Teenage Engineering is NOT a Premium Brand!

Teenage Engineering is NOT a Premium Brand!
With the recent releases of products like the OB-4 Speaker, TX-6 Mixer, and now the OP-1 Field, Teenage Engineering has shown that they view themselves as a premium brand, and it seems like a lot of other folks are starting to view them that way as well. However, we should NOT be viewing them as a premium brand until they do something about their customer service. A quick search reveals dozens of customer horror stories, and even I have been completely ignored by them when trying to get my faulty OP-Z replaced. It's unacceptable, and it needs to change. What sort of service do you expect from a proper premium brand? Let me know in a comment below, and enjoy the video :)
GEAR IN THIS VIDEO
Zoom Livetrak L-12 (audio recorder): amzn.to/3Pk91lu
Check out the OP-1 Field:
teenage.engine...
Questions? Ask them below!
Support the Channel: / freebeat
Bandcamp: free-beat.band...
Follow me on Instagram: / freethebeat. .
If you enjoy this video, considering subscribing to the channel! It's free, and I upload new content every single day!
All links in this description are Amazon affiliate links, the gear is the same price to you, but I get a small kickback when you use these links! It's an easy way to support the channel at no extra cost!

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks to everyone for sharing their stories, thoughts, and opinions! I seriously appreciate you all checking out the video, it means a lot!

[@aptudo]

I bought Linnstrument 128 a few years ago. It's hand signed on the back by the creator, Roger Linn - an absolute legend in the industry. Anyway, mine developed a problem with a stuck note. I wrote an email to support and shared a video of the behavior. Roger replied personally and shipped me a replacement sensor and instructions on how to install it (very easy, no soldering or anything). Roger even said he'd be happy to get on Zoom if I had any trouble with the installation. Now THAT's customer service! I knew that durability was a problem with Teenage Engineering gear, but I didn't know their support was so bad. I don't intend to buy anything besides Pocket Operators.

[@scottfarrell1906]

This is fantastic.

[@christopher_ecclestone]

Roger Linn is a legend

[@nonpondo_]

That does sound like something Roger Linn would do lmao

[@HoldMyBeerFam]

What did you expect its Roger Linn

[@Ferrichrome]

Awesome story. I like to think Bob Moog would have done the same thing if he were still around.

[@humidite4875]

I completely agree with you. The lastest products from TE ans their behavior toward their customers disappoint me a lot. I would not turn to them anymore.

[@robinr22]

I think TE have just realised that anyone who would pay $1.2k for an Op1 would probably pay $2k for one and so are planning on rinsing their customers as much as humanly possible.

[@juliuscanus1568]

@@robinr22 on the other hand, the only reason they resumed production on the OP-1 was that used prices for it were hitting multiple tens of thousands of dollars (EDIT: or was it? reddit says $8k). "No one should pay this price for an OP-1" wasn't about spare change like $2k

[@robinr22]

@@juliuscanus1568 really? I see them for sale all the time for £800 - and they don't seem to shift even at that price

[@FreeBeat]

A solid customer support refresh would go a long way! Thanks for watching :)

[@juliuscanus1568]

@@robinr22 yeah really. Search for "no one should pay this price for an op-1". You see them for that price all the time these days because TE is producing them again.

[@Pintosonic]

I’ve seen crazy customer service stories from Moog, Sequential and studio Electronics where people who bought defective synths on eBay or Craigslist called them for support not expecting much and ended up getting excellent support from them despite not technically being one of their clients. When a company goes out of its way to stand behind their products and make sure that every customers have the best possible experience is what a premium brand is.

[@elek-trick]

Seriously, you're not gonna compare one of the very best against crapolino with an oversized ego, are you?

[@christianjohnson4196]

I purchased a Broken Roli seaboard and the customer service provided me excellent service.

[@julian-multiman]

Cool stuff, Modemachines has been doing the same thing for years… products that were 2nd, 3rd hand or more still got support.

[@hozae6368]

APPLE

[@2112jonr]

++1: Novation. Awesome support.

[@steveedwards4495]

Absolutely spot on mate. I'm embarrassed to say i bought into the hype. Got the POs and then the opz. Loved the opz at first then stated to hear about the problems and looked at mine carefully and yep, mines twisted and started double triggers. Not acceptable on premium price gear. I think it's emporers new clothes with TE. Their marketing department are spot on with their aggressive marketing but the company seems to be all about shipping numbers. The latest price structures are ridiculous. When i look at my digitakt or mpc one or even my volcas, they are all lovely build quality and reliable. I think the TE products are just hipster fashion toys now. I won't buy anymore gear of them the company is too arrogant.

[@FreeBeat]

I actually really enjoy the products (the OP-Z is the only gradually faulting product I've owned of theirs), but with all of the QC issues out there you think they'd have a more responsive support team. Thanks for watching!

[@petougao]

What about failing batteries on op-1, and only 6mo warranty on battery.

[@caseyrycenga2864]

Emperor’s new clothes,but some of the folks actually can see the clothes! 🤯

[@foljs5858]

"Not acceptable on premium price gear" you can have worse bugs and artifacts in gear 100 times the price. Do you know how many bugs ultra expensive pro gear has?

[@petougao]

@@foljs5858 not bugs, its never bugs. Call them what they are: accidental features.

[@DaleRobertSzyms]

I bought a Roland JD-Xi used and I found out that when they first came out Roland offered a new control panel overlay that had easier to read White lettering instead of the factory red lettering, so I emailed them and I did not expect to get any kind of reply and they did reply and said yes it was still available and asked for my address and they shipped it to me no charge and also included a few pieces of swag in the box (some nice Roland and boss branded facemasks and some other stuff like stickers).

[@loreleiofthemist]

whatever people may think of roland these days, my experience with owning their products and dealing with their customer service has been legendary.

[@joonglegamer9898]

See, thats even beyond customer service, it's called having CLASS.

[@cwehden]

It's soo strange for a company which gets soo much right to get customer service soo badly wrong. I won't buy their products anymore after the unfixed and ignored quality issues with OPZ. Dirtywave M8 is a cheaper and much more powerful product than the new OP1, that's where my money went.

[@RaverOperatorGeeza]

Good call my man, I'm on the fence on ordering one of those but am so tempted... So so tempted...

[@FreeBeat]

Yeah, very frustrating to watch them make awesome products and then completely skimp on the customer service. The M8 looks great! It's not typically a workflow I enjoy, but I'd love to check one out someday. Thanks for watching :)

[@spdycar13]

Agree. A year ago I bought an OP1 and exchanged it for another one thinking the synth engine had an issue. The second one had the same problem so I contacted TE. They assured me a firmware update was coming to fix this known issue. Never happened. I should’ve returned the darn thing vs believing their promise of a fix.

[@RaverOperatorGeeza]

@@FreeBeat in the game being new new, I tried a tracker app but thought best to throw myself in at the deep end (not learning with making my MPC One first series purchase after owning a KO-33!) I love the sounds of those new Roland Airs mini units though, wow!

