Given how much it costs, Teenage Engineering is going to have to add a lot of firmware-update-flavoured value to its OP-1 Field synth in order to convince certain people to buy it, but it’s taken another step in the right direction with the addition of a vocoder.
Available to anyone who installs the latest firmware - a previous update added velocity-sensitivity to the OP-1 Field’s keyboard - you can load the vocoder into any sound slot. After you’ve selected your input source - mic, headset, radio or USB - the audio (modulator) is run through a bank of 20 filters with controllable bandwidth and formant shift, with the carrier signal being a built-in 7-oscillator polyphonic synth.
The OP-1 Field’s encoders give you fast control over the synth engine, formant shifting, number of bands and dry/wet mix.
Find out more and download the firmware update on the Teenage Engineering website. The OP-1 Field costs $1,999/£1,999.
