I think it’s an option for whenever, wherever inspiration strikes. Saying that, it’s not like I’m walking down Electric Avenue and suddenly I am so inspired I need to capture the live samples or key in a sequence
I got the DN2 with the cord thingy for a power bank but, it sits forlornly on my desk now begging me to touch it. Maybe it’s just the zeitgeist that portability is having its day in the sun, and having so much power in such a small box, that was something not possible not too long ago that got people wanting it this way.
For me, I find portability just means I end up using it more. This seems to be the case with all electronics. That’s what ends up being the bottom line.
I’m waiting for it to not be the latest greatest, that seems to have a huge cooling effect and people get excited about the new thing… if I still want it after that then I know it is important I get it.
Plus it is usually cheaper by then too…
I love the OP-Z app’s UI. Very clean and easy to read. Almost Ableton-like in that way. I would much prefer this to the XY’s gothic nightmare.
I literally have to hold my face centimeters from the thing to read some of the labels, and my close-up eyesight is still great. Tiny text like this is discriminatory in my opinion.
Have you used the op xy? Because, yes. The op z graphics were nice but really did not add that much to the usability. The op-z was really designed (ingeniously!) to not rely on the screen but that did limit the UI. The op xy screens (particularly for mixing and arranging) are incredibly helpful and integrated.
Honestly, I think @Juliusmonk should just enjoy his OP-Z like he says he does and not even bother with these comparisons if he’s satisfied.
I’d actually pick one up right now to use for fun if it weren’t for the buttons. Having them become faulty would not be acceptable and they’re not that great to play when they are functioning properly anyhow.
Enjoying my op-z and discussing in a forum the only purpose of which is discussing gear are two distinct activities, yes. One is no substitute for the other and you may be surprised to discover they’re actually compatible. Discussing by definition means that some positive and negative things are said about gear we own and don’t own. Which is done on a continuing basis on every forum.
I agree with you here @Prints
I did pick up a Z recently (had one for years, since 2018 and sold around the time I got the OP-1F), and this one was only $200, but it had pretty much every problem in the book. I was able to remedy most of them, but still some persist and I can confidently say:
the OP-XY is an unbelievable advancement over the Z, in nearly every way (my opinion)
hardware issues are generally deal breakers. The Z I have now is not fun to use because of those issues.
I do agree with folks saying that the OP-XY is generally DARK, and that makes for an interesting UI. I might just have poor eyes, but the general darkness of the unit and screen, the tiny text, and the interesting gfx choices (tho apparently some will change) was the biggest downside of my user experience with the XY.
I’m surprised you seem unaware of how often you’ve been repeating yourself and how multiple people who follow this thread have pointed this out as well.
This sums it up doesn’t it? You’re clearly disappointed with the OP-XY and have succeeded in making everyone aware.
I disagree and have already explained why. It’s ok to have two different opinion no doubt.
As far as etiquette goes with regards to all of this, I prefer to not be annoying. You can do things however you please though. I’m just giving you some feedback.
I’ve said this before but coming back to it as I think it is a very big missed opportunity for the XY…
The way scene arrangement works at the moment is frustratingly clunky and a more fluid version could be easy to implement. Ideally we should be able to jam out our scenes in one arrangement page, muting/switching patterns without leaving the page, keeping the music flowing and following our ears. It would be great for example to have xy playing, then change a pattern/mute, then save that to a scene slot. and then switch another pattern/mute and save that to another scene slot etc… all without leaving the current arrangement that is playing. That way we can feel out the flow of a track as we’re jamming.
Currently however we have to switch scene and thus mess up the entire mute/pattern arrangement and find our place again, then figure out what we want for that scene. Then move to the next scene and mess up the flow again… It’s so close to being a good way to arrange but currently does not have the best workflow at all.
I would cite the mc101/707 as a good example of how to save scenes without ever stoping the flow of music you’re jamming out.
Having to hold shift to select scenes and track mutes is also an extra step that I could do without on the arrangement page. On this page I don’t really need to be able to play the keys of the current track, I would rather have this page dedicated to arrangement functions.
Edit: also in song page it would be soo much quicker to scroll between slots with one knob and scroll in the desired scene number with another knob. Rather than/alternative method to typing in phone numbers. Given the knobs aren’t used for anything currently I think that would be an easy win.
Still loving and making great music on this device though…
What I typically do is jam out just as you say, creating many different patterns for the eight tracks – informally creating “scenes” in my mind while experimenting with different combinations and adding new patterns, etc. Then I go back and arrange these into scenes to formalize the sequence/arrangement and punch together a Song. YMMV but if you approach it like this, you might be less frustrated with the way that the OP-XY does things.
Well, I’ve decided to put my XY back in the box for awhile and wait for a couple more updates to fix some of the crashes. I thought I was lucky at first as I didn’t really have any issues at all in the first couple weeks of use. But this past week it’s locked up completely on me daily many times, usually right when I get a really sweet patch happening. Luckily I haven’t lost any data, everything is right where I left it when I power cycle (yay autosave?).
Really sweet device and I love the workflow and what I’m able to create with it. But for now I’d rather not get frustrated with the OS and am happy to wait for TE to sort things out fully on that front. Hopefully won’t be too long of wait.
