The recently shared videos have put the OP-Z in a more positive light for me at least.
I’m guessing spare batteries will be pretty cheap if it is a standard pack.
You’ve just put the brakes on any of my ideas of getting one with that.
Not bothered to watch anything on this as usually vids are uninspiring, the manual is normally my best mate.
I’m colour blind to quite a serious degree though so taking into account the unreliability of leds on video etc, I’m not too confident now.
Mmmmm…
I would suggest emailing them about it to ask, or, to try one in a store. The app is much less colour dependent (at least I think it is) and there’s a pattern to the modes, so it might be ok? But I’m absolutely not qualified to talk about it.
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With the OP-1 praised as a musical instrument of tremendous design, I was so surprised with TE’s output for the OP-Z. There is commitment to design or vision, and there is poor UX design, which I think the OP-Z falls into the later.
I find it kinda off-putting that, in an age where many product companies are more accessibility-conscious with design, TE made such an unfriendly product for folks who are colorblind. I love my OP-1 and am not colorblind, but I find the device already kinda confusing with the lack of additional visual information for learning and processing, and the OP-Z seems only kinda friendly to those who are already familiar with the OP-1. Someone can make the argument that you can connect it to an iPad for additional visual information and control, but I think it’s bad design to force users to use extension devices they may or may not have for information that can be critical to the user.
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Agree the OP-Z is poor design. I’d rather get an OP-1 at least it has a screen and better design.
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Im almost sure, that the missing Screen will be one of these Expansions they celebrate so hard. It will be 200 € at least - of course, no doubt 
So: 600 € + 200 € to get a (hopefully) proper product … Sorry TE, GAS is completely gone after i saw the fiddling from Andrew Huang and the like. Such a waste of potential …
You… really don’t need a screen to use it. I’m not sure if I can stress that enough. I almost always use it without the screen; the only time I do, is when I feel too lazy to look up the quick reference for the dials.
If a screen is a requirement for you for some reason, though, cool; it’s just not your synth 
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Trust me: I need a screen. Im no teen anymore. I cant memorize dozens of functions - even after using it for hours 
And pairing it with the iPhone seems like a cheap compromise to me. I also dont buy a car that doesnt drive because the engine was left away, do i?!
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I think the whole idea is that one doesn’t need a screen and that the functionality is sufficiently shallow that it becomes easy to use with a little familiarity.
I very much like this idea, along with the extreme portability. Certainly more appealing than fun/nonsense pocket operator screens! I wonder in that case why they ever bothered with screens … a small rgb LED matrix would have been more useful.
I’m no teen either yet I can remember the functions by now, after just a few days. It’s really a very well designed interface. Perhaps not for everybody though.
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I think they were going for a fun design, and reminiscing about old blipblip game’n’watch games. They’re a company who focus very hard on their visual aesthetic.
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Yeah, I’ve no objection to it on the OPs. Just have the 33 though. TE playfulness is refreshing.
I’ve never resented the CWO image when tweaking its udder
Lack of screen on the OP-Z isn’t a concern, screenless synths and sequencers are quite attractive to use; I imagine the visual part of your brain is freed up to more freely imagine and create within musical and logical structures without being dictated to by imagery that is overexplaining the obvious.
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I just found a tiny little Samsung USB-C (male) to USB-A (female) adapter and plugged it into my OP-Z; then I connected my Keystep right into that. OP-Z powers the keystep, is a USB host, and MIDI just works!!
I doubt it will do good things for the little battery though, so I’ve invested in a little EUR29 USB-C host -> 4 x USB-A hub with a power port.
It’s really cool that it can do this. I’m now on the search for a USB-DMX adapter and some LED strips that speak DMX …
Oh and I installed the videolab unity package too. I made it do some stuff, but to produce the data file that the iPhone OP-Z app requires for visuals, means (at the moment) using the older Unity 5.6, so I gotta install that. Keijiro Takahashi makes really wonderful things!
Look here if u wanna read about the Unity stuff: https://github.com/teenageengineering/videolab/wiki/Getting-started
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Wonder what it’s like as a bluetooth controller for iOS? I have a roli seaboard block which I love but the lack of knobs is a bit annoying. If it could integrate well with AUM, using op-z to sequence over multiple channels plus it’s onboard stuff would be really cool
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I could try that … but I haven’t got AUM and it’s 20 bucks … the app would need to know how to make a bluetooth connection. I can also try with the iPhone camera connection kit (thunderbolt -> USB-A host) + default OP-Z USB cable.
Can you think of another one (maybe a free one) I could try for you?
I have sunvox (lol wtf omg) but this seems only to support USB midi devices. Which I’ll try just as soon as I find that cable…
Woo it just works when using the “camera connection kit”. Even labels it correctly. I made a small sequence and played it on the OP-Z, and SunVox made the expected sounds.
If it supported Bluetooth pairing (the new style) I’m sure it’d work over Bluetooth too.
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You can use midimittr to pair bt devices, maybe see if it works with garageband? If the op-z can handle CC’s im pretty sure it’ll work with most things in ios.
Man being able to sequence + control ios over bluetooth is actually pretty tempting
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Heh yes, it works fine in Garageband, over bluetooth - there’s a Bluetooth MIDI Devices menu and the OP-Z is selectable and I selected it and pressed a key on the OP-Z and for some reason Garageband played a dog barking sample.
So, yeah, totally works XD
OH. And I just tried midimittr, too. Now it works over bluetooth in SunVox, which doesn’t natively support BT MIDI devices.
So, I think we’ve answered that! Thank you for the tips!
… I’m looking at this little device in front of me with new (and widening) eyes. (I’m meanwhile fairly successfully making a very basic ‘hello world’ (rotate the default unity capsule with a knob on the OP-Z) unity project to try to create my own videopak for the app, but it’s late now and the words are starting to blur…)
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