Teenage Engineering OP-XY review: What we love about it... and what we don't
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.พ. 2025
- Teenage Engineering's latest instrument might be the slickest - and most expensive - compact synth we've ever seen. Is it a worth sequel to the OP-1? Is it a scaled up OP-Z? Is it worth that hefty asking price? Let's find out.
In this video:
00:37 - What is it?
01:25 - What we love...
03:22 - Punch-in effects
04:12 - I/O
04:55 - Performance tools
06:00 - What we don't love...
07:15 - That price... is it worth it?
08:34 - Sound demos
The XY is the most fun I’ve ever had with a piece of music hardware. I love the portability & beginner-friendly basics. But then the sequencer, brain, & effects go surprisingly deep!
Made the mistake of trying one...has meant a lot of very average gear sold to afford it but it really is (for my usage case) a phenomenal bit of kit
IKR
You’ll regret selling that gear once your honeymoon phase is over
@@MyNameJeff.. Nope, my relationship build and grow for ex.. I doubt even more gear (which I don't have anymore anyway) why those even existed at the first place and why i was desparate to buy them. And I am very conservative when it comes to GAS. Now even more so, won't buy cheap and average, save up for something real worthy.
@MyNameJeff.. 30+ years of buying/selling gear has meant I've made that mistake more than I care to think, but I have a kind of system I use these days for vetting stuff and it hasn't failed me yet. Nothing leaves without good reason. I'd also built a list (nerrrrrd!) over the years of what I wanted from a sequencer and the XY has been the first thing to one up my Octatrack in that department so I didn't buy it purely on a sugar high...my hopes are good for this little slab of joy, time will tell :)
@@Farold_Haltermeyer none of Elektron boxes ever made my nerd list because had no battery, huge saving :) OP-Z did.
Wait … we just cracked one of the XY marketing trick ~ it looks like a chocolate slab LOL
Sweet! It’s a step up from 1320 pads smelling cocoa :)
If they add proper sample slicing then I’d be in. I do love the workflow and synths are better imo than all the other ones.
People claim TE has stated they will be improving the sampler, but I haven't been able to find where they said that. Right now, that's the main thing thats preventing me from pulling the trigger, along with no stem exporting for the songs you make.
Thanks for sharing, nicely balanced view. Overkill for my needs, Seqtrak is enough as a portable sketchpad and quite capable in it's own right..
First TE product I really wanted, I think it's great. I'd love to see a dedicated drum synth engine and perhaps an additional envelope that you can use as a modulation source e.g pitch etc. With these additions I think it would be perfect.
It’s worth the money idc I can’t afford it but it’s dope and very niche can’t wait for more Ko series stuff te definitely should be more focused on that kinda stuff but for every expensive thing they make they should make like ten cheap synths for the peasants
Of course it worth the price. And it’s black and cool too. What else to ask for? ❤
Good example songs , thing really has a great unique sound to me
1:18 “It’s black; and I think that’s pretty cool as well.”
Yes. ✊🏿 YES.
I bought a standalone Push instead because I didn't have quite enough spare change in the couch cushions.
Should be half the price, cool kit though
Soniware ELZ 1 Play is a better compact synth for a fraction of the price. For this price, I'd get an iPad Pro M4, Cubasis, some AAUs, and a MIDI controller and pocket the savings. It smokes this thing in capability and usability. It just seems like a poor bang for the bucket proposition.
I'm calling this the Teenage Engineering POXY 😂
Great sequencer but the sound engines sound just average vst to be honest 🤷🏼♂️! tho 1010music Blackbox with capability if directly streaming and loading 130 gigabyte of multi-sampling of whatever synth/drum machine you want (capturing the true character of the synth) + 6 individual outputs, more portable than the XY and sold new for 1/4 of the price of the XY, make this groove box look nonsense.
BlackBox features:
-16 voice polyphony / multimbral
- 6 separate outputs + headphones for external professional analog summing
- deep step sequencing with endless possibilities for poly-rhythms
- Oversampling and multisampling which means you can sample high end gear and bring their character with you than shape it with in box envelope , filter , 2 LFO
- stereo audio input so it can act as a mixer for an external instrument
- it can be powered from a small Powerbank so you don’t need to spend insane money to replace the battery once it become old like with TE stuff
XY it is great for instagram musicians tho as it looks beautiful
👇🏻those guys responding lie about BB, i don’t know why but i can imagine
The XY is more portable, as it has an internal speaker, microphone and battery. The parameters for the synths on XY, including the envelope, filters, and base parameters are all recordable to the sequencer, and the effects are also their own track, where you can record parameter adjustments in order to have the sound morph. Does the blackbox even have a single synth? The blackbox is mostly built around a touchscreen. The XY is keyboard based. So i guess if “more portable” means requiring headphones, a standalone mic and trudging along a midi keyboard, you can count me out.
