OP-XY is perfectly ergonomic for the average male hand imho. It might get problematic if you’ve got really thick sausages as fingers, but if you can use a laptop keyboard, you can use an OP-XY.
6 Likes
Question: Manual says “3.5 mm stereo line-out with headset mic support”
I guessing that means its a 4 pole audio jack, right?
1 Like
Yup
Besides the time/pitch stretch and sample chopping QOL improvement, I can think of two after playing with this for a few minutes:
-
UNDO! This machine is fun to go nuts with, but I wished it had a quick Undo/Redo feature. Maybe the SHIFT (+/-) combo with 99 steps either way?
-
Holding the drum sound key in REC mode will show the trigs on the Steps, which is not the most obvious way to check where your drum sound trigs are placed. I thought it would be just holding the drum sound key, and the steps would be lit, which is a much faster workflow.
It’s well-built and has a solid heft. I ran the test to make sure all the buttons are working, and everything, including the PB, seems to be okay so far. I am still not 100% in love with its skunk-y color scheme and symbology. The monochrome idea is excellent, but in terms of UX, it’s unclear. For example, when choosing the Track in the mixer, you get a little dot at the bottom to indicate your choice 
The OP-1/f was more elegant with its color guidance system.
I love the automation recording, though! And the brain™ is a fun tool to have. It’s these little quirky tools that make TE a fun machine.
1 Like
I’d say that’s objectively bad design, if the other device you made in the same form factor is easier to understand just because you got rid of any color lighting because you decided the device will be all black and white because of the aesthetics. I don’t know how the thing really works, but from what I gather, it’s comparable to an Elektron step sequencer where you can hold individual trigs and plock stuff. Imagining all of the trigs were just white in all kinds of modes sounds like a nightmare. I’m glad Elektron at least allows some color with their LEDs despite going all black with their cases, knobs and keys and b/w with their screen. Maybe someone who owns an XY can chime in to tell me why I got this wrong, I’d be glad to be corrected.
Most definately fashion over function when it came to UX. Those LEDs can do color, it does red for sure. And the font size for some of the labels are even smaller than an M8, although I accept the screen on the XY is smaller. I am not sure if they have a new creative director, or had an inspo that encourages would be dementia candidates (like me) to start using our brains more and train muscle memory at the same time, but yeah, I still prefer the OP-1/f UX system.
3 Likes
While I still think it’s a great device, from the latest comments it seems like the honeymoon period is coming to an end for this device, and back to reality, it’s just a big, fun groveebox, not the gamechanger they always sell us.
1 Like
for some its a game changer.
i already have released an album with OP-XY only songs. ( allthough ive had it far longer then most users) and already have an EP´s worth of material.
6 Likes
Hey, I’m not saying it’s a bad device, in fact I’m still keeping an eye on it, but (and I say this in general) whenever you see YouTubers announcing new products it seems like they’re going to change the industry forever. And it never does.
Where can I listen to the EP?
Have you used anything else besides the XY?
On the Album? if so, then no its just recorded straight from OP-XY to phone to Bandcamp.
6 Likes
I don’t know if “Youtubers” give that impression of every product. Even if they did, I personally would rule out anything that “just makes sound” to revolutionize anything, unless maybe it’s a completely new way of making sound.
But I’d argue that some devices (one might call them grooveboxes) have the potential to shake things up for some of us if they bring a certain workflow and package of features to the table. I’d argue that OT and DT did that, and OP1 did that as well. Probably Push or Maschine as well, MPC certainly has. So you could expect XY to have that potential for some of us as well. But you have to decide for yourself how it could change your workflow to help you make better music. There’s certainly a lot of things it can’t do and a lot of these were known from the get go. So it’s always good when something new is announced to think about how it would benefit or hamper your way of making music and looking for specific features that are important/dealbreakers for you instead of being led by what nice things the Youtuber can do.
It’s unrealistic there will be the one device nowadays that will change everything for everyone, there’s an abundance of cheap and expensive music making hardware and software out there, so it comes down to personal preference what works for you.
Personally, XY has some features that make it very appealing: sequencer based workflow with useful performance functions, sampling and sound engine in one device, it’s small but still has keys and they’re even velocity sensitive. But my impression so far is that I’d stumble upon UI, limited engines and lack of “traditional” MIDI and audio in- and outputs. So I’ll stick with click clack boxes for now.
4 Likes
I was initially very excited about the XY, primarily bc of the sequencer but after watching several videos on yt and listening to tracks on this forum the hype seems to be going down; maybe if synth engines were more capable/deeper or reacher sounding or if they add generally better sounding synths and the possibly to export tracks (very important), maybe i could rethink possible purchase.
Maybe! 
2 Likes
Synths sound good to me, classic FM sounds, analog, wavetable. Tried and tested synth sounds, if it doesnt sound good it’s because of the player not the synth.
5 Likes
Just a thought but the Photomatic on the opz was all on the app essentially and just triggered by midi from the opz… you could even let it be triggered by any of the instrument tracks. Would it not be easy set up this app for the XY as well? Just needs to respond to midi trigs from the XY?
When I compare it to YouTube videos of some of the synths I own (the OP-1f, which sounds similarly weak as XY or slightly worse; the Hydrasynth and Digitone, which both sound infinitely better; and the OB-6, which sounds like it’s from another galaxy), there’s just no comparison!
Also, before I invested in better speakers, the majority of synths sounded pretty much the same to me in terms of quality.
… and probably nobody should compare them. You get an XY for the workflow, fun factor and quirks. If these help you make music, consider getting it. If you’re mainly buying hardware for superior sound, get something else or use a VST for that. Whoever buys an XY expecting it to sound like an OB6 has to blame themselves if they’re disappointed. And we don’t have to talk like there’s no difference between an XY or OB6 either. I think the advertising and talk make it pretty clear that there’s other reasons to get it.
2 Likes
Still there’s no excuse to sound that bad! (In comparison that is)
The fun factor is there and that’s why i was so excited about but disappointed at the same time with the sound quality!
I’m looking forward to multi sampling my vast array of ios synths in there
3 Likes
So far i’ve only seen youtubers randomly mashing the keyboard with presets. Even a prophet would sound rubbish in these hands
6 Likes