Teenage Engineering OP-Z

The Lounge Other Gear
#1125

Fair enough everyone is different.

I did find for my hands it just felt too insubstantial. After all the reviews about it feeling solid and well built I found it felt less solid than for example an 80’s Nintendo Game&Watch

Interesting you dont find the buttons are a bit squishy. Maybe I will try another unit.

Either way if the externally protruding switch is inserted deeply or not I just felt it was flimsy to touch and an impact on it might push it further into the unit. A recessed switch would have been SO much better as well as aesthetically superior.

Those are my thoughts. For the price I was completely underwhelmed by the build and bought some modular gear instead.

#1126

When the cv module comes out my OP-Z will probably live on my modular when it’s not in my pocket :it’s going to be asupurb modular sequencer!

slight_smile:

#1127

Exactly the points which I was also thinking. The UI looks like torture.

#1128

Man this is crazy, has anyone tried this ???

1 Like
#1129

It’s actually quite alright. I’m quickly getting used to the button combinations—surprisingly, they make a lot of sense.

#1131

you’ve just enlighted the masses with the perfect OP-Z casing solution!

however nothing less will do than finest vicuna for the discerning OP-Z user (free spare included):

https://www.harrods.com/en-gb/falke/finest-vicuna-socks-p000000000005591095

3 Likes
#1132

I used a Friends sock from Typo (for those playing in countries that have Typo/Cotton On). Unfortunately though, every time I go to take it out of my backpack, I get the Friends theme in my head…

I gave the other sock to a friend who broke his foot. Everyone wins!

1 Like
#1133

I would have thought honest commentary on the device from people who have used it was welcome. We may have different opinions and that is life. As long as they are stated respectfully what’s the problem?

#1134

Not sure if that was directed at me; I definitely understand why people don’t like it. I just think there’s no real basis in complaints about build quality; I think it’s very well built and there’s definite evidence that they spent a long time designing/engineering it. I don’t think it’s fair to say that just because something is small, it isn’t built well.

#1135

pselodux response reflected my view exactly.
I wanted it primarily because it was so small. It’s expensive, but having played with it, it meets my TE expectations.
I don’t get the ‘corners are too sharp’ comments i’ve seen elsewhere, and frankly the yellow dial seems pretty robust to me.
I like the light but tough plastic case, particularly that the fibres in it/casting render it already imperfect.
I won’t be polishing it like Roland JDXA owners for every smudge and its subtle grey blemishes are uniquely my unit.
weakpoints are that sample importing is a lot fiddlier than it needs to be.
I agree the buttons are 98% fit for purpose given the form factor, but I have the odd 2% miss hit or double hit, which isn’t a dealbreaker and I might just need to get used to how I strike.

I very much like my digitakt and digitone, but I’ll get a lot more use out of the OP-Z simply because it will come with me much more often when travelling or slouching about the house and the sequencer is very clever and starter synths are adequately expressive and variable.
UI is fine; no screen works easily and I can remember almost all the functions after a week or so.
I miss that there are no luminous labels to the buttons for use in the dark, but might explore some small stickers as guide points.

3 Likes
#1137

You can turn the backlight on and all buttons illuminate, it’s an option in the txt file you see when you connect the OP-Z to a computer. It realy needs an on off button combo to switch this, but if you leave it on all the time it doesn’t seem to use much battery…just consider it electricity powered glow in the dark paint :slight_smile:

1 Like
#1138

I got it! And… anyone know where the shade/smooth piano synth is? It’s on the reference: https://www.teenageengineering.com/guides/op-z/reference#fx-engines

#1139

I posted a new video today of sequencing iPad synths with the OP-Z. Works great!

16 Likes
#1140

So guys, I want to report my experience with it so far.
I have had mine for 2 weeks now and I was initially disappointed with the amount of money I spent on it, I am not rich by any means, also thought about returning it on the first week just because it is too expensive and it felt gimicky with some unusable samples (for my music style).

But I really like the sound quality, the build quality and the operation, it took less then a week to memorize everything, and I have no Apple devices in my home, so I have not used the app yet.