[@RaverOperatorGeeza]

@@spdycar13 damn!! Rough deal 😭😭😭😭😭😭

[@elarielo]

My OP-1 has been sitting on a shelf for 8 months now, as they don't have repair parts for what it seems to be only ONE key failing in my keyboard (Shift). A $1300 doorstopper, but a great looking one! EDIT: I mailed Elektron because my Analog Rytm screen was fading, and they charged me $12 for a replacement and sent it to me in the next 24 hs.

[@ajplays-gamesandmusic4568]

Reach our to Jorb, he just did a dead OP-1 restoration video. (Heck, you might be able to get enough info from his video to perform the repair yourself)

[@FreeBeat]

Ouch, that's rough, I do hope you can get it fixed! Good to know about Elektron, thanks for watching :)

[@elarielo]

@@ajplays-gamesandmusic4568 thanks for pointing that out, but I've seen his video and I can only try and do the old disassemble/clean/assemble, because the keyboard is all one big piece... If a membrane or something is broken, I'd have to replace the whole part.

[@elarielo]

@@FreeBeat I've heard nothing but good things about Elektron support, and I can vouch for that. Price ranges are similar for both companies, so I think it's a fair comparison.

[@stuartedgell2860]

I have an OP-1 and an OP-Z. When I purchased the OP-1 I got some Zinken headphones with it, they failed and TE helped me get replacements. Also chewed up the feet on my OP-Z (my own fault) and they sent me replacement feet. In both instances I used the form on their website rather than emailing directly and got quick responses. Not defending them but my experiences have been fine.

[@meddle333]

Can someone explain to me why USB-C is SUCH a massive huge deal to people? I understand it's more convenient because of its shape, and upgrading to USB-C has been long overdue for many many many devices... but it seems like theres something I'm missing. ...is this an Apple thing? It's an Apple thing, isn't it? 😄 Just to be clear, I'm down with it... I have ZERO gripes... I'm just curious why it seems people are getting so passionate about a USB connector.

[@FreeBeat]

Probably because it's been around for almost a decade, and companies are only just now starting to use it. Much better than micro type b, way more reliable haha. Thanks for watching!

[@dasczwo]

I thought the tx6 comes with an op1 included. For the price. Now, what does the field come with included? An macbook air m1? Well te, market loves your products hates your price. But dont worry overpayed bored hipsters will save you.

[@jaguarvssnake]

Major shout outs to both Korg and Bastl for their customer service, with the latter really being in no way a BIG company. I’ve contacted both of them about relatively inexpensive products (the NTS-1 and Microgranny, respectively), and have always had quick, thoughtful replies from people who seem like they really do care about both their products and their customers. Honestly, I’ve thought about buying multiples of my smaller Bastl gear in part to support such a great company.

[@GerenM63]

I’ve had mixed results with Korg customer service - most times it’s been really great, and a couple of times I’ve gotten nowhere. But, I keep going back for more! I started with a DS-8 and an SQD-8 back in 1989, and after owning a whole stack of Korg models (X2, X50, PS60, Kross 2-61 and Kross 2-88), I now own a Kronos 2-61 and a Wavestate. And, I’m pretty certain these won’t be my last, as all of them have been great instruments (with the exception of the X2) with overall good support.

[@81-jdowlwp]

I have an OP-1 and a few pocket operators, and I was pretty happy with them. So I got the OP-Z, and it was horrible. I sent it back immediately. It was scratched, bent and the rotators were falling out. Horrible quality

[@FreeBeat]

Glad you were able to send it back! I was lucky enough to get a solid year and a half out of mine before I started seeing issues. Thanks for watching!

[@LeonardGMN]

Mines alive for 3 years and I haven't had any issues. But I have to admit, that I'm not a "power user" or something.

[@Gwyn94]

The thing that really gets me with TE products is that they all come with a one year warranty, 6 months on the battery if it has one. One year warranty is fine if you spend $50 on a pocket operator or something, but it's the same warranty across the board for their products as far as I can tell; 1 year warranty for a $1400 device is ridiculous, much less a $2000 device. Elektron has a 3 year warranty even on their Model line, and those things are $300! I'd expect 5 years minimum for a $2k purchase, but honestly my expectation of something that costs that much is that it's gonna work for a lifetime of reasonable use, which I just don't think you're gonna get out of TE products at this point. At the end of the day, a company like Teenage Engineering understands one language: $$$. As much as I would love to have an OP-1, and as much as I love Pocket Operators, the only meaningful message you can send to them to tell them to do better is to stop buying their products. Sucks, but they're clearly not really listening to any feedback from consumers, which should spell death in an industry that seems to be full of companies designing products around the requests of people that actually use them (see: Sonicware). Buy whatever you want, of course, but just keep in mind that every time you give money to a company, that's telling them that you approve of their business practices and are satisfied with what they're providing.

[@valley_robot]

Novation products I have bought second hand , circuit, mini nova , have all been been sent out new parts from novation free of charge , they are excellent

[@michaelogden8328]

I'm an American living in Turkey and had to pay a lot for the import tax. I had the same double triggering problem with my initial OP-1. Emailed TE and sent it back and received a new unit with no added tax for the interaction. TE was very helpful and accommodating. This was a couple of years ago. I had to be patient but they did deliver a more reliable unit.

[@aseomg]

You start the video by saying you're not going to talk about the price of their products, then you say their customer service is not in line with how much their products cost. The cost of their products having nothing to do with what happens to their products when people have them and have everything to do with material cost, custom hardware & software development, retail & distribution, taxes in their home country & other countries, compliance with certain standards across various countries, and 10+ other things i didn't list. The OP-1f is an improvement over the OP-1 in the same way a Toyota Corolla made in 2022 is an improvement over one made 10 years ago. The OP-1f is not a price hike from the OP-1. The TX-6 is not an overpriced mixer/audio interface. All you clueless complainers are going to be crapping in your pants when you see the prices of everything 10 years from now. And the fact that you mention TE as a premium brand only exist in your mind & anyone else that gives them that particular designation. Also, comparing their customer service to other companies has no merit, because there is no customer service standard in any industry. You can't afford what TE makes or don't like how they treat you after giving them money...then stop giving them your time & day, $$ and move on with your life. This video isn't click bait, but it's in line with someone having slept with a prostitute then complaining she should act like your wife.

[@petougao]

I think there is, it is right there in the name. Servicing customer. And from the looks of it, they are pissing them off for the most part. They could change the name to "Customer piss-off". See you in 10 years.

