The opz has an awesome interface, amazing sequencing capabilities, poor quality control, falling encoders and faulty buttons. The Digitone has the powerful elektron sequencer, awesome build quality, robust sound design tools but the menu diving drives me crazy. I would love to see a premium built opz with aluminum body and sturdier keys
Trying to get a faulty OP-Z repaired/warrantied by Teenage Engineering is quite bad too. I purchased a new one from them, was shipped one with a faulty battery, had to argue with them for 3 weeks about it, sent it back to them, didn't hear anything for another 3 weeks. I finally just said "I want to return it, this has not been a good experience." They allowed the return and confirmed the faulty battery.
Great comparison and interesting to hear your thoughts on this! I'm one of those who sold the Z because of the lack of screen - just couldn't get my head around it. Digitone is probably my desert island synth haha
The OP-Z allows a maximum of 4 trigs per track step. This is why trigs on patterns with longer step lengths will appear to be more unreliable - it's more likely that you will exceed the per step trig limit.
In my experience this actually isn’t the case. In the example I gave I hadn’t assigned any trigs yet. If i program a complex rhythm in particular, I noticed that parts go missing or are not where ai placed them. And my timing’s pretty good so that’s not the problem lol
@@LiamKillen It sounds like we're using different terminology. When I say trig, I mean a note or drum that plays. If you haven't assigned any trigs, how are you hearing any sound? To try and clarify here, the parts going missing sounds like the exact symptom you'd expect from the limited trigs per step. The device isn't 4 note polyphonic on a track, you simply can't record 4 trigs in a step. So for example, say you set a pattern to be 8 bars and each step is then a half note, if you play semi-quavers, the 5th and subsequent notes will not be recorded. Does this make more sense or are you still seeing something that wouldn't be explained by the limited trigs per step? Do you have a video demonstrating the behaviour?
Nice dude. Thanks for putting this together. There is just something about the chord sound on the opz, ugh I love it, I’m also into that nerdy te sound. So good.
I’ve made it my mission to point out that the digitone also works as an audio interface/soundcard. It can also process external gear with its onboard effects (clockable stereo reverb, chorus, delay, and overdrive). I don’t even use the synth engine anymore! It’s just a mini pedalboard for my guitar/modular. Pretty cool 😎
@@LiamKillen Yeah! Plus Overbridge is great for recording your patterns and editing the audio of each track further in your DAW. Dizzying limitlessness
I would’ve loved it if they build the OP-Z similar to the op-1 with a screen. I love it, but I hate the build quality. Electron gear doesn’t appeal to me for some reason.
Enjoyable video even tho i already have opz. Makes me appreciate it more but once i learn music theory more then maybe ill dig into other portable synths, etc.
As someone who owns one, the issue is not note drop per say, it is that the onboard CPU simply has to set a limit on how many notes per step you can have for each track. So on a short 1 bar pattern, you can rapid-fire like mad, while on a long 8 bar measure you won't be able to have that kind of 1/32 beat precision. Annoying but the conditional triggers of the OP-Z definitely offset it for me, I really only use longer 8 bar patterns for long pads/ chords/ Melodys which don't need that precision.
It’s one of those lizone batteries. Snow jams are cool but it was wayyyyy cold when I was out there lol. Also check out My Volts! They sell ripcords for basically any gear. Gives you that freedom to bring it out!
Its wild you missed punch-in effects and the master track of the OP-z. These make for way quicker ideation. In many ways the Op-z is a Polaroid, digitone is an Slr.
I finally pulled the trigger on the OP-Z +punch case bundle....very excited. I have the OP-1, several POs, and I also have the Digitakt.... I've not seen a lot of videos of the OP-Z synced with the OP-1. Would you say combining them is a bit unnecessary?
a lot of misconception until you get an Op-z in your hands, feels robust, heavy for his size, not the size of a remote control as many Sausage fingers people says, not a bad plastic, i think that the bending problem is issued by the heat of transportation, and the brain is strong enough, for any problem i can have both, digitakt and op-z
like that " short story short " ... great walk through .. helpful tips and insights .. a huge thank you to YOU ... for putting this all together ... great visuals .. thanks !
I recognize those spots! A fellow Mile-Ender or maybe Plateau? Also I see that Microcosm during the notes section! Mine is coming in next week! Maybe a future video?
@@LiamKillen I'm super close to Jeanne-Mance Parc, just up the street around Laurier and Parc. Small world. And can't wait to see how the Microcosm comes into the mix!
