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.
> 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?
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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”?
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.
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.
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.
> 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?
The world of music hardware is an interesting one.
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?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigger_(guitar)
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.
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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’ve always had those two tiers of pricing/products. That’s a read from a decade ago
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
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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).
Sold Out.
I was expected this to be a 3D print design people could grab for free.
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.
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.
It's not for printing, it's for cutting out of a thick sheet of plastic, as much as I understand.
i mean... this should be a thing.
hmmm now you have me thinking.
Giving things away for free is one way to round tariffs I guess.
"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
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”?
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.
Free as in speech or beer...?
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.
Wouldn't the power supply ground all static?
Probably not guaranteed, I've often wondered why my clothes out of the dryer have a static charge when the dryer is plugged into a grounded outlet.
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this case is conductive, precisely so the excess charge can be grounded by the power supply by being in touch/contact with the psu metallic casing.
the psu is grounded, but the static has no way of getting to ground (via psu) if the case itself is non-conductive.
I'm genuinely torn on this. On one hand, I love the DIY vibe. On the other, isn't paying $195 for a flat-pack metal box the most anti-DIY thing ever?
Has anyone tried using this with a Framework mainboard?
They're both Mini-ITX.