[@cyarron8196]

Great premium brand experience: I bought some Sennheiser in-ear monitors a few years ago for a little less than a thousand dollars. I love them. So much, in fact, I started using them as my preferred headphones. Then COVID, and one fateful day my mask (something the headphones were never really designed to contend with) catches on one of the earphones and detaches it from the wire. Off it bounces on the floor, getting destroyed underfoot of a passerby. Perfect tragedy, and not a fault of the manufacturer. But damn, I cannot afford to replace these things so quickly! Heartbroken, I send all this info to Sennheiser, and they *replaced the headphones at no cost,* asking only that I send them back the destroyed pair for disposal. Teenage Engineering thoughts: I have had their customer service answer my emails in the past, to be fair, and have never been ghosted by them (though I believe the many folks who say they have). I have also (thankfully) never had a major problem. I live in fear of when/if something should happen to my OP-Z. It's my favourite groovebox, my portable instrument, and the reason I wear those beautiful Sennheisers outside so often. The OP-Z has changed the way I relate to music and to songwriting. I refuse to go back to how my life was before. If it were to break, I have already (sadly, bitterly) resolved to buy another. Your video where you retired your OP-Z looms large in my mind, and I feel like maybe it's only a matter of time before the very occasional double-trigs become intolerable. I've made my peace with the build quality for the price. And, consequently, I very much agree with your point that Teenage Engineering is NOT a premium company IF the new "Field" series is a pivot on Teenage Engineering's part to produce more reliable gear with in-house designed and produced components, *and* they were willing to actually step up in servicing and replacing any *rare* defects, then I would ultimately be glad to pay DOUBLE the price for an "OP-Z Field." It would hurt my wallet, but the piece of mind of having my favourite gear being solid, and knowing that the investment doesn't also involve the invisible risk of having to also buy it again (and again) if it breaks. During the recent Sonic State walkthrough of Superbooth22, Nick was commenting that all the components for the OP-1 Field and the new Field mixer are bespoke, suggesting that is where some of that extra price is going. I hope the company's reasoning behind all that careful production goes beyond a bunch of design fetishism. If taking the design of components in-house results in a more reliable tiny/unique synth (which is what they specialize in) then I am pretty on board with the price, the future, and Teenage Engineering's line up. But I have serious doubts. I want to see and hear more from Teenage Engineering (including acknowledging the issues with the OP-Z) Anyway those are my thoughts. If you made it this far, thanks for reading!

[@gravityfreaksmusic]

My OP-1 stopped accepting updates. TE's support left me out in the rain. I couldn't find my (then many years old) invoice, so they told me it was tough luck and that I should check the forums about the problem. I sold my unit and never used TE's stuff again. That's not how you handle problems with products that you sell for premium money.

[@philipsnettleton]

Success can easily become a point of failure. I agree but on a wider field. Don't treat musicians (modern producers in particular) like idiots. Music, co-pandemic, has become the new norm. Music literacy in the last 3 years increased 10-fold. We may be on the verge of a new renaissance. I can point to a few YT contributors like myself that building new ANOLOG and DIGITAL instruments from scratch. You might be surprised how cheaply you can put together an accurate square wave generator (less than $5) It can be done easily. My advice, go semi-modular, 5V, Eurorack and then use Arduino to start adding custom oscillators. All you need is a Neutron and a few of these and you already have a powerhouse of audio design (without the expense)

[@MattGreerMusic]

I've actually never had a reason to need TE customer service so for that, I do think they've done well. I've owned every model of PO, the original OP-1 and the OP-Z. None of them have ever given me even the slightest bit of trouble. That being said, if their service sucks, they need to get ahead of that for sure. The Z in particular I think I got lucky or something. Mine has no bending, no popping encoders, no double trigs, nothing. It has always worked flawlessly and I got it right when they came out. I do have a suspicion that the first run (before they changed some of the graphics) were better made. My friend has a first one unit as well and he too has never had an issue. I do feel for people who've had trouble with them though.

[@FreeBeat]

Dang you super lucked out on the OP-Z haha, good to hear! Appreciate you swinging by as always :)

[@kengreen6901]

I work very hard for my money, have most of the PO’s. No issues with them so far, and some were used. I have been dreaming about more gear from T.E, but customer service is huge for me. Thank you for the ‘heads up! How do we hold them accountable? Do you have a plan? Thanks! Love your work!

[@edtuckerartist]

My PO 133's microphone stopped working, emailed Teenage Engineering and of course never received a response.

[@JoshIsMakingMusic]

This video is how I learned about the OP-1 Field's existence. As much as I love my OP-1, I can't imagine spending $2000 for it. And I've experienced the customer service, like you said, they ought to offer better service considering the price of their products. Like I said, love my OP-1, but for a number of reasons, it wouldn't be one of the first things I'd want if I had to rebuild my studio from scratch.

[@FreeBeat]

Funny you mention rebuilding your studio from scratch, I was thinking about that the other day too. Thanks for watching, keep up the good work!

[@synthesauriov3195]

The OP-Z app hasn’t been working for sending HDMI out for several months on the iPad Pro. when they finally replied, they just told me to try with other adapters, so I spent more money on multiple adapters that never worked and when I contact them again they told me that it was a bug and they were going to start working on it. They told me that on December 2021, the app still not working and seen several people trying to figure out which adapter “works best” when none does

[@sodiumlights]

Spot on! But...most of the problems stem from their shockingly shoddy quality control. TE always gets held up as this great SMALL company. So, being a small company, (mantra 'produce less/charge more') they should have a super-tight grasp on the end of line product, overseeing that what goes out the door is of a top notch standard. This is why, as a company, they are utterly dreadful. They should have stopped the production of the op-z after seeing the first batches warping etc. But they didn't. I find that disgusting. almost as disgusting as how some users now want to be charged to buy the product again but made well. Examine the twisted logic in that! I also feel not enough KZbinrs have be vocal enough, but I see this is slowly changing. About bloody time! Reading comments in response to the op-1f like 'instant buy/just ordered' it's difficult not to laugh. With TE's QC reputation, do you really want to be first in line for such an expensive instrument? Why not wait and have your fingers crossed for an honest review first? Admittedly the new OP looks superb, and all of the new features/overhaul is impressive, but hasn't all of their products been the same in that regard? I read a comment yesterday from someone at superbooth who wrote that they were disappointed so see that the screen brightness is still difficult to view in daylight...So why take such a big gamble just yet?

[@LocaliLLocano]

They’re trying to charge Neve prices for Mattel quality

[@nikola.kovacevic]

Agree with you on everything apart the POs. I think we will see another operator that will cost 500$ 🙈😂

[@nonpondo_]

I feel like while most of the music industry has kind of moved into specific things to do with music creation and improving it, I feel like TE has moved more into the side of niche styles of hardware design, which I don't think is necessarily bad but I think it's a major weak spot for them if any other notable company for music prod hardware decides to make something a bit funkier looking, but will nearly automatically have better sound and UI cause they've focused much more in that area, it makes sense though cause in a sea of squares with keyboards and knobs, TE has some of the few designs that stand out immediately on first glance

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks for watching!

[@mattytrane]

So much of this is dead on. The art is in the design that makes (opz in my case) intuitive and fun/weird and still fun enough to keep me playing. For me, any piece of gear that keeps me playing longer is worth my money. I won't pay $2k for an op1 field, but I'm also not naïve enough to dismiss the company for a price point determined by factors I'm not privy to. How do so few of these videos make any mention of Si chip shortage, a decade of inflation or Covid?

[@freethinker7246]

Thanks for this. I actually was planning to buy the OP-1 Field but am going to hold off after hearing about their disappointing CS reputation. Been burned by companies before. I hope they get their act together because they really do create incredible sounding gear

[@ajplays-gamesandmusic4568]

I feel like as long as they can keep slapping Pop-culture tie-ins onto the Pocket Operators, we might see new ones. Once they released a sample based PO, all the hard work was done, now all they have to do is slap on custom graphics and load it with samples and increase the model number by one.

[@FreeBeat]

I'm hoping we do get at least a few more, an FM synth or an effects PO would be great!

