Forgive me, it's not clickbait

So I have an OP-1 and I think I need to sell it because a) I am skint and b) I normally just use it for sequencing / arpeggiating other stuff.

Whenever I am about to sell something which I've had for a long time I spend some time with it. So I play around with it and I love it. But the sounds are not amazing, they're OK. But the form factor and "package" is great. And I think I can use this when I'm floating around in a boat in my new world when my current world stops sucking.

Pull back a bit and the OP-1 is not amazing (to me) in terms of sounds. And I mostly use the sequencers and arpeggiator which are good, very good but not amazing. And I wonder why there is nothing else around in this "package" when we see Behringer doing stuff like the Swing. Why has nobody tried to do something similar. Because it's bloody expensive and seems to be very popular. But isn't the concept quite simple? Get rid fo the quirky clever things and you'll have a portable groovebox with a keyboard and drums / synths / recorder.

In this new world, why is a cheap OP-1 competitor not "a thing"?

Please be nice to me, I've had a bloody hard 2020

Ian

Depends on what kind of workflow appeals, or on the other hand, simply what kind doesn’t make you want to destroy the gear in question.

That said, have you checked out the Organelle? Or, for that matter, an iPad?

My recommendation, FWIW, would be the iPad. An older model is fine.

For form factor - sonicware ELZ

For variation - ipad

Out the box - mc 101- its small, has a lot of the things that the op-1 has, and costs a third of the price.

All in one - mpc live 1/2.




Fwiw I had the op-1 and became very bored, very quickly. Its a nice thing to own, but price vs functionality /usefulness, and it soon became clear that there were better things to spend money on.

Many thanks for the reply which is appreciated. I've owned an organelle but it's not as immediate. I've had iPads since the first model but that's a computer. I'm not looking for an alternative - I'm just wondering why such a thing in a similar form factor (a keyboard based groove box) doesn't exist elsewhere.

My MC101 is also on the way out - I have a MC707. But could you imagine a MC101 in an OP-1 form factor? Wouldn't that sell like hot cakes ? And shouldn't that be "relatively simple" ?

That would be a killer device. And yes, you'd think it would be a no brainer, but Roland.

How about the Tasty Chips gr 1? It's nothing like any of the aforementioned, but is such a nice piece of kit, that it may fill gaps you have?

The JD-Xi is basically a Groovebox with a keyboard... a crappy keyboard, but still a fun machine.

What about the new Sonicware 8bit Liven, out soon/pre order? Would that fit?

To be clear, I have no gaps. I have a lack of (musical) talent and too much gear . I am not after a replacement, just pondering (as the question clarifies in my brain), why is the OP-1 form-factor and basic functionality not more popular.

No, because I need less gear . I don't need to replace the OP-1 (well maybe I will but that's not where I'm from at the moment). Just pondering why that small form factor groovebox with a keyboard is not of interest.It seems to be so popular BUT nothing has tried to compete with it.

Stop posting stuff I want to buy :-D

Bang on. That functionality in an OP-1 form factor. Is it that hard?

The IPad with Korg Gadget is amazing for this, Just pretend the rest of the operating system doesn’t exist.

I’m pretty content with my pressure pad-based Groovebox (Maschine+) and sampler-sequencer (MPC Live II) and I don’t miss having a built-in keyboard all that much. Also both devices have USB ports so it would be really easy to plug in a MIDI keyboard if I really wanted to have keys.

iPad with Drambo.

I've poked at the OP1 for a few minutes. Maybe it's the size but it seemed like a gadget to me. If it was gifted to me I'm sure I would enjoy it. I felt like I could get a lot more out of my money elsewhere.

Thank you, that's the one I was trying to remember. Bitfolding synth, or whatever you call what it's supposed to be doing. Now I can find the page and bookmark it.

For a sequencer and an arpeggiator, the little bro and way cheaper, OP-Z comes to my mind. These are its specific strengths!
As well, Roland MC-101 and Novation Circuit!

P.s.
Myself, I love the OP-1. It has brought in me lovely quirky music that I would never create on any other gear.

I don’t think there is anything like the OP-1 it’s a bit unique, the whole tape based thing is very different to anything else.

The way things are going here I might need to start selling stuff off but the OP-1 would be one of the last things to go.

P.s. just remembered this https://otto-project.github.io/docs/ not sure it is going anywhere fast though.

Opz has a cut down op1 sampler and simplified engines but it's really a sequencer first and a really good one. Since you don't like the engines anyway it might be perfect for you. It still has that TE 90's gear kinda sound though. It is really addictive and powerful though.

It's nearly perfect for me and I have one

Does look nice but as you say, not a lot of activity in GitHub land

Running an OP-1 through an Analog Heat would make it sound half decent

I think the sheer cost of developing something like that (and unique) from scratch wont happen often. Its a mk1/2/3/4 game these days from the big companies with building a bit of plastic which lasts for 2/3 years with a computer inside it (NI/Akai etc).

My take on this is that a portable sampler/sequencer is something of a niche product and the OP1 and OP-Z already fill that niche. Other manufacturers would need to compete on price, and this is quite low volume, so it may not be possible to do a budget version. Or they would need to compete on the high end with features and build quality, but then it would still be expensive to develop and be even lower in volume.

Back in the day there were things like the Yamaha SU10 but that was before everyone had smart phones laptops and tablets.

In short, the market is too small for a competitor to risk the dev costs.