We were quite critical of the Teenage Engineering OP-1 Field on its release last year, mostly because of its high asking price – then the better part of two grand. However, it's been continually updated and the price has now fallen, so is this divisive portable workstation now worth the cash?
Before we answer that, above is a typically strange Teenage Engineering video announcing the latest update with a lo-fi Christmas theme.
If you're familiar with the Teenage Engineering OP-1 story, feel free to skip a few paragraphs. If not, here's a quick recap.
When it went out of production in 2018, OP-1's secondhand price shot up to well into four figures.
The original OP-1 synth/sampler/FM radio/sequencer came out some 12 years ago, and was a huge success for Teenage Engineering, so much so that when it went out of production in 2018, its secondhand price shot up to well into four figures.
The unit was relaunched in 2019 due to this demand, but TE increased its price to $1,399, around a third more than its original asking price. In 2022, Teenage Engineering then announced Field, a vastly improved OP-1, but with an eye-watering price of $1,999.
Now, don't get us wrong - Field is an exceptional piece of kit, with 100 extra features over the original. Its highlights are 14 synth engines, 15 drum kits, eight types of sequencing, and over 160 minutes of sample storage. But two grand in any currency is a hard ask whichever way you look at it; fortunately, the Field situation has now taken a few turns for the better.
Firstly, this latest update to Field is just one of around a dozen the workstation has had since launch, and many new features have been brought to the party, including velocity sensitivity and a vocoder synth.
This latest update to Field is just one of around a dozen the workstation has had since launch.
This new update adds Terminal, which is a bit crusher (hence the old Commodore Pet in the video – we think), and features an anti-aliasing filter for extra "lo-fi goodness".
There's also a new Merge Drop feature, which is for song creation, and enables you to quickly 'drop' all of your takes onto a highlighted track to free up tracks for more recording – rather like bouncing down in the old days but less of a faff.
With these dozen updates, Field has become a much better proposition in terms of bang for buck, especially as that number of bucks has fallen. You can now buy a Field new for £$1799 direct from TE, and we've seen it advertised new elsewhere for as little as £$1,629, around 20% less than its original asking price.
Field has become a much better proposition in terms of bang for buck, especially as that number of bucks has fallen.
That also makes it a much better buy compared to its older sibling, which is still being advertised as new but not in stock on the TE website. Incidentally, secondhand prices of the original machine, as we reported here, have fallen to much more sensible levels, and we still think this might be a good route into the OP-1 world if you're happy to go down the 'used' route.
There's more info about all the Field updates here and you can read our comparison piece of the original OP-1 versus the newer Field here.
