teenage engineering OP-1 Portable Synthesizer, Sampler, and Controller with Built-In FM Radio and 4-Track Tape Recorder - 10 Year Anniversary

Over time composing, arranging and producing using a DAW has become something of a chore. The OP1 has breathed new life into my songwriting process. It costs nearly $1,000 because it is worth nearly $1,000. Is there ever price limit on creativity?Here are my favorite things about it:- Full end to end music production. Is it a synth, a step-sequencer, a 4-track or a production workstation? It's all of the above! There's very little competition in terms of anything else so complete yet portable at the same time (except for possibly an iPad).- Portability. I can compose and arrange from just about anywhere. So far: on the bus, on the subway, on a plane, in a doctor's waiting room and in a train station concourse.- The synth engines. They produce a great "low-fi" sound, if that is an aesthetic that you like.- Sampling / Line-In capabilities. If the synth engines aren't what you are looking for, you can sample or record from the line-in (or the onboard microphone, but I recommend the line-in option)- Versatility with external hardware/instruments. You can place the OP-1 just about anywhere in the music production cycle depending on your work flow. You can use this as a midi controller, or you can use it for its synth engines sent as an audio signal to an external DAW, or you can use it as your main work station, with external instruments recorded to the 4-track as line-ins for mixdown and mastering on the OP1.- The cow...Many reviews of the OP1 break its features down into individual "modules", and then compare those modules to other products. For example, its synth engines aren't on the level of other good soft synths on the market, its mixing capabilities aren't as good as a full DAW, etc. However, each of these criticisms misses the point of the OP1. It is deliberately designed to have relatively few bells and whistles to get your creative juices flowing and make music, all while being able to fit in your pants pocket!I'm barely scratching the surface of what the OP1 is capable of, and I could go on for several more paragraphs, but I'll end by saying that I have never purchased an instrument that has brought quite as much joy as this one.****EDIT (September 2018)6 months after writing this review, I am still having so much fun with my OP1, and its capabilities continue to amaze me. Here are some "hidden" features that allow you to keep as much production / mixing on the OP1 as possible without "giving up" and finishing the tracks on a DAW:- You can use the built-in gyroscope to "wobble" the pitch of the note (similar to a Roli seaboard)- because "wobbling" the note causes the whole OP1 unit to physically move!- You can achieve sidechain compression using an external drum beat as the sidechain signal through the line input- If you pan one tape track all the way L, and another tape track all the way R, by recording identical parts into each and altering the relative volumes between L and R, you can place an instrument anywhere you like within the stereo field.I'm pretty sure i'll discover even more "hidden" features as i continue to use my OP1.***EDIT (November 2018)I can see a lot of price gouging on Amazon. DO NOT BUY THIS UNIT FOR MORE THAN 900 BUCKS. Wait and they'll come back in stock.P.s. I'm still having **so** much fun with the OP-1. As I write this, the OP-Z has been released, and many people on social media are (1) complaining about the OP-Z's battery life (3 hrs max at the moment) and (2) regretting not buying an OP-1 instead.***EDIT (December 2018)I take back the disparaging things i said about the OP-Z. I own one now, and it's a joy to play.If anyone is considering the OP-Z instead of the OP-1, i now have the knowledge to distinguish them here (in case you are interested):- The OP-Z is a sequencer, not a 4-track tape recorder. It has fewer synth engines and tweakable synth parameters than the OP-1.- The OP-Z does contain 8 tracks, and many people think this is "better" than the OP-1. However, the truth is that 4 of those tracks are separate percussive elements (kick, snare, cymbal and sfx), 1 of those tracks is a monophonic bass, 1 is a chord track with 4-note polyphony per step, 1 is a lead track with 3-note polyphony per step, and the last one is an "arpeggiator" track, which is highly annoying and a bit useless. With the OP-1, you can layer an infinite amount of polyphony onto any track you desire, the OP-Z is definitely much more limited in what you can do (even though it has more "tracks" on the surface)- The OP-Z is definitely a lot more portable than the OP-1. Don't get me wrong-- the OP-1 is highly portable, but the OP-Z just blows it out of the water with how tiny it is- The OP-Z does not contain a sampler, or a line-in, limiting its role as a "full production work station".