Hello!
It seems a bit pointless to ask for this in an OP-1 forum, i know, but perhaps there are some people here who faced the same problem:
After long time of thinking and comparing, im ready to get an OP-1, its seems to fit perfectly for me since im travelling lot of and i love the way to record and sample so fast. The only thing that makes me a bit hesitant, is that i am often creating some downtempoambient stuff, means that i love to play some nice & warm pads (+ drums). I know that OP-1 sounds more low-fi, but i saw on youtube that OP-1 is also capable to create some very nice pads. For electribe 2, i hear lots of good ambientstuff produced with this gear.
Perhaps some of you guys have beside (or before) the OP-1 also an electribe 2 and can share his experience with both or one of them.
My inner feelings tell me that the OP-1 is the right gear right for me 
since im also planning to integrate it with ableton and some vsts. But im not really sure…
I have booth but i make hard and fast music with them. Since the electribe 2 just has 4 bar patterns, no pattern chain and a gap when change patterns i think the op-1 is better for ambient. But i have no idea what exatly you need for ambient. The electribe is nice to play live but it’s shit to make complete songs. The op-1 is nice to record tracks but shit to play live.
For experimental ambient the OP-1 is probably the better choice, warm pads aren’t a problem for him : )
@Mushroots
So how do you create complete tracks with electribe, do you bounce the audio?
Im creating stuff like this:
Electribe 2 | Ambient Electro Jam - YouTube
I find this guy here on the forum in one of the last thread about NAMM, this was very impressive and it seems the whole tracks are made with electribe only.
I am far away of playing live, so, yes, i wanna do some complete tracks, boucing & mixing later in ableton live.
@mixrasta
this sounds good… i want to persuade myself that its the OP-1 that i need Do you have perhaps examples of pads crated by OP-1?
Hi @Sternklar, I don’t know about the Electribe 2, but I’m a happy owner of an Op-1. Even with three Elektron machines and a bunch of other toys, the Op-1 is still my fave go to machine - very versatile, I reckon… can definitely produce some nice ambient tones.
I have both the Electribe (Emx) and the OP-1. Everything I write here is very much just personal points of view.
If I had to keep one I would keep the OP-1. I prefer the sounds, the form factor, the real keyboard, it’s quirkiness and display. But it has a certain way of working you have to eventually grok. Don’t get me wrong - you can do a lot of things very quickly but I was always thinking about how to do something and realising I could not always work the way I was accustomed to. It’s also a lot more expensive than the Emx2.
The Electribe is a lot of fun but has some annoying quirks and I keep thinking I would maybe enjoy one of the original ones more - they seem a lot more spontaneous. I suspect I just need to spend more time with it
I have the electribe on half speed for 8 bars and change the patterns manual every pattern… But i prefer to sequence the electribe 2 with my electribe mx in song mode (pattern chain) so i just have to change the pattern on the elctribe2 for new sounds.
@yoof
very nice, especially the second one… okayyy, so pads creation are possible, perfect!
@zobbo
since i get the novation circuit, i enjoy this spontenaous making of sounds/tracks without too much menudiving and preparation, but you cant go so crazy like with the OP-1 with resampling and so on… what i also read very often (like now) is that lot of people would choose the OP-1, if they would have to get rid of all their gear, i think this really speaks in favor of the OP-1.
@Mushroots
ok, this sounds not so straightforward as i thought…
Created by our very own @darenager and 100% OP-1:
https://darenager.bandcamp.com/album/de-la-sol
I love being able to slow the Tape down to give a really mellow vibe. You have to record the output then, though, Album is still limited to 6 minutes -_-
I think the Electribe might have (subjectively) better effects when it comes to reverb (but don’t discount Spring with the right parameters), and more traditional ones, but the OP-1 will let you record and then manipulate what you’ve recorded, you can use found sounds, pipe FM radio into your samplers, the crazy and fun sequencers you will find nowhere else, etc.
They’re very different, and each have their strengths and weaknesses. For me the OP-1 wins out, it just does too much.
The op-1 is hands down the cooler machine. However the electribe is more likely to get a firmware update.
Count me in as an OP loyalist that would rather fight than switch.
@KrisM
this flexibility regarding the recording & manipulation looks really intriguing…
@unflattered
haha, thats true gear love!
Now im thinking, if i wanna add in the future an electribe to my setup, i could easily get a secondhand for not so much money.
And if, in the worst case, the OP-1 dont fits in how im creating music, the reseller value is still high, so…
OP-1, you got me ! (except TE presents in the next hours a new OP-2 at NAMM 
@KrisM
this flexibility regarding the recording & manipulation looks really intriguing..
@unflattered
haha, thats true gear love!
Now im thinking, if i wanna add in the future an electribe to my setup, i could easily get a secondhand for not so much money.
And if, in the worst case, the OP-1 dont fits in how im creating music, the reseller value is still high, so...
OP-1, you got me ! (except TE presents in the next hours a new OP-2 at NAMM ;)
Got an Instagram account? Go type in #theunflattered if you scroll through, you’ll see a gang of 15-sec clips of OP-1 stuff I put together. Not cohesive, but a pretty good idea of the flexibility of sound.
Great overview of the sonical possibilities, thanks! together with Samplr also, it rocks!
Hello @sternklar and welcome !
Have you got other synths ?
Here’s a track done and mixed with the OP-1, lo-fi effect and synth is an external one. The thing with that little thing is that you can plug in everything you want into it and make what you want !
This should be a bit frustrating at the beginning 'cause of some limitations (4 tracks, space …) and the way to use it.
But paradoxically I think it developps creativity and ways to make great things without any billions tracks and wherewithal.
It’s very difficult to not love this jewel
PWM Stars by Quarantequatre | Free Listening on SoundCloud
@quarantequatre
thank you for the welcome! I have the novation circuit, its my first hardware ever, before that i used to create music with a daw only.
Which instrument did you use for this mellow soundscape?
“you can plug in everything you want”: being somewhat a noob regarding hardware, does this mean that its possible to use only one track of the OP-1 to play some external gear (or vst) while the other 3 tracks are playing the OP-1 synths/drums/samples ?