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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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 :)

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

it's funny you mentioned Moog. I just took delivery of a sound studio 3 and there were a few screws and a patch cable missing. Within an hour of me raising the it I'd had an email back apologising for the issue and a dispatch notice that the replacement parts are on the way. Fantastic service!

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.

As always, thanks again for the shoutout! Thank you for never caving in and always saying as it is with big brands and their gear! You have no idea how much this is appreciated!

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

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!

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.

My best customer support experiences have been with Novation and Arturia. I bought a used Launchkey 25. After a while the pitch bend wheel broke. I wrote Novation asking how much replacement parts would cost. They wrote back asking for my address, and a week later the parts were in my mailbox, gratis. Next, Arturia. Bought a used and abused OG Keylab49 that had a few "high keys" (the travel limiting tabs under the keys break off and have to be glued back on). I asked Arturia if they still had replacement keybeds and they said no, so I started working out how to pull the keybed out of another controller keyboard and adapt it to the Keylab. After a few weeks, I heard from Arturia out of the blue that hey wait, they DID still have a few Keylab keybeds, for a very reasonable price. I ordered one and it arrived in just a couple days. They also helped me transfer all the software licenses from the previous owner (in Arturia's world the license stays with the keyboard and is transferable). So, mad props to both firms.

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.

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.

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.

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!

I thought you were going to go in on the pricing but that’s actually a really really good point!

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.

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.

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!

Agreed on Moog. I had issues with the power supply on the Grandmother, and I had an email reply within hours, and a replacement power supply within a week. Love dealing with them. I had one question for TE that was never answered.

I've had an issue with the microphone on the OPz for so so long now. I really hoped to get it fixed but I've still not been able to get it sorted. It just make me sad..

Valid point! Have OP-1 OP-Z and almost all POs. Only ever needed to engage once a decade ago when OP-1 screen had faulty pixel. They just changed the screen and that was it ;-)

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

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 !!

You are SO right about premium support being important. I'll never forget my first time working with Sequential support and being so shocked by how amazing and easy the experience was, having dealt with Behringer for years

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

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!

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!

Love the vids youre doing, keep at it!

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

i had to contact TE support for an OP-Z battery replacement. They were not super friendly but politely pointed me to a DE reseller that had batteries in stock. Response time was less then 24 hours from my inquiry. So i can't complain for the support i did recieve.

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 😅

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.

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.

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.

Are the pocket operators really worth It? Can they be used in a bigger Workflow?

My bad experience with Elektron: I wanted the Model:Cycles, but they hadn’t yet released the pre-announced battery handle. I waited, then bought both at the same time directly from Elektron. A few months later, they issued their battery handle recall. I replied to their support stating that I didn’t want the Model:Cycles if they were recalling the battery handle, and I requested to be able to return both. At first, they ignored the request, just replying with more details about the recall. Then after I replied again with the same request, they told me they couldn’t do anything about that. Awful

I bought an Arturia Drumbrute from the first batch and they developed an issue that came up after the warranty period. Arturia did a recall on them anyway and when I sent mine in they swapped out the part, paid for shipping there and back and sent me a tee shirt, keychain and canvas bag. None of this cost me anything.

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.

I’m fairly surprised when they continued to increase the production and prices so long, it gave me the impression it had more life in it and there wouldn’t be an op-1 mark 2 (which the field essentially is). Whilst I’m still trying to fully get productive with the op-1 (haven’t had long enough on it and it is quirky), I’m beginning to loathe the company’s pricing policy. I’ve read stuff about the customer service (poor in the extreme) and it saddens and disappoints me, yet there will always be people to line up and pay irrespective of the customer service I fear.

Oh shit! You put TE on blast! Totally agree btw. I couldn’t trust them enough to hang on to an OP-Z for more than a few months.

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.

I am thinking about getting the tp7 but I am hesitant, because if the device needs a battery replacement job, I am not sure if they will perform it without any problems. Also during the presentation of the product. During an interview the engineer says, this is not the finished version so there might still be glitches. And I think a product at that price point should not have glitches... :/

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

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…

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!

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.

I've only had one experience with TEs customer service and luckily it was positive. My OB-4 didn't work right when I got it and they sent me a new one right away. I will be honest and say I was worried they would be difficult to work with as I've heard nothing but horror stories.

This is so right, and you brought your points home really well here. They really lost me because of their attitude.

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.

I have not had any issues with my AKAI Force, but the amount of value added with free updates since I bought it is downright astonishing.

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.

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 KZfaqrs 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?

When I first got my OP-Z I messaged them a picture of it in a park explaining how much I loved it and all that, they replied saying it meant a lot and they would share with the team. That was pretty nice 😊

Bought a moog grandmother and the midi functionality had some problems. Emailed them so many times and never got a response.

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

thanks for your content! As someone who has been with apple pretty much since the start, their customer service has actually gotten much much worse over the years as they expanded. Don't get me wrong, its still good... but compared to what it was when I was younger, its night and day.

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

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.

Hey FreeBeat, what Pocket Operator would you like to see? I am more thinking of core ones, rather than a My Little Pony or Ninja Turtles PO-233 (for example).

