I just came to say this man helped me on Reddit after a long frustrating day trying to figure out how to sync the KO2 and OPz together the way I wanted. Man this is a dream combo. Thanks again James!
This is so helpful - can’t wait for more midi tips - I find midi cc a bit puzzling on the opz app and in general… I know it is a simple concept but just practically can’t seem to get my head around it !!🤣🤣🤣
I'm so glad it was helpful! What are you trying to accomplish with CCs? Do you want to control another device with the OP-Z or are you trying to control the OP-Z with another device?
Hi! Great video, tanks! Can I just ask about the colors of the nobs? Mine (respectively: volume-bpm-metronome) are white-orange-black while yours are orange-white-black. Did you switched around or is your model an oddity?
Thanks for watching! My model is an oddity and came with the white and orange rings switched. I didn't even notice until I'd already put the knobs on their matching colors.
thanks for this, super helpful. Curious, if KO II receives all midi channels, what good is the op-z as clock alone? Or is there some secret I am missing? Because right now, if I use OP-z as clock, it also sends all notes and trigger ko ii unless I mute all channels. Any ideas? was hoping to use op-z as sequencer, ko ii as drums and samples...thanks for any ideas!
Thanks for watching! I might be misunderstanding your question so let me know if that's the case. It sounds like you want to use the OP-Z for MIDI clock and you want to use the OP-Z's tracks but don't want them to send out MIDI data. If that's the case, open up the MIDI configuration and turn off all tracks (i.e., make sure no yellow lights are on for any track). They won't accept MIDI in, but they'll still play the internal engines and won't send MIDI to the KO II. Hope that helps!
Out of KO II and OP-Z, which one would you recommend someone gets first? I already own a Deluge but I'm looking for something with a different workflow and more fun. I had always wanted on OP-1 then OP-Z, but just never got around to it - now I'm around to it and now I'm wondering about these two devices.
Time for a longer answer than you were probably wanting! OP-Z is VERY fast but requires a lot of memorization and exploration, even if you use the app. It's limited to 1 page of 16 steps but sequencing is more like programming logic than it is like a traditional step sequencer (I think), so I actually like being able to look at any track and see where the playhead is at without changing pages. Lots of people love the OP-Z for random stuff but I love it for quickly sketching out very precise ideas and quickly turning an incoming 4-bar loop into a full song. Also, OP-Z loves being told what to do so if you send CCs to it you can sequence mute groups, which track is active, step count, etc. It would likely be very powerful with the Deluge if you take the time to set them up & learn the OP-Z. You can edit steps but you can't precisely edit the notes on each step the same way you can on the KO II. KO II is also fast but requires less memorization since everything is pretty well-labeled (again, in my opinion). The tradeoff is that it seems to have much less depth. The keys are more usable and are actually laid out in an awesome way for making chords & applying theory (see my recent videos on that). The KO II has SO MUCH resolution for pattern editing. If you play a chord you can literally move (or edit) every note in the chord independently by tic increments. On the OP-Z you have to edit all notes on a step at once, even if the resolution is 1 bar per step. Last important note: OP-Z can sample but it's more for sample playback than for manipulating samples, while the KO II has a lot of options for manipulating samples. That was a lot but I love this stuff so let me know if you have any more questions (like about the OP-Z's synths, etc)
@@windowbed Thanks so much for such a detailed response. I wasn't expecting anything back, but I'm glad you took the time. Would you believe that I would have been happy to read a 10 page essay about your experience with both of these. What you wrote makes it even more difficult to choose between the two. Sorry for the massive reply here. I was pretty impressed with what I'd seen regarding the sampling capabilities of the OP-Z but, now that you mention it, it really is just playing the samples back or editing slices. The same appears to be true of KO II, but this is just basically functionality for a sampler and KO II must be more capable in this area. It seems like all of these grooveboxes suffer from an amount of same-ness regarding the synth engines. I got bored of Novation Circuit Tracks pretty quickly. Even after buying a few packs, every patch has this obvious backbone/character which I can't unhear. Deluge suffers from this too, but to a far lesser extent. It's great that most of these things can attach to other midi devices, but then it's not really a compact groovebox anymore. I think that where samples and single-cycle waveforms can make a huge difference in a product. Can OP-Z do single-cycle waveforms? Does the OP-Z have a single synth engine or is there more than one? Your point about being able to edit each note of a chord you play on the KO II is pretty cool too. Does that mean you can have 9 samples playing per step per ABCD layer? Also, I'm quite confused about what this 20 second sample limit means on KO II? Does it mean that there are 20 seconds total on the device? It looks like there are 400+ samples preloaded into the device. For an example, if all of those preloaded samples totalled 15 seconds, would that mean that there is only 5 seconds of space for your personal samples? They're clearly very different devices because I can't really decide which, and I'm having trouble finding what's comparable between the two to even find an answer. Can KO II sequence and send MIDI elsewhere?
