BroKen_H
Re-member
I got one of these for my birthday and haven't played with it much. It has several functions and some very limiting issues.
The Pulse is the like the Core, but only has metronome function (no tuner or watch/smartwatch functions.)
PROS
Tuner works really well. Attach the mounts to any guitars you want to be able to tune, and then when needed, you just twist the unit out of it's watch band and attach to the guitar.
The metronome is both visual and vibrating. The vibrating time keeping bit takes a little getting used to, but after a while it becomes natural. The visual uses two different colors for down beats and the up beat (and a third color that I haven't figured out what is). Comes with a body strap if you don't wish to wear it on your wrist. You can run up to 5 units (Core or Pulse) from one app so all are synched. The app allows quick and easy tempo adjustments. You can also set the tempo by tapping on the screen, or by twisting the face. It also can synch to Ableton Live by wifi, and most other DAWs through USB cable (to the app device, not the watch).
dB meter can be set to a certain level to warn you of potential ear damage, and is just kind of a handy feature to have on board.
There are four time modes...watch (obviously), timer (which counts down, like an egg timer), Stopwatch (which counts up) (BOTH timer and stopwatch can be paused), and alarm (which goes off at set times.)
The watch is pretty much a watch. The timer, stopwatch, and alarms can all be used at the same time, making it very flexible. For example, you can set alarms for the end of each set, AND you can time a 15 minute break using the timer so that when you go 3 minutes over your break start, your next set starts after 15 minutes instead of "on time"...whatever you need.
You can get smartphone notifications if you're paired to your phone.
In the app, you can set up songs and from those songs, you can make setlists.
CONS
Metronome is limited in scope, which is unfortunate since it works with an app...doesn't APPEAR (it may) to be able to do variable tempos. Certainly this can be done if connected to your DAW.
Twisting the face to control the tempo in the metronome mode is really a bit awkward.
Timer, stopwatch and alarms cannot be set from the app...and cannot be synched. It would be nice to have this synched so that all would get the same alarm for set end, or whatever.
Timer function cannot be turned off and must complete before being used again. That's sup-prime. You can exit the timer, but it continues to count down in the background.
Everything works on magnets. Attaches to the platforms (watch or body) with magnet, attaches to power via magnet, attaches to tuner mounts via magnet. Magnets eventually wear out, although I'm not sure how long that will take. Probably decades, so maybe not an issue. Also, this could be an annoyance if you were working in the back of your speaker cab . . lol
dB alarm cannot be set to a specific level. It is simply on or off.
Have been warned by others who have older versions that the watch straps are all kind of flimsy, and although I have semi-small wrists, I have to wear mine on the very last hole on the strap. Don't know what you'd do if you had actual large wrists. But they offer many nice options, including leather.
"HOW TO" information is not readily available. Playing a song with any straight time sig is easy (even 19/16 that Zappa was fond of), but what of Rush's Tom Sawyer that dives into 7/8 in the middle of a 4/4 song? Or Happiness Is A Warm Gun that has 6 different time signatures at various points? Can it change tempo in the middle of a song? Although I have not watched all the "How To" videos, I searched their knowledge base pretty extensively and couldn't even find out how to set up a song...
There's a lot to like, and some room for improvement. Much like everything else in life.
The Pulse is the like the Core, but only has metronome function (no tuner or watch/smartwatch functions.)
PROS
Tuner works really well. Attach the mounts to any guitars you want to be able to tune, and then when needed, you just twist the unit out of it's watch band and attach to the guitar.
The metronome is both visual and vibrating. The vibrating time keeping bit takes a little getting used to, but after a while it becomes natural. The visual uses two different colors for down beats and the up beat (and a third color that I haven't figured out what is). Comes with a body strap if you don't wish to wear it on your wrist. You can run up to 5 units (Core or Pulse) from one app so all are synched. The app allows quick and easy tempo adjustments. You can also set the tempo by tapping on the screen, or by twisting the face. It also can synch to Ableton Live by wifi, and most other DAWs through USB cable (to the app device, not the watch).
dB meter can be set to a certain level to warn you of potential ear damage, and is just kind of a handy feature to have on board.
There are four time modes...watch (obviously), timer (which counts down, like an egg timer), Stopwatch (which counts up) (BOTH timer and stopwatch can be paused), and alarm (which goes off at set times.)
The watch is pretty much a watch. The timer, stopwatch, and alarms can all be used at the same time, making it very flexible. For example, you can set alarms for the end of each set, AND you can time a 15 minute break using the timer so that when you go 3 minutes over your break start, your next set starts after 15 minutes instead of "on time"...whatever you need.
You can get smartphone notifications if you're paired to your phone.
In the app, you can set up songs and from those songs, you can make setlists.
CONS
Metronome is limited in scope, which is unfortunate since it works with an app...doesn't APPEAR (it may) to be able to do variable tempos. Certainly this can be done if connected to your DAW.
Twisting the face to control the tempo in the metronome mode is really a bit awkward.
Timer, stopwatch and alarms cannot be set from the app...and cannot be synched. It would be nice to have this synched so that all would get the same alarm for set end, or whatever.
Timer function cannot be turned off and must complete before being used again. That's sup-prime. You can exit the timer, but it continues to count down in the background.
Everything works on magnets. Attaches to the platforms (watch or body) with magnet, attaches to power via magnet, attaches to tuner mounts via magnet. Magnets eventually wear out, although I'm not sure how long that will take. Probably decades, so maybe not an issue. Also, this could be an annoyance if you were working in the back of your speaker cab . . lol
dB alarm cannot be set to a specific level. It is simply on or off.
Have been warned by others who have older versions that the watch straps are all kind of flimsy, and although I have semi-small wrists, I have to wear mine on the very last hole on the strap. Don't know what you'd do if you had actual large wrists. But they offer many nice options, including leather.
"HOW TO" information is not readily available. Playing a song with any straight time sig is easy (even 19/16 that Zappa was fond of), but what of Rush's Tom Sawyer that dives into 7/8 in the middle of a 4/4 song? Or Happiness Is A Warm Gun that has 6 different time signatures at various points? Can it change tempo in the middle of a song? Although I have not watched all the "How To" videos, I searched their knowledge base pretty extensively and couldn't even find out how to set up a song...
There's a lot to like, and some room for improvement. Much like everything else in life.