teenage engineering, the company that made news for slipping in an interview that it isn’t making new synths (maybe), might also make news for making its synths do new things. There’s an official (not hacked!) firmware update for the op-xy flagship, and it adds a new drum synth, multichannel audio, dynamic filter, and detune. The whole thing is debuting at their new retail outlet in New York City.
Okay, if you weren’t confused enough already, there’s a stream called midnight operations which streams live at 4PM Eastern, which is in the past, and it hasn’t started yet, and is also not at midnight in Stockholm. You can stare with me (at 22:33 CET) as nothing is happening.
I’m just there for the comments:
But I jest: this firmware update looks terrific, and is a good reminder that maybe letting the engineers do the engineering is not a bad thing after all. (Product owner Jonas is hosting.)
The stream may not be live, but the 1.2.0 firmware is:
https://teenage.engineering/downloads/op-xy
Detune is maybe nothing to write home about. Multichannel audio over USB-C is cool. But the “dynamic filter” is where things start to get interesting — combining multimode filters with drive and dynamics processing is not a bad idea, and the minimalist graphics look lovely.
the new dynamic filter combines a high-pass and low-pass filter with compression and drive. use it with drumline to shape transients, add punch and create heavier drum sounds, or apply it to other sound engines to add depth and character.
This particular update probably rides on the drum synth, dubbed drumline — multiple models, “kicks, snares, and hi-hats to congas, shakers, and claps,” and parameters and sub-parameters. We’ll have to wait to hear it. But I really like the envelope with custom shapes; this feels really teenage engineering-y, and an idea that seems due.
Can the teenage engineers stay relevant, even in this deluge of cheap gear running AI-generated firmware? Can their product people compete with their CEO saying they’re not a synth company anymore? Are people going to take me too seriously, and I’ll wind up getting hate mail from both TE and a bunch of random commenters online?
I don’t know; I’m personally going back to playing with TE’s (great!) inexpensive stuff since I don’t have an op-xy!
But I’m writing this in the hopes that just one of the once legion readers of CDM in beloved New York City are there at the product launch in Manhattan and can tell us what went down!
A €2299 op-xy Travel Kit in Mamdani’s New York, even!
https://teenage.engineering/now