And trying to answer the most asked question. Is it worth it?

Probably the most controversial release of the past few years, the OP-1 field generated a ton of discussion regarding its price. And that’s completely reasonable. In my opinion, the thing that made a lot of people furious was that the field model had only a few major improvements compared to the original OP-1 which could not justify its price jump.

So, I got the chance to get an OP-1 field from our friends at Teenage Engineering for review and today I’ll try to go through my experience using it daily for more than a month. Please note that I’ve never owned an original OP-1 so this is not going to be a comparison between the field and the older model.

So what is the OP-1 Field (in a nutshell)?

The OP-1 is probably the best device that does almost everything on one device. It’s a synth, a sampler, a drum machine, it has effects, and you can record a full song on it by using its Tape. So it’s essentially a portable DAW. It may not have all the features that an actual DAW like Ableton Live has, but it certainly has enough to complete a full production.

If you want to watch a video review I’ve got one on my YouTube Channel after having it for a couple of years!

Unmatched Portability

The portability aspect of the OP-1 field is something I want to further elaborate since I’ve seen a lot of comparisons with other portable devices that miss an important point. There is not any portable device that can do all the things that the OP-1 can do on its own. There is a ton of music gear that works on batteries but the ability to go from 0 and create a full production is something that the OP-1 does the best. You can find many portable synths but it is a bit pointless to carry them around with you since you’ll only play with some sounds or create patches. And when you’ll want to move on to the next part you’ll end up stuck and you’ll have to go back to the studio.

It happens to have an amazing battery life (about 10 hours!) and you can use it as a sketchpad for ideas, loops, or even full tracks anywhere you go. Its size is amazingly compact but also sturdy and its workflow urges you to record and arrange stuff.

Looks to kill

When I first saw the OP-1 field at Superbooth, I thought that I preferred the older version regarding its looks. The original OP-1 just looked more playful and quirky. But as soon as I got my hands on the Field version, I loved it. It is a solid piece of aluminum that feels robust and solid and on top, you’ll find the white keys and buttons that feel so satisfying to play with. It looks and feels like a premium device, while ergonomically it's almost perfect. And let’s be honest, there is not a sexier-looking device than the OP-1 field in the world. That may not seem important but the aesthetics of a piece of gear or a studio are subconsciously a key factor to using them more and feeling good holding them and touching them.

Main Features

The OP-1 field has a ton of features that we can’t cover in this post but instead, we’ll go through its main building blocks for making music.

Synth

On its synth page, you’ll find a lot of synthesizer engines to choose from. Twelve to be exact, plus the Sampler which will cover on its own. Each engine is based on a different synthesis method like subtractive, wave shaping, Karplus Strong, FM, and more. On every synth, you have different controls for the four main knobs, an envelope page, an effects page, and an LFO. Some of them are somewhat standard like the new Dimension engine which uses a familiar synth architecture and some of them are pretty wild like the Voltage engine which is a noisy & wild synth.

You’ll quickly pick your favorites and stick to them but you always have the option to experiment when you want something new. My favorites are the Dimension, FM, and String since they are engines that I’m familiar with and can get them to sound as I want fast. All the synths are meticulously curated by Teenage Engineering so having only a handful of controls on each own is enough to get you going. While you can create numerous sounds, the OP-1 is not a sound-design tool, but a tool to make music, and having fewer options is forcing you to use it like this.

Sampler & Drum Sampler

The Samplers on the OP-1 field are the reason I love it so much. You have two of them, one for sampling a single sound and playing it with the keyboard and one for chopping it and creating sequences, which I mainly use for drum sounds. You can sample from its stereo input, from the radio, from its internal microphone, or even resample its output.

For me, having an internal mic that sounds great is a game-changer. While I mainly use its input to sample instruments and sounds from my studio, having the option of capturing sounds using the mic is amazing. It makes the sampling process so much faster and enables you to use it more.

