I cut down a cheap mouse pad and taped it to the bottom of my op-z. It prevents any bending and provides more grip. Really happy with how it performs now
Heck, Apple used the OP-Z as an example of a 3rd party peripheral that can connect to the new iPads via usb-c/thunderbolt. It’s an interesting way to add a headphone jack to the iPad Air 4. :)
Op1 has terrible build quality... All TE stuff does.. have you read any forums? See how many have problems with band new op1's? Sadly it feels better but it has just as many problems.. if you don't use it for a couple months a ton of people's op1 just quit working..
I know you've retired it, and I know the build quality is terrible, but going through your videos makes me want to get in on the fun. Like nothing else.
The op-z is great. I picked one up a while back but haven’t put the time in to get to where I can make a quality jam with it, but the potential to do so is def there for sure. It’s an amazing throw it in your backpack synth to bring everywhere
I wrote an open letter comment to Teenage Engineering, but as I finished the video your said it :D Pls new version with better build quality, and per track export ^^ The OP-Z is my dream groovebox; however I cannot afford a groovebox I'm worried to swap out every 2 years or so :/
Tobias said in an episode of Midnight Operations that exporting separate audio tracks would be easy, he said it would be a matter of finding a "1" in the code and changing it to an "8". I am not sure if he was joking or if he misunderstood the question though.
Unfortunately the sequencer will only let you live play when you use it for more than 4 bars as the sequencer lights don’t “zoom in” or change context, which means anything beyond 4 bars requires live play. I think if they figured out how to paginate the 4 bars of light to let you get all 16 bars of sequencer would be a big improvement.
I bought one two months ago and despite all said about build quality (cheap weird plastic), double triggers (that happens once in a while), i can say, i will not change it for any Akai, digitakt and even an op-1 field; the reason? it is an unique piece.
@ def not, you could buy a couple of opz's with the price of a single xy 😅 Heck, I would have dove in if the build quality hadn't been a concern! So I'll stick to my mc101 for now
The device is great for the size and the price point, and loading samples on it can refresh it into almost anything. In terms of limitations though, I can only create a chain of 32 patterns...is that the true limit or am I missing something? Chaining patterns can't take up too much memory, right? If the 2nd and 3rd gen POs can handle 128 pattern chains, how can the OP-Z only string 32 together? You've touched on this as one of the biggest selling points of the Model:Cycles, but after using the OP-Z for a few months, I'd say that is my biggest gripe. Seems like it is something that could be expandable in a firmware update - so here's hoping! If anyone has a work-around for this I'd love to hear it.
I'd opt for better buttons -- apparently, there are a number of people ruler-flat cases that are getting double-triggers. And agree that being able to drag sequence track files off would be nice. But, since it's a sequencer-like workflow vs the tape-style workflow of the OP-1, that would probably be asking a bunch from the hardware. That said, you can easily "bounce" each track to the computer. You might have to do a little manual alignment, but it's doable.
Mine broke really quick. So I contacted TE, and they refused to repair it because I bought is used(the unit was max 3 months old). It was a cool unit but definitely not worth the price
I like my OP-Z but I do all the playing for it using a Keith McMillan K-Board because the buttons scare me with all sorts of double trig issues and its build quality isn’t amazing. Did you manage to get all your double trig issues solved? I don’t have any and am considering selling the OP-Z now since its working 100% and I don’t want to get double trigs and make it worthless. I’ve seen people post things online about contact cleaner and whatnot but I’m not interested in repairing it if it breaks.
Yeah, I've been playing my OP-Z almost exclusively with my key step lately for the same reason never did get the double triggers sorted out. I'm not sure what I would do if I was in your position. On one hand, of the OP-Z is My favorite group box workflow, and I would love to have a perfectly working one. But then there's always the fear of it suddenly starting to double trigger. I guess it depends on how much you love it haha.
Hey mate thx for the content ! I also have a op-z and a mpc live 2 how could I go about sketches on the z to polishing it on the mpc I'm a noob and I don't see anyone doing this ,is it even possible?
@@FreeBeat for me it’s kinda perfect song mode took a sec to learn but once you do your like o lol that’s not so hard plus they just did A big update to blackbox 2.0 They have been really good on updates
But I Thought you would like the circuit tracks and you didn’t so you never know how the workflow will feel to you I definitely don’t think you’ll hit the limitations that you did with the tracks on the black box though it’s pretty versatile in its current state
I bought 3 times and sold 2 times. After you sell it, you realize there's nothing else to replace it. I can absolutely recommend the op-z, just please buy it new with full warranty. It's tempting to get a second had unit, but this ain't no Roland that will work 10 years later :)
I think the Z may be my next purchase. I was thinking of getting a drum machine but I may as well get something that does more. Or I may get and Akai One MPC or an op1. I don’t know yet. Love your vids FB
@@FreeBeat I guess I’m looking for something that’s like a standalone daw. Something I can make complete songs on but also import some sounds into if I want. Any advice would be very appreciated
@@wiidlbeetle3857 are you more of a sample guy or you like working with different synths and shit? Cause I don't really like sampling that's why I went with tracks but idk why I always found the rhythm cool and I kinda wanna get it myself to get a little bit more into sampling
Gotta replace stock synths with samples to make a decent track, really a challenge to make a decent sounding track with stock things, at least that's what I hear from my mates
Just because it can be that small doesn't necessarily mean it should be, unless it's to cut cost...which at $600.00 isn't the case with this unit. I think it's a cool device...it's just too small! Just my opinion.
