Teenage Engineering switches to the dark side with the Field System Black series

Teenage Engineering made its name with refined design and sonic diversity, all wrapped up in a unifying aesthetic. Now the palette has been flipped with the arrival of a new finish for the pocketable Field system of recording devices.

The new black finish aligns the three key Field devices – the TX-6 Field mixer, TP-7 Field recorder and CM-15 Field microphone – with the dark matte surface of the recently released OP-XY sequencer, which melded sonic brawn with Braun-inspired dark surfaces.

In addition to the OP-XY, there’s also the flagship of the Field System, the OP-1 Field, the only device not to descend into this new all-black colour scheme. The rest of the devices were revealed at this year’s annual Superbooth electronic music show in Frankfurt.

Launched today in matte black and available for order on the Teenage Engineering website, the three most pocketable components of the Field System are also benefitting from a firmware update targeting the TX-6 and TP-7, adding more functionality to these already feature-packed machines.

In brief, the TP-7 provides perhaps the most OTT of all pocketable digital recorders, with multitrack functionality, an analogue style jog dial and a high-quality built-in microphone. It can also be used with USB audio sources or the CM-15 microphone, a studio-quality device with its own built-in pre-amp.

All this can be mixed and mastered using the TX-6, a seductively small (and rather fiddly) multi-track mixer, capable of hosting up to 12 mono inputs. In addition to onboard effects, the TX-6 also works as an audio interface and has a simple built-in synthesizer and drum machine.

Finally, the black series of devices is accompanied by a colour-coded set of accessories, including adaptors and stands, to keep your pocket studio aesthetically in sync.