My brand new op1 fried itself in less than a year for absolutely no reason.... After a little over a year of reasonable use i mean i used it every day but i never moved it and i kept it clean. One day i turned it on and it was acting strange and the screen had a defect across the bottom. Obviously panic set in and i quickly shut it off hoping restarting it would correct the issue. Alas it did not. In fact it bricked and it has been a paperweight, a sad monument to an overpriced but very unique teenage engineering product with far too short a life. At this point i sincerely begin question the price of the op1... In my case it's lost trust and a big hole in both my pocket and my workflow... I Still love pocket operators though. All that said and as mixed as my feelings are nobody does it like TE does.
True, but you can say the same thing about the DX7, Korg Volca or Dexed ect. You can get sounds out of any FM synth that sound quite acoustic, or occaisionally even analog!
They didn't outright stop selling the OP-1. They had to temporarily stop production because the manufacturer of the display in the original OP-1 stopped making them and TE couldn't source them any longer (they originally picked that display well before 2011 which is when the OP-1 went on sale). They halted production while they re-designed the OP-1 to use a similar display from another manufacturer which included modifying some OP-1 internals and re-tooling manufacturing. That took time and money and as soon as they could, they began selling them again once they were able to ramp up production again, not because they didn't like the after market price gouging. And as a result of the re-tooling and new display, they had to bump the price which is extremely unfortunate... I think the OP-Z is safe from any price bumps for a longgggggggg time and given the modules TE has in the works, it'll stay pretty fresh. Great video as always though!
I love TE. I personally find it hard to believe that having a different screen type hikes the prices up by hundreds of $ . I know that’s the story but it makes me go 🤔 That being said either way I still think the op1 is worth it at this new price .
@@LiamKillen Engineering time to redesign the DSP board to accomodate the screen, re-write firmware and display drivers, QA the heck out of it and spin up an entirely new manufacturing line ain't cheap :) (there are some good TH-cam videos comparing the internals of the old and new...)
Yeah upfront cost but is that a constant cost? Price went up by what like 500-600$ per unit...still seems like a lot to me. I think they saw the demand and yes made an update- but def capitalized on it. My 2 cents
How is making a 'beat' (on a bus) so terribly complicated as deemed necessary to make a point of it? Furthermore, especially on a device made to make beats practically with your eyes closed. If you had written, on staff paper, a piece with 10 time changes made for four 4 drummers, that would have opened my eyes.
Good info.. but the 'portable thing' always makes me smile... like, who goes outside to make beats?.. and FYI - I've never...ever seen anyone doing it :)
Let's smash this.
Digitone Content:
►bit.ly/2Z2Y26O
OPZ Content:
►bit.ly/2Uitw7v
🔆🔆🔆
The opz has an awesome interface, amazing sequencing capabilities, poor quality control, falling encoders and faulty buttons. The Digitone has the powerful elektron sequencer, awesome build quality, robust sound design tools but the menu diving drives me crazy. I would love to see a premium built opz with aluminum body and sturdier keys
That pretty much sums it up Elsanto!
Thank you for watching!
@@LiamKillen Thank you mate! it is always great to see the LK icon in my inbox :)
That’s nice to hear! 🙂✌️
Trying to get a faulty OP-Z repaired/warrantied by Teenage Engineering is quite bad too. I purchased a new one from them, was shipped one with a faulty battery, had to argue with them for 3 weeks about it, sent it back to them, didn't hear anything for another 3 weeks. I finally just said "I want to return it, this has not been a good experience." They allowed the return and confirmed the faulty battery.
Great comparison and interesting to hear your thoughts on this! I'm one of those who sold the Z because of the lack of screen - just couldn't get my head around it. Digitone is probably my desert island synth haha
And plus you’ve got Digitakt which is huge
your content is so good dude, been awesome to see the channel grow
Thanks Dylan! Appreciate that 🙏🏻
The OP-Z allows a maximum of 4 trigs per track step. This is why trigs on patterns with longer step lengths will appear to be more unreliable - it's more likely that you will exceed the per step trig limit.
In my experience this actually isn’t the case. In the example I gave I hadn’t assigned any trigs yet. If i program a complex rhythm in particular, I noticed that parts go missing or are not where ai placed them. And my timing’s pretty good so that’s not the problem lol
@@LiamKillen It sounds like we're using different terminology. When I say trig, I mean a note or drum that plays. If you haven't assigned any trigs, how are you hearing any sound?
