Full disclosure: i learned electronic music in a setting where i had to use headphones and work in near silence to avoid disturbing family and roommates
I always prefer electronics without a built in speaker or the means to disable it. Whether I like it or not, built in speakers have become part of TEs core design philosophy and I love most of their tools despite that.
Just like including battery power or relying heavily on wireless tech (ble etc) and companion apps, they will always slot in a speaker if possible
My use case is obviously different from yours. For me it’s important that an instrument has decent speakers, and there is already not a lot of choice out there in this regard. It’s easy to ignore a speaker that you don’t need, but it’s not so easy to ignore the absence of a speaker if you need it.
Ok, guys, so how about this: the XY XL would be thick enough to have 1/4” i/o jacks on the rear side of the unit, 3.5mm headphone jack on the front side and STEREO speakers would occupy the space on the sides of the unit. I think that’s a win for everyone, I guess my only issue with the speaker being on the top side is that it takes up valuable real estate when I’d rather have that space for a bigger screen or extra controls. I’m not hating on the speaker existing, just that it’s on the front. I had a MicroKorg S and the stereo speakers on it are pretty nice, but they’re on the bottom of the unit.
I also think this design is too standard for TE, they will have to make their devices quirky and different so that they remain unique lol
I’m actually making some beats with XY in my lap right now using the internal speaker and it’s pretty good.. but I stand by my latest design thought, putting stereo speakers on the sides.
I chuckled at the thought TE might actually scale up the power switch bat to match the imagined larger XY…making it even harder to protect from damage than it is now. As you mentioned, TE sometimes makes quirky choices
I definitely didn’t intend to make the power switch appear larger I actually like what it is now, feels really nice and sturdy. I did accidentally turn it on when I put it in the included case for transport, draining the battery a bit. I also changed the settings thanks to terakith’s video so that when you turn the switch off, it waits 5 seconds to allow you to change your mind and turn it back on, pretty nifty.
As someone who has done tons of fantasy UI’s I will comment on what IMO are the better design choices,
First: it would benefit from more space and ‘‘hand’s on’’ form ..
The OG is crowded and this is just as crowded, just like in music space is often a friend..
You just took everything and made it bigger but did not factor in reason vs size vs function. If you’re doing an XL allow it to be that .. Its needs to be 3x size of the XY and be designed for a fluid hands on operation
IMO The knobs on OPXYXL… should be on left and right side making for dual hand operation and should be disks
Buttons would benefit from dedicated controls rather than shift functions
I have my own ideas .. But they look nothing like this, but I agree the system of the XY is an incredible groove box and would benefit greatly from a new format .. and coping a format it wasn’t really naturally home too to begin with IMO isn’t the right place to start
Hmm.. thank you for your input! I shall create a new iteration. The first draft was done while I was at work and not much thought was put into what all of the extra knobs and buttons would do.. that will change next time
Alright everyone, here is an updated mockup. Just so everyone knows, in this version there are STEREO SPEAKERS along the entire length of the side panels, 3.5mm headphone jack, send/return, midi i/o and cv i/o, PLUS 1/4” stereo audio in and out.
In this version, there are 17 tracks with their own dedicated row of buttons; 1-8 instrument tracks, 1-8 aux tracks, plus an audio looper track (op-1 style, unsynced.) there are 2 rows of sequencer buttons, 1-8 and 17-24 are for the Instrument tracks, 9-16 and 25-32 are for Auxiliary tracks. The step components also have their own dedicated row, freeing up the keyboard for one function..
Next to the Module 6 button there are dedicated undo and redo buttons, and beyond that there are 8 buttons available for different functions if anyone has ideas? With 6 module buttons and 8 encoders, the functionality is already vastly expanded in this version, such as 8 parameters for each instrument track plus 2 lfos/mod envelope, are there any other shift functions that could use dedicated buttons?
The idea is to have a DAW/groovebox with fixed hardware controls.. I use my iPad for extended stuff like automation and effects, but I needs my hardware controls!
If only T.E made an instrument with a quality keyboard with aftertouch and a cpu that can handle big samples and it doesn’t steal notes with a basic project and etc etc.
They’re a bit mental aren’t they what with T-shirt prices and wallpaper tables for a grand and those useless wooden things.
Aye, I enjoy taking the OP-XY and OP-1 away with me or mucking about, very occasionally using a synth engine on a proper song but until T.E make a better instrument I suspect their usefulness in studios will remain ultra minimal. Fun yes but never essential.
Say that mockup did get made you can be sure it’d be crippled by style over substance.
I think its fine as a studio machine and I havew been pro for 30 years, iw as very surprised at the depth and the care gone into this, Grown Up engineering more like. Not happy with the battery replacement issue though, here is a reply from TE support.
"The battery is custom, though mostly due to the shape.
repairs usually take 2-3 weeks, depending on shipping times. in terms of costs, the current costs from the UK would be as follows:
I actually like what it is now, feels really nice and sturdy. I did accidentally turn it on when I put it in the included case for transport, draining the battery a bit. I also changed the settings thanks to terakith’s video so that when you turn the switch off, it waits 5 seconds to allow you to change your mind and turn it back on, pretty nifty.
