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OB–4 – Portable high fidelity loudspeaker

teenage.engineering

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Re: OB–4 – Portable high fidelity loudspeaker

#61

Post by pbronez »

codetrotter wrote: post #35
tacticaldev wrote: post #8

their stuff is awesome, but so expensive! I've wanted an OP-1 for a long time, just can't fork out that kind of cash for a "toy"

The OP-1 is kind of a weird thing. I remember a few years ago I was almost convinced that I should have one, except for the price tag which was way over my league. And back then it was still being sold for about $900 in stores I think and now it’s like $1500. On the bright side though I picked up a decent Korg Triton Le 88 waveform keyboard with weighted hammer action keys a couple of years ago second hand, and for t…

100%

It's tempting to think of Teenage Engineering as a frustrating synthesizer manufacturer, but they're really a design studio. They're much more interested in exploring new ways to integrate sound, life and technology than excelling at a particular product segment.

It's pretty much the opposite of what Behringer is doing. That company is totally focused on scale, reducing consumer prices, and bringing synths to the mass market. (with all the ethical corner cutting that brings with it)

Re: OB–4 – Portable high fidelity loudspeaker

#62

Post by crumbshot »

Is HN being subjected to some astroturf marketing techniques here?

Seems rather suspicious to see so many commenters enthusiastically salivating over an advert for a very expensive radio.

And also for said advert to hit the #1 spot on this site, despite not fitting into the usual categories for a compelling post.

Re: OB–4 – Portable high fidelity loudspeaker

#63

Post by CarVac »

AgloeDreams wrote: post #55
CarVac wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have the larger Eneby and it puts out a frankly ridiculous quantity of sound without distortion.

I have the Eneby, the tiny Frekvens, and twin Symfonisk speakers. Ikea's Symfonisk Sonos speakers are Eneby taken much further... but thats it. Like they are literally Eneby Drivers married to Sonos One SL boards. Add some porting and a case and boom, Symfonisk. But what they can do is pretty shocking, The TruePlay tech really irons the package into incredible quality by tuning out all of the downsides of the Eneby's…

Hm, the Symfonisk are much smaller than the Eneby 30.

The volume of the Eneby gives it surprising bass extension (40 Hz) but it's a bit lumpy on the way down there. I've never dared to test max volume at the risk of disturbing my neighbors…

Re: OB–4 – Portable high fidelity loudspeaker

#64

Post by amagumori »

codetrotter wrote: post #35
tacticaldev wrote: post #8

their stuff is awesome, but so expensive! I've wanted an OP-1 for a long time, just can't fork out that kind of cash for a "toy"

The OP-1 is kind of a weird thing. I remember a few years ago I was almost convinced that I should have one, except for the price tag which was way over my league. And back then it was still being sold for about $900 in stores I think and now it’s like $1500. On the bright side though I picked up a decent Korg Triton Le 88 waveform keyboard with weighted hammer action keys a couple of years ago second hand, and for t…

Yeah it’s a weird situation where I feel like a lot of the people who the OP-1 is aimed at either can’t afford it, period or aren’t going to pay $1300 on a “toy”. Because of its market positioning it ends up being this unattainable luxury item that only professional/ established musicians use, instead of a MPC-esque everyman’s tool. The “toy” design positioning and huge price tag work in tandem to keep it unattainable- it’s not that people can’t afford it (although a lot of people can’t afford it) but at the high price tag, people start seriously min-maxing what they’re getting for their money. People are really reticent to spend an entire paycheck on something that’s even somewhat limited, and possibly the best “feature” (the high level of polish in design and UX) is sort of invisible and not looked at as a utilitarian “feature”.

Re: OB–4 – Portable high fidelity loudspeaker

#65

Post by sequoia »

The radio mixing feature seems similar to what this guy "Radio Wonderland" does https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr2wK3jvUhc

I've seen his performances at HOPE conferences and it's pretty cool. See a full set here: https://archive.org/details/hopeconf2020/20200730_0000_RADIO...

Re: OB–4 – Portable high fidelity loudspeaker

#66

Post by uoaei »

crumbshot wrote: post #62

Is HN being subjected to some astroturf marketing techniques here? Seems rather suspicious to see so many commenters enthusiastically salivating over an advert for a very expensive radio. And also for said advert to hit the #1 spot on this site, despite not fitting into the usual categories for a compelling post.

It's ok that you are not privy to the hype around Teenage Engineering in general.

Musicians like their devices because the UX design is interesting and relatively smooth, and the devices have a lot of flexibility for making interesting music.

Re: OB–4 – Portable high fidelity loudspeaker

#67

Post by zemo »

crumbshot wrote: post #62

Is HN being subjected to some astroturf marketing techniques here? Seems rather suspicious to see so many commenters enthusiastically salivating over an advert for a very expensive radio. And also for said advert to hit the #1 spot on this site, despite not fitting into the usual categories for a compelling post.

HN is fundamentally a community built around products and commodities (and especially tech startups). What discussion happens here about programming is a very market-centric view of the field. This post seems par for the course to me.

Re: OB–4 – Portable high fidelity loudspeaker

#68

Post by speedgoose »

rtkwe wrote: post #21
napolux wrote: post #16

Why no DAB radio?

First guess is the FM is more of a toy experimental feature combined with DAB probably requiring license fees. Also there's no DAB in the US or regular service outside of Europe.

Teenage Engineering is Swedish.

Re: OB–4 – Portable high fidelity loudspeaker

#69

Post by InitialLastName »

tweetle_beetle wrote: post #47
qz2 wrote: post #22

£599. Nope.

At least it's made in Europe, unlike the OP-1 which they quietly moved to Chinese production after increasing the price...

Build first locally, and then transition to China is a pretty natural pattern, especially for a smallish design firm... you can get the design and production process tightly controlled in a situation where you can easily visit the manufacturing facility, then move it to somewhere that can handle your scale economically.

There's a dual marketing benefit too, as when the initial reviews are coming out you get into peoples' heads as "made in EU" and then that brainworm never resets when you move production, and you also get to gauge your demand without the time+money input of ramping up production on another continent.

Re: OB–4 – Portable high fidelity loudspeaker

#70

Post by talentedcoin »

crumbshot wrote: post #62

Is HN being subjected to some astroturf marketing techniques here? Seems rather suspicious to see so many commenters enthusiastically salivating over an advert for a very expensive radio. And also for said advert to hit the #1 spot on this site, despite not fitting into the usual categories for a compelling post.

I'm with you. This is a product for rich narcissists.
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