You’d think Teen Engineering would last another year without something throwing them both off ? Think again. The company just announced the long-rumored OP-XY groovebox. It looks like an OP-1 Field, but plays like a relatively ancient OP-Z. Its price is 2300 dollars.
The OP-XY is described by the company as “a powerful all-in-one synthesizer and composer with deep, direct sequencing capabilities.” This is sequential, as opposed to the fake tape recording found with the OP-1 siblings.
Inside the box is a multisampler, in addition to several great-sounding synth engines, drum kits, and a host of useful effects, including punch effects. . As for specs, this little beast is packed with 512GB of RAM, a dual CPU system with “ultra-fast processing power and efficiency,” and 8GB of internal storage.
Teenage Engineering boasts groovebox’s “brain chord development.” It allows players to program chord sequences by “letting your hands do the talking.” We don’t know exactly what this means, because when programming any chord sequence we have to wait for practical experience, which allows for live recording.
Like the OP-Z, it has a built-in gyroscope that allows players to adjust settings by simply moving the device. As for connectivity, there’s a USB-C port, 3.5mm stereo input, MIDI input, MIDI sync and a new multi-output port that can send MIDI, CV, gate or sync data. It even has Bluetooth MIDI.
She is also an absolute leader in the looks department. This thing is a stunner, even though it’s been changed to matte black, dropping the toy-like OP-Z aesthetic for something eerily similar to the OP-1 Field. There’s a bright OLED display and many of the same multi-function knobs and buttons found with the original OP-1 and Field. It looks very nice and I want it.
As mentioned earlier, there is a rub. The OP-XY costs $2,300. You read right. This is $300 more than the OP-1 field. heck. You can buy a brand new standard OP-1 and OP-Z and still have money left over to buy cables and other accessories. Despite the price, I’m cautiously optimistic about it. I absolutely love the OP-1 Area and I don’t care who knows it.
This is indeed the first ultra-expensive instrument released by the company since the aforementioned OP-1 Field. Last year and his both cost $300. OP-XY is currently available.
