not answered? Why?
What are the differences in revs of Op1? What is that latest firmware update all about? Manual update?
iPad 2 + Samplr, around $70 altogether 
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Yeah most samplers can do this, I also dont think that a G-sensor is worth that much or usable as much as a Filter cutoff knob. Something like this https://www.sourceaudio.net/hot-hand-usb.html is more usable as it goes on your finger, no need to pick up the Op-1 and move it around.
Thatās what Iāve been saying the results can be achieved with other gear. What Iāve been trying to bring across with my example is that I did not have the intention to do that as I started out. The whole thing was a happy accident in discovering that functionality by messing with the op-1. And this, in my opinion, is one of the strongest features the op-1 has to offer, as it leads me to have new discoveries all the time.
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You know what would put the nail in the coffin for me would be a tape app similar to op-1 style
I asked a similar question over at the OP forums, but here goes:
Iām a very happy new user of the OP-Z, and a fan of the OT. Iām seriously thinking about the OP-1 as a main hub for song creation. Iāve found I much prefer dedicated machines over general-purpose computers like the iPad or PC, for music creation at least.
My question is, is the OP-1 showing itās age? Or is it still a viable purchase in 2019?
I canāt update my OP-1 (which is less than two years old btw) because it wont boot to the update screen.
Iāve contacted TE via support ticket almost two weeks ago now and there has been no reply
Is this normal? Anyone dealt with their support channel before?
Thatās an incredibly bad show of support for a flagship product
Things like this are time sensitive to warranty and guarantee dates