Yes! Hate the downsizing overall, like the rolan boutiques. I had the sh01a and loved it but would have been great full size and with a standard reverb maybe. I would have paid more! Also 1/4 to 1/3 of the module is just the pitch and mod ribbons (terrible lol) but the sliders are tiny! You’d be near that sweet spot and I’d accidentally push some random slider with my hand all the time (and rarely used the pitch and mod) I was actually thinking of swapping a new SO-404 mk2 for this but not with so many build quality control, I never owned any TE and I thought it be a great little synth and drum machine for my Polyend tracker - which has a crazy good sequencer, better than this) but I think I’ll use it for the SP as improvement in that sequencer and could be fun :) You’d think with behringer and all companies would release modern but faithful replicas (nothing against Behringer, but their design can be pretty bad and quality could be better. Sometimes they rip too far and looks too tacky that I lose interest)
The OP-Z is really an awesome device with incredible features but at the time there are some really weird implementation that cut down the potential. For instance, the fact that it is a usb audio interface. Great! And the fact that you can sequence external hardware or software. Great! But then, when you use a track as midi, you can mute the audio but not the send to the fx… Why?? Actually you can turn down the send on the track by turning the appropriate knob. But wait… this knob is also used as a midi cc! So I can by mistake re-enable the send… Again Why?? Another example. You have only 16 steps but hey you can use the multiplier for extending the duration of the pattern. Cool! Now you can record longer evolving chord progressions. Well yes and no because the automation are not recorded unless there is a trigger! Why?? Now there are values jumping around each time the pattern moves to a different step. Anyway, still a good device but could be incredible with just some minor fixes.
I love my OPZ, but i really think the circuit tracks has a more easy to understand screenless workflow. A wonderful device but what an awful building quality.
ya know? that device does not look like it can do ANY of what you did with it lol! It looks like a cheesy Casio vl1 without the lcd screen. I am amazed it has all those nice sounds too. Amazing how much music tech has FINALLY reached and gone beyond my wildest dreams! Well almost, still no true mind reading music synth yet..
I cut down a cheap mouse pad and taped it to the bottom of my op-z. It prevents any bending and provides more grip. Really happy with how it performs now
Did that cure any double triggers?
Great idea
Heck, Apple used the OP-Z as an example of a 3rd party peripheral that can connect to the new iPads via usb-c/thunderbolt. It’s an interesting way to add a headphone jack to the iPad Air 4. :)
550€ jack dongle LOL
Jokes aside that's cool :D
I didn't know that, that's pretty cool!
@@FreeBeat Actually if you consider those TRRS adapters available for OP-Z, you actually have LineIn + Headphones out via the OP-Z. Just realised.
Wow that Demo was super impressive! Seems like the OP Z is easy to use like a Pocket Operator.
2 month later: ”ive given up on the OP-Z”
opz will never leave my arsenal
BTW, very impressive OP-Z chops
i'd buy a new device in a heartbeat if they could reproduce it in op/1 build quality. the workflow & software is amazing. a joy to use.
Op1 has terrible build quality... All TE stuff does.. have you read any forums? See how many have problems with band new op1's? Sadly it feels better but it has just as many problems.. if you don't use it for a couple months a ton of people's op1 just quit working..
I know you've retired it, and I know the build quality is terrible, but going through your videos makes me want to get in on the fun. Like nothing else.
The op-z is great. I picked one up a while back but haven’t put the time in to get to where I can make a quality jam with it, but the potential to do so is def there for sure. It’s an amazing throw it in your backpack synth to bring everywhere
Sounds like it's time to get jamming! 😁
I wrote an open letter comment to Teenage Engineering, but as I finished the video your said it :D
Pls new version with better build quality, and per track export ^^
The OP-Z is my dream groovebox; however I cannot afford a groovebox I'm worried to swap out every 2 years or so :/
Indeed I Dont mind its twice the size, just better build .
