48 thoughts on “Is The Teenage Engineering OP-1 Field Worth It?”

1. Ha. It is well worth it. Became my audio interface/synth/drum machine/ Sampler/ midi controller/sequencer for Ableton. Just my laptop and an OP-1 is getting in work. Still have my OG too cause it’ll probably go for $10,000 used in 2025.

2. Even Loopop struggled to find a use case for this beyond fiddling around while waiting for your flight.

   1. i don’t find his opinions matters to me at all, i find the pro and cons part in all of his videos a little pretentious and also his style of reviewing is more like “i will read the manual for you” but he is considered a good reviewer that many find helpfull and i respect him for that.

3. Its worth it if you use it at least 30% of the time. You should dive deep enough that you come to reach for the most needed functions reflexively. Its a very portable workstation, but you still have to live with it enough to get a decent ROI. Randy is an excellent example of the required mindset.

4. No.

   I have one, and it’s fun, and small and neat. It’s especially fun to grab sound bites from the mic or the radio, and then eff with them to make a synth with. But, the synths and filters are so obtuse, I can’t make sounds I like. And, while the tape recording-style is very well implemented and interesting, it can be tough to compose with.

   So no, as in, IMO, it’s mostly a fun toy / distraction at a real tools price.

5. people who own these really seem eager to explain why they are so worth it and justified and all that

   so thats something

   1. In psychology they refer to it as “cognitive dissonance”

      1. Well that depends on the use case and the person using it

         I’ve heard better music made on OP-1 than in some entire studios

         1. Links..?

         2. LoL
            You can’t be serious

         3. I would love to hear this, please share!

6. I do travel – almost all my lifetime – as a sound technician and have some kind of anxiousness while preparing my more heavy gear at home. I had OG and I bought the field. When you can buy almost everything that exists, there is absolutely no competitor for getting to produce as a blink of an eye. That is not comparable to the market from my point of view. It makes my OCD ass ok with just shut up and create. It’s a life changer for me. I’m just trying not to wait for updates but as long as I have it, the world can collapse.

   1. there are tons of IOS apps that do what the op can do and more.

7. I think that these types of questions are completely irrelevant, since it would be like admitting that all people think the same, like the same type of music, … etc. Whether “it’s worth it” depends on a thousand factors. Each person has to ask themselves that question and find their own way. Just my opinion, which no one has to accept.

   1. i agree and accept your way of thinking 🙂

8. Not everyone’s brain works the same way. There are apps and gear others rave about that I can’t stand and vice versa. It’s OK if you like the OP or if you don’t. Arguing about it is pointless.

   1. Arguing is never pointless and I’ll whup the man who says it isn’t so.

9. My OG OP-1 is great, but it was $722 when I bought it new, on sale. I understand inflation, but this just comes across as a mostly remarketed product, even with a few nice new features (stereo being huge). Maybe at $1k I can see it, but it’s hard to beleive inflation/features has caused such a jump in price. However, it doesn’t matter, if they sell them, they sell them. If they don’t, they’ll come down in price.

10. I am sure that some people love the OP and make great things with it… and when you spend that much money on something it is human nature to give it the benefit of the doubt. I hated mine. You could superglue an old iphone6 onto a Korg Nanokey and have a way better music making setup… with a bigger screen and touch sensitive keys.

    1. Totally agree

11. The brand name loses them so many sales, it is not funny. I just can’t take anything seriously with that name and price. I imagine I am not the only one. Rebrand as TE and let the sales climb 10%. Maybe it is a Euro to Amerikah thing I don’t get. Who knows, but in North America most adults don’t want anything ‘Teen’ in their lives.

12. The guy who drive a honda civic will always have something negative to say about a benz. We all know what it is and where it comes from. But individuals find value in things others dont. Sounds like a philosophy class in here but price doesnt dictate good or bad, its what you get from it. i get a lot from this little device, just happened to be a barrier to entry of the crazy $2k.

    Good rule of thumb, if it were free, would you turn it down. I turned down those free streaming boxes form Xfinity, no value. Free samples at the all, no thanks. Free OP-1 “I can make better music with a laptop or a this taped to that, yes please ill take an OP-1”. In my world, everyone would be able to afford everything and we’d ignore Behringer post and only complain about the lack of aftertouch.

    1. Sure, in a world of infinite resources, that makes sense. But the question is “Does the OP-1 Field have any value?”, but “Is it worth it?”

       Is it worth it in comparison to other ways to employ the same cost?

