Teenage Engineering’s new OP-XY is a transportable synthesizer and sequencer that appears much like the corporate’s OP–1 Area. However functionally it’s as a substitute a extra succesful improve to the corporate’s six-year-old OP-Z, with a stronger deal with layering sounds with varied results and a steeper $2,299 price ticket.
With an “anodized, all-black end,” the OP-XY is yet one more pleasant instance of Teenage Engineering’s design chops. Its black and white motif accented with a grayscale gradient operating throughout its 16 sequencer inputs is the antithesis of the intense yellow Playdate handheld that Teenage Engineering helped Panic design. Not like the $429 OP-Z that relied on a cellular system like a smartphone for its display, the OP-XY now has a black and white OLED show inbuilt, which most likely contributes to the excessive price.
Powered by a twin Blackfin CPU system paired with 512GB of RAM and 8GB of inside storage, the OP-XY provides eight “distinctive synth engines” and punch-in results carried over from the OP-Z and Teenage Engineering’s calculator-sized Pocket Operators. There’s additionally a six-axis accelerometer inside permitting sounds and results to vary by merely shifting the sequencer round.
The OP-XY contains sampling capabilities via a built-in microphone or inputs that embody a 3.5mm audio port. There’s additionally a USB-C port, a 3.5mm multipurpose output that features MIDI capabilities for controlling exterior synthesizers, and a 3.5mm port for analog audio output. In the event you don’t need to take care of wires, the OP-XY’s rechargeable battery will maintain it powered for as much as 16 hours, and there’s help for MIDI over Bluetooth.
Though Teenage Engineering continues to promote its $59 Pocket Operators, the corporate’s audio gear has shifted in the direction of extra premium and pricier choices in recent times. Its TP-7 Area Recorder, a digital audio recorder with a novel spinning “tape” reel, debuted final 12 months for $1,499, following a tiny mixer referred to as the TX-6 that arrived the 12 months earlier than for $1,199. Even the corporate’s authentic OP-1 synth, which debuted in 2011 for $849, has been changed by the $1,999 OP-1 Area.