[@ajplays-gamesandmusic4568]

@@FreeBeat If they made PO equivalent (in price and quality) to the Korg NTS-1 that you could use the grid to automate effects parameters on, I'd buy that in a second (especially if the thing had an Open SDK like the NTS-1).

[@melodywave3]

A "gen 2" series of pocket operators with improved controls and slightly higher capabilities would be cool to explore

[@tomb6576]

@@FreeBeat this is such a cool idea!

[@TheMCCraftingTable]

I think TE intended POM as the successor of PO... So personally I think it's unlikely we will get new POs, it doesn't give them much per sale compared to the flagship devices.

[@widgetman]

Man! I just got hyped for the PO's and purchased 3 to chain and create some tunes. That got me looking a bit into the OP-1 and lthers, but guess my journey with them was meant to last for 1 week 😅

[@FreeBeat]

Hey enjoy the PO's (and OP-1, if you got one)! They are all fantastic instruments, just be careful so you don't have to rely on the TE support haha. Thanks for watching :)

[@widgetman]

@@FreeBeat Oh I am, and I'm definitely thankful for your reviews and tips that got me invested in the idea of grabbing a couple. Truly fantastic beasts, but now I have to craft an oak chest to carry them around 🥹

[@TarasMusicChannel]

A mixed experience of mine was with the Roli Seaboard Grand. A sensor stopped working while under warranty and they paid for it to be posted back to the UK and replaced the sensor and mailed it back to me all free of charge. Afterwards the Grand was discontinued and another sensor randomly stopped working. I figured out the issue and they said they couldn't send me replacement parts as they were saved for Grands still in warranty and my warranty had then expired. I waited until the final Grand was out of warranty, filmed a video of me opening up the Seaboard and identifying the problem. They sent me a bunch of spare parts for just the cost of postage which I thought was nice. Overall I think that their responses were fair considering their circumstances. It was not an easy time for them as they were going through supply chain issues and financial troubles. They were very slow to reply to emails but would do so in the end... It was the sensor that was faulty and I replaced it successfully. Glad I have my seaboard working again :)

[@commodoor6549]

I had a positive experience with their customer service, where I needed technical help, serial number, etc. I got a fast response. I had to send them a file for them to get me the serial number and they replied in a couple of days; told me how old it was, etc. However, I asked them about the OP-Z issue of repeating notes and bending chasis. I was considering getting one but after your horror story I asked them if they had been resolved the problem... all they said is that they stood behind their products. That's when they lost me.

[@12foot04]

I got ping ponged back & fourth between TE, and the online music store I bought the PO33 from until the warranty ran out. TE even treated me like a moron… which I get they probably do deal with some less than smart ppl being on the internet & all, but the thing wouldn’t take power from the batteries… The first thing I did was make sure the batteries where charged, in the right way, and touching the contacts. I ended up asking them if I fixed that, and something else ends up breaking down the line will I still be able to exchange it. Then the person writes back they are so cheap they sometimes don’t even make you ship the broken one in. Which had me wondering why I was having such a hard time, and breaking out my soldering iron if it’s not a big deal. Also I shouldn’t of even put that out there because then the knob broke. It still worked but it would jump around; like when I was changing the pitch it would jump high then low for a second so I couldn’t reliably set the pitch. That’s when they pretty much gave me the cold shoulder till it was out of warranty. On the plus side my PO33 now has much nicer knobs, and can plug into the wall!

[@absoluterainbow]

Scalpers gonna complain to you. Also, novelty

[@rnottemusic]

i’m sad about what teenage engineering is doing now. i would love to buy their new products, but i’d have to be a CEO to afford them. but that roland aira compact t-8 is looking much more enticing now…

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks so much for watching!

[@mattytrane]

The chord one looks so good too!

[@LillySchwartz]

It's not only the customer service, it's the awful build quality that fails TE. I was really interested in the OP-Z and that's also how I found your channel, but the build quality problems were a reason not to get one. I wouldn't even mind if the TE stuff breaks after a while, but they're not really properly repairable and chances are that any repair or replacement unit would fail again in just as short a time. I don't like the planned obsolescence aspect of it. If I buy something, even something with electronics I'd like it to last for a good 10-20 years. Case in point: My main camera is a Leica M6, which is a premium professional camera from 1990. It shoots film. Not only does it work flawlessly 30 years later, I know that I can still get it repaired by Leica themselves if there ever is a problem. Not on warranty of course, that would be expecting a bit much, haha 😅 They only have one guy still repairing their old film cameras, but would you expect a company to still service a product after 30+ years? That's kinda insane! Well, it gets better: They even still repair old M3s from 1954! 70 years later you can still get those cameras repaired by the guys who built them. And they last forever anyway! The lubricants on the 1950s models get stiff, so they need servicing eventually, but the M6 hasn't had a need for any servicing in 30 years thanks to modern lubricants! Now THAT is a premium product. Of course you can't expect miracles either, repairs take a while because they only have one guy doing it, but customer support for a 70 year old product and products that last 30+ years without servicing? Now THAT is premium!

[@edrosa3485]

Purchased a red Microbrute that I saw at an amazing price. At that point I knew very little about Arturia, much less their reputation. Had an issue with a firmware upgrade, emailed them and they sent me the old firmware with instructions. I had emailed them several times since (I have 2 microbrutes, drumbrute and keystep 25) and they been fast and diligent.

[@McTroyd]

Interestingly, I'd have to say my best customer support would have come from HP Enterprise. (With the following, note that my employer is not an IT company.) We bought a workstation to run some elaborate video wall software for a customer. Then it died. No POST, no logo, no nothing. I gulped and dragged my feet calling them, figuring I was in for a run-around. Finally reached the point where I had no choice, I called them. Nearly immediately reached a human. After trying a couple things over the phone, they concluded the motherboard had failed. The _next day_ they had a tech out to our office, with a replacement motherboard, who swapped it in, and the system booted. Whole thing was under warranty/no charge. I'm never buying from Dell again after that experience.

[@unclemick-synths]

I've had great support from HP and Dell as a personal customer and as a corporate customer. Also great service from Lenovo as a corporate customer. However I will never buy Asus again because of their customer service. Ironically the problem turned out to be a fault with the CPU, not their motherboard, but they weren't the ones who figured that out!

[@MeerkatMuzic]

There’s more coming in the FIELD Series. Hate to think the combined price of the whole series.

[@DrMuse-on2dx]

OP-1 was hype from the beginning and not worth the cost in my opinion. It relied on the unusual flashy design well thought out targeted advertising and the shiny object syndrome of its consumers. Purchasers of it were locked into boasting about it to justify the mistake they made in spending so much on so little. The new release is more of the same. Now the company is just resting on their laurels preying upon there fanbase like all companies that rerelease old ideas. What a joke. I feel sorry for the dedicated loyal users of this product and disgusted at the greed of Teenage Engineering.

[@rocl420]

OP1 is the epitome of youtube shill drivel. How many trash companies would cease to exist without this platform serving up ads in the form of "reviews" shoveled into oversocialized mouths? Why are so many "music" channels overwhelmingly focused on gear? Consume product then get excited for next product.