I've wanted to do a video comparing the OG-1, OP-Z, and KO II for a while now. I might outline that and record it but that could be done tomorrow or 2 months from now so here's the "short" version: KO II is like a sampler that can play back 4 tracks of chopped samples. It has pretty limited polyphony at 12 mono/6 stereo voices total across all pads in all groups. I say 4 tracks because the fader affects all pads in a group, so you'll likely want to devote each group to a single sound or set of similar sounds/slices. Each sound can be 20s max and your sample storage is very limited overall at 64MB. The backup tool just dropped and boy is it slow. Also I don't even want to talk about MIDI outside of saying it can receive a clock and I actually bought a MIDI hub with a filter to prevent notes from going to it. OP-Z is like a big picture programmable sequencer & drum machine. Recently I would also argue it's a damn cool FX box as well. The number one complaint I hear from long-term users is the synths can sound good but require a LOT of work. There are multiple synth engines but each only has 2 unique, vague parameters to adjust. This is ideal for me because I'm using it mostly for bass sounds. Not so ideal for others, though. Also backup is absurdly fast. The whole thing is 34MB and if I have a USB cable handy, swapping out an OP-Z backup folder on my laptop takes mere seconds. My full experience has been that the more time, thought, and creativity I put into learning and using my OP-Z, the better the experience has been. I had a lot of fun making patterns quickly when I first got it, but even after using it as my primary instrument for about a year and a half, I learn something new or think of a new way I could use it every week. It has a lot of limitations, but I bought it willing to accept all the limitations & build quality issues in exchange for something lightning fast that I could carry with my anywhere. Edit: one last note--I found the OP-Z's app to be helpful at first but incredibly limiting, so if you're not willing to put in the time to learn it without the app it's probably going to be an underwhelming experience.
I really appreciate your time. I'll look forward to the comparison video but I know how spare time goes! I just watched your blinding lights video, and I was wondering how you'd go about recreating that on the KO II, but I guess that's more of a video idea than a question. I'll check out the rest of your content because you have quite a few OP-Z videos where you're showing the process. I might comment on other things. You've been a big help here. Thanks again.
You can stop the OP-Z from charging but you can't stop it from sending power out. Unfortunately you might need a ground loop isolator. I hate recommending that people buy something new, but it's what I'm using and it's the only solution I'm aware of (obviously I don't know everything)
@@windowbed your answer was 100% perfect. Thanks for the patience. And I’m guessing you’re right, there. Such an oversight from TE! Awesome content, btw!
I just came to say this man helped me on Reddit after a long frustrating day trying to figure out how to sync the KO2 and OPz together the way I wanted. Man this is a dream combo. Thanks again James!
Thanks for the shout-out! And I totally agree the OP-Z and KO2 are a dream combo.
