they have a branding problem - they are starting to being perceived like a snobby brand with ridiculously overpriced products sold as a status symbol - a Balanciaga of creative tech basically
so they are trying to put out some cheap good value products to signal a return of the original hacker ethos
Being called "...a Balanciaga of creative tech" isn't a "branding problem," if it is, in fact, the brand.
We may or may not agree about it being a brand we'd buy, of even if it's an accurate description, but there's little doubt for me that TE has an identifiably unique and profitable brand.
Not to defend Teenage Engineering, but I have seen a surprising number of OP-1s in music videos/live performances of bands I respect. Does that justify its price tag? I feel somewhat certain in saying "no," but I have no expertise. Love its aesthetics though.
Because you realistically don't need any physical hardware to make digital music. A laptop and some software is everything you really need. Perhaps a microphone for vocals and a cheap keyboard controller for input.
Everything about Teenage Engineering and related synths are toys. You can make real music with their toys but they don't do anything you couldn't do on your laptop.
The stuff TE makes are incredibly high build quality and beautiful toys though. I used to have an OP-1 for a while before I sold it. One of the coolest coffee table toys I've ever touched.
> You'll meet some amazing musicians who have been touring for decades and are still playing on the same guitar they got for $800 15 years ago.
This is a nice story, but I suspect it's rarer than you make it sound. Serious working musicians like serious equipment which tends to cost a lot of money for a good reasons.
But these are also lower volume products, and I agree with your overall point that the music gear industry is kept alive by hobbyists with disposable income.
I never saw them in any other way. High end brands with conspicuous design have existed in tech for at least 100 years. Fancy cars, televisions and audio equipment for instance. Before that, there were ornate luxury tools.
> they have a branding problem - they are starting to being perceived like a snobby brand with ridiculously overpriced products sold as a status symbol - a Balanciaga of creative tech basically
I don't think your opinion is well grounded. Their whole product line, from the inception, was luxury high-end, sometimes gimmicky, media devices.
Why do you feel justified to tag the "hacker ethos" buzzword? Because some of their products sell as PCB-only/optional custom case format?
Browsing through their store I see only the "overpriced balenciaga-tier bullshit" category though...
Edit: i kinda take that back, as two people pointed out that EP-133 sampler actually has an okay feature-to-price ratio.
But $250 leather wraps to "transport" your OP-1 in tho, or $250 singing wooden dolls without obvious interfaces except bluetooth midi...
i guess I'm not the target market
This is a naive take, borderlining on bait. They are not 'trying', they have by and large succeeded. Both the PO and KO series devices are fantastic value for their respective prices.
If you consider something like the TX-6 an overpriced status symbol, you have clearly never tried to make a 6 channel stereo mixer this small with these specs. And if you can't imagine a use for something so small and portable, then it simply isn't for you.
While the POs are fun devices for their price, the KO-II is a very limited, frustrating device. I fell into the hype and got one and after only two weeks after a complete beginner I realized I bought an over-expensive toy. An SP-404 MKII only costs a bit more and completely blows it away - actually usable display, almost unlimited sample storage, nicer step editing, far better and useful FX, etc. TE hypers will say it is much more complex and thus less fun and 'immediate' (they love to use that word), but for me the learning curve was about equal (for using the same functionality, the MK-II has much more functionality).
Or, since this is Hacker News. The Dirtywave M8 is a much much nicer device (does sampling and is a good ol' tracker) with synths, etc. Sure, it is more expensive, but you can make an M8 headless for just the price of a Teensy MCU. The UI is also much quicker and nicer than the KO-II once you get a feel for it.
tl;dr: bought a KO-II, even as a beginner I ran into its limits almost immediately. There are much better devices out there at similar price points (or much cheaper if you hook up an M8 headless to a laptop or cheap handheld game console).
I wonder if they used static-dissipative/ESD-safe plastic, as pure polypropylene is good insulator and easily builds up a static charge. There's a reason nearly all computer cases are conductive.
Looking at the build PDF, you'd need a pretty large printer to do a single piece like that. Would need to split it into a few panels and have some sort of joinery or fasteners to make it fit on most consumer printers.
At the bottom of the page, it looks like this is a giveaway for August, and that there were OP-1 giveaways in June and July. The OP-1 is their flagship synthesizer.
Makes me wonder if this is starting a press cycle for something they'll release for sale in the nearish future.
Not giveaways, but it was instead a "name your own price" discount that allowed you to pay as little as $1399 and as much as $9999 (your choice) for an OP-1. What's bizarre is throughout the month of July, the OP-1 Field was completely SOLD OUT. And it felt pretty galling to their customers they would have this "name your price" promotion continue into July with the same device as the previous month - most people expected them to switch up which item would get the discount. No one was able to purchase an OP-1 from July 1 - July 31 at any price on their site.
It varies, but in many places you couldn't sell a device without proper shielding, but unless you are causing disruption to a public service or safety equipment there is nothing that stops a person owning and running one. Just think of the world full of rPi units, other SBCs, and other PCs, running completely caseless or in cases without much/any thought towards EMC shielding - it obviously isn't a problem, or it would be a big problem.
Most rPi units and similar are fine as they can be argued to be sold as parts rather than devices just like any other motherboard¹. The Pi400 presumably gets away with it, as something this is conspicuously sold as a device not a part, because that chonky heatsink² is enough to disrupt any errant EM fields outside the ranges that it should be emitting (those around 2.4GHz and 5GHz).