[@canispeaktodave]

100% about customer service. I had double triggers on my op-z and it was 1 month out of warranty and they refused to say it was a manufacturing fault. I had to get trading standards involved, and got a replacement. Lucky it was before brexit. But yeah, don't think I'd buy another teenage engineering product because of how vile their customer service is.

[@hovermotion]

I looked into getting a OP1 but never did get one in the end, I put the money towards a Deluge infact it cost less...

[@FreeBeat]

The Deluge is incredible!

[@ToyKeeper]

Yeah... people can get a lot more for less, with a Deluge, MPC, Force, MC-707, etc. Teenage Engineering isn't even close to competitive in terms of price and features.

[@BB69175]

No Teenage Engineering for me. The whole thing stinks of something rotten.

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks for watching!

[@jahovahjira]

Synthstrom who makes the Deluge has superb customer service! I've also been treated well by Yamaha. A music supply store called Sweetwater has the absolute best customer service ever! I'm glad you made this video. TE deserves it from what I've read. I think they're terrible manuals for their products is a good indicator of how we should expect to be treated as their customers. They act like as long as they get your money they've done their job. Pretty lame

[@BlufyreAudio]

Sweetwater has AMAZING customer service. Probably the best in any company I've ever seen.

[@bretthiorns9237]

Synthstrom is brilliant. I've emailed them a few times over the years with tech issues and questions, and Ian was always the one to respond. And for the record, my tech issues were my own error. The Deluge is fantastic and the Synthstrom team is top notch.

[@shifteleven]

I've already seen a thread on Reddit how one cat, frustrated with state of their OG OP-1 is ready to sell it to support buying a new OP-1 field. I think this message is important for folks to hear before going out to buy a used OP-1 because if those old ones had problems, then they are going to be stuck with something that might work in the short term but loose out after a while.

[@seekabs]

That’s a GREAT point!

[@fleetadmiralsidiqi1941]

Facts my brother. Facts. Musicians need to start taking an ultra free market approach to music equipment just like any other consumer base because 99% of these products do the same thing in just different levels of glitzy packaging.

[@SlowHaste]

I've had the rare positive CS experience with the company! I reached out and received a response within 48 hours with a straightforward option to solve my issue. I was expecting to not hear anything back, but was pleasantly surprised! The fact that I had negative expectations definitely says something though. Always enjoy hearing your thoughts!

[@CmdrMic]

Bro, I had a negative experience with Teenage Engineering with the P0-33 which has a battery leak problem - as far as discharging when not in use. I had several other users confirmed this... TE ignored the issue and the inquiry. I believe some of this has to do with the sometimes aloof Nordic mindset. I also believe the management has changed since they decided to build out the Pocket Oerator line. I'm sure you know, all companies are only as good as the management... and the new TE management unfortunately does not seem to be interested in gearing their products towards the more inexpensive market. At 2 grand, I can literally buy about 6 to 9 other synths and drum machines to have fun with and learn. TE, as far as I am concerned has "Jumped the Shark". I'll spend my denaro elsewhere. Peace out.

[@dngozi4772]

So I love elektron and i got model:cycles as my first hardware synth and then it got short circuted after using its portable battery power bar, so i got another one plus the Digitone and emailed elektron about my M:C and they are so nice & responsive about repairs and whatnot. Only thing is i just gifted my 1st M:C to a friend and kept my new one cuz im lazy about shipping.😬 But ive never had customer service as nightmarish as TE.

[@frankboyer1490]

A fool and his money are soon parted.

[@nathancrowe4444]

Love the vids youre doing, keep at it!

[@GerenM63]

TBH, as cool as the OP-1Field looks like it’s going to be, it is really not a $2000 device. I mentioned elsewhere that for that kind of money, I could buy a real 4-track tape deck and use that to create a similar workflow. Granted, I couldn’t throw it in a backpack and make music in a park with it, but with all the toys I’ve got, I could certainly get a similar result. And, if I want to do it with a super-portable, then there’s always my iPad and a couple handfuls of apps that can run circles around the OP-1F, and do it for less money. As I’ve also mentioned elsewhere, I’ve not really gelled with my OP-Z, and while mine doesn’t double-trigger (at least, not that I’ve noticed), it does exhibit the infamous bent body. I’m out camping this weekend, and if it doesn’t win my heard doing what I bought it to do by Sunday, it’ll probably be up for sale on Monday. I’ll keep the PO-133, ‘cause it is kinda fun for making quick sampled lo-if drum kits, but it’ll be time to move on to a different option for sequencing my hardware synths.

[@joonglegamer9898]

For that you could buy a Tascam DP32SD and have a 32 (40 track with virtual) recording studio + a Roland JD-Xi (128 voices, the best drum machines, vocoder + analog synth) and produce limitless music to your hearts content and STILL have 1000$ over to spend on other gear.

[@GerenM63]

@@joonglegamer9898 Sure you could. My comment was couched in recreating the workflow/limitations of the OP-1, so that's where the four tracks and a stack of reels of tape and a handful of synths and outboard gear -- just the way I did back in the '80s and '90s... ;) Cheers!

[@corsegerspwnd]

just ordered 4 to scalp 3 and get 1 for free from earnings

[@FreeBeat]

OP-1 is the new RTX 3090 lol.

[@corsegerspwnd]

@@FreeBeat i still hate myself for having the stock version in my basket and thinking wow 1499 is just too much for the 3090

[@ubiquitousreverser]

First time watching your channel. I’ve been laughing at the release of the updated OP-1 Field. Their going to do what their doing, but when I saw they wanted $400 US dollars for a T-Shirt? Yeah, I think their ‘market’ is the rich kid who isn’t looking into the details. I really think you put this in great perspective. I had an experience with Elektron, in needing to ship out the Octatrack Mk2 for repair. Aside from briefly owning a Macbook Pro, I’ve never spent a grand or more on an electronic item. Elektron, came through even with a hiccup in regards to having to ship it back a 2nd time for another issue that occurred with it. They were great with communication, and they repaired not just the issue, but replaced other parts that weren’t operating optimally free of charge. I bought it used and out of warranty. Definitely superseded my expectations and really showed themselves to care about their customers.

[@fyoum]

i bought my op-1 about 7 months ago, however i didnt get to use it until like 3 months ago since i spent the first 4 months fighting with their horrible support. They sent me a totally brand new unit each time i had to return mine. This happened 4 times. 2 of them had power button issues where it would turn of if you so much as just blew air on the power button. The second 2 units had sticky buttons and some buttons didn't respond. I had to tell them to stop shipping me new units and just repair one of the old ones i sent back, and now it works perfectly. Keep in mind their responses time was about maybe 2-3 weeks. I literally spammed them and their instagram account. Turns out their instagram account was better at supporting then the actual support, since everytime i ended up contacting them, they'd tell me that they'd go and speak with the support team directly and in just 10 minutes, the actual support team would contact me back. Fucking horrible experience.

[@FreeBeat]

That's horrendous, sorry you had to go through that. Happy to hear you have a working OP-1 now though!

[@petougao]

Looks like they are (were) weary of staining their public image.

[@fyoum]

@@FreeBeat yup, it's still an amazing product¨

[@Frozen_Smoke1972]

Yikes.

