Today, Teenage Engineering has introduced the TX-6 Field Mixer—a professional-grade six-channel audio mixer and high-quality audio interface with extensive customizable options...and even a built-in synthesizer/sequencer. Hearing that combination of features alone might be enough to make you scratch your head, but let's be real: this type of seemingly-odd combinations of features is par for the course for Teenage Engineering.

Extending the ethos of such groundbreaking products as the OP-1 and OP-Z to the world of audio utilities, this palm-sized chunk of tech provides a quite impressive and handy combination of features in a remarkably compact form factor. While I don't think I would have ever dreamt up this particular device, it does seem exactly in line with Teenage Engineering's typical offerings: it's compact, sturdily built, easy on the eyes, hugely multifunctional, and the slightest bit quirky. Let's take a look at what all TX-6 is designed to do.

TX-6 Field Mixer Overview

So, just to start, let's discuss the TX-6's build quality. It is made of aluminum, with specially-designed sliders, knobs, and buttons that almost seamlessly become one with the device's own surface. This is a remarkably well-engineered piece of tech, and it's quite easy on the eyes. Moreover, it's remarkably small—around 2.5" x 3.5" x 1", and weighs less than half a pound. Nonetheless, it's quite sturdy—the combination of the aluminum exterior with the tailor-made controls keeps it feeling quite solid. I feel it's important to establish all of this before moving on because, frankly, everything that it can do seems somehow at odds with its size—it doesn't feel like something this small should be able to do quite so much. This particular form of cognitive dissonance quite commonly accompanies Teenage Engineering's products.

Let's start simple. A typical use of the TX-6 would be simply to use it as a mixer. But this thing goes way beyond what you could usually achieve with a pocket-sized mixing solution—it's a full-fledged mixer with all the features you'd expect from a device designed for live sound production.

Teenage Engineering: Always Outside the Box

Admittedly, when first seeing the TX-6, I was met with a bit of sticker shock: at the time of its introduction, the TX-6 retails for $1199. This might feel at first like a high price for such a small item, but do consider everything that you're getting: a professional-grade mixer, a 12-input audio interface, a multi-effect processor, a wireless MIDI controller, a synthesizer, and more.

Moreover, I'd beg you to ponder the OP-1 and OP-Z, Teenage Engineering's flagship synthesizers. Each one is a vast and quirky universe of sonic possibilities, and frankly, I'm excited to see that design approach extended toward something that otherwise might seem like a simple utility. How far can Teenage Engineering go down the proverbial design rabbit-hole when building a mixer/audio interface? If the current feature set is any indication, they're probably already deeper than we realize—and we'll likely be playing catch-up for quite some time uncovering everything that it can do.