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Teenage Engineering shows off OP-1 update, Oplab control interface, and sneaker controller

Teenage Engineering shows off OP-1 update, Oplab control interface, and sneaker controller

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Teenage Engineering shows off its updated OP-1 synth, Oplab, and TS-1 Team Sneaker — and we have the video to prove it.

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Teenage Engineering
Teenage Engineering

It was our pleasure to hang out with some of the Teenage Engineering folks this afternoon. Although the sound inside NAMM is just dreadful — imagine a thousand teenagers from a thousand Guitar Centers practicing Nickelback while a drum circle kicks up inside your head, and you'll get the idea of what we were dealing with while demoing the new kit.

First off, the OP-1 synth has received an OS update — and it's available now for free from the company website. The new features center around performance, and they include the Finger Drum Sequencer (actually, two sequencers, each with their own animated monkey drummer, and the ability to chain, mix, and replace on the fly) and Finger, which lets the user assign one 32 step polyphonic sequence to each key on the keyboard. In addition, there is now a MIDI Modulator / LFO that can be adjusted with an external MIDI controller, DrumBox (a new drum synth), and a rousing game of ChopLifter. If that wasn't enough, controller mode now natively supports Propellerhead Reason 6.0.2.

We also got to check out Oplab, which is a single board with input and output for USB MIDI, CV / analog input and output, and standard MIDI in / out / sync and thru. Needless to say, you can use this to connect pretty much any MIDI or CV device to any other. The base price is $299 for just the board, but it will be available soon in a package with accelerometer, piezo, and pressure sensors.

Last but not least, the TS-1 Team Sneaker is a collaboration with Spalwart Industries (a company that uses equipment salvaged from Soviet-era Slovakia sneaker factories, believe it or not). Spalwart supplies the shoes, and Teenage Engineering supplies the accelerometers that map the movement of your feet on three axes. "If you want to go crazy with your tap dancing," as the man says, this is the shoe for you. Available now for $149.

Teenage Engineering at NAMM 2012 hands-on photos

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