Hoping for a opz/hybrid follow up… op X? 😅
Teenage Engineering promptly threw your letter into the recycling bin, and is going to release some weird bottled water for 200 dollars instead
@@vangoghsseveredear 😂😂😂
@@vangoghsseveredear The truth hurts 😂
Yeah I definitely feel that haha
Tobias said in an episode of Midnight Operations that exporting separate audio tracks would be easy, he said it would be a matter of finding a "1" in the code and changing it to an "8". I am not sure if he was joking or if he misunderstood the question though.
You forgot to mention that the maximum loop length of OPZ is unquantized 16 bars, that’s really insane!
Definitely a flexible amount of space to work with!
Unfortunately the sequencer will only let you live play when you use it for more than 4 bars as the sequencer lights don’t “zoom in” or change context, which means anything beyond 4 bars requires live play. I think if they figured out how to paginate the 4 bars of light to let you get all 16 bars of sequencer would be a big improvement.
I bought one two months ago and despite all said about build quality (cheap weird plastic), double triggers (that happens once in a while), i can say, i will not change it for any Akai, digitakt and even an op-1 field; the reason? it is an unique piece.
I'd Love and OP-Z 2 (field?) that's roughly the same price but higher build quality!
@@FreeBeat yeah or a aluminum made chassis and more easy to find battery replacement is the way to go!
@@FreeBeatyour wish has been granted 😉
@@jaydeepalmer Not anywhere near the same price though hahaha.
@ def not, you could buy a couple of opz's with the price of a single xy 😅
Heck, I would have dove in if the build quality hadn't been a concern! So I'll stick to my mc101 for now
The device is great for the size and the price point, and loading samples on it can refresh it into almost anything. In terms of limitations though, I can only create a chain of 32 patterns...is that the true limit or am I missing something? Chaining patterns can't take up too much memory, right? If the 2nd and 3rd gen POs can handle 128 pattern chains, how can the OP-Z only string 32 together? You've touched on this as one of the biggest selling points of the Model:Cycles, but after using the OP-Z for a few months, I'd say that is my biggest gripe. Seems like it is something that could be expandable in a firmware update - so here's hoping!
If anyone has a work-around for this I'd love to hear it.
That demo blew me away wow dude 🧪
I'd opt for better buttons -- apparently, there are a number of people ruler-flat cases that are getting double-triggers. And agree that being able to drag sequence track files off would be nice. But, since it's a sequencer-like workflow vs the tape-style workflow of the OP-1, that would probably be asking a bunch from the hardware. That said, you can easily "bounce" each track to the computer. You might have to do a little manual alignment, but it's doable.
Yeah better buttons would honestly be enough for me haha.
Mine broke really quick. So I contacted TE, and they refused to repair it because I bought is used(the unit was max 3 months old). It was a cool unit but definitely not worth the price
Under_bridge is all u need to get separate stems
I like my OP-Z but I do all the playing for it using a Keith McMillan K-Board because the buttons scare me with all sorts of double trig issues and its build quality isn’t amazing.
Did you manage to get all your double trig issues solved? I don’t have any and am considering selling the OP-Z now since its working 100% and I don’t want to get double trigs and make it worthless. I’ve seen people post things online about contact cleaner and whatnot but I’m not interested in repairing it if it breaks.
Yeah, I've been playing my OP-Z almost exclusively with my key step lately for the same reason never did get the double triggers sorted out.
I'm not sure what I would do if I was in your position. On one hand, of the OP-Z is My favorite group box workflow, and I would love to have a perfectly working one. But then there's always the fear of it suddenly starting to double trigger. I guess it depends on how much you love it haha.
Pretty crafty, them Swedes
Midsommar flesh
Gesundheit
Definitely!
beautiful vibes
Thank you so much!
Hey mate thx for the content ! I also have a op-z and a mpc live 2 how could I go about sketches on the z to polishing it on the mpc I'm a noob and I don't see anyone doing this ,is it even possible?
Love my 1010 blackbox it’s small and built like a tank it’s like a smaller sp 404 but always wanted one of the opz or op1’s
I've been curious about the blackbox honestly, might have to check it out soon!
@@FreeBeat for me it’s kinda perfect song mode took a sec to learn but once you do your like o lol that’s not so hard plus they just did A big update to blackbox 2.0 They have been really good on updates
But I Thought you would like the circuit tracks and you didn’t so you never know how the workflow will feel to you I definitely don’t think you’ll hit the limitations that you did with the tracks on the black box though it’s pretty versatile in its current state
nice jam. thank *YOU*
Appreciate it :)
That's some fancy ass mallwave going in
people don’t remember the first few months when the op-z came out 😪 it’s a completely different machine now
Back in my day....
Absolutely!
You make it look so easy.
Practice practice practice!
What about today ? I saw your other videos about your OP-Z flows and the silence of TE.
Would you recommend it today ?
I bought 3 times and sold 2 times. After you sell it, you realize there's nothing else to replace it. I can absolutely recommend the op-z, just please buy it new with full warranty. It's tempting to get a second had unit, but this ain't no Roland that will work 10 years later :)
I never understood why pitch bend couldn't be recorded when I had mine.