To try and clarify here, the parts going missing sounds like the exact symptom you'd expect from the limited trigs per step. The device isn't 4 note polyphonic on a track, you simply can't record 4 trigs in a step. So for example, say you set a pattern to be 8 bars and each step is then a half note, if you play semi-quavers, the 5th and subsequent notes will not be recorded. Does this make more sense or are you still seeing something that wouldn't be explained by the limited trigs per step? Do you have a video demonstrating the behaviour?
An i understand now- ok yeah that makes sense. I find that’s a major downfall of the instrument- same sort of thing as pocket operators
Nice dude. Thanks for putting this together. There is just something about the chord sound on the opz, ugh I love it, I’m also into that nerdy te sound. So good.
We’re huge nerdz. Yeah it’s an acquired taste but i’m super into it too now!
Well balanced comparison of these two workhorses. Great looking video and sound.
Thank you Kardle! Appreciate you watching
Like! Thank you for uploading and sharing it. The OP-Z is amazing, and I am eyeing the Digitone!
👀 👀 👀 For me it’s the digitakt now
You should do a Tracker vs OPz. I'm seriously considering selling my OPZ for one.
I don’t even know what that is...what company?
@@LiamKillen the Polyend Tracker
I’ll check that thang out
thank you for this, extremely helpful!
Cheers
I’ve made it my mission to point out that the digitone also works as an audio interface/soundcard. It can also process external gear with its onboard effects (clockable stereo reverb, chorus, delay, and overdrive). I don’t even use the synth engine anymore! It’s just a mini pedalboard for my guitar/modular. Pretty cool 😎
Haven’t explored that avenue yet! Wow though
@@LiamKillen Yeah! Plus Overbridge is great for recording your patterns and editing the audio of each track further in your DAW. Dizzying limitlessness
The op-z also works as a class compliant usb audio interface. It doesn't have the level of daw integration that you get with overbridge though
God dayum...#ilovesynths
That i know! I decided not to feature that in the video and focus more on performance aspects of the instrument/l- like i do.
Nicely done sir
North house- My man. Thank you!
I would’ve loved it if they build the OP-Z similar to the op-1 with a screen. I love it, but I hate the build quality. Electron gear doesn’t appeal to me for some reason.
I actually like it without! If you want you can hook up your smart phone as a screen
Enjoyable video even tho i already have opz. Makes me appreciate it more but once i learn music theory more then maybe ill dig into other portable synths, etc.
It’s a beast
Really good video!
Thanks Pocket Beats! ✋
omg I didn‘t know that the OP-Z drops notes, this is a no go - and OP Z is very limited in sound design, why not at least have more sample space?
It’s a limit for sure!
As someone who owns one, the issue is not note drop per say, it is that the onboard CPU simply has to set a limit on how many notes per step you can have for each track. So on a short 1 bar pattern, you can rapid-fire like mad, while on a long 8 bar measure you won't be able to have that kind of 1/32 beat precision. Annoying but the conditional triggers of the OP-Z definitely offset it for me, I really only use longer 8 bar patterns for long pads/ chords/ Melodys which don't need that precision.
Ayyyy which battery do you use for Digitone snow jams? do you recommend?
It’s one of those lizone batteries. Snow jams are cool but it was wayyyyy cold when I was out there lol. Also check out My Volts! They sell ripcords for basically any gear. Gives you that freedom to bring it out!
Its wild you missed punch-in effects and the master track of the OP-z. These make for way quicker ideation.
In many ways the Op-z is a Polaroid, digitone is an Slr.
I've done multiple other videos on the OP-Z where i've mentioned it ;-)
Woooo newww videooo
😉😉😉 Thanks for peepin’
I finally pulled the trigger on the OP-Z +punch case bundle....very excited. I have the OP-1, several POs, and I also have the Digitakt.... I've not seen a lot of videos of the OP-Z synced with the OP-1. Would you say combining them is a bit unnecessary?
And thanks for the videos. Longtime fan.
I’ve never synced them yet!
Thanks for watching Bryan i always appreciate it 🔆
a lot of misconception until you get an Op-z in your hands, feels robust, heavy for his size, not the size of a remote control as many Sausage fingers people says, not a bad plastic, i think that the bending problem is issued by the heat of transportation, and the brain is strong enough, for any problem i can have both, digitakt and op-z
Having both is the solution 😏
like that " short story short " ... great walk through .. helpful tips and insights .. a huge thank you to YOU ... for putting this all together ... great visuals .. thanks !
