What the Hell is Teenage Engineering DOING?

Teenage Engineering was been doing some weird stuff lately, and a lot of it has alienated their previous userbase, especially the announcement of the OP-1 Field. This is my best guess as to why, and what consumers should do about it.
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[jordanj]

It’s weird because the pocket operators are insanely good value

[sarahhey]

An MPC One is a quarter of the price and and is Pro ready...

[ToyKeeper]

+1 to all that. Teenage Engineering isn't a music tech company. TE is a fashion company. It doesn't operate in terms of fair price or competitive value. To find a good value, look elsewhere.

[FreeBeat]

Was hoping you'd post something, love that title lol.

[sinepilot]

They don't just see themselves as a design company, they see themselves as a design company FOR ANTS! The tiny knobs on the $1200 mixer are ridic

[MidlifeSynthesist]

Preach it Bro! Feel the same way and I’m so happy to see the community speak up🤟🏻

[DJSlimzilla]

Despite the Apple comparison feeling here for $2, 000 you can actually get a killer laptop from Apple that can do a hell of a lot more than the OP-1 Field. They can attempt to be like the "Apple" of electronic gear but they are not delivering in that regard at all.

[Maochan]

I really appreciate the fact that some creator speak up and tell TE what the community is thinking. There are really awesome communities around the OP-1, OP-Z and the Pocket operators. People who are truly passionate and make great music with those tiny boxes. I think TE's pricing was alright until now, i happily paid 500 for the OP-Z and it was worth it. But it's super sad that they chose this path now....from teenagers to snobs :(

[harlothompson]

Always the same hot take on price. The production quality of TE’s products blows the competition out of the water and they are never aiming for mass adoption. They are a tiny company paying larger production fees compared to their competition and putting out higher quality products so they need to charge a higher price points. Everyone who complains is just sad, rightfully so, that they can’t afford their products. TE is just making sure they can keep doing what they’re doing and teach the industry a thing or two about designing fun/innovative products. Bless them.

[jamesbond]

HAHAHAHA I was looking for this. Between Free Beat and Midlife Synthesis, I couldn't see you just being quiet on the topic! Good on you!

[GNazarener]

The answer is simple. They try to keep the majority of electronic musicians away from this device. But that’s O.K. because good music can be made with other devices as well or even much better.

[abstractmodule]

Novation Circuit Tracks and two Korg Volcas. $700. Just saying.

[gapster]

Yes, Gabe, call them out!
It’s not as if their higher end kit is built that well either.
They are going to price theirselves out, and end up having to drop their prices.

[SonicVibe]

the best thing they made was the pocket operators that they abandon

[Muddyriversfishing]

It’s like cool I want one…..then the price and it’s what do I look like? Also f-off

[BrokenRecord_TV]

They're doing everything wrong. Expect them to take a beating in the next economic downturn

[CLaw-tbgg]

The way I look at their brand is this: they looked at other brands of electronic music stuff and figured they’re generally pretty utilitarian boxes that aren’t very appealing just as things in and of themselves. TE are trying to create music stuff that’s just as appealing purely as objects - focusing as much on form as function.

TE are hardly the first company to do this. Companies have always done this and will always do this. We don’t just want a $15 plastic office chair to sit on: we want a chair that looks nice, and will pay a lot more purely for the aesthetics. It’s just not something that’s happened a great deal in music gear yet.

[fmaylinch]

I am looking for a portable synth I can carry in my backpack all the time and play it wherever I want without a computer. Is there any cheaper alternative?

[SynthApprentice]

"A design firm rather than a music gadget company", "the Apple of music gear" -- thank you for summing up why I never had any significant interest in anything they made. That's not the sort of company that I put my money towards.

[donaldpriola]

Improvments aside, in reality it's a better DAC, a bit more memory, and better firmware. It even looks like the took the OG design on top, and just stuck it in a thinner frame. Feels lazy, and classic marketing over innovation.