Thanks for the explanation! And agreed, that does make it pretty cool and kind of unique.
Mine is a bit bent/curved. I’ve just accepted it and it doesn’t bother me anymore
Good to hear! Have you tried opening the bottom case? I opened mine but it two of the screws/feet were really difficult to turn…
I really hope mine is kind of straight enough I don’t go into an async crisis 
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I haven’t opened mine but yes, the screws are quite tight. I watched Simon the magpie open his so I’ve just left mine closed up. I’ve got a different phone stand so I didn’t want to take the included one out until it’s time for a new module
If they all sounded like this I’d have no complaints
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From what I’ve experienced so far, it’s not about deep editing possibilities/sound design. If you start using it expecting to get Octatrack level sample mangling, or the depth of synthesis possible in any Elektron machine, you’ll be disappointed. There’s currently not even a way to route the envelope to the filter; you can use an LFO but can’t make it behave much like a typical “no attack, long decay” envelope.
It’s the way everything works together that makes it capable of unique sounds. It may not be possible to make squeaky clean, highly controlled productions on it, but if you suspend that mindset a little and start messing around with automating the tape / delay / performance tracks (as well as selecting which tracks get sent to the tape in the first place) you can get into very weird territory quickly.
As for the comment about it sounding samey, I’ve found that’s true for a lot of videos where people aren’t really trying to push it to make different sounds, but I don’t think this one sounds like any of the other demos at all:
edit: I’ll just add one of my heavier examples to the thread, sorry about the dodgy phone recording
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Thank you for your information and personal opinion about the OP-Z!
It helps me a lot to understand what this machine can do and what not. It seems like it’s easy to use but can also get experimental and create weird stuff. Wasn’t sure how deep you can get with it. Thanks again!
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Finally received my unit today and after playing around with it for a few hours here are a few thoughts (hopefully not too repetitive)
Overall, for me, its definitely a keeper. I love/hate my Op-1 just as I love hate my OT and the Op-Z fits well in that same kind of annoying/addicting device. Its a very niche instrument and easily falls into the same critiques of the Op-1 (although imo all hardware synths are ‘luxury toys’ and if one approaches music making from a utilitarian ‘get stuff done in order to get paid’ mindset there is no answer available other than DAW + plugins in terms of value for money).
Its fiddly, but the sequencer is fun and I found it very fast and flowing to put grooves together. So it already balances what I disliked the most about the Op-1: its sequencers all felt frustrating to accomplish anything other than odd percussion and fills. Anything melodic had to be played in live for it to not be a big hassle to get a good pattern cooking.
I find the synth engines to be good sauce right off the bat and undoubtedly the thing will sing once you run it through any kind of external fx (just as the OP 1 does).
In fact I enjoy the synths on the op-z more so than the Op-1. Although there are more options on the Op-1 I found i mostly used the unison bass and constantly had trouble getting levels right to avoid clipping and distortion. On the Op-z i have nice chunky electro sounds with pretty much any of the bass programs. No complaints at all. Cant wait to run it through my buddies analog heat and hear it really snarl. Leads always sound great and the OP 1 makes it into everything I record because it sits beautifully in the mid-highs. Op-Z is the same in that aspect, will have no problem incorporating it into a track, very plastic and mouldable. “it just fits” in the pocket it seems.
FX are much more to my liking than the OP 1, which other than the delay never really scratched my itch (especially the reverb).
Couple things I question:
Wish the step sequencer grid had numbers that lit up. Very used to elektrons having the steps labelled numerically which is handy when playing live and dropping high hats and stuff in the right place at the right time. The unit appears at the beginning very obscure and almost alienating. I think it could have been labelled differently/better as the ‘glyph’ approach for me is a bit odd.
the protruding yellow volume is odd and it does seem like it exposes the unit to getting snagged in weird ways. Have to keep an eye on it.
But like any instrument it is very logical and if you learn its system it will reward your time and patience. The app is essential to learning the unit for a long time. I think its well developed and I found myself working pretty seamlessly between the two. I think in the end its better than a screen because most people have a tablet with a screen that will make the info presented with a lot more clarity.
