I’ve had my op1 field for a month.
I’m a sound designer and I’ve just found it to be limited in terms of what can be done to manipulate the synth engines and sampler.
I really want to love it as it’s a beautiful thing but I don’t know if I can with its “limitations”.
Can anyone change my mind?
I guess the resale on it would be fine but I do want to keep it if I can.
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maybe hang on until after superbooth… no indication that TE are going this year but usually they release some stuff around that time. there might be firmware updates to their products which brings something new to the table, even for the op-1f…
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i’m curious if you’re willing to share with us some of the things you wanted but couldn’t manage to do with it.
always a tough call to sell gear.
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So I have used the OP1f on a couple of projects so far and have enjoyed the simplicity of the interface in some way and especially the instantaneous quality of the arp/sequencer options, as well as some of the effects (mainly terminal and cwo for creating some unique transitions), but I find the synth engines limited when it comes to creating deep or even solid sounding pieces.
It does sound thin to me, especially in the low end.
In comparison to something like the Novation Peak it has no where near the body or “warmth”.
I know the peak doesn’t have the portability or even a sequencer but this isn’t a direct comparison, more observation of the synth engines.
So yeah, I’m using it to create unique synthetic sounds and I don’t find it to sound that good…(eek) or to be very flexible
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perhaps…
Interesting, I was looking at the list of exhibitors and they are not listed there…
Advanced OP-1 synthesis is mostly about finding unlikely sweet spots for parameters and creatively abusing LFOs and effects. There is also resampling for “stacking” effects and combining sounds. Because of that, there is a rather significant gap between what the unit can obviously do and what it is capable of in general. It’s kind of hard to explain without actually explaining some specific tricks.
I think a reasonable thing to do would be to post the description or example of some sound you want to get, post your best attempt at it as a Filed patch and then see what people here can come up with as their best approximation.
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I also don’t find the synths and sampler in the op1 anything special But I have a few vintage analogue poly synths and fm synths and quite a few classic samplers.
Where the op1 shines for me is with its sequencers and four-track tape. I sequence my other synths and samplers with the op1 and record them into the tape in a six minute passes, while tweaking the parameters of the external synth.
I know it seems like a lot of money for a sequencer and four-track recorder. But nothing I have ever had in 42 years of music making has been this good for completing tracks.
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This is true - the immediacy of the sampler and sequencer is great but i have Norns which I’ve been using for this purpose for years.
It’s just the synth engines that leave me a little stumped i guess.
My comparison with the peak is because it’s a similar price but sounds beautifully full and is insanely modifiable.
I’ve been using midi lfos to manipulate various parameters to get deeper, more complex sounds on the OP that develop over time but i still can’t get the basses to sound round and full and similarly pad sounds don’t have a smooth bottom end to the mids.
Some of the sharper lead sounds are cutting with is lovely
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Use the punch effect, and adjust the wetness to taste. It’ll give you that bottom end you desire. Do keep in mind you can also boost the Hpf Q in nitro filter as well somewhere near the 35hz-45hz to give you that bottom. You can also use the new Terminal filter for a crunchy bass. & if those don’t work, you have the sampler engine! Sample a nice bass c note from splice and save it!! The tools are there dude you just have to exploit them!! I have a norns and grid as well, but if I were to choose between the two… it’s Op1f all day. The sampler, the 4track, the 4 different tape styles etc. If you like saturated drums i’ll give you a tip I figured out on my own, exploit the saturation from each tape by activating ear before laying down some drums to double the input gain, then make sure you get that triangle exclamation 
next to the recording dial. I wouldn’t sell your op1f honestly, but then again workflows differ, so proceed as you so desire just make sure you won’t regret it in the long run.
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What kinds of basses? What kinds of pads?
you can check my work on insta @aarongrahammusic for the kind of sounds i make.
I find the engines a little lacklustre in comparison to other similar price range synths is my only gripe. I don’t think that’s an outlandish claim when they’ve packed the tape, the effects, the sequencers and arps and a bunch of other features into one magical box. It’s a great piece of equipment i just guess I don’t gel with the actual sound of it.
I find using unison mode on many of the synths gives them a bit more life. Also recording stacked synth one shots or/and your own audio of various lengths on each track, tweaked and then dropped into the sampler can make a useful patch.