This is so helpful - can’t wait for more midi tips - I find midi cc a bit puzzling on the opz app and in general… I know it is a simple concept but just practically can’t seem to get my head around it !!🤣🤣🤣
I'm so glad it was helpful! What are you trying to accomplish with CCs? Do you want to control another device with the OP-Z or are you trying to control the OP-Z with another device?
DUDE... You straight up RULE! Thank you for all your help.
So happy to hear this, and thank you for watching! I'm so encouraged when people tell me my videos helped them.
Dope video! Looking to get this setup.. should have the Op-Z in my hands tomorrow.
Thanks - awesome
Thanks for this video -would of taken me days to work it out -also by using midi out from opz I can use my Bluetooth midi key board to midi in to KO2😊
Hi! Great video, tanks! Can I just ask about the colors of the nobs? Mine (respectively: volume-bpm-metronome) are white-orange-black while yours are orange-white-black. Did you switched around or is your model an oddity?
Thanks for watching! My model is an oddity and came with the white and orange rings switched. I didn't even notice until I'd already put the knobs on their matching colors.
thanks for this, super helpful. Curious, if KO II receives all midi channels, what good is the op-z as clock alone? Or is there some secret I am missing? Because right now, if I use OP-z as clock, it also sends all notes and trigger ko ii unless I mute all channels. Any ideas? was hoping to use op-z as sequencer, ko ii as drums and samples...thanks for any ideas!
Thanks for watching! I might be misunderstanding your question so let me know if that's the case. It sounds like you want to use the OP-Z for MIDI clock and you want to use the OP-Z's tracks but don't want them to send out MIDI data. If that's the case, open up the MIDI configuration and turn off all tracks (i.e., make sure no yellow lights are on for any track). They won't accept MIDI in, but they'll still play the internal engines and won't send MIDI to the KO II. Hope that helps!
Was able to sync op-1f and ep133 via USB no problem. However syncing op-1f and op-z is horrible over USB. Have you heard of that’s a known problem?
Hmm, not sure - I don't have an OP-1F and thankfully I haven't had many issues getting it to sync with my OG-1. It's not super awesome but it works.
Out of KO II and OP-Z, which one would you recommend someone gets first? I already own a Deluge but I'm looking for something with a different workflow and more fun. I had always wanted on OP-1 then OP-Z, but just never got around to it - now I'm around to it and now I'm wondering about these two devices.
Time for a longer answer than you were probably wanting!
OP-Z is VERY fast but requires a lot of memorization and exploration, even if you use the app. It's limited to 1 page of 16 steps but sequencing is more like programming logic than it is like a traditional step sequencer (I think), so I actually like being able to look at any track and see where the playhead is at without changing pages. Lots of people love the OP-Z for random stuff but I love it for quickly sketching out very precise ideas and quickly turning an incoming 4-bar loop into a full song. Also, OP-Z loves being told what to do so if you send CCs to it you can sequence mute groups, which track is active, step count, etc. It would likely be very powerful with the Deluge if you take the time to set them up & learn the OP-Z. You can edit steps but you can't precisely edit the notes on each step the same way you can on the KO II.
KO II is also fast but requires less memorization since everything is pretty well-labeled (again, in my opinion). The tradeoff is that it seems to have much less depth. The keys are more usable and are actually laid out in an awesome way for making chords & applying theory (see my recent videos on that). The KO II has SO MUCH resolution for pattern editing. If you play a chord you can literally move (or edit) every note in the chord independently by tic increments. On the OP-Z you have to edit all notes on a step at once, even if the resolution is 1 bar per step.
Last important note: OP-Z can sample but it's more for sample playback than for manipulating samples, while the KO II has a lot of options for manipulating samples.
That was a lot but I love this stuff so let me know if you have any more questions (like about the OP-Z's synths, etc)
@@windowbed Thanks so much for such a detailed response. I wasn't expecting anything back, but I'm glad you took the time. Would you believe that I would have been happy to read a 10 page essay about your experience with both of these.
What you wrote makes it even more difficult to choose between the two. Sorry for the massive reply here.
