Soundbrenner Core 2, Music Practice Companion for All Musicians with Vibrating Metronome, Practice Tracker, Chromatic Tuner, Decibel Meter and Smart Watch, Best in Show at NAMM (Jet black)

Just received the soundbrenner for my son who plays pianoThe features are extremely innovative and it is a brilliant concept

"Soundbrenner Manual Core" musician's watch reviewSetup: It was easy to pair with an iPhone. There were YouTube instructions and it works with Android.*There is a "Song" and "Setlist" Library with the "Plus" app. This may not be available in the free app. The "Plus" app is $3.99 per month.Overall Impression:* The sturdy "Soundbrenner Core" box is useful for storing the accessories (earplugs with metal case, charging cord, magnetic tuner mount, straps).* The charging cord has a standard USB end; the other end magnetically attaches to the device. Battery life is approximately 4 days (watch) or 3 hours (metronome).*Multiple straps: You either wear it on the wrist (watch strap) or on upper arm, leg, or torso (body strap). It's easy to switch between straps.*Simple controls: There are two buttons, a rotating bezel, and the face is sensitive to tapping.Metronome:*You not only "feel the beat" but also see it (flashes).*It's easy to adjust tempo, time signature, and vibration intensity.Tuner:*You permanently stick a "magnetic tuner mount" on your instrument. You need one mount per instrument. The "magnetic tuner mount" is about the size of a $1 stack of dimes.Decibel Meter:*The watch measures ambient sound above 70db. It's sensitive; small sounds (telephone rings) registered.Watch:*It's a Bluetooth watch (stopwatch, timer, alarm, alerts); however, it has a monochromatic display.*It's not waterproof!

I got one of these for my birthday and haven't played with it much. It has several functions and some very limiting issues.PROSTuner 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 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.CONSMetronome 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 for those of us with big hands.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.THIS IS PROBABLY A NIT: 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 . . loldB alarm cannot be set to a specific level. It is simply on or off. Would be nice to be able to set it . .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.

I'm a seasoned piano and drum player but am learning guitar for the first time. I bought the Soundbrenner Core in order to have the tuner and basic rhythm to ensure I learn guitar correctly the first time. The device is incredibly well made. The straps and finishes are top notch (they remind me of the Apple Watch). And the integration of the device and the app is seamless. I don't know how they get all of the features so tightly woven together, but it is like nothing else on the market today. I highly suggest getting one for yourself or any musician you know. They will be thrilled.One thing I'd like to see in the future is practice tracking to know how often / how well I play on rhythm or even on key! I hope they make that in the future. I also hope they make even more colors for the straps and a vegan leather strap option too!