- The OP-Z does not allow you to export the finished songs as a .wav file.In conclusion -- if you're looking for an all-in-one portable workstation, the OP-1 is your best bet. Furthermore, I believe that the OP-1 will hold up far better over time as a unique instrument. The OP-Z is great, but it's a portable groove box that you're unlikely to actually finish a track on.***EDIT (September 2019)The OP-Z now has line-in and microphone sampling capabilities in the latest firmware.***EDIT (February 2020)Teenage Engineering appears to be committed to updating the firmware for the OP-1, which is great for a decade-old product. The latest firmware allows the user to further slice up the tape track into half-measures, quarter-measures and even finer slices, making it easier to execute the sequencer in smaller increments to keep your tracks tight.In addition, in an earlier post i advised potential buyers not to spend more than $900 on an OP-1. However, this is now outdated advice, as the price of new first-hand OP-1 units has increased to $1,300 (presumably due to production costs going up as a result of now-obsolete parts being replaced.)So, would I have spent $1,300 dollars 2 years ago for an OP-1, without the knowledge and experience of the unit that I now have? Perhaps not. But with the benefit of hindsight, I would spend another $1,300 on an OP-1 in a heartbeat if for any reason my unit breaks.With that in mind, please please protect your OP-1 if you have one already. I'd get a decksaver and an official OP-1 case, and use both at all times when not using the unit. In addition, if you are comfortable with electronics, buy replacement parts on iFixit- you never know when you might need them!

What a wonderful creation. It's a synthesizer, a drum machine, and a digital audio workstation all-in-one. It's the perfect device for quickly sketching out musical ideas when inspiration strikes or for spending an evening crafting that idea into a full-fledged track. Every time I power it on I get carried away prodding its keys while the hours slip by. I find myself reaching for it when I'm bored because I know that even if I'm not feeling creative I can still find entertainment among the unique and otherworldly sounds this device can produce.Now I know it's easy to be apprehensive about the OP-1 thanks to its luxury price tag. Here are a few considerations that might help if you're on the fence about spending one-month's worth of rent on what looks like a toy: Do you play an instrument? Is it the piano? Do you know your way around a drum set? Do you understand music theory? Have you used DAW software before? Are you familiar with different types of electronic synthesis? Do you understand how frequencies work in regard to mixing a track? Do you have a good ear for that sort of thing? Are you patient?I don't mean to sound elitist, but the OP-1 definitely has a steep learning curve and having foundations in music, *especially* in electronic music production, will greatly increase your enjoyment with the OP-1. Of course, you can disregard what I've said and the OP-1 will be a fun little noisemaker for you, but the more times you answered "yes" to those questions, the more likely you are to get your money's worth out of the OP-1. I'm by no means a professional producer; I'm a hobbyist at best. I don't sit down and expect to craft the next chart-topper, I create music for myself because it's fun, and that's the mindset you need to approach the OP-1 with. It's easy to fall in love with the OP-1 after watching virtuoso users like Cuckoo and Red Means Recording create masterpieces on YouTube, but in reality it is a lot harder than it looks. The OP-1 is an intentionally limited device, opting to use a tape recorder with only four tracks that emulates the analog days of yore instead of modern pattern-based composition. There is no undo function with tape. It also lacks a lot of the visual aids found in modern DAW software, requiring you to use your ears instead of your eyes to find out what a sound is doing. This may sound like a drawback, but Teenage Engineering's vision of "finding inspiration in limitation" often leads to happy accidents that reveal new ways of working with a sound, and this is what the OP-1 does best.It's important to leave your expectations at the proverbial door if you decide to invest in an OP-1. A good portion of your time at the beginning will be spent haphazardly pushing buttons and twisting knobs, exploring the convoluted interface of this Swedish monstrosity. The first sounds and tracks you create will not sound good, I can guarantee that. But once you get the hang of the workflow, once everything "clicks", you might find yourself intoxicated by the endless possibilities hidden within the OP-1.