I was pretty impressed with what I'd seen regarding the sampling capabilities of the OP-Z but, now that you mention it, it really is just playing the samples back or editing slices. The same appears to be true of KO II, but this is just basically functionality for a sampler and KO II must be more capable in this area.
It seems like all of these grooveboxes suffer from an amount of same-ness regarding the synth engines. I got bored of Novation Circuit Tracks pretty quickly. Even after buying a few packs, every patch has this obvious backbone/character which I can't unhear. Deluge suffers from this too, but to a far lesser extent. It's great that most of these things can attach to other midi devices, but then it's not really a compact groovebox anymore. I think that where samples and single-cycle waveforms can make a huge difference in a product.
Can OP-Z do single-cycle waveforms?
Does the OP-Z have a single synth engine or is there more than one?
Your point about being able to edit each note of a chord you play on the KO II is pretty cool too. Does that mean you can have 9 samples playing per step per ABCD layer?
Also, I'm quite confused about what this 20 second sample limit means on KO II? Does it mean that there are 20 seconds total on the device? It looks like there are 400+ samples preloaded into the device. For an example, if all of those preloaded samples totalled 15 seconds, would that mean that there is only 5 seconds of space for your personal samples?
They're clearly very different devices because I can't really decide which, and I'm having trouble finding what's comparable between the two to even find an answer. Can KO II sequence and send MIDI elsewhere?
I've wanted to do a video comparing the OG-1, OP-Z, and KO II for a while now. I might outline that and record it but that could be done tomorrow or 2 months from now so here's the "short" version:
KO II is like a sampler that can play back 4 tracks of chopped samples. It has pretty limited polyphony at 12 mono/6 stereo voices total across all pads in all groups. I say 4 tracks because the fader affects all pads in a group, so you'll likely want to devote each group to a single sound or set of similar sounds/slices. Each sound can be 20s max and your sample storage is very limited overall at 64MB. The backup tool just dropped and boy is it slow. Also I don't even want to talk about MIDI outside of saying it can receive a clock and I actually bought a MIDI hub with a filter to prevent notes from going to it.
OP-Z is like a big picture programmable sequencer & drum machine. Recently I would also argue it's a damn cool FX box as well. The number one complaint I hear from long-term users is the synths can sound good but require a LOT of work. There are multiple synth engines but each only has 2 unique, vague parameters to adjust. This is ideal for me because I'm using it mostly for bass sounds. Not so ideal for others, though. Also backup is absurdly fast. The whole thing is 34MB and if I have a USB cable handy, swapping out an OP-Z backup folder on my laptop takes mere seconds.
My full experience has been that the more time, thought, and creativity I put into learning and using my OP-Z, the better the experience has been. I had a lot of fun making patterns quickly when I first got it, but even after using it as my primary instrument for about a year and a half, I learn something new or think of a new way I could use it every week. It has a lot of limitations, but I bought it willing to accept all the limitations & build quality issues in exchange for something lightning fast that I could carry with my anywhere.
Edit: one last note--I found the OP-Z's app to be helpful at first but incredibly limiting, so if you're not willing to put in the time to learn it without the app it's probably going to be an underwhelming experience.
I really appreciate your time. I'll look forward to the comparison video but I know how spare time goes!
I just watched your blinding lights video, and I was wondering how you'd go about recreating that on the KO II, but I guess that's more of a video idea than a question.
I'll check out the rest of your content because you have quite a few OP-Z videos where you're showing the process. I might comment on other things.
You've been a big help here. Thanks again.
How do avoid ground loop?
You can stop the OP-Z from charging but you can't stop it from sending power out. Unfortunately you might need a ground loop isolator. I hate recommending that people buy something new, but it's what I'm using and it's the only solution I'm aware of (obviously I don't know everything)
@@windowbed your answer was 100% perfect. Thanks for the patience. And I’m guessing you’re right, there. Such an oversight from TE!
Awesome content, btw!