I use the OP1F all the time. I think the UI/UX is fantastic and very intuitive, though I would not say that it is the focus above all else. What makes it such an outstanding piece of gear for me is the form factor in addition to features specific to travel. It has a speaker if I don’t have headphones, it can run audio out over USBC, it is super slim, weighs nothing, etc. It has gone on countless trips with me and been a sketching workhorse.
I am interested in what the XY brings to that form factor and travel focus.
6 Likes
Yeah. Looks great, but what’s frustrating is it kind of feels like this is what the OP-1 should have been, based on specs anyway.
I’ll be curious to see some good demos that really compare the workflow and capabilities against OP-1. (Although reading the description and specs, I’m realizing these are probably very different instruments; just wish the OP-1 Field had all that I/O.)
2 Likes
KHAGE
2179
OP-XY… Reservoir Dogs vs Men in Black…
9 Likes
For once, I’d be happy to see a discussion about the instrument instead of TE’s business model.
Of course that’s already better than the usual ‘TE is the worst this to ever happen’ found in other places, but still,
it’d be nice.
The GUI looks so good. I had my doubts about being greyscale but at first glance it doesn’t look like a downside, and I can respect the choice if all the screens are clear enough.
For the rest I think it’s clearly the flagship of their offerings (not only by price), it has a little bit of everything plus some. I don’t seem to notice any obvious limitation (let me know otherwise) but for the footprint I think they did an amazing job on this. It’d be nice to know if there’s a strong impact on battery life due to the CPU power increase, because that’s one of its fortes.
Glad it’s not for me though, that’d be really hard to bite.
15 Likes
clwilla
2182
I’ve got a foot in both camps. There are definitely modules where the expander simply made doing something it already does easier. OG Poti is the prime example of reaching into wallets to do something it should do by default. Nin for Zadar straddles the line. And Hel probably should have been integrated into a larger Odessa panel. I think expanders should expand functionality, not simply enable what’s already under the hood, and Xaoc has been guilty of the the latter with some of their expanders.
But others are great. Poti II is a great example of expanding functionality to something new rather than simply making existing features available to use. The mixer expanders do the same, I think.
3 Likes
I’m halfway through the Oora video and so far it looks like a solid partner to the OP1F and EP series. Different in that the Field was very much built in this idea of a tape-based workflow, as this is all about sequencing. One awesome thing is the XY also seems to now happily accept connecting to numerous other TE instruments in addition to external gear.
4 Likes
As Cuckoo succinctly puts it near the start of his first look video, and as the name perhaps implies, OP-XY is more of a high end OP-Z (performance friendly synth, sequencer & arranger), rather than a OP-1/field (recording-centric workstation) type device.
Unfortunately, the visuals features of the OP-Z don’t seem to have made the jump, but perhaps TE will try again with those on something standalone?
4 Likes
pagoda
2185
Always wanted a “sequencer based” OP… And CV. Unfortunately I like the looks of this big time. I wonder if you can build a sequence with an onboard synth and later turn it into CV / Gate?
buma
2186
Oh, the marketing of the OP-XY is actually a tribute to D.A.F !
17 Likes
jdrew
2187
The OP-XY is almost exactly what I would want from a high-end TE product and at the same time I’m very happy that I’m not in the market for it.
I won’t lie, I was hoping for something a bit more left-field after the teasers tho.
9 Likes
Ivan
2188
after reading the official info https://teenage.engineering/ I see they every time share something fresh and new… especially in comparison with another popular Swedish synth company 
1 Like
anyone wanna timeshare an OP-XY?
12 Likes
def going for a curve kevin, before i even think about getting the xy
4 Likes
Wow I fucking love this so much.
2 Likes
pelang
2192
do I become so cool when I buy this ?
(I guess only when I black the red dot with an edding 8400)
grumpy mode on: Are the keys pressure sensitive and MPE ? TE “could” develop something from the ground up like the Osmose keyboard with a long travel. It’s just hard.
The gray shades look cool…yeah, they do
3 Likes
ooray
2193
Looks good, and the feature set is very OP-Z (including step components and the tape track) with nicer synths, including trs-A midi is nice. I still get a lot of use out of my OP-Z, so probably won’t upgrade.
But for those who did hated the tiny buttons on the OP-Z, this is a worthy successor, including the multisampler
3 Likes
When time comes, I’m sure you’ll find a bottle cage adapter for it.
2 Likes
ypxkap
2195
it looks great. i’m kinda bummed it’s so much bigger than the z. i loved traveling with the z until the double trigs got too bad and took me back to leaving enough bag room for the op-1, so was really hoping that form factor would get some revisions.
i also feel like there’s a psychological game going on with the pricing where knowing that this exists suddenly makes the op-1f seem more affordable. wouldn’t be surprised if they sell a few more of those now that they make something even more expensive. i come away from the demos of the xy thinking “would i rather have an op-1f or 4 op-zs? how long would each one last? how old would i be when the double trigs claim op-z #5?”
(sorry to talk about the pricing, i know everything about it has already been said. for whatever reason, it’s impossible to overlook)
5 Likes
My biggest disappointment is “XY” as a red herring. A lot of people here and other forums had some really cool ideas about an instrument inspired by a multi-axis-inspired approach, whatever that could possibly mean. It feels far too linear of an instrument for what the name would suggest.
4 Likes