Both samplers are great and have all the features you definitely need on a sampler. You can pitch stuff, add start & end points, loop, reverse, etc and you still have your envelope, effects, and LFO pages for more tweaking.

Effects

The effects on the OP-1 field are very unique and sometimes weird. You have eight different effects but most of them are not your average effects. Delays, Reverbs, Filters, and Modulation are created from the ground up and sound like nothing else. The infamous CWO is a great example of how quirky and crazy the effects can get on the OP-1.

The new addition of the Mother reverb is awesome and sounds so lush and was very welcomed since the Spring reverb is a bit too specialized and did not work for everything. The Phone, Grid, and Delay are some amazing modulated delays and the Punch & Nitro are filters that are very useful for its sounds.

I mostly use the OP-1 with external effects pedals or plugins so I love the fact that I can use its effects as a sound-design tool instead of just some plain & standard effects. Almost all effects are pretty profound and have a drastic effect on your sounds while you still have some more utilitarian options like Nitro which is a filter with low-pass and high-pass controls.

Sequencers

Another great feature of the OP-1 field is its sequencers. There are seven in total and they are extremely helpful and inspiring. Sequencers can be used for both synth & drum with the only difference being the Finger which has a dedicated sequencer for each.

The only new one is Hold which is a hold function to infinitely sustain notes. While it may seem underwhelming, having this option is quite useful if you want to hold a chord, transpose it, and play with effects. I’ve used the Hold sequencer way more than I thought I would, so I think it’s a nice little addition.

Instead of Sketch which I’ve yet haven’t figured out how to use, all the other options are awesome. Tombola is best suited for some syncopated ambient melodies, Pattern is a typical grid sequencer like the ones you see in a DAW, the Arpeggio is very inspiring and has a lot more functionality than most arpeggiators, Finger is great for drum patterns and combining melodies, and Endless is a step sequencer that’s perfect for both drums and synths.

Endless is my go-to sequencer for everything. The step-by-step sequencing is very fun and you often make mistakes that turn out to be a very welcomed happy accident which I love.

LFOs

Each sound preset has a page for an LFO. This is the only option for modulation but since you can modulate almost everything on each sound, it can be a very powerful tool. And on top of that, a lot of things can be a modulation source. You can have a waveform be the modulator like we’re used to on many synths, but on the OP-1 field, you can have the unit’s movement, MIDI, its main summed output, or an external output, and velocity as the modulation source.

That results in so many interesting sounds and crazy modulations. Also, setting it up is super quick so you can experiment and switch LFOs instantly to find the best for your sound. It may be just one LFO, but the amount of options it has makes it so intuitive and useful to give life to your patches.

Tape

Lastly, the Tape. If you’ve seen some OP-1 videos, you’ll probably have noticed the two reels that resemble a tape deck playing your music. The Tape is a four-track recorder where you can record your sounds and arrange them to create songs. You have EQ controls, a Drive control, a dedicated Master Effect slot, and a Mixer, and you can also speed up or down the tape like you would on an actual tape deck.

OP-1 field Tape only works with audio. The Tape just records audio files and no MIDI data so once it’s on the tape, it stays there. Since we’re so used to recording MIDI sequences that we can later change, quantize, and correct the OP-1 workflow might feel daunting at first sight. In my case, I mostly use audio recordings anyway, even if I use Ableton Live, so the transition to the OP-1’s workflow wasn’t that difficult but I can understand why a lot of people are not happy using its Tape recorder.

You will definitely make a lot of mistakes, and you’ll have to play a part, again and again, to make it right but that’s just the way that this machine works. Cutting & pasting things quickly becomes second nature and the whole process gets faster and easier to grasp and work with. If you’ve actually worked with tape or four-track recorders in the past, this will seem like a piece of cake since it’s quite intuitive and well-designed to fast-track your workflow.

A much-needed addition to the field model is that you can have multiple tapes that you work with so you’re not always stuck with the same project and there are a few tape simulations to choose from that will have an effect on your overall mix.