I think if you like the OP 1 and can get into a position where the OP z is a financial option its a great purchase. When they FINALLY RELEASE that midi dongle and I can FINALLY sync the OP 1 to my OT in a streamlined way I cant think of any live setup I’d rather have than OP z + OP 1 into the OT and then the OT into whatever mixer/fx/etc. Going to be a very fast and fun workflow.
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Classic… 
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First jam with my new Op-z. Along with Mopho (bass) and rytm via bluetooth midi. Guitar arp and strings from Op-z
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straight as an arrow, just unboxed the little teenager.
Good to hear your OP-Z is straight!
I am on the fence about keeping the OP-Z, I already own too much gear and I am not sure what the OP-Z adds to my workflow. I do think Teenage Engineering make great products, I had an OP-1 for a while which I liked a lot but it kinda distracted my from being productive…
After 26 years of music making I think my workflow is sound design with hardware synths and than sampling those synths into my DAW and and building arrangments. My Digitakts with Overbidge (beta) and MPC live fit better into that workflow than the OP-Z since it can’t sample and doesn’t have individual outputs.
Still I really love the all in one concept of the OP-Z and OP-1!
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Yes, totally agree! I will keep it as a Mini Workstation. For me also good for practise playing instruments to a simpel beat.
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Only spent a couple of hours with my OP-Z and kind of sitting side by side with Cuckoos Mega Tutorial as keen to work with this thing without a screen. What a joy it’s been.
I was quite skeptical about the OP-Z but gave it a chance. It’s really sunk its hooks in. While I do expect a chunk of that to be down to having a “new and shiny”, I really am having a blast with the sequencer. The tape track + mute groups can spit out fantastic variations.
Still to get to punch in effects in a major way or dig deep into step components, shaping sounds or trying my own samples out so plenty of stuff here to keep me busy.
Having owned 3 OP-1’s over the years I can say that the OP-Z ticks far more boxes in my case. The OP-1’s tape just wasn’t my thing. Really excited to see where Teenage Engineering take the OP-Z over the next 12-24 months.
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r beny sure makes the zed sound amazing:
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If they ever build that sequencer into the OP-1, I‘ll buy two. Totally unrelated: bumped into a Scotsman on the french slopes today. So stoked to hear that accent again.
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totally not my kind of instrument/toy but It looks like fun
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Watched that this morning over coffee. Jeremy (RedMeansRecording) is an extremely talented dude at music and video. I was very entertained as usual. It didn’t make me want to rush out and get an OP-Z, but I enjoyed the video.
I know most say you don’t need/miss a screen, but I liked when Jeremy used one. Helped me to understand what was going on.
I’m still very curious what these future add on modules will be, but I still find the size of the OP-Z to be a little off putting. I would be much more interested if it were closer to the size of an OP-1 with larger buttons a bit more spread out. I certainly get the appeal for many folks to have a legit groovebox type machine that’s battery powered and fits in a pocket for sure
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The sequencer really is something else - and I’m writing that before getting to grips with the step components in a meaningful way (Learning With Cuckoo tonight’s activity…!).
For how I jam and write I can safely say it fills the void I felt with the OP-1. I don’t see TE “upgrading” the OP-1 much like I doubt they will ever completely fill the sampling/tape void on the OP-Z but there is plenty of middle ground to cover.
This might be possible already but something like being to lock the tape buffer in place would be handy and could create some interesting results/transitions. Probably in there already and I just haven’t found it yet.
@Snipecatcher - the size of the thing was something I was fairly critical of. It can be cramped at times - mostly when trying to use loads of punch in FX or playing a melody/chords. But you can easily hook up a small midi keyboard to help/tidy things up. If you get the chance, give it a go - it won me over fairly quickly to the point that I want to move my Voyager and A4 to the shelves and out the way for now and just have OT, OPZ and laptop on the go for a while.
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