13. You can buy a brand new iPad mini for $650. You can load it with a ton of music apps. You can sit at Starbucks, or the airport, or your couch with it. And you will have a more versatile (better) music platform in every measurable way. Plus, you will have a thousand extra dollars, or more, to use for something worthwhile.

    Drones for Ukraine, or refugee relief maybe?

    1. more versatile is maybe better with computers but not necessary better for music creation,
       and there is still this one “measure” ipad will never do, it can’t be op-1 and if you like to have op-1 it will always be poor substitute. i for one can’t stand touch screens and no matter how good is your controller you will still need to deal with it at some point not to mention the setup will be much more cumbersome
       if i like and instrument (and i don’t like the op-1) price is practically meaningless, money is just a piece of paper people gives value, after some years enjoying an instrument i couldn’t care less how much i “paid” for it.

14. For a musician, there’s less thinking, more discovery. It’s fun! Logic/Reason/Ableton not fun for me.

15. It can playback how you play it. Thats pretty and creative and a lovely remedy to this locked down quantised whorld..

16. I mostly think these questions are pointless, because everyone is different and what is valuable to someone else during the creative process may not be valuable to me. There isn’t even room for genre in the question.

    What is disappointing is the injection of classism in a few posts above to justify the value of this instrument. You like it. Own it and forget the naysayers. Go make the best music anyone has ever heard. For me, it is not worth it. It seems overpriced to me, but that is just me. That doesn’t mean it is.

17. Just grab a synthstrom deluge and be happy, instead

18. “Is The Teenage Engineering OP-1 Field Worth It?”

    Definitely if you do music/sound/fx for the movie/game/advertising industry for a living. In that case 2000€ is really nothing.

19. Not for me. I’d rather spend my money on a real instrument I can actually play instead of an overpriced hipster synth toy that uses Gary Busey’s teeth for keys. But hey have at it, knock yourselves out.

    1. Funny, your comment sound exactly like a comment a hipster would write.

20. Teenage Engineering products are the equivalent to Fabergé eggs.
    Pretty, expensive, but not very useful.

    1. Spot on

       1. The PO33 is ugly af, costs $90, and is a great way to add sampling with character to almost any setup.

21. It’s worth it, if you feel it’s worth it. It’s a unique piece of gear that is top quality but also sold at a premium price. I have the original one and I use it very often in the bus or to sketch ideas. It’s not perfect but it’s the piece of gear I’m the most productive with in, or out of my home studio. The limitations are real and you’ll meet them fast but they also forced me to be creative about how to approach my music. The price is up to your judgement… I am sad that they went unreasonably premium with this update instead of making it more affordable like the OPZ or PO series. Now, both the OG and field are out of my reach… Anyway, it’s worth it if you feel it’s worth it.

22. I have seen full time musicians using the OP-1’s in real situations, in different settings (studio, live) and is pretty obvious that this instrument is extremely versatile and useful.

23. Shortest answer ever: NO. This company is the Apple/Sony of synths and I do not get it and I have zero interest in these products.

    1. like ‘the thing’ form factor is a turn off. it looks like an Apple keyboard.

    2. That wasn’t even the shortest answer on this page, never mind ever. You mischaracterise your brevity.

    3. No.

       S-A-E…

24. I wanted something I could use to flex on poor wannabe musicians. It’s pretty amazing. For showing off disposable income.

25. For me…yes.

26. It’s 3x the price of the original with minor updates after 10 years.
    Guess it’s pretty clear that those who didn’t get one back then will not get this new version.

27. Its not worth it, easy answer

28. I had an OG. Got it from Sweetwater for about $750 when they were going for that. I liked the form factor and feature set for the most part. Problems I had with it:
    reverb sounded awful, lack of documentation on the instruments made designing on it a chore, sequencing on it was a chore, no undo, loop clicks, and tedious file transfer.
    I ended up selling it for $600 about a year later. I enjoyed my time with it, but the ipad has been a much better tool for me. When I see the price of the Field, it feels wrong after the company pledged to make the OG available for less than the $1,300 people were flipping them for when they were out of stock everywhere.

29. I have an OG OP-1 and buyer’s remorse. No quantize, no undo. I completely lost all respect for teenage engineering when I found out it didn’t have those basic features. I bought it pretty much right out of the gate, never in a million years would I have guessed that audio tools at that price would be so antagonistic to the user. I threw it in a drawer. I just came here to see if they realized the error of their ways and it looks like they just doubled the price. Insane.

30. I think of TE like Leica. Beautifully made and expensive tools with unique, inspiring workflows. That has added value for some, not so much for others. I’m glad both companies can survive.