Teenage Engineering OP-1 All-in-One Portable Synthesizer, Sampler and Controller

This is without doubt the most creative, fun and flexible instrument I've ever owned and an absolute delight to explore and play. It is so robust but portable, so effortless to explore and so, so wonderfully simple to generate interesting sounds, melodies and songs with. My biggest problem is not having enough time to just sit down and enjoy it regularly!The capabilities of this machine (particularly relative to its size) are pretty mind blowing and make it worth the money. Nothing is as portable and comprehensively featured as this. Although it has limitations, they can be used to focus your efforts on particular areas and really hone your craft, forcing you to work in particular fashion but developing ideas effortlessly and rapidly - something many DAWs lack.If you have done your research and think an OP1 might be of interest to you I would very strongly recommend saving up or taking the hit and plopping down the cash. It is a seriously fantastic bit of kit, enhanced by the recent (Nov 2016) update that adds a new synth, arpeggiator, presets and bug fixes. It may be several years old but it remains unique, powerful and highly sought-after.The OP1 will always hold a special place in my heart and my collection of instruments and gadgets. It is utterly unique but highly practical and useable. It is expensive but it is very powerful and hugely entertaining.For reference I also own a Novation Circuit, Volca Kick, Keystep, Korg Monotron Delay and plan on getting a Waldorf Blofeld and Elektron Octatrack very soon. I kept a very close eye on the Amazon price and bought it when it dropped pretty low. I would strongly recommend only buying from Amazon or proven reputable 3rd parties as I've heard of people being burned by dodgy sellers - likely scammers.

I had the OP-1 on my wishlist for half a decade or more. I done the full list of reviews & demo's & eventually I decided life was too short not to buy it.It has: 10 synths, 2 samplers, 6 sequencers, 7 effects box's, 2 drum machines, envelope control, 7 LFO's box's, 6 mins of easy recording in 4 track form, a 4 channel mixer with 3 band eq, instant sampling from mic/import/radio, OR... just lift/cut anything you write/record & dump/paste it into the sampler with one tap. It even has a virtual single, as in two sides ( A & B ) of a virtual recording, for storing a finished track or two, or maybe to bounce/re-record & dump into the samplers.The list goes on.There are some limitations, the main one to me is there is no editing after you've recorded (unless you resample).It's super creative, instant jam fun, very rich/punchy/quality/great sounds like all TE devices.It's well built & sturdy. The battery holds a charge well. The screen gets a lot of prop's, and deserved in my opinion. Having the visual reference helps to gel with the creative flow, lovely colors, animated responses to tweaking parameters & realtime changes.. The small keyboard also has been well designed & feels good, not velocity-sensitive, no soft/hard touch, but for what it is, your fingers easily find the key you need, I have fairly fat fingers & fumbling seems kept to a minimum.I'm only scratching the surface three months in, every aspect & function is in-depth if you want it to be... an amazing bit of kitSo... should!Recommended.

Fantastic little keyboard with DAW capabilities & 4-Track recording capability. Read all the professional reviews & watch all the YouTube vids. But take it from a non-musician, I love this device that is built to Apple Type standards & is so intuitive to learn, fiddle mash-up songs.If like me you love playing around with music creation, you will love this device. It's not cheap, but neither is an iPad & you can make your own sounds & song creation on this device & then share or tweak in Mac/PC DAW later if you wish.Better still as an engineer working away on my own a lot, it had opened up a world of conversation with interested people who want to find out what it is, this is great when we live in a world of people living in close proximity & isolation from each other, with everyone wrapped up it their own little virtual electronic world.The device not only makes music, it has revived the art of conversation about the device ;-) Happy Days.........

There is something so cute about this thing. I love it.what can i say other than its the most fun thing to mess about with creating sounds - i love making backing tracks for my guitar playing, and there are so many uses for it - its expensive - its niche, its not hard to work out though, Its not as pick up and play like the novation circuit is - (which is also amazing)but with the circuit its the best sketch pad for writing music, both are different and the op- is much more in depth , horses for courses but i suggest both over any other product out there - ie the korgs.

This is a fun piece of kit and at £749 I’d say it was worth it. However at the new highter price, with lack of software updates and any hardware upgrades id be looking more towards a digitakt by electron or something from a company that get back to you should you have any questions or need support. Yes it looks cute and it makes a wide range of sounds, it’s fun to use and it’s portable but paying over £1k for this, I wouldn’t take it out the house. 4 tracks is slightly limiting and you find yourself messing around constantly trying to add more sounds somehow. I’d say it’s more for getting ideas down and making fast loops.The worst thing about it is the internal speaker, it sounds like it’s made from tin foil and the highs make your ears itch, it’s nasty.