Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Medieval

teenage.engineering

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 341 posts

Re: Medieval

#101

Post by yungporko »

WatchDog wrote: post #44

Has anyone began dabbling in music production, just to play with some of teenage engineering's gadgets? I'm pretty sure if I bought one, it would just sit in my cupboard, but I'm looking for an excuse to buy one, has anyone here gotten more use out of one of their gadgets than they expected they would?

unless you're a really big fan of TE there really isn't ever a reason to buy anything they make other than maybe the pocket operators. it's all overpriced shit which doesn't make sense to buy when compared with competing products. for example this thing makes zero sense when the sp404mk2 exists.

Re: Medieval

#103

Post by rigonkulous »

stitched2gethr wrote: post #31

I'm a fan of Teenage Engineering. I think they make some really cool products but they have a few that really makes me wonder, who is this for?

I am not a fan of Teenage Engineering (Disclaimer: I make audio products too).

The reason is, they set a standard for useless gimmicks which are far, far too expensive, designed to appeal to style over substance.

The OP1 is one of the most over-rated 'instruments' out there. It has a fancy, expensive OLED, a fancy, expensive casing, and useless gimmicks. The OLED never really shows you anything useful to the act of music-making. This is true of their Pocket Operators as well - its nearly all stylistic whimsy over functionality.

Save yourself the hassle and frustration of using a Teenage Engineering product and either buy the parts and make yourself an LMN3[0], or invest in devices that don't take the piss out of the user, such as the 1010Music Bluebox or Synthstrom Deluge.

The musical-instrument industry is rife with people who want to rip off the punters, who they know for a fact are easily afflicted with GAS (gear acquisition syndrome), resulting in customers across the globe who end up stashing their expensive, sexy-looking (but functionally retarded) toys in the drawer after a period of glib usage.

[0] - https://github.com/FundamentalFrequency

[1] - https://1010music.com/

[2] - https://synthstrom.com/

Re: Medieval

#104

Post by yungporko »

jahewson wrote: post #51
whatshisface wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think their target audience are well-heeled Apple customers who like to imagine that they are musicians. Hacker culture doesn't have a "collector of expensive African originals" role, so "amateur who collects equipment far out of proportion to the time they invest in using any of it" has formed to collect the same psychological energy. It's about the combination of the creator fantasy on the surface backed up by th…

Seems a bit harsh. There’s surely more dimensions to their market than this?

there genuinely isn't, it's all overpriced shit.

Re: Medieval

#106

Post by rigonkulous »

kstrauser wrote: post #74
whatshisface wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think their target audience are well-heeled Apple customers who like to imagine that they are musicians. Hacker culture doesn't have a "collector of expensive African originals" role, so "amateur who collects equipment far out of proportion to the time they invest in using any of it" has formed to collect the same psychological energy. It's about the combination of the creator fantasy on the surface backed up by th…

You’re not totally wrong, just mostly. I use Apple stuff. I bought an EP-133 at launch. That part was true. I also spent thousands of hours with a MIDI setup on my Amiga when I was in high school, teaching myself how to program the little FM synth my parents bought me for Christmas, and learning the theory of what makes a drum pattern sound good. I don’t have thousands of hours available anymore. I still want to dabb…

Yes, fun is the key value. It is fun to play with a music toy, with a near-useless interface, and still get 'something' out of it. That is a key factor in their design principles - make some expensive whimsical toy that GAS-afflicted punters will invest in.

Meanwhile, you can spend the money on even more powerful devices and avoid the frustrating UI experience for which Teenage Engineering are infamous.

Sure, you can make music with a toy - thats the beauty of music, not the toy.

Re: Medieval

#108

Post by rigonkulous »

DAlperin wrote: post #6
ramathornn wrote: post #5

I can’t take this company seriously after all the R1 nonsense. I get that no product is perfect in its first version but it sure feels malicious how they fooled everyone with what they promised vs what they delivered.

Fwiw Teenage Engineering is a design firm who was originally contracted by Rabbit to design the physical device. I don't think they had anything to do with the functionality.

Teenage Engineering use a type of design that is intended to obfuscate the functionality of the device. For example, their Pocket Operator series use LCD displays which have very little utility to the experience of music-making. The OP1 has an OLED display which mostly displays non-sequitur nonsense.

Those of us who despise Teenage Engineering are reacting to a design ethos which devalues the users knowledge and understanding of what they are doing, over whimsical non-sequitur. You're not getting a musical instrument - you're getting a device, which despite itself, can nevertheless be used to make some kind of music.

That's the beauty of music, not the device. You can make music with anything.

So the feeling among those of us who also make musical instruments is that Teenage Engineering are packaging up an inherent feature of music and selling it to people in a fancy way - they don't really care about the music-making features, which are almost secondary to their effort to design aesthetically appealing, moderately functional, expensive toys.

And in that light, it makes complete sense that they would involve themselves in the Rabbit R1. The impression is that Teenage Engineering kind of despise their customers, who they think are dumb, and they therefore invest in non-sequitur aesthetics in lieu of smart design that pushes the industry forward. Teenage Engineering ship exploitation and ridicule - they don't make finely crafted instruments for musicians to hone their skills. Most great musicians who play with an OP1 and make music with it, do so despite the devices' many roadblocks to creativity.

Post reply on HN