New user.. Op-1 50/50 keeper.. Advice/Tips?

Feeling 50/50 on keeping OP I got a few days ago. Reminds me a lot of OT in terms of OS love/hate. Which I could cope with but just feeling like maybe it’s not worth £650 that could be spent elsewhere today. The workflow just isn’t as quick/tight as I’d imagined, tape feels mostly like a gimmick that makes simple things take too long and Ipad apps have progressed/diversiefied a ton since OP was released so I’m trying to balance it up and decide. I already have an Ipad. Maybe I just need a small in/out audio interface and new controller keyboard and velcro the whole thing to a small pedal board to use round the house… Would save like £500…

Hoping some of the following are things I’ve missed in manual/forum/vids. And also threw in a wishlist at the end for advice on poss (non-tedious) workarounds. Long post, guessing people have better things to do than reply, but any advice etc would be great. Thanks.

Can I? -

Synth/sample Note latch. (I know sequencers have ‘hold’, is there an equivalent?)

Kill effect tail (for instance on Octatrack hitting stop a couple of times does this). Annoying to sometimes have to wait 10 secs on long delays before you re-do a take.

Forward >backward rotation option for sample loop in synth sampler for smoother sound on swells/decays etc that otherwise jolt when they loop from the start each time.

Endless sequencer - browse through steps and edit individual. Seems like for now I can’t edit steps after sequence is made, except for the previously added step.

Zoom in/out on tape time line.

Basic individual synth patch volume control (maybe I’m being blind on this one and it’s already there?).

Traditional type of bipolar filter envelope control.

Pattern sequencer. Nudge selected notes.

Delete sample/snapshot without a computer straight from the hardware to free space. I don’t always have a laptop with me…

Overwrite snapshot from OP. Instead of forced to make new/use memory.

Wishlist -

Ability to delete factory presets… Memory is precious enough whiteout being forced to use it on stuff I’ll never use.

4 Separate tape track (or 4 separate mixer track) fx. If memory/cpu a problem maybe an option to disable synth/drum engine fx and switch to tape tracks fx?

Sequencer pattern memory banks

Tape track individual waveform view and zoom for precise start/end point selection. Same as the synth sample waveform view/editor would be fine. Fade in/out control for takes. (could eliminate pops/clicks this way and other creative uses).

Auto fade on Tape takes to get rid of clicks. This has been bumming me out already even after only one day…

Sample choke option (while keeping drumkit polyphony).

Clear tempo sync options (1/4, triplets etc) in any tempo related effects (delays etc).

Quick ‘erase’ individual tape track. No fun going along the 6 minute time line locating/deleting tons of little bricks of junk you need to get rid of. If the rotary push function is being developed now then maybe ‘1+blue push’ to delete track one. ‘2+green push’ for track 2 etc. And ‘lift’ also only works on takes under 90 secs.

Undo/redo. Even one level would be huge.

straight forward way of mixing and matching drumkit sounds without need for resample to tape and back just to put a kit together. Just a regular old drum sound library…

Probably not possible due to hardware/OS architecture but it would be so useful if you could have a drum sequence play and jam synth over the top simultaneously, without always having to put beats/synth down on tape to get a feel for both combined. Especially when layering patterns etc. For some reason I thought OP did this already.

Parameter locks. Would take op-1 next level.

More variation lfo destinations (+ 2nd LFO :wink:

Onboard Normalise sample option.

8 Song position markers users can place on tape mode time line for quick location jumping (1-8 + button/Push combo maybe). Would be great for remixing structure during bounce to album or another track.

Refined snapshot system. For example when editing a previously saved snapshot being able to choose whether to Overwrite current snapshot or create a new one.

Dynamic sample memory across OS, especially between synth and drum. Sometimes I don’t have any drumkits at all onboard and would like to use that available memory for synth samples. And vice versa.

in fact for the drum kits - try the op-1 drum utility from steve duda – there´s no easier way to get a kit on the way…

http://rekkerd.org/xfer-records-releases-op-1-drum-utility/

i clearly can understand you, the op-1 is a very special device – i sold two of them because some lack (synth engine quality etc.), but now i´ve got my third device, and now it´s a keeper for me…there is nothing like that workflow, there are thousands ways to get things done, it´s very open for experimental things…


I think a lot of TEs design choices are form factor and stuff like limited memory for lifts is to help battery life and stuff.
I’m on a mobile ,so answering only a few questions at a time.
1.I can’t think of a sustain type latch,apart from set a seq up to repeat a riff or single note.Hold that ,then tweak synth.
2.If there is annoying tails,then switch to drum synth,from synth or drum to synth.
3.no ,the sampler is basic.Tape Is there to help with exploration, but no.
4.no.Shame for Endless.

The whole OP1 requires a different approach.It favours players imho.
It is also a musical instrument at its core.So form factor is a consideration for your question “is it worth it?”.

Synth/sample Note latch. (I know sequencers have 'hold', is there an equivalent?) Only option is to use a sequencer, i.e. multiple steps on endless with low bpm

Kill effect tail (for instance on Octatrack hitting stop a couple of times does this). Annoying to sometimes have to wait 10 secs on long delays before you re-do a take. You can turn an effect off by pressing 3, but the tails will probably keep going, try reloading as a snapshot maybe?