At the same time blackbox looks sick, for the very specialized things it does, and no doubt can do certain tasks I personally have no interest in better than XY.
but no it is not even close as an all in on portable that you can just turn on and play.
@@LimeBathyup black box is an app you could get on iPhone. XY is an instrument.
yeah, I have both. the Blackbox covers a very tiny part of what the OP-XY does. (admittedly it does multisampling better) but it has no synth engines. the sequencer very basic compared to the OP-XY. (the OP-XY sequencer is more similar to the Cirklon than Elektron Sequencers.) It has no battery, no keyboard. no parameter locks. it can't do audio over USB. it can't be used to power other devices over USB. the list goes on.
If anything something like the Blackbox actually compliments the XY. the XYs sequencer really opens up the Blackbox.
@ totally lies about BlackBox i guess you both work for TE as my previous messages have been deleted.
BlackBox can be powered over USB and can power over USB, it has 6 outputs so you can do Analog summing in a mixer or tape, it has the Synth Engine far better sounding than XY because it has 130 Gbyte of memory that you can do multisampling of a Jupiter8 or Minimoog and than craft it with in box filter, envelope, 2 LFO … no pro producer is using TE gears live like are doing with BlackBox and this tells you everything.
Small powerbanks suze of a lighter can power it for hours si when the battery of XY will become old and consumed thus expensive ti replace, BlackBox will not Sofer this problem
to recap with BlackBox you can bring an entire high end studio with you for a fraction of the price of XY
@@Bigger-Circuitry-Bigger-SOUND The BlackBox looks amazing for what it is made for.
But I still see it as a desktop kind of device, where you put it down on the table before you, plug in multiple other things, like a power bank, a synth, a microphone, a speaker, perhaps a midi keyboard. Of course many of these other things, like a midi keyboard or speaker or even microphone might also need to be plugged in to separate power banks.
OP-XY has all of those things built in. So you can sit on your couch with the XY in your lap, maybe with your acoustic guitar, and that is all you need. Want to go to a different room? You just pick it up and walk to the other room, you can even keep playing as you walk. Because the battery life is so good, you can have the confidence to keep playing and not even think of plugging it in to anything. I don't see that happening with the BlackBox. I think comparing the two shows both why the BlackBox is great, but also why the XY is so valuable.
Thanks for a look-see, Beautiful machine but better value can be found elsewhere. I’m no teenager so disposable income is thin, also Senior Engineering is making a comeback. Peace.
Right. I bet you love banana 😂 can buy whole ton LOL
Their prices are an insult, and they have a bad reputation as a company. No thanks.
yikes that price, that is one expensive music toy, the workflow looks slow, the dawless seems fun, but daw is where the work gets done
Slow? LOL
This thing should be $399
why
I wish lol. With it being Teenage Engineering, I was guessing ~1600USD before the guy revealed the pricetag. ~2200USD is disgustingly appropriate, when you consider how well the OP-1 did a decade ago.
@@LimeBath Considering what it does and what you get.
This is not the stuff that should exist. It costs right about a normal Apple M4 Macbook or a couple of M4 Mac minis.
Apple has sold billions of computers. If you sell billions of something and are one of the most powerful corporations in the world you can drive costs down. A niche synth/sequencer from a small maker is not in any way comparable.
I bet you have a Mac already right?
What is the point of it 😂
it is a songwriting and performance tool.
perfect for the too much disposable income, mediocre musician/producer set.
Well I’ve got one as I’m a new dad with no spare time and can only make music on the go. So portability, features and build quality are important to me. I’m not rich but the fact this lets me make the music I want to make is totally worth it. Whether it’s mediocre music, don’t know don’t care. Having a blast here
“mediocre” musicians also buy guitars, laptops, etc etc. successful musicians also buy guitars, laptops and yes, even OP-XYs. Too much disposable income? Will be waiting for you to start the revolution where you will be able to dictate what is “too much” for the rest of us.
@@deyoungstar why are you offended? applies to you?
@@Katmat87 well, it's your money. spend it as you wish. I don't think I'm wrong about my take on who it applies to, for the most part.
@@LimeBath I retired at age 27 due to a successful ipo. 40 now. having grown up middle class, I realize having a little extra money in your pocket doesn't mean you ought to spend it frivolously. teenage engineering is a company that produces cool looking toys for those who have a burning desire to have cool looking toys. there's other gear that accomplishes these tasks that can be had for cheaper, but if this is your thing, go for it.
NOPE ! Try again .
Fo the price. I would rather risk a snatch and run or one.
I mean... I get it. I THINK I'd enjoy it. But an MC101 works just as good. Imo. IT SHOULD BE $399
Used to own and loved my mc101. But it can’t sample, doesn’t have a mic, only 4 tracks, battery life isn’t good and not built in. Xy is more like the mc707 but condensed into a package smaller than the 101.