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

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...

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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).

Damn, now I feel pretty lucky with my customer experience. I got a PO-Office last year that had a malfunctioning screen (It never turned on) but the sound was working. I wrote they insisted it was the batteries I chose so I changed them and the problem continued. I wrote back and the second time they just sent another PO-Office. So now I have two. One with a screen that works and another that doesn't. They responded fairly quickly. That said, I'm guessing that they wouldn't just send a new op-1if yours isn't working.

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.

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.

Considering that there’s a guy here on KZfaq 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.

100% agree with you, I too had problems with my OPz and got nothing. There's a reason I got both my OP-1 and Z on new, on sale, for a couple hundred bucks off

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.

Good customer service-- Novation. Launchpad Pro MK3-- oddly bricked one day, after using it with Components. They told me to return it.. before it was even on its way, they shipped a replacement to me. Had to sell it due to bills, but that was superb. SL MK3 61-key. Bought a used one from AMS 2.5 years ago. Out of nowhere, "Keybed issue" error upon powering up... and the keys just ceased working one day. Apparently someone spilled beer or soda in it, then poured cleaning solutions (two different ones) into the keybed.. yes. INTO the keybed. I did notice the keybed was scratched a bit but thought nothing of it. Liked the feel of it, though oddly "sticky", I couldn't pinpoint why... because it was simply supposed to be a "b-stock" item. My guess is, this person destroyed it, cleaned it up, took the odors away, and probably said "oh, not for me. I'd like to return, please." Only found out the inside issues were what they were from the tech who told me the reality of it, through a rep I was emailing. The tech replaced the keybed entirely, cleaned out the inside thoroughly. None of this cost me a dime (I couldn't afford it even if they charged). Shipped back at their expense. They had it for only two weeks... maybe 3 tops (can't remember). Shipped to me at their expense. Completely hassle-free, and superb communication the entire time. Novation is notorious for GREAT customer service. I hope this never changes, truly. Forgot to mention-- 20 years ago, I bought a Novation Nova IIx analog modeling synth. My first Novation product. One day, every few keys went out, something about wiring/crimped wires. I don't know. I shipped it all the way to the UK (I believe at their expense, but can't remember). Hassle-free... took a few weeks, came back mint. Wound up selling it (like most of my gear... bills)... but, that was my first Novation experience and it was a perfect one. This was way before companies had a legit website/presence. I remember emailing or calling someone in the UK... just a perfect, hassle-free thing. Had decent experiences with NI as well. Akai? No. Arturia-- hit or miss. They often ignore bug reports or complaints on their forum, which pisses me off. Akai blocks comments on a lot of their product videos and their website is the WORST of any out there. Outdated links, impossible to find ANYTHING. Hate it. Those are about my only customer service experiences.. hope this helps others.

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.

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)

This feels very accurate. . I would love to get my hands on an OP-1, but at this point I feel almost guilty giving money towards TE, considering their disregard of the consumer. I've had fantastic customer support from Revv, Two Notes and Meris among others, which makes me want to support the companies even more, while the couple of times I've had bad CS, I've pretty much sworn off the company in question... I'm pretty conflicted, because it seems like such a great device. But a bad customer experience is a deal-breaker in my book.

They’re trying to charge Neve prices for Mattel quality

Really expensive and the bad customer service is inexcusable of course but eight virtual tapes? That was the main thing that was holding me back with the original OP-1: that you could only work on one song at a time, I'd prefer even more "tapes" but eight is pretty good. If I buy one and have any problems I can always bang on their door and harass them until they give me customer service or call the cops on me since I live on the outskirts of Stockholm, about half an hour by car from them.

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. 😢

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

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.

I tend to think synth companies have pretty good customer service but I have had fantastic customer service experiences with dreadbox and SOMA specifically

I bought my op-1 about 8 years ago and I love it, and about 2 years ago I bought my op-z, and yes I do love this one too ... I never had any of the problems that other people have experienced with these devices and never needed to go to their customer service for anything, until about a month ago that I bought the now op-z module the zm-4 and before I buy the module because of someone's comment on TE op-z Facebook page I contacted them, I needed to be sure that the zm-4 can indeed send sync signal to volcas they wrote me back exactly one day later and they said yes it can, I bought the module and it worked exactly as they said it would...now either I am very lucky, or the problem is/was in their quality control otherwise the experiences could not be so different from each other ...I believe by transferring their production line to Malaysia they made their smartest move

I actually had a great customer support experience. I had an issue with my PO400 sequencer and they outright just sent me a new one along with a new battery pack so that I can keep using them both (even though my original battery pack was ok).

Had a pleasant customer support experience with Synthstrom recently. Ordered a Deluge but it was DOA. They guided me through some steps to check if the battery hadn’t come lose, and ultimately offered to arrange a pickup and then sent me a new unit. It hasn’t arrived yet, but I’m expecting it soon 🤞 Throughout the process they were friendly and helpful.

+1 for Moog, also had them answer an email quickly I didn't expect them to answer. Been waiting 2 years to hear back from AKAI. So far Dirtywave has been second to none for customer service.

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.

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.