[jaxwerk]

I bought my OP-1 at a steal for $600 two years back. I'd pay $1200 for it today, maybe $1600.

There's a lot of more technically capable stand-alone gear that can be had for less of course. My MPC Live is what my finished (not good compared to others, I'm just an amateur making video game soundtracks for kids I teach game dev to) songs ultimately come out of, and the Octatrack is something I've really enjoyed playing with. None of these are going to be something that lives in my backpack and comes out in the park on a sunny day when I've got that perfect boss battle intro sequence drop popping into my head though. Size considerations aside, I can slam down a decent prototype of a song that's actually listenable in just a couple of minutes on the OP-1 before the idea fades away, and have a blast doing it.

I think their pricing is sensible. The thing fills a niche no other piece of gear I've found can. That seems worth paying for.

[sdenton4]

Yeah, I absolutely love my OP-1. Drum machines, synths, everything I need for sketching out ideas anywhere I might happen to have some free time. Before the Lost Year, it was great to bring on trips: You can do some great stuff on an airplane.

I believe George Harrison said the ukulele is the best instrument for songwriting - it's portable, self-contained, and incredibly easy to work with. The OP-1 hits a similar spot for me: It's a bicycle for songwriting.

[singingfish]

I bought a used one a little while back - because I wanted to try it out and I found one at a price where I knew I could re-sell it easily. I fiddled around with it periodically, and it was fun, and with my limited skills I could do something that sounded reasonably musical with it. But - a. No proper MIDI implementation and b. I found the synth engines very frustrating.

On the other hand, using it as a way to add backing to my sax playing, and record my sax onto the device was fun.

But I got rid of it, and bought a used organellem and plenty of change left over (with which I might buy a proper sequencer at some point, but maybe not).

I've currently got a Novation Circuit which I bought on the same idea. Because I play a lot of acoustic music the circuit seems definitely not for me, but again it's kind of fun and has a nice shallow learning curve.

[arvinsim]

For $1100, I would rather get an iPad Pro and go the software synth route.

[dankoss]

I agree; I tried standalone boxes like the Electribe 2 and Circuit, and the iPad with Korg Gadget is just way more flexible and quicker. The soft synths available are truly equal to desktop apps now. DAWs like Cubasis and Aria are way more powerful than the OP-1s abilities, although I still feel like the workflow could be improved.

[mmastrac]

I paid about the same... I am considering listing it. It's just collecting dust unfortunately.