Thanks so much for watching!
I recognize those spots! A fellow Mile-Ender or maybe Plateau?
Also I see that Microcosm during the notes section! Mine is coming in next week! Maybe a future video?
Yeah i’m right close to mile end! You?
Next video features Microcosm 😉
@@LiamKillen I'm super close to Jeanne-Mance Parc, just up the street around Laurier and Parc. Small world. And can't wait to see how the Microcosm comes into the mix!
It’ll be in the mix this sunday!
Nice 👍🏾
🍻
My brand new op1 fried itself in less than a year for absolutely no reason....
After a little over a year of reasonable use i mean i used it every day but i never moved it and i kept it clean. One day i turned it on and it was acting strange and the screen had a defect across the bottom. Obviously panic set in and i quickly shut it off hoping restarting it would correct the issue.
Alas it did not. In fact it bricked and it has been a paperweight,
a sad monument to an overpriced but very unique teenage engineering product with far too short a life.
At this point i sincerely begin question the price of the op1...
In my case it's lost trust and a big hole in both my pocket and my workflow... I Still love pocket operators though. All that said and as mixed as my feelings are nobody does it like TE does.
Yeah TE products are the bomb!
Digitone is very FM-y, lol! 😅
Yup 😂
It is but you can program sounds that are not so fm-y, lol. Once you get into some real sound design with the digitone it’s a very versatile synth
True, but you can say the same thing about the DX7, Korg Volca or Dexed ect. You can get sounds out of any FM synth that sound quite acoustic, or occaisionally even analog!
@@lundsweden I'm sure they can, never said they couldn't. I was just speaking about the digitone.
whyd u put laughing tracks in here aha
Just to lighten it up 😄
They didn't outright stop selling the OP-1. They had to temporarily stop production because the manufacturer of the display in the original OP-1 stopped making them and TE couldn't source them any longer (they originally picked that display well before 2011 which is when the OP-1 went on sale). They halted production while they re-designed the OP-1 to use a similar display from another manufacturer which included modifying some OP-1 internals and re-tooling manufacturing. That took time and money and as soon as they could, they began selling them again once they were able to ramp up production again, not because they didn't like the after market price gouging. And as a result of the re-tooling and new display, they had to bump the price which is extremely unfortunate... I think the OP-Z is safe from any price bumps for a longgggggggg time and given the modules TE has in the works, it'll stay pretty fresh. Great video as always though!
I love TE. I personally find it hard to believe that having a different screen type hikes the prices up by hundreds of $ . I know that’s the story but it makes me go 🤔
That being said either way I still think the op1 is worth it at this new price .
@@LiamKillen Engineering time to redesign the DSP board to accomodate the screen, re-write firmware and display drivers, QA the heck out of it and spin up an entirely new manufacturing line ain't cheap :) (there are some good TH-cam videos comparing the internals of the old and new...)
Yeah upfront cost but is that a constant cost? Price went up by what like 500-600$ per unit...still seems like a lot to me. I think they saw the demand and yes made an update- but def capitalized on it. My 2 cents
Tried RUMBLE? 🙏🏾
On the opz? no i think it would be distracting
@@LiamKillen great haptic feedback actually I think you would like it... ;)
hmm i’ll consider it!
it’s not distracting?
I been eying it. For about a year now 😂
Yall need to subscribe! Jeez. Every video is awesome and not just because of the beautiful color palette.
Haha thanks Ryan! I appreciate that!
How is making a 'beat' (on a bus) so terribly complicated as deemed necessary to make a point of it? Furthermore, especially on a device made to make beats practically with your eyes closed. If you had written, on staff paper, a piece with 10 time changes made for four 4 drummers, that would have opened my eyes.
This is one of my older videos so I don't know exactly what you're referring to. But you have yourself a nice day
Good info.. but the 'portable thing' always makes me smile... like, who goes outside to make beats?.. and FYI - I've never...ever seen anyone doing it :)
Well now it’s a thing! Thanks so much for watching
@@LiamKillen I'm off to the park now..
😊 I just got back!
@@LiamKillen Haha 😂
✌️✌️✌️
Omg why are you talking so much? Play with the synths instead
Ah you’re one of those eh? take it up with the people who asked me for more explanation 😂
Terrible re Jew too much advertising and mediocre review do you know synthesis in depth? I doubt it.
probably the rudest comment i've ever received 👎🏻