[@petougao]

@@fyoum that's the most painfull part.

[@tomb6576]

I love the pocket operators but dear god are they over priced for what they are! Software wise they're great but hardware wise the markup is nuts! I'm a computer engineering student and I kinda wanna try and make something in the same vein over the summer for a better price. Been lucky to have never had to deal with their customer service here but really a let down on their part!

[@FreeBeat]

That would be great! I know TE probably makes tons of money on the PO's, but at least the are affordable entry points for a lot of newcomers!

[@cheapnoiseinthehouse5578]

If you make something like this, I would be the first to buy it.

[@tomb6576]

@@FreeBeat I'm very much with you on stuff there! They're a bit steeper in price than I think they should be for what they offer but that's kind of just a lot of music gear in general :P that being said they're still a really amazing entry point and I'm thankful to have them available! In some ways I like the PO 33 more than the MPC One haha!

[@tomb6576]

@@cheapnoiseinthehouse5578 No promises cause I'm kind of dumb but would love to put out some open source entry level hardware stuff for the community ^^ especially if it's easy to modify and expand upon! A lot easier to get small batch PCBs nowadays!

[@justjoeblow420]

Yeah this is one of the issues I have with their gear as well the OP-1 has a similar issue when you start working up a BOM on the actual chips in the thing. It's BOM wise more of a 500-700$ product not the (basically) 1400$ product they sell it as. EDIT: Also they don't have the excuse like Roland and some of the other big player have of it being custom chips either, every thing in the OG OP-1 was electronics wise an off the shelf part you could get from nearly any supplier.

[@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers]

I see TE as a *designer* brand more than a premium. Like comparing a Fruit of the Loom tshirt with a designer tshirt; both cotton, one costs $$8.00, one costs $65.00. It’s a marketing thing called “snob appeal.” Richer people want it to show their wealth even if there’s similar for much cheaper. No a judgement, it is what it is. Hey, I have eyed the OP-1 Field, but held off because I barely understand how the PO-33 KO! works. I know, I know…I live in quiet shame. 😁 But you all must admit, the PO’s are anything but self explanatory.

[@Alazoral]

100% agree with this. I was willing to excuse a lot of stuff way back when because they were new and scrappy and I know that support always tends to fall by the wayside when you're tiny. But now they are actually fairly big, with lots of mainstream collaborations like Ikea and Rick and Morty, and they still don't seem to want to put the time and money into building out the kind of world class support that their products really deserve. Moreover, their attention-grabbing and approachable product design wins them an audience that really grows the synth community - there must be a lot of people whose first synth is from TE. These people could easily fall into their support pit and decide that synths and music just aren't for them, which is I think really sad for everyone. I'm definitely planning on getting a field - once it comes to a local Australian retailer and it will be under Australian consumer protection.

[@CaidicusProductions]

Yeah, TE is taking themselves WAY too seriously, right now.

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks for watching!

[@mattytrane]

tough time to run any company that needs chips, needs money, ships stuff, or hires human workers tbh.

[@GazRendar]

I saw the announcement and saw some of the new features like multiple tapes and USB C and I thought...here it is...I'm finally in on the OP-1. Then the crazy sticker shock. Wow. You're right, you can be willing to pay a premium when the user experience from day 1 to year 5 and beyond are for sure guaranteed to be premium, but at $2k, it's just too hard to justify for any small time musician. In contrast, I've emailed Synthstrom Audible several times with technical questions and shipping questions without even buying the device and they always get back to me in 24 hours. And they dropped multiple big firmware updates over the years and have only increased the price on the device by $100 the whole time while still supporting it with massive new features when they could have just made a Deluge 2 in a money grab by now. I love my POs and have had a good time with the OP-Z, but this was just a massive bummer today. However, it's made my next gear purchase as clear as can be now... Thanks for calling TE out on this. Maybe a group of heavy TE youtubers and fans calling the company out on this one will get them to reverse course....(I doubt it)

[@dwbosto]

I had a PO-33 stop working last week and they sent me a new one after a couple of emails. Pretty happy with the customer service with my limited experience. My main complaint is TE’s overall build quality. 3 out of 4 my pocket operators no longer work and my OP-1 has had reoccurring key issues, not to mention all the problems I’ve heard with the OP-Z. Maybe I’m just unlucky, but I expect better build quality given the prices.

[@FreeBeat]

Despite the build quality issues, I'm glad to hear they at least took care of you on the PO-33. Hoping that they ramp up the customer service AND warranty support in the future for all the QC issues we seem to have lol. Thanks for watching!

[@Mr.Batsu12]

I took a brief look at the TE page for the new OP-1 and saw a long list of improvements but most weren't that interesting to me. Considering the $2,000 price tag I would have expected a lot more. It doesn't even look like they added velocity sensitive keys??? While on their site I also noticed the "OP-1 field leather wrap". It's a thick leather wrap that folds around the OP-1 and it costs $250! It's not a case, but just a piece of leather that wraps around the unit. They are just being ridiculous.

[@MikeS-1969]

I believe that sooner or later they are going to realize the damage that pricing will make to their firm as a whole and they are going to change it. For me, if I was starting fresh producing and somehow I manage to get 2K to spend on a single piece of equipment for producing music (as oposed to five with the same amount! for the same output and many more options on top ) then I could think of plenty of other devices to invest my money on just a single piece of gear. I think that their pricing policy is similar as if they were selling NFTs. They probably think that since the first version got that much overpiced afterwards in the second hand market, many will rush to "invest" in that little thing aiming to sell it at a highter price later. Not happening! BTW see also what midlife synthesist has to say about this in his channel. Thanks for your videos and opinions. Aways enjoy to watch your chanel.

[@scottfarrell1906]

The OP1 looks like something you would get in a kinder surprise. The price of the mixer is beyond outrageous. Do they have enough fan boys to justify the price tags? I don't think so. Let's hope berhinger release a PO1.

[@nonpondo_]

If Behringer released a version of the op-1 I'd maybe laugh for an hour straight

[@FreeBeat]

A Behringer OP-1 clone would be...interesting lol. Thanks for watching!

[@spdycar13]

Current sales or lack thereof show their fan base is dwindling. In the past, they sold out within minutes. So far the mixer and OP1 Field are staying in stock. Also if you haven’t read it, they want you to pay for the new OP1 Field now but will not be shipping them for 45 days due to “logistics”

[@brnktv]

I think the bigger issue is that there just isn't any reason to buy it. Especially at $2000. There are much more capable devices in that price range. And the looks are subjective. To my eyes, it's not the prettiest device, with the ugly colors on the encoders, ugly fonts on the buttons. But again, subjective. Just not enough there to justify wasting that kind of cash on the OP-1 Field.

[@zooblestyx]

With the TX-6, it seems to me that TE are pivoting towards becoming an iPhone accessory brand. It even says "made for iPhone" on the box. To me, they seem more interested in getting into the deep pockets of iProduct cultists than anything else, with cultivating their cleverly quirky Swedishness image a close second.

[@C0llinsW0rth.]

2k for new op-1. Nope, no matter what they put into it, honestly for 2k, you can get a premium laptop, midi controller, a bunch of other gear and still have money left over.

