Why I think the OP-Z has gone under the radar

I agree it should be, but I just don’t see TE the same as other brands that make this stuff… they are just different. A lot of their products seem to be made of cardboard and tin sheets, they focus on design and clothing and toys. I just don’t have the same expectations with them as if they were made by electron, or nord, or any serious swedish musical instruments.
Btw, I am in the process of demagnetizing my dials right now…lol.

Yes the quality of the device is a huge letdown. At this price it should have been much sturdier.

The line module is fantastic though and does much more than just give line inputs. I highly recommend. My opz acts as the brain to a whole desk.

I also recommend getting some way to record audio from the OPZ. I’ve had some awesome luck tweaking the synth engine and resampling into the opz to get more processed and crazy, stacking lfo’s and different effects to create some gnarly sounds.

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This is one prevalent & recurring opinion I will never understand.

If they aren’t making “serious” musical gear then the OPZ and a lot of other TE instruments need to drop to PO level prices to make that clear :blush:

Build quality and quality control are an issue…but they aren’t the only offenders in the industry! However, TE seems to be the only company getting labelled as unserious because of the problem.

More importantly, since you mentioned Elektron, what makes a piece of gear serious is determined by users and musicians creating with a tool. If you haven’t heard seriously great music come out of Teenage Engineering gear, yours or others, that’s on you not them.

Yes, Elektron stuff is generally built like a tank and perfect for gigging without worry that things will fall apart easily (though they’ve had serious materials failures over the years e.g. faulty encoders on multiple devices and stiff/defective batch of Rytm pads which caused extensive problems)

They market themselves as a serious music tech company but you can still have fun with any box they make. And vice versa…TE is far more playful in branding/marketing but the only thing stopping people from using them to make serious music is their own mind (or workflow preferences).

TE is really the only music tech company offering seriously portable hardware for musicians on the go. They have state-of-the-art wireless communication standards integrated in the recent product range that includes sampler, sequencer, synth, mixer and speaker ALL of which have built-in rechargeable & replaceable batteries. Elektron’s only attempt at an official mobile power solution was a poorly planned afterthought that had to be recalled…AAs in a clumsily attached power handle. But TE is the joke company making toys?

Some people can’t see past the colorful accessories or the fact that none of the TE line include DIN midi. To each their own but those opinions don’t invalidate thousands of music pros using TE for sound design, education, recording, and performing serious music.

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Ok man geez, you seem really upset I called them not serious… sorry, they are serious. Please calm down now.

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Yes let’s be serious :grin:.

I’m completely calm

Just sick of encountering this same discussion everywhere online

There’s plenty worth criticizing TE for…I just don’t think that’s one of em

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Yes, I gave the line module a first try today. Thumbs up! As a start, I’m using it to route two OP-Z’s tracks to a matrix mixer in my modular system and from there I use the modular effects on the tracks. On top, I could use the OP-Z’s sequencers via a MIDI to CV module to control my modular. But right now I am quite satisfied with the two generative OP-Z voices through a tape delay simulator blended with some raw, filter modulated analog noise. And if I wanted, I could bring the whole modular mix back into the OP-Z. Connectivity sometimes is key! Despite its playful looks I find the OP-Z very useful indeed for serious audio applications. It is a charming device. :smiley: New housing, please. :wink:

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