I think the Z may be my next purchase. I was thinking of getting a drum machine but I may as well get something that does more. Or I may get and Akai One MPC or an op1. I don’t know yet. Love your vids FB
Haha thank you! What exactly are you looking for with the purchase? Those are three quite different machines you listed.
@@FreeBeat I guess I’m looking for something that’s like a standalone daw. Something I can make complete songs on but also import some sounds into if I want. Any advice would be very appreciated
@@wiidlbeetle3857 I have a novation circuit tracks and I'm in love. Put in my own drums in it and shit is a blast
@@egorchik121 I ended up getting a circuit rhythm and I love this thing. I want to get the tracks one day!
@@wiidlbeetle3857 are you more of a sample guy or you like working with different synths and shit? Cause I don't really like sampling that's why I went with tracks but idk why I always found the rhythm cool and I kinda wanna get it myself to get a little bit more into sampling
The VJ part is really sick though although I cam use VJ software
Thanks for watching!
How is it to link the opz with the op1? Like midi and such. Would be interesting to see if that could help with the retrigs
Gotta replace stock synths with samples to make a decent track, really a challenge to make a decent sounding track with stock things, at least that's what I hear from my mates
Okay sweet it can do all of that but try to make something that doesnt sound like a casio keyboard demo
It can use samples, so just import the sounds you want :)
I love my mc 101. It is not as small but it’s solid.
Glad you love it!
Just because it can be that small doesn't necessarily mean it should be, unless it's to cut cost...which at $600.00 isn't the case with this unit. I think it's a cool device...it's just too small! Just my opinion.
Yes! Hate the downsizing overall, like the rolan boutiques. I had the sh01a and loved it but would have been great full size and with a standard reverb maybe. I would have paid more! Also 1/4 to 1/3 of the module is just the pitch and mod ribbons (terrible lol) but the sliders are tiny! You’d be near that sweet spot and I’d accidentally push some random slider with my hand all the time (and rarely used the pitch and mod)
I was actually thinking of swapping a new SO-404 mk2 for this but not with so many build quality control, I never owned any TE and I thought it be a great little synth and drum machine for my Polyend tracker - which has a crazy good sequencer, better than this) but I think I’ll use it for the SP as improvement in that sequencer and could be fun :)
You’d think with behringer and all companies would release modern but faithful replicas (nothing against Behringer, but their design can be pretty bad and quality could be better. Sometimes they rip too far and looks too tacky that I lose interest)
The OP-Z is really an awesome device with incredible features but at the time there are some really weird implementation that cut down the potential. For instance, the fact that it is a usb audio interface. Great! And the fact that you can sequence external hardware or software. Great! But then, when you use a track as midi, you can mute the audio but not the send to the fx… Why?? Actually you can turn down the send on the track by turning the appropriate knob. But wait… this knob is also used as a midi cc! So I can by mistake re-enable the send… Again Why??
Another example. You have only 16 steps but hey you can use the multiplier for extending the duration of the pattern. Cool! Now you can record longer evolving chord progressions. Well yes and no because the automation are not recorded unless there is a trigger! Why?? Now there are values jumping around each time the pattern moves to a different step. Anyway, still a good device but could be incredible with just some minor fixes.
Yeah there's definitely a few things that need to be fixed, but if they did I think the OP-Z would be at the absolute top of the groove box game!
A phone with korg gadget can do that but its not quite as fun as a groovebox
Yeah haha nowhere near the tactile experience of hardware either. Still a great option!
How many presets are on this thing?
Each synth engine can have up to 14 presets at any one time.
Have you since changed your opinion, because of the problem with double triggers?
I love my OPZ, but i really think the circuit tracks has a more easy to understand screenless workflow. A wonderful device but what an awful building quality.
My iphone can do all those things as well. We live in an age of miracle and wonder :)
ya know? that device does not look like it can do ANY of what you did with it lol! It looks like a cheesy Casio vl1 without the lcd screen. I am amazed it has all those nice sounds too. Amazing how much music tech has FINALLY reached and gone beyond my wildest dreams! Well almost, still no true mind reading music synth yet..
Thanks for watching!
If this was more priced like 300 euros i would have gotten one to use next to the PO’s
That would be the most underpriced device of all time hahaha
I hate how cheaply built it feels. For a device that costs so much it is unacceptable IMO.
Yes... It is still worth it though..
dude that jam you did mid way threw should be sold as a ringtone
Awesome concept, terrible quality control
This is quickly becoming my opinion as well.
If someone gave me one I’d give it straight back. However, I appreciate that I’m in a minority…
Agreed! It's just too small.
Clark Timothy Walker Margaret Martinez Michael
I really don’t like my OP-Z anymore 😆