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I still find it mindblowing that TE released this new OP-1F and there’s still no way to play or sequence more than one sound at once (???), yes, unless you commit each sound to tape.
The amount of sequencing power they have in the OP-Z and they couldn’t squeeze some of that in the OP-1F? 
I don’t understand their decision making at all.
its a bit enigmatic i agree. i think from a business perspective it does make sense to have less overlap and similar products all offered. best to offer a few diff products that each do their own unique thing
Originally I thought OP-1 (OG, not field) was too limited for ambient work. Eventually I’ve learned more tricks, made quite a collection of ambient sounds and even produced a small SOMA-inspired “album” on OP-1.
I’ve listened to several videos, but I think it would be more constructive to discuss one or two isolated sounds. I don’t know which ones you’ve tried to recreate and didn’t like the results.
thanks for your persistence dude 
it seems as though the actual sound of the OP doesn’t gel with me is all.
I think the warmer, rounder tones you can get from some of my other bits (peak, digitone, just friends (eurorack)) have left me at a loss when it comes to the synth engines on their own.
The spec of these other synths in comparison are obviously higher than the OP when it comes to the oscillators, coupled with analogue filters they just sound “better” to me.
When it comes to the process of sampling a synth and then printing to tape and then sampling another and then printing that to tape and that maybe another and then printing that to tape in order to create a stacked and more full sound - well that process for me is cumbersome and less interesting than playing with a mod matrix for a minute or two to gain an interesting texture/sound.
This is all very personal and I appreciate for others the OP is a beast and covers all their needs (including some giant and very successful producers and musicians!) but for me I just feel a little…meh about it I guess??
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You are absolutely right. I love my Field but it doesn’t have that oomph! It was never meant to. Don’t let the tape types fool you.
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The latest firmware added audio output over USB-C, and choosing which input when coming in over multi IO USB-C class compliant devices. The Field can be used with my JD-08, Microfreak (bus powered from the Field!) and Micromonsta2. All those can be triggered from Field’s little sequencers.
You may not need it if you don’t need the portability. But for its insane battery life and all in one portability, you can take just that one device to a mountain peak or a crowded train, the beach or a park somewhere. With earphones you’ve got all you need to make a track. No excuses. And it feels very different from using an iPad, for example.
But granted - it’s not for everyone.
One of the cool things is how you can use the tape and sampler together.
Try this - set the tape speed to 200%. Record a bass note to tape. Record the same an octave higher. Change to a different bass sound or something with a sharp short attack gradient. Record to tape. It does overdubbing. So record a bunch of layers of your note. Put the tape speed back to 100%, it’s an octave lower and grittier now. Maybe do this with different tape styles. But build up a texture or your bass sound. Then lift that and drop it into the sampler and play your bass line with it.
It’s certainly not patching modular, but it’s more like an analogue workflow. The drum sampler can also A/B switch between two samples, it’s either stereo with pan, or two channel mono with a ‘balance’ between the two samples. This lets you craft a mellow and bright version of a sound. You can then modulate this ‘balance’ control via an LFO or something, maybe set to velocity. So there is a bit you can do.
Also all the synths and effects appear to only have 4 parameters, but sometimes a knob can be (for example) low pass one way and high pass the other way. Other things hidden with shift. The FM is quite accessible. I’ve not mucked with the drum synth much, but after finding the on board stuff limited I keep finding other ways to manipulate those basic building blocks.
You’ll be able to easily sell it. I’d suggest you wait a bit though and think about it more. If you go on holiday, you can take just that and use it without disturbing a partner… it’s a pretty cool device to have I think. I’ve not found anything quite like it.
You should choose gear on what it can do, not what it might - but consider at launch there was no vocoder. No terminal. No mixdrop. The original OP-1 got lots of updates over about 10 years. The even added USB audio to/from the computer - it never had this at launch. So the Field should get more goodies over time.
It can transmit to FM radio. Sometimes I have to wait in someone’s car for hours. No AUX input. But FM works. No latency.
It’s cool
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So I went on a binge and tried to complete two more projects using only the field.
Unfortunately I found the same things - thin synths 
I replaced all of them with softsynths, peak bits and supercollider bits and the pieces just elevated ten fold.
So I ended up selling the field.
I just can’t justify the workload of having to sample and resample and resample things to make them sound good. For others this definitely works and is a valuable process but I for me it was tiring.
I hope everyone has better luck than I did when gelling with the field
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