There are many grey areas, and indeed those where the letter of the regs is broken but not enforced. To cut a long story short wrt “Is this "legal" to run a pc open like that?”: yes running a PC in a case like that with no extra shielding is legal pretty much everywhere, though selling a complete PC with a case like that probably breaks regs and maybe even laws.
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[1] putting the responsibility with the purchaser, where it isn't enforced unless it is a problem (I chose not to shield my TV-box Pi4, not the company, and it isn't putting enough junk out to disrupt anyone else's anything else)
That completely flew over my head. I can’t parse the sentence to understand if they’re making a statement or what they mean. What is a “flipped out ‘25 offer”?
a offer that is "flipped out" or crazy, weird, unusual, exceptional in the crazy sense. "flipped out" is someone who seemingly lost control of themselves or does something very unusual. "he flipped out because something went wrong". an attribute easily ascribed to what's happening in the US this year, the behavior of the current US president, and many other events.
I was focusing more on the "Or until the world is a little more stable" part. I am guessing they have a lot of customers in USA, so they are hit by tariffs.
Readit News
so they are trying to put out some cheap good value products to signal a return of the original hacker ethos
We may or may not agree about it being a brand we'd buy, of even if it's an accurate description, but there's little doubt for me that TE has an identifiably unique and profitable brand.
You'll meet some amazing musicians who have been touring for decades and are still playing on the same guitar they got for $800 15 years ago.
And you'll meet people who drop 5 figures on synth gear every year and have never put together a single track.
If you're running a business selling electronic music gear, who would you rather target?
Not to defend Teenage Engineering, but I have seen a surprising number of OP-1s in music videos/live performances of bands I respect. Does that justify its price tag? I feel somewhat certain in saying "no," but I have no expertise. Love its aesthetics though.
Everything about Teenage Engineering and related synths are toys. You can make real music with their toys but they don't do anything you couldn't do on your laptop.
The stuff TE makes are incredibly high build quality and beautiful toys though. I used to have an OP-1 for a while before I sold it. One of the coolest coffee table toys I've ever touched.
This is a nice story, but I suspect it's rarer than you make it sound. Serious working musicians like serious equipment which tends to cost a lot of money for a good reasons.
But these are also lower volume products, and I agree with your overall point that the music gear industry is kept alive by hobbyists with disposable income.
I don't think your opinion is well grounded. Their whole product line, from the inception, was luxury high-end, sometimes gimmicky, media devices.
Why do you feel justified to tag the "hacker ethos" buzzword? Because some of their products sell as PCB-only/optional custom case format?
Edit: i kinda take that back, as two people pointed out that EP-133 sampler actually has an okay feature-to-price ratio.
But $250 leather wraps to "transport" your OP-1 in tho, or $250 singing wooden dolls without obvious interfaces except bluetooth midi... i guess I'm not the target market
If you consider something like the TX-6 an overpriced status symbol, you have clearly never tried to make a 6 channel stereo mixer this small with these specs. And if you can't imagine a use for something so small and portable, then it simply isn't for you.
Or, since this is Hacker News. The Dirtywave M8 is a much much nicer device (does sampling and is a good ol' tracker) with synths, etc. Sure, it is more expensive, but you can make an M8 headless for just the price of a Teensy MCU. The UI is also much quicker and nicer than the KO-II once you get a feel for it.
tl;dr: bought a KO-II, even as a beginner I ran into its limits almost immediately. There are much better devices out there at similar price points (or much cheaper if you hook up an M8 headless to a laptop or cheap handheld game console).
Deleted Comment
I wonder if they used static-dissipative/ESD-safe plastic, as pure polypropylene is good insulator and easily builds up a static charge. There's a reason nearly all computer cases are conductive.
the psu is grounded, but the static has no way of getting to ground (via psu) if the case itself is non-conductive.
I was expected this to be a 3D print design people could grab for free.
Makes me wonder if this is starting a press cycle for something they'll release for sale in the nearish future.
hmmm now you have me thinking.
Most rPi units and similar are fine as they can be argued to be sold as parts rather than devices just like any other motherboard¹. The Pi400 presumably gets away with it, as something this is conspicuously sold as a device not a part, because that chonky heatsink² is enough to disrupt any errant EM fields outside the ranges that it should be emitting (those around 2.4GHz and 5GHz).
There are many grey areas, and indeed those where the letter of the regs is broken but not enforced. To cut a long story short wrt “Is this "legal" to run a pc open like that?”: yes running a PC in a case like that with no extra shielding is legal pretty much everywhere, though selling a complete PC with a case like that probably breaks regs and maybe even laws.
----
[1] putting the responsibility with the purchaser, where it isn't enforced unless it is a problem (I chose not to shield my TV-box Pi4, not the company, and it isn't putting enough junk out to disrupt anyone else's anything else)
[2] everything else about the case is plastic
"More flipped out '25 offers will be presented during the rest of the year (Or until the world is a little more stable)."
https://teenage.engineering/25-the-flipped-out-year
a offer that is "flipped out" or crazy, weird, unusual, exceptional in the crazy sense. "flipped out" is someone who seemingly lost control of themselves or does something very unusual. "he flipped out because something went wrong". an attribute easily ascribed to what's happening in the US this year, the behavior of the current US president, and many other events.