Personally, I haven’t made a full track on the OP-1 field yet. My tapes look like a collection of loops and ideas that I will later import into Ableton and that’s a very big deal for me. Having the ability to play around and just record an idea before I move on to the next one is very useful. When I’m not in the studio I use the OP-1 field as a sketchpad for ideas and sequences and I’ll probably make a few bar loops as a starting point for a song.

Overall Experience

From the day the OP-1 field arrived, it has become the center point of my studio and my music-making process. It’s the first thing to grab and the device that I spend the most time with when I’m writing music. I’ve also sampled a lot of my favorite presets from my other synths so now it’s like having my whole studio on a portable device.

I think that the OP-1 field is a perfect example of having a ton of features and functionalities made simple and quick to use. It has a few quirks, key combinations, and hidden features you’ll have to get used to, but after a while, you build the muscle memory needed. I have never used the original OP-1 and I now feel I’m at a very solid level at using it, even for the more weird and esoteric stuff it can do. If for example, I had to compare it to the Elektron Digitakt that I have had since its launch a few years ago, I’m still under-utilizing it by far. While on the OP-1 field, I’m able to do complex stuff and take full advantage of it in less than a month. And that’s something great engineering and user experience look like.

My main usage of the OP-1 comes from sampling instruments and drum loops. I’ve seen a lot of people claiming that the Casio SK-1 is a poor man’s OP-1 and having both instruments, I kind of agree with that. On the SK-1, I’ve always sampled a note of a synth or a short melodic loop and played it back with its keyboard. And that’s what I mostly do with the OP-1. I love to sample instruments and sounds and transform them into whole new instruments. Of course on the OP-1, I have an envelope, effects, and the almighty LFO to take a single note and turn it into a great patch and that’s what I do daily with it.

The synths are also great on the OP-1 field. You can create some very beautiful-sounding patches that sound very rich and full. And to my ears, I don’t think that the OP-1 sounds too digital. Maybe that’s a complaint that people had on the original OP-1, but in the OP-1 field synths sound thick and fat and you can create some very analog-sounding synth patches. On the drum side, laying a quick beat is easier than ever. And having a different drum sound on every key (24 keys) is so good. On other samplers, you usually have 8-16 tracks for samples while on the OP-1 you get 24 so your beats can have a lot of variations and sounds.

Overall, I use the OP-1 field for pretty much everything. It is a very inspiring synth, an amazing sampler, and a cool drum machine with effects and sequencers so it’s the epitome of a does-all device. A lot of instruments have tried to do more than one thing but in my opinion, almost everyone failed miserably while the OP-1 stands firm as the king of a portable DAW/ instrument. It’s ergonomically perfect, it does everything more than great, and it can become whatever you want it to be.

My wishlist for the future

The original OP-1 was around for 11 years and took a lot of firmware updates with added functionalities. The OP-1 field was released a year ago and since then, Teenage Engineering already added Velocity sensitivity which is amazing and a brand new vocoder which is quite cool if you’re into vocoders in general. I’m not saying you should get one hoping that things will be added in the future but it is a safe bet that the OP-1 field is here to stay for a long time and it will be updated and upgraded every few months with new features. So it’s definitely a future-proof device.

So, what I would love to see in future updates?

