Let’s muse on this
- Updated body material as per OPZ and maybe same knobs as OPZ
- Thinking they could shave off a few CM off the body size whilst still keeping same sized keys / buttons
Why? With the exception of the keyboard, the OP1 feels nice. One thing about the current keyboard is that the mechanisms inside it do not resonate like e.g. on the recent Elektron boxes. They could make the execution tighter - e.g. avoid double-keystrokes, make the encoders a little smoother, but I doubt it needs new materials. The OP1 is ergonomic enough. The size feels exactly right. It’s not too heavy and not light either to feel substandard.
- Increased memory for patches as well as sample time for indv samples
- More DSP
- Maybe some Bluetooth midi and audio connectivity
So basically new innards. They could do this today and it would highlight the OP1’s shortcomings in the choice of implemented features - e.g. the almost exclusively time-based effects, limited sequencers, low quality of e.g. Spring and the synth engines, mono-only tracks w/o any per-track FX, no USB host inside, no stereo sampling. At which point, after you start changing these, is it no longer an OP1?
- updated screen and graphics
- Ability to rename patches on the device itself
- Maybe some additional tracks or a 5th midi track that has quantisation that could be used to record onto the audio tracks
- Ability to have 2 FX or FX chaining per synth and master
- And obviously new synth engines
With the exception of tape layout, the UI is pretty decent and playful, and I’m sure you’d hear few complaints about it but definitely not enough to justify a deep review. Renaming patches on the device is one of a class of features TE obviously find minor enough not to bother at all, which is probably where they could take biggest criticism. MIDI recording to a track would be possible but it brings up questions about workflow and the need to deepen the UI, which you can tell TE have pressed against (or they wouldn’t have dumbed it down to this extent). The last two on your wishlist are to do with DSP power, for which you’re also looking at the 2nd group of issues (hardware).
So, no. Like Apple painting themselves in a corner with the trashcan Mac Pro, TE can’t simply revamp the OP1 without running head-on into its deficiencies, some 10 years after the original launched. Subsequent revisions would inevitably end up far enough in quality to warrant a different name altogether.
Lastly, if they were to do this, they’d need to announce it in advance, at which point sales of the current OP1 would drop to 0. I doubt they’re large enough to afford this.
There’s enough room for UI updates to the OP1 - unassigned interaction gestures, simple things like allowing one to save and reload midi sequences, even more complex things like mix-paste or undo. And there’s room for internal updates like better power management, more robust i/o board, speaker, volume knob. Look at how those change (I think they don’t) and how often firmware updates come out (I think not often).
