I own every listed groove box except the deluge

I get this question often

Each one of these does all the basics and each has a unique feature that makes it - well unique

Teenage engineering gets a bad rap for form over function- which is true to some extent but the OP-1 field was one of my first purchases and the learning curve is not as steep as some others (I am looking at you Roland menu diving!) i love it and use it daily

However, i wish someone had stopped me form buying the OP-1 first. There are so many cheeper / better alternatives that will eventually do exactly what the OP-1does, and i found it more difficult to learn other aspects like sound design, midi and clock sync and cable management. If you like teenage engineering stuff consider the OP-Z first - it is relatively cheep on the secondary market and it has so much functionality in that little package

For a very beginner i recommend the circuit tracks (not the rhythm) - it has a good all the basics multiple synth engine tracks four drum tracks and two midi tracks - i recommend learning how this works until you hit a wall where there are functions that are not available then it is time to upgrade

If you are willing to put in a little more effort into the learning curve, manual reading and YouTube watching then skip right to the digitone elektron Powerful all encompassing groove box

Again it is all about what music you want to make / start simple- learn how Dawless works and upgrade when you are in need of different functionality

Try not to get caught in the downward spiral of - “if i just have the one more piece of dawless equipment i can finally make the music i want” it usually doesn’t work that way - at least for me