Forward >backward rotation option for sample loop in synth sampler for smoother sound on swells/decays etc that otherwise jolt when they loop from the start each time. Nope

Endless sequencer - browse through steps and edit individual. Seems like for now I can't edit steps after sequence is made, except for the previously added step. Nope

Zoom in/out on tape time line. Nope

Basic individual synth patch volume control (maybe I'm being blind on this one and it's already there?). Red knob in tape view controls synth / input volume.

Delete sample/snapshot without a computer straight from the hardware to free space. I don't always have a laptop with me.. Nope

Overwrite snapshot from OP. Instead of forced to make new/use memory. Nope

Onboard Normalise sample option. Shift and red increases sample volume
I too bought an iPad, although after I got the OP1, as a potential replacement. With a nanokontrol, Behringer UCA222 and midi keyboard it is incredibly powerful but nothing is as immediate and inspiring as the OP1 for me.

If you can't do something the way you would do something before, work out a different way to do it and you may be even more delighted with the result. :D

5.you can zoom out when engaging a long loop length and “3” is switched on.It’s a limited amount of change.
6.No.Only can use orange on tape page to set & balance synth volumes.
7.Only 1 envelop which always routes to amp.But this can be also assigned to filters, + or -.Many work arounds with lfos.I think this exploration is half the fun for some users.
8.Yes.Pattern is deeper than first seems.Green and white here.Also with shift.IIRC white shortens grid,then shift+white to locate beats.Then green to shift.Jamming with these parameters was a lot of fun.Selecting 4 quarters(1 beat), then jumping about for last beat of bar,or two of one then 2 of other.
Shame pattern is a short sequencer.

I jus re-read.Hope you mean time,not pitch for 8.
9&10. No & no.Wish list for many.
A portable file hub is useful.I use ravpower portable battery and file hub ,that takes sd and jacks in via USB.mobile app to operate.
I have only backed up with this.never deleted.
Saying that the memory is ok for me.deleting with comp,once in a while.Would love to be able to name/delete via machine though.

You can normalise a sample.Lift ,then redrop.In synth or drum sampler.
Also, in Drum you can hold a key+ lift then hold another key and drop.
Very useful for Dbox or sampler.There is inter preset use for this with Dbox ,not sure for sampler.
But throwing stuff about ,back an forth with lift or resampling is a strength for OP1.

You can also temp store presets to tape by lifting ,then drop to tape,incase you were un aware.
You can lift finger seqs and drop to other keys in finger,with key+lift/drop.

I must also add that the tape, for me, is the best digi tape I’ve ever used.clicks an all.Once you get those tricks and movements.
Did you catch the discussion on setting loop length by shift + loop(3) while tape is over specific tape recording.
Then jumping to next/previous phrase with shift+ <> keys?
Rewind then tap play for instant full speed search is another timesaver.

Thanks for all the insights guys. Feeling like I should prob hold off returning and just dig in to it/adapt… Guess worst case if I get a couple of Eps + ideas to transfer to other hardware/DAW out of it and decide to sell in 6 months that’ll kinda be worth the £200 or so I’d lose. Not the end of the world. But hopefully I’ll fully gel with it before then :wink: Got a few questions about some of the things people have said above. Hectic here at mo but will organise questions in to a non-ramble asap :wink: thanks again.

Just had another quick session. Focused more on the 'cans' than the 'cant's'....I'll keep it ;) This piece of pop nonsense fell out while I was learning functions. Dunno if I'll get round to adding bass/making it more interesting so I've put it up unfinished/backup/wipe start feeding OP new samples. Not really the kind of stuff I normally do but excited to get a grip on the machine now and do some real stuff.


https://soundcloud.com/dolphin-sex-pest/teething-unfinished

Sounds pretty fun!

in my experience with the Op1 it can do anything. your just going about it wrong. sure it has way too many quirks and non standard workflows. But to me it seems like an ace sound creation tool. now that ive been using one for years i breeze right through it and get exactly what i want out of it. 100% a learning curve. its an instrument. practicepracticepractice

Think I was just getting bummed about how simple stuff like deleting is made fiddly by the kinda ridiculous ‘let’s pretend this digital 4 track with scrub is a tape machine’ thing. Seemed fun from videos but in use it just slows me down for a lot of regular track recording/editing actions. Mainly bought it for sofa jams with hectic kids around so I was hoping it would be quicker at the bread and butter stuff. Guess it will be once my brain fully converts :wink: The rest of the OP is a beast tho. Love the sampling/sequencers/synths. Just took me a couple of sessions to adjust from preconceptions to actual use.

Sounds pretty fun!

Yeah it turned out to be :slight_smile:

agreed some of the functionality of the Op1 is antiquated. the first couple months of owning it was filled with head banging for me and moments of despair. years later and we are inseparable. love my op1. ill have one the rest of my life. prolly several.

Found a sustain portion latch for held notes.
Endless .Shift and blue to change from time measures into crank.
Turn blue.

About sample memories. Lifting from one user ,drop to another for variations. Don’t save to snapshots ,but have 4 versions of sample over 4 user numbers.
(Also another tip that may be useful when editing snapshot.Shift & synth to reset to snapshot. So edit,then lift before resetting ,then drop to compare quickly).

I would at least wait the 6 or 7 more weeks to get familiar with it by the time the OS update drops.


Personally, I hold onto gear for at least 6 months and learn it inside out before I even consider letting it go. How can you know it’s not for you in such a short period of time?