The OP-XY from teenage engineering has received a thorough review in the April edition of Sound On Sound magazine, with plenty of praise being given to the latest advancement from the Swedish company and SOS donning it a 'portable sequencing powerhouse'.

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The reviewer gives a real deep-dive review of the OP-XY, taking a look at its usability, it's sequencing abilities and where it can sit within your instrument and workstation repertoire.

As an initial outlook, the OP-XY is described as 'marrying the OP-Z’s sequencing with the OP-1’s beauty.' but in reality OP-XY brings much more to the party, with SOS noting 'The OP-XY is an eight-part, multi-engine synth and sampler, with 16 tracks of sequencing, split into two blocks of eight. The first eight are tied to synth or MIDI parts. The second eight (the ‘Aux’ tracks) access other features, like a CV/gate track, effects returns, performance effects and The Brain: an intelligent transposer.'

If you've used an OP-1, the XY provides a similar layout with some changes to introduce a new row of step triggers and a high-res screen, which is now mostly uses a greyscale design with hints of red recording, providing instant feedback for users.

The reviewer also notes the use of 8 new synths on the XY, which are described as 'uniquely crafted sonic toys'. It's also mentioned that the XY uses familiar synthesis schemes, but that they 'preconfigured in particular ways and feature just four adjustable parameters with fun, and sometimes esoteric, animated graphics as feedback.' 

in terms of what it brings to the table for songwriters and creating songs for performances, the OP-XY provides something new the TE users, with the reviewer noting 'Unless a classic linear recording workflow appeals to you, the XY is way more accessible and productive for creating songs and performances than the OP-1. The Brain and step components make the OP-XY both a generative
sequencer and songwriting assistant. I had endless fun setting up short, simple sequences, loading them up with components like the pitch ramps, mapping out a Brain chord progression, then seasoning with Punch FX.'

Overall, the review gives a positive overview of the OP-XY and whilst some suggestions are made for how it could be improved in the future, they can certianly see it's appeal for those looking for their next sequencer and songwriting aid - 'So, the OP-XY doesn’t qualify as the mythical ‘one device to rule them all’ if that’s how you’re hoping to fund it. But it must be the most functional dedicated device of its size, it’s a beautiful thing, and it certainly inspires you to make music.'


Read the full review in the April edition of Sound On Sound or online here.


Teenage Engineering is distributed in the UK and ROI by Sound Technology Ltd. For more information please call 01462 480000 or visit www.soundtech.co.uk/music-retail/teenageengineering.