…file loaded onto the TP-7 and you scratch a part of it, the original file won’t get altered — it’ll play back as normal. The separate pitches and speeds give you a lot of tools to reshape your audio creatively. This function is similar to the way that you’d edit audio in a digital audio workstation, but engaging with and manipulating audio in a strictly “analog” way that is so much more tactile and enjoyable.
Recordings are organized into projects, each of which can contain a number of “takes” and have individual metadata. An 18-second clip I ran using the TP-7’s inbuilt mic and a USB microphone was stored using only 200KB, and took less than a second to load or save. The battery seems to last for ages, too. Overall, the TP-7 is much more of a “Field” device than anything else that bears that name. It’s the most flexible recorder/music maker in ages, it’s smaller than the mixer and the grip it takes on multitasking while still being able to record a shiny, immediately pleasing sound is unmatched in a device at this price point.
Perhaps the only downside I can offer here is that the TP-7 does not have built-in speakers. This is a bummer that quickly fades when you realize much of the field gear has speakers, and the TP-7 is best used for recording audio sourced from them. Maybe Teenage Engineering does an accessory speaker that connects with a magnet and makes the TP-7 a pocket groovebox that shares its audio with the world — or just plays back the transcription without headphones if you leave them at home. A grip for the edge of the TP-7 where you could hang an AirTag would also be a good shout, as these would sell a few million I bet.
An area in which the TP-7 excels, and it’s shared with the rest of the Field range, is workflow. It’s rare to see a range of devices which work so seamlessly together, but this makes the full set so powerful. I might get frustrated when explaining the music gear I’m reviewing, before propping up the phone to show that Teenage Engineering said it best in the offbeat marketing material. The devices don’t have a learning curve. There’s nothing that would make something complicated, and the way that tools like Spotify continue to refine their system while adding more features is so similar to how Teenage Engineering intended their instruments. There’s no legacy devices to speak of since last spring, and I think that shows in the products on both a hardware and software level. It’s easy to see at a glance what’s going on, and it’s the same easy to see that this is harmonic with everything going on, since something like meta recording from multiple devices has different understanding than even one device, which is something that the TP-7 and the Field system knows better than most devices I’ve used.
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Another thing that’s the same, if not better, about the TP-7’s intercompatibility is that no given length of time tells, but the Field products manage to sync seamlessly over Wi-Fi. No, not that LCD, but the Wi-Fi that manages to be just as quick without too much, and this is seeping out of the Field devices and into the OP-1 as I write this. I’m sure that it could see a spot in any audience’s heart, thanks to just how anything can become something else. And while this can all be done (and was planned to be) to be out of the compact design and creativity it takes with it, I look forward to what Teenage Engineering can/will do in the future unless whatever follow-up is something more gimmicky. Teenage Engineering is closing in on the full circle of how software development works, regardless of the tools, and the Field products seem to show how iterative design is rewarded, especially with devices that can see themselves as something else at a glance. Any concerns about there not being anything more to make this, or if the new Field devices are the best on the market, should be put to rest after reading about them and the infinite connections to more. And while I focus on low hanging fruit and on the less blustery feats of the Field range (or explaining how I’d love to see the system expanded upon) within such and such is a hard sell — and I don’t think that’s possible, I will admit with new connections that’s easier enabled by more than just digital or plasticky things will be easier going forward, and talk to as many friends who have more about the Field range and its numerous possibilities. This all and more as I do something else when you have the time to read about the TP-7 and Field range.