[@h0wdyh0lt0]

Ummmm. No you can't? Remove the word premium from in front of laptop and you might have a point.

[@C0llinsW0rth.]

@@h0wdyh0lt0 fair, I'll remove premium and it'll still have more capabilities than this op-1 field.

[@h0wdyh0lt0]

A laptop is a full fledged computer. Yes, it's going to have more capabilities than a lot of things in total. The comment is absurd on the face of it. It replaces literally millions of dollars in hardware if you're going to look at it that way. It replaces an actual vintage 808, a guitar, a bass, a drum kit, a camera, a suite of recording devices, a pen and paper, a lamp, a typewriter, an entire room of legos, a circuit prototyping station, a chess board, a weather station, every art supply ever, a math teacher, books, portable speakers, an xBox or Playstation, etc and so on. It's just a patently ridiculous argument. I hear you on the... "it's expensive for me" part. And I definitely hate it for folks who have a bad service experience... cause that's the damn worst. But for the love of all things can we stop with the completely apples and oranges comparisons? It's like telling someone that bought a new 85" TV for their living room that it's ridiculously overpriced because you could also watch TV on a 250$ Chromebook. uhh... YES you COULD. But is that what you want when you buy and 85" TV? Nope. It's a different set of parameters and purchasing requirements completely.

[@petougao]

I only hear "I know how to spend 2k in a smarter way and still get the same or better results".

[@C0llinsW0rth.]

@@petougao yes, that's what I'm saying. You literally said it, there are better ways to spend 2k and get better results. Thank you, you've proven my point.

[@DetroitMicroSound]

When I bought my Nord Mod G2, in 2005, it was the same price, as the new OP-1 is now. It's a massive synth, compared to the OP-1. I'll never be onboard the TE train. They ask too much for the OP-1 field, and have basically zero respect for musicians who buy their products. If the OP-1 field were $700, and I knew TE respected their user base, It would be fine. ...I'm not going to get into the super expensive tweezer mixer, or barely separated stereo speaker......with it's own PCM recorder?

[@Apticx]

My opz was repaired for doubletriggering a week out of warranty without any questions asked. My contact with te has been only positive so far but i know how difficult they sometimes seem to be

[@FreeBeat]

Glad that they took care of you! How did you contact them?

[@StephanieSante]

Was considering a OP1-field for my mobile device ( I work completely ITB currently) but after what I have read here and elsewhere regarding CS and stuck keys. No way. To bad as the units are so darn portable. I had an MC-101 which was portable but it felt like programming a small DAW (massive menu diving) with poorly lit screen and really that took the fun out it and it was more an intellectual exercise rather than creative fun.

[@qlyde]

Sequential customer service is the best in the business. I've gotten my responses each time in under 30 minutes and they have a LIFETIME repair fee of $25 for ANY part you may need replaced. The $25 is their "out of warranty" fee, it's free otherwise. If you need a couple voice cards for your Prophet-6 after 5 years, send an email, pay them $25 USD and they ship the parts to your door with detailed instructions.

[@mikelobel7722]

I will never EVER buy from TE again. The customer service nightmare I went through 7 years ago still haunts me today. I got about 6 months of functionality out of my OP1 before it stopped working correctly. Well within warranty they avoided my emails for over a year and a half before telling me I would need a costly repair from a local service. The cost would have been half the price of a new one! This company has no ethical obligation to any customer. Crooks.

[@AveragePicker]

Customer service, though arguably it should be, is not a defining characteristic of what makes a premium brand premium. And Moog is just in a class by themselves….and hopefully continues to keep it that way. Moog himself had a deep impact on establishing that internal culture. …I had a friend that randomly showed up at Big Briar, asking about getting ahold of a theremin. Moog himself talked to her, explained the back order problem, then scratched his head and said, “go take a long lunch and come back.” When she returned he was finishing one up for her. Yeah you can argue they’re expensive for what you get but at least from what she told he had a genuine love for music and sound and people being creative.

[@sunahura]

I agree, an ssl big six is $3000, now I'm not saying the teenage mixer is not as good, but come on. And yes it took them forever to resend my PO 33, They sent it with no protection in a box. And I had to threaten them with a credit card cancel to get my PO 33 sent to me. I love their products, just don't buy from them. And thank you for the heads up on the op z, I'm not buying one. Also I hear tons of complaints about the op 1 quality. So I purchased the sp 404 mk Ii.

[@gabiaronco]

Searching on Google for bad experiences with a company and using that as a proof of something is simply WRONG. Happy customers don’t complain. You will find whatever you want on Google. So, stop promoting the tyranny of the internet with videos like these (including those 5 seconds in the middle telling people to share their positive experiences with customer service after long minutes complaining about the company).

[@edgeof60]

I've had no experience with TE customer service (got both my OP-Z and OP-1 used) but I agree with your argument here 100%. There's no excuse for bad customer service, period. The problem is- how do you not treat them like a "premium brand", other than to not buy their stuff? I think it's a sure bet that hyper-expensive products like the OP-1 Field and the TX-6 will still fly off the shelves on hipster cred alone. So what's their incentive? Maybe bad customer service is just part of the hipster cred. Like, "our products are so cool and popular we don't need to care about our customers".

[@petougao]

After the hype crashes, hipsters will sell quickly but at a much lower resale price.

[@justjoeblow420]

My biggest issue with TE and their recent approach of trying to act like a premium brand is that not only is customer service notoriously atrocious but like the OP-1 while it looks nice underneath those buttons it's literally using laptop scissor switches on music gear. I lost most interest in the OP-1 because of the price as it's just simply not offering enough for how much they want for one new compared to other portable groove-boxes on the market. But what really did me in with TE in general is the fact their hardware is soooo prone to issues it's not even funny, I expect music gear to last with out need for major repairs, sure a battery replacement is one thing but I've seen too many people with OP-1's that have developed other issues to really trust it to be a piece of gear to last. I actually recently explained to some one on Discord that the OP-1 isn't very recommended in a lot of production circles any more because of the issue of it's price to performance just being totally ass backwards compared to most other options on the market. I was hoping with the rumors of a refresh that maybe they would drop the the price but at the price of the OP-1 refresh it's more hipster kit than serious music gear at 2K that literally puts it into Moog Sub 27 pricing let alone the other cheaper groove boxes out there that do more. Hell buy two they're small and you'd still probably come out ahead of the OP-1 Field's pricing. NIja'd: also don't even get me started on how insane that new mixer of theirs is it's using a converter you see in even some entry level audio interfaces which at that price is just obscene when there are open source derived projects that only cost 400-500$ that are at least using full blow Brown Burr ADC/DAC complexes mean while that field mixer doesn't have a much better DAC chip than what's used in shit like the Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd gen.

