I think absolutely the OP-1 is in the same ballpark as the Octatrack both in build quality and as an instrument - obviously mini jacks are not as robust as 1/4 inch, and it is smaller, but it is made from very high quality plastic and the case is solid aluminium. If you smash the keys like an idiot you will break them, same as a computer keyboard, but so far mine are holding up well, no build issues and I’ve had them for years.
I’d take an OP-1 or Octatrack over any Akai MPC/Force any day. Nothing against the Akai’s other than that DAW but not quite a DAW all in wonder box doesn’t appeal to me, if I were so inclined I’d just use a DAW instead because I don’t see what the advantage of the Akai’s are. I used to like the older MPCs though.
If surprises me that nothing really similar to the OP1 has emerged. Any thoughts on why? A miniature Elektron along vaguely similar lines would be a dream.
One interesting thing here is that i don’t think that many people are aware of that the OP-1 actually could have been an Elektron product.
The main man behind TE is Jesper Kouthoofd and he worked for Elektron for some time. He was part of the team that developed the Machinedrum and the Monomachine and after that he felt that the next logical step for Elektron would be a small portable device so he had begun sketching out some ideas for such a project.
Then his mate (and one of the co-founders of Elektron) Daniel tragically died in a car crash and that was such a huge loss for Jesper so he chose to leave the company after that. So he never presented the sketches of the portable device to the rest of the team. He couldn’t let go of the idea though and eventually ended up starting up TE so that the project could become reality.
This is Jesper’s side of the story that i’m sourcing from the interview found below (only in Swedish i’m afraid) and i’m hoping someone at Elektron will correct me if they think this is false.
No worries! I didn’t take any offence, I know how easy it is for things on the internet to seem more confrontational than they are meant to be (I received a community warning here for empathising with someone’s frustration re OB delays and linking them to meditation resources?!).
For sure the main motivation to make music is for fun but it’s also my only source of income - you’re definitely right that most of the creative power is with the user not the tools but it’s still interesting to know if (such an expensive) piece of kit is being used in the professional realm.
The Machinedrum and Monomachine MK1s used to ship with lots of flyers, stickers, etc. One of the flyers had mockups of “prototype” machines. They were all smallish devices that looked like combinations of Elektron devices and what are now Teenage Engineering devices, with a dash of James Bond gadgets.
Maybe one of the old timers has a pic of one of the flyers. I don’t. I don’t think I even had a cellphone then. Lol.