One relatively easy thing that would be a game changer for me would be a filter on every sound preset without needing to use the Nitro effect. I use filters a lot so not having one, I need to use the Nitro effect on every sound without the option of using the other effects. A workaround on this would be to have both the effects and LFOs on pages 3 & 4 so we could use 2 effects and no LFOs or two LFOs and no effects, or both. This would open up so many possibilities for sound design and modulation but it also changes the device’s architecture. Another option would be to use Pages 3 or 4 + the preset selectors 1-8 to have extra slots for effects and LFOs making it a serious powerhouse for effect chains and modulations. Imagining an OP-1 field with 4 effects and 4 LFOs looks like a dream.
A few new synth engines. We’ve already posted an imaginary granular synth engine for the OP-1 field which would be so exciting to use. I would love to see a few more “standard” synths like Dimension or some other synthesis engines that Teenage Engineering hasn’t yet explored like Additive synthesis. The truth is the synth engines on the OP-1 field are already covering most of the methods available but it would be fun to see them creating something new.
Drum Engine. That is a bit tricky, but I would love to see a drum engine other than the Dbox that will sound more like actual acoustic percussion.
More effects. I really like the craziness of OP-1’s effect engines but I would also love to have some more effect types like a Bitcrusher, a Reverse Delay, a Wow & Flutter cassette emulation, etc.

I’m certain that we will definitely see a bunch of new synths and effects on the OP-1 field in the near future and I can’t wait to try them out. The OP-1 is an ever-evolving platform and for the next 5 to 10 years it’s going to become even better with firmware updates.

Is it worth it?

Now to the question, everyone asks. Is this worth 2.000€?

There are a lot of ways to answer this question. Regarding my experience, yes. I love the sounds, the sampling options, and the overall workflow. It is a device that just clicks with me and I use it every single day. And I’m not just fooling around with it, I’m actually being more productive and making more music so as an enabler for that, it is worth the investment. Even if you split everything that the OP-1 field does and just buy a great instrument for every purpose you’ll still going to spend around 2K to have a decent setup so it’s a quite reasonable price. Yes, you’re also paying for branding but that’s something that every company does.

For example, instead of getting the OP-1 field, you could get an Arturia MiniFreak to have all those different options for synths which costs 600€, a Digitakt for sampling and sequencing which costs 900€, and a couple of effects pedals for 300€ totaling 1.800€. And you’d still not have the recorder that the OP-1 has, plus, you cannot carry those things everywhere with you. To be fair, both the MiniFreak & Digitakt are more capable devices as a synth & sampler respectively but you’d then have to answer if you actually care about all those extra features that they offer and if portability is something you need.

The OP-1 field is a workhorse that you’ll probably use for a lot of years so paying its premium price might is the right thing to do. It’s a device that can do everything effortlessly and that will find a spot in your studio and productions so it can be considered an investment in your music career. After all, there are a lot of instruments that cost a lot of money and no one complains. For the same amount, you could get for example a Moog Matriarch which is a 4-voice paraphonic analog synthesizer that sounds massive and it’s also an amazing piece of gear.

And that’s where the answer to this question lies. The OP-1 field is incomparable to anything else simply because there is nothing else like it. There are synths, samplers, recorders, effects, and sequencers but nothing packages everything on a small portable device so well and intuitively. It is a category of each and the only thing that I could compare it with would be a laptop with a DAW and a MIDI controller. Which probably costs even more but has so many other capabilities and its feature set is endless.

Conclusion

The OP-1 field is an amazing device and definitely lived up to my expectations. I love using it and experimenting with it, it sparkes new ideas and delivers great sounds for my music productions. Yes, it’s expensive but it also feels and works like an expensive piece of gear should. My only disappointment with its price is that it’s not an accessible device. I’m sure there are thousands of musicians and producers who would enjoy using and doing wonders with it but can’t afford it. But that goes with a lot of things in life.

Its stellar UI/UX and the quality of both hardware and software are something that a lot of instruments lack and it’s now obvious to me why so many people love their OP-1s. People are currently bashing Teenage Engineering for their new bags, desks, and every product that they charge a lot of money for and that’s understandable to an extent. But I cannot deny that the OP-1 field is such a beautiful instrument to work with every day.

It’s immediate, deep, and makes my life easier and more creative and I can’t put a price tag on this. So, if you’re on the verge of getting one, I would easily recommend it. It’s an investment that will pay its price through the usage and creativity it’s going to offer you and in the end, you’ll be satisfied you took the big step and bought one.