Just wondering how everyone else is using their OP-Xy. After two years of buying and selling gear in search of my perfect setup, I believe I’ve finally found it. I hope that the XY continues to get updates because there is still a lot of room for improvement, and I’ve decided to keep mine, rather than return it, pretty much banking on the hope that TE will eventually make this thing bulletproof.
I’m have my XY going into my Digitakt 2 (audio and MIDI), and then audio out from Digitakt into my SP404 mk2. I have a faderfox EC4 for whenever I find myself performing live, if I ever do again. I’m trying to fit my Oxi One sequencer into the mix but haven’t found it to be complete necessity yet. Not going to let it go though. I have some pedals for external fx. I have other gear for secondary setups or for when I want to change things up (op-1 field, 1010music blackbox, Maschine, op-z, Dirtywave m8, etc.) but this is what my setup is looking like right now and I’m loving it. What about you? How are you implementing your OP-XY into your workflow?
I think I’ve found my perfect setup too: XY and Micromonsta 2
I can play and p-lock the MM2 from the XY. Since I select the MM2s patches via bank select and program change, I get some kind of total recall. It feels like it’s a single device and the resulting workflow is really smooth.
Apart from that, they also fit together well in terms of sound, size and appearance.
i absolutely need to do this next, have mainly been running external effects via xy and also a bit of lemondrop nanobox action but as ive got the MM2 gathering dust and itching to play i need to set this up. Did you need to do anything special to get it all working properly? ive had issues getting the MM2 to play without horrendous interferance when not using the midi adaptor it comes with, which ive noticed from pic you’re not using!
Nothing special here. I simply use standard mini trs cables to connect audio and MIDI between the MM2 and the XY. USB at the MM2 is used for power supply only.
If you want to use the MM2s USB port for MIDI too you have to use one of this cheap group loop isolators behind the MM2s audio output.
Like this one:
This has technically nothing to do with the MIDI/TRS adapter supplied with the MM2.
My Teenage Engineering setup consists of the OP-1 Field connected to the OP-XY via USB, the TX-6, and the TP-7. This is setup on a large TV tray in my living room.
I have a larger setup in my den that changes periodically, but the centerpiece of that is my Cirklon 2, Novation Summit keyboard or Arturia Keystep 37 and various desktop synthesizers.
must have been the ground issue i was remembering. Got it all hooked up in seconds and can confirm your original comment that these devices are a dream together for compact musical joy. Ended up losing about 6hrs to some constant jamming last night, forgot how good the MM2 sounds
Great to hear. For my personal taste most of the factory sounds are more on the mediocre side.
There is a soundpack called Mojo which shows me that the MM2 is one of the best synths I ever owned. Nearly every sound inside this pack is a pleasure.
And the best thing about it: Mojo has motivated me to build my own sounds with the MM2.
I would like to connect the two devices with just one USB cable. This basically works (for audio and MIDI), but I can’t get the DT2 to receive MIDI from the XY. All the MIDI settings on both devices should be correct.
My goal is to use the XY as a MIDI controller and multisampler for the DT2 at the same time. It works with audio and MIDI cables, but I would prefer to use a single cable for this.
A youtuber called Hayleigh King does a series I really like called “Morning Meditations”, often using just the pairing of the OP-1f and Pluto. I bought one as a result of her influence.
The Pluto is similar to having a modular synth with one of those sequencers that can cycle a short sequence repeatedly or you can have it trigger and just keep running on its own as an underpinning to your realtime jams on the OP-1f or OP-XY or whatever. Used in that manner, you don’t need to use midi clock to keep them in sync.
What keys would you pair with OP-XY?
I’m loving my OP-XY for its immediacy and its availability. It’s the pen and pad that go with me everywhere, and that can turn the thing stuck in my head into a thing I can share.
I’m interested in expanding my home base. That means a decent multi-octave MIDI controller. And OP-XY has persuaded me that I really love twiddling knobs, which means I want a standalone synth.
I’ve done some shopping and I’m pretty into the Hydrasynth - the versatility and polyphony and the expressiveness of the poly aftertouch keys all feel really good to me. I fiddled with one for 20 minutes and had a blast. My biggest concern comes from reading reports about MIDI clock issues - I really want to have a synth I could trust to take clock signals and notes OP-XY and reliably run its arpeggiator and LFOs from that clock.
Is anyone running a Hydrasynth with OP-XY who can speak to a positive experience? Naysayers gonna say nay, obviously.
Is anyone having a really great integration experience with a synth (esp with a good keyboard) that they want to share?
I had a Hydra that I used to pair with my MC707, never had any issues with sync between the two FWIW. Brilliant synth though, probably one of the best bang for the buck synthesizer out there IMO. Built like a tank and the UI is really well thought out for being so reliant on endless encoders. Here’s a review I did if you want a deeper look:
I just recently started pairing my XY with an Empress Euroboro and I’m loving it! The cool thing is you can choose how you want to sync it up. You can either do an audio loop which I’m doing here in the photo, but you also have the option to control it using MIDI or CV. Puts the multi-port to work!
Dam… You just reminded me of this great synth, I had already decided on a AS1 as a mono and another small poly desktop for a live set, but after listen to some arp and bass/lead demos this thing just blew what I considered to be one of the best sounding mono synths with memory around straight out of the firmament
one of the best sounding synths around both analog and digital …
Can you use the pads for patch selections (favorites)?
programming arps or step seq?,
can it be set to scales and or user scales (notes per pad)?
any preformance control anything other than just playing notes?
Can it be powered via powerbank?
thx for posting!
your post just rearanged my nr#1 synth to get list
… wish it was bit lighter/smaller and self powered for true portability
I’ve been using my OP-XY with my KOII recently, it’s actually quite complementary! I use the KOII as a:
MIDI controller - I really like playing live on the KOII, the buttons feel nice and responsive, the keyboard mode is very flexible and the layout is great for chords. I use the A-D groups to quickly change between controlling different tracks on the XY.
Live performance stuff with samples.
FX send - I like the FX on the KOII, especially the chorus and distortion
I’ve not tried live sampling the XY, but that could be fun too. Very conveniently, you can use the USB from the XY to power and send MIDI to the KOII too.
1 - No, at least not when I was using it you couldn’t. It’s been a year and half or so since I owned one, not sure if there were any updates.
2 - Yes, and you can change the pad layout to something like 4ths.
3 - I don’t think so, it’s mainly just for playing on. Feels really nice too, supports poly aftertouch and was a lot more expressive than I was expecting. The pads definitely punch far above their price.
4 - Everything can if you have a big enough power bank Not sure about smaller ones though, that’s not something I ever tried.
Didn’t really replace it with anything, I’ve just been focusing more on smaller more portable units the last few years. Move, OP-1F, Op-XY, Digitakt, etc.