My Digitakt was always on a laptop sleeve, with a portable battery, ready to throw on a backpack, but I realized even though I made my Digitakt portable, it is not as imediate as having something in your pocket that you can pull out, turn on and press play in 10s time. With the Digi, I got sit somewhere, it is heavy and it is not as imediate as the OP-Z. It is not a fair comparison but it is important to mention.

I realized with the OP-Z I became far more productive, the fact I can adjust the drums of this track I made yesterday night, on the queue of a supermarket is really amazing.

I understand it is not for everyone, it is expensive, it might feel toyish, gimicky and silly, but if you enjoy making songs, if you’d rather exercise your creativity instead of checking your instagram or facebook on the go like everyone on Helsinki’s metro… this little thing is really absolutely brilliant.

There are though a couple of setbacks, for us who had sh*t experiences with Apple, there should be a web app of some sort… I wish there were more synth plugs to choose from, more LFOs, and recording pitchbend is not yet available unfortunatelly, but besides these points, it is a solid little friend so far.

I just set a goal for myself, I will finish a couple of songs with it before trying to add my own sample pools and hooking it up to all my other synths… Let’s see how that goes.

5 Likes
#1141

Good feedback, as someone who started early with the OP-1 (which was initially pretty basic) I am certain that ‘the best is yet to come’. It won’t stay exclusively iOS (a web app is a killer idea, cross platform like Novation Circuit) and there will be LOTS of updates, new synths, fx, better workflow and of course ‘hardware modules’ adding at the very least DIN Midi and CV…strap in, enjoy the ride :slight_smile:

1 Like
#1143

IMG_8047
IMG_8047.jpg1504×638 356 KB

i have determined the Op-Z to be about 5 Bit-O-Honeys wide.

…(or 2.25 Juuls wide)

Feels great and it as small as the others have mentioned.

6 Likes
#1144

A few weeks in and I think the OPZ is almost brilliant, but hampered by a couple of things:

Not enough memory for user samples, I’d like to be able to remove the preset samples and replace them, but as of yet it isn’t possible. Roughly 24mb for user content feels a bit stingy, even 64mb would have been enough to fill all the slots with user samples, and still remain cheap and easy/fast to backup.

Buttons - a bit shallow and small, also the placement of the mixer button on the back should have not made it past the prototype stage IMHO, in use it isn’t very practical, it feels clumsy and ill conceived. Definitely should have been on the top surface, and latchable.

Size - it is smaller than you expect, and can be a bit fiddly, adding a midi controller certainly helps matters but at the sacrifice of portability, a shame I think. Especially considering that it could have been a little bigger whilst retaining portability - the OP-1 manages this fine, but the OP-Z could have even been a little smaller than the OP-1 and still remain portable but a bit less fiddly.

Unfortunately these points can’t (with the possible exception of the first) can’t be resolved with a firmware update, the early beta testers in my opinion should have picked up on these and communicated them to TE, whether they did or not I have no idea.

Still, as I said some things about it are brilliant, so I don’t regret the purchase at all, I don’t hold it in the same esteem as I do the OP-1 though, but I think that is a tough ask anyway. It definitely feels more like a Pocket Operator than OPerator though, so maybe it should have been called the PO-Z.

I think it is great that the (for me not too useful) DMX and Motion tracks can be used as regular midi tracks as well as all the other tracks, and it will be interesting to see what modules will be added, for me the Oplab module isn’t needed as I have a desktop Oplab, but a sampler/analog synthesis module might be difficult to resist.

The synthesis is pretty limited and basic compared to the OP-1, but I think these and the fx will be improved and added to in future updates, for the time being I’m mostly using samples and just a couple of the synth engines as I don’t like most of them. Personal taste, of course.

7 Likes
#1145

A bit like when the Digitakt came out - I appreciated the OT in a fuller light.
Similar with the OP-Z and OP-1. Though all 4 are great in their own way.

1 Like
#1146

^ Agreed - Those clever Swedes somehow manage to make this gear irresistible.

#1147

Is it only me or is the tape machine simply awesome? Sequencing it creates completely new continously morphing sounds (depending on the current input). I wish it would be stereo though…

1 Like