OP1 new user / Please advice on sustain on samples, cracks and pops, midi, etc.

OP-1
#1

Hi everyone,


Awesome community you have going on here. Everyone is very helpful and seems to really enjoy their OP1s. I have been a lurker for as long as I lusted an OP1 and now that I got one I became a member. It’s my first hardware synth/sampler/recorder/everything. I use a DAW and VSTs to record my folk/songwriter stuff but I am eager to try a new workflow with the OP1, hopefully incorporate new sounds to what I do now.

So, these were the first roadblocks I’ve encountered:

1. I can’t get unlimited sustain from samples, no matter how much I try to normalize the in and out.

I have downloaded some sample patches from here and other websites (https://www.operator-1.com/index.php?p=/discussion/2804/top-10-patches#latest for example), mostly organic sounds like flute, brass, organ, etc. The problem is that I can clearly hear the sample loop if I hold the sound for longer than the duration of the original sample.
Do you have any advice as to how to sample stuff that can be sustained endlessly?

2. My keyboard does double strokes a lot.

I will try to upload a video of this. I don’t know if it’s the nature of the OP1’s keyboard as everything seems to work just fine, but a lot of times when a press a key down a little hard it will trigger a double sound, especially noticeable if I am playing drums. Does anybody else have this issue?

3. Secuencer pops and clicks.

I was using the Finger sequencer to design an arpeggio and found after recording that there were some pops and cracks in the sound. I was using the Digital synth. Is this normal? I will try to upload a sample later so you can hear what it does, but maybe is a common thing. I guess I could clean those up in a DAW but I’d rather not have to.

4. Midi

I can get the OP1 to control Logic or Ableton just fine. I was wondering if I could use the secuencers in the DAW to manipulate the sounds in the OP1. I can’t figure this out. Do I need an extra device or is the USB cable enough?

Well I guess that’s everything for now. I’m in this strange phase where I feel there’s potential in the instrument but I can’t quite grasp it yet and don’t know if it will fit my way of working. Sometimes I find sounds that I like just to be frustrated a couple minutes later about a limitation I hadn’t thought of earlier. I feel like it’s an instrument you have to invest time into so that’s what I am doing at the moment.

Thank you for making this website a great resource for us new owners.


#2

Hey man, welcome! I’m no expert, but let me try help.


1. The envelope doesn’t allow endless sustain, you’ll have to be a little creative with your samples to achieve a clean turn-a-round. Like any sampler, this takes practice to get right. I find it easier using the Synth Sampler and setting the loop points in from the start/end points (white and green encoder from memory).

2. I get this occasionally, but it seemed to go away once i got used to the strange action of the keybed, which is much more similar to a laptop keyboard than another keyboard. I’m used to pads for my drums (maschine), so this definitely took some getting used to

3. I’ve gotten occasional pops and clicks using some patches, but nothing that was consistent - it was definitely more frequent using the built-in speaker, so maybe some patches were spiking it a little. Try changing patches or adjust settings slightly and see if that helps. Also, check your mix window on tape to see if it’s clipping (will have a little red indicator), this has caught me out a few times. Overall the OP1 has pretty low headroom, which is both a pro (vibe) and a con (limited headroom…!)

4. Do you mean inputing midi data into Ableton/Logic and sending out to OP1? Yes, this is easily possible, just make sure you match the midi channel. By default it’s set to channel 1. this is easy to setup in ableton as it should recognise the OP1 as a MIDI destination.
No need for other cables etc.

Good luck, let us know if there’s any more issues!
#3
Hey man, welcome! I'm no expert, but let me try help.

1. The envelope doesn't allow endless sustain, you'll have to be a little creative with your samples to achieve a clean turn-a-round. Like any sampler, this takes practice to get right. I find it easier using the Synth Sampler and setting the loop points in from the start/end points (white and green encoder from memory).

2. I get this occasionally, but it seemed to go away once i got used to the strange action of the keybed, which is much more similar to a laptop keyboard than another keyboard. I'm used to pads for my drums (maschine), so this definitely took some getting used to

3. I've gotten occasional pops and clicks using some patches, but nothing that was consistent - it was definitely more frequent using the built-in speaker, so maybe some patches were spiking it a little. Try changing patches or adjust settings slightly and see if that helps. Also, check your mix window on tape to see if it's clipping (will have a little red indicator), this has caught me out a few times. Overall the OP1 has pretty low headroom, which is both a pro (vibe) and a con (limited headroom...!)

4. Do you mean inputing midi data into Ableton/Logic and sending out to OP1? Yes, this is easily possible, just make sure you match the midi channel. By default it's set to channel 1. this is easy to setup in ableton as it should recognise the OP1 as a MIDI destination.
No need for other cables etc.

Good luck, let us know if there's any more issues!

Hey dude, to check clipping, do you mean shift + mixer button? I never understood how the overload will be displayed. Can you shed some light?

#4

@ludicrouSpeed No, I just mean by going into the basic mixer window (left from T1), each level meter has a little red clipping indicator. This has definitely tripped me up before when I’ve pumped some individual drum samples etc and it creates some ugly clipping. That said, the shift+mixer key which brings up the block diagram also shows clipping coming out of the the 4 mixer dials as a red flashing line - but you would’ve already seen this on the regular mixer window. Not really sure what the block diagram is there for TBH, except maybe just for some additional eye candy?

#5

Haha, yeah it defs looks cool. Would be amazing to be able to tweak the signal flow or something. Still… Thanks @millbastard

#6
Haha, yeah it defs looks cool. Would be amazing to be able to tweak the signal flow or something. Still... Thanks @millbastard

Oooo, being able to re-arrange the blocks a la Reaktor would be cool. Would get complicated/messy real quick tho I imagine (at least mine would)

#7

Yes indeed, haha. Not really inline with the spirit of the machine… But I sometimes feel like the “simple workflow / simple interface” rationale is a bit of an excuse to not implement cool features. Don’t get me wrong, I love the op1…

@millbastard

#8

Hi @eabril and welcome . I feel the OP-1 is great for your type of thing ,an acoustic musician who wants some electronic elements to introduce, jam with .
1- yes set your loop points on synth sample . Practice using white & green and use shift to fine tune to reduce clicks at loop point. You need a similar height on your wave form for clickless ness ,although this is sometimes hard to see on OP-1 s screen. Also pick a good place on your sound that does have consistent tone,volume.
2- my keyboard did use to do this a lot when brand new, (as well as leap to sequencer page randomly). This seemed like dust and worked its way out ,but consider sending back if you are unhappy and get it sorted. I didn’t for some reason (couldn’t part with it?) but its ok now.
3- yes follow the other guys responses here. I did notice more crackle initially ,when using internal speaker. Use your red encoder in tape mode to lower sound.
4- use the midi LFO . Four CCs set to 1-4 can assign four values of your synth, then control these with your daw track.

Maybe try using the OP-1 without a computer. Use the (Lofi) built in mic and tape maybe?

#9

Thanks @millbastard, @lucidrouSpeed and @Spheric_El !


I will try your suggestions and come back later with some insight hopefully.

Best,