[@TepidBean]

Honestly I love my OP1, its a great little thing. Definitely couldn't use it as a standalone work station but its great for getting ideas down and getting you into the mindset of playing. But honestly charging 2k for the op1 field is heartbreaking. You could get so much gear for that price. So much amazing gear... you could get an arturia polybrute for that price for christ sake. You could get 2 ipad pros for that price... an ipad pro and a grand to spare on other gear even. Totally insane

[@ToyKeeper]

I got a brand new OP-1. It was broken -- stuck keys, and something rattling around inside. I asked Teenage Engineering for help, but they weren't helpful. So I ended up doing an exchange at a retail store instead, which was cool of them since it wasn't even the place where I bought it. I also got a brand new Pro 3. It had some weird behavior, so I asked Sequential for help. I got a reply within like an hour, with very detailed information about how to identify exactly what the issue was, and what to possibly do about it. It ended up needing a new motherboard, so they shipped me one and then had me ship the old one back for free in the same box. The whole thing was quick and easy and a generally awesome experience. ... and the Pro 3 cost me less than the current price of a new OP-1. Also, I've had to factory reset the OP-1 several times. It gets itself into a broken state (in software) fairly often, sometimes when I haven't even touched it. Like, it'll boot with errors about corrupted data, or every once in a while, it won't even turn on... so I have to boot into recovery mode and flash new firmware. It's really not reliable.

[@infn8loopmusic]

Agreed! They make expensive toy synths. Can toy synths make musical sounds? Yes. Does that make them useful? Yes. 😃👍 Are they perfect for every use case? Nah.

[@giulioc1438]

Completely agree. I cannot trust my OP-Z, but fortunately I bought via Amazon and I have a huge customer service, and I ve to say goodbye to my device because of bending double triggering after a few months of use

[@Mofonghosst]

Had the absolute WORST customer service experience with them with the release of the ep-133 ko-II. Completely ignored and given some bs answers. Ordered hours after drop. Ordered op-z and the ko2 carry bag two days later. Those came. When I email them about shipping it’s the same canned reply and bs reason of “we ship it all in order” when I point out I ordered the ko2 first I’m ignored.

[@Two-Eyed_Boy]

Freebeat, best of luck trying to reply to this mountain of comments! TE are definitely not a premium company, but they are for sure a designer company. Their gear is like the delicately sewn silk shirt that gets displayed in the storefront's window. If this new device is being perceived as not for everyone, then mission accomplished for them...whether we like that or not. 😢

[@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers]

Something Liam Killen pointed out is that they design their products from the ground up and that’s expensive to do. For example, a Moog Mother 32 uses readily available silver top black knobs. Not so with teenage engineering with the exception of their Pocket Operators, which feature dirt cheap momentary switches which sell for 100 qty. for around $5.00 on Amazon. Pocket Operators make their money on their cases, lanyards, cables, etc. an Apple thing.

[@dbrian56]

I've had EXCELLENT customer service experiences with Elektron, Novation, Synthstrom, and Sweetwater.

[@playeveryday01]

Kind of wild you can get so much gear for the price of the Field. Or even an iPad Pro/mini and some apps (sample, synth, fx, drum machine) and still have money left over.

[@traildoggy]

I've always felt everything they made other than the POs is way overpriced. I don't think of them as premium; I think of them as Hipster Chic.

[@LomaGnome]

Great experience from TE with me, they were quite quick with a couple of questions before I bought my first products from them, 4x PO's. Round trip from order to door was a total of 5 business days, and their response via email was quick courteous and concise. I was unaware of the existing history, but based on my experience I'm still positive about supporting their products.

[@cresshead]

Yamaha make quality products that last - my Yamaha RX5 (1987) still working as good as it did back in 1987. Roland are pretty good too. Korg, waldorf - not so much on some products. teenage engineering - never tried em.

[@andrij.demianczuk]

I bought an OP-Z direct from TE and was DOA. I wrote them immediately and didn’t hear back from them for a week when they asked for clarification. Turned around a response the same day to them and didn’t hear back for another week. By that point I was out of my return period and was told I’d have to pay shipping (inter continental) for a return. Never. Again. Meanwhile Elektron has been AMAZING to me and even went so far as to send me courtesy checks to see how my life is going with their products. This is even AFTER my Octatrack warranty expired!

[@Chaosga]

Considering that there’s a guy here on KZbin that can show you how to get all the features found on the OP-1 for free, using plug ins and free synth software. You would think Teenage Engineering would do anything to keep their customers!!! After watching that guy’s video, I’m so grateful…saved me from dropping $600 bucks on a used op-1. Now I can do everything it can, but right out of my lap top and better.

[@mattytrane]

Really can't go far in the discussion without your definition of premium brand anywhere in the 8 minute video. I can surmise your criteria include: 1) expensive 2) high end looks 3) excellent customer service anecdotes. The spear of the arguments is really in the price vs the lack of service, no? I have no interest in OP-1 Field, but there's already "$2k wtf" clickbait everywhere. A nuanced take on the branding, production/manufacturing costs would be interesting and welcome; nobody is having it.

[@jamesherndon8066]

Chase bliss, Arturia, and Erica synths have been wonderful. I reached out about special offerings for educators making digital media and they were super responsive and had some generous offerings for educators making media content.

[@_EightySix]

The OP1 always looked "kinda cool" to me, and the new mixer thing too, but their prices are ridiculous. The OP1 doesn't sound as good as it costs, the mixer doesn't either, plus it's so ridiculously tiny. The PO series have always looked like little toys, they are little toys. I'm sure some of them do some cool stuff, but nothing I can't do on my phone with some apps. This new Field Desk is a joke. I swear they're luaghing about it and waiting to see how many fools actually buy it. I'm glad i've never given them any money.

[@0015v]

What’s with people equating overpriced product with premium product nowadays?

[@christopherecatalano]

I sent them an email not long ago, and asked them why, on the OP-1 (which overall has beautiful design and construction) is the keyboard such a piece of trash. My first 3 all had to be returned, even though I babied them, and my latest has an iffy high F key. Of course, they never responded. As much as I think the new device looks and sounds superb, I hope they get ghosted in the sales of this new one. A lot of bad word of mouth floating around regarding this kind of thing. I love the OP-1, dislike the customer service and lack of transparency/accountability with regard to flaws in manufacturing.

[@JohnBubriski]

I was pretty disappointed in them too. I bought the PO-128, straight from them, and the battery holder is not fully seated. So when you bump the unit, the battery disconnects for a split second, resetting the unit and you lose all work since it was last powered off. I took detailed pictures and emailed them and they asked for video… I’m sorry but to me it was VERY clear what the problem was. Unfortunately I was too upset and didn’t even bother responding and now I’m probably stuck with this flaky device.

[@lucbelaid]

Hi FB. I didn't know this. Thank you for highlighting this. I had very good customer experiences with Elektron and even better with Arturia (email).

[@JohnBassarcticsoundstudios]

Yeah what they charge for their products they should replace some totally free for at least 10 years no matter what happens to him. I think it would be great if Behringer came out with a unit like the Op 1 that does four times what it does for about $200 . If it cost that much for them to make and make a profit they definitely need to start buying their parts from somebody else.

[@MariaCalfaDePaul]

It’s so funny that you mention Moog I think I was meant to see this video I saved almost 1000 and I have been trying to get my hand on the OP-1 since they were half the cost. I can never seem to catch up. Anyway I almost said “the heck with it” because I have wanted it for 10 years and guess what I decided I can’t condone it. So I started research and I’m about to pull the trigger on a Moog Grandmother so it’s awesome to get this side of it which I didn’t even think about This seams the deal for me !! Thank you !!