Soundbrenner Pulse, Vibrating Metronome for All Musicians and Instruments, Perfect for Drums, Guitar, Piano and More, Best in Show at NAMM

First of all, I'd like to mention that I've tried a pulse metronome previously and quickly abandoned it for both performance and practice purposes -- it was just too inconvenient to use. Despite this prior experience, I ordered the Pulse anyway because the design looked different enough from what I had experienced that I though it might work for me. It did! This is an amazing device, one that seems to have been designed by people who actually use the product. The device's user interface is fantastic. I'm using it for solo guitar and, if I place the device on the inside of my left wrist (my fretting arm), I can both see the Pulse and manipulate its functions easily, even in the middle of a song. The learning curve was very short, even though the interface was like nothing I had ever experienced before. The printed guide is clear and there are some excellent short instructional videos available on YouTube (some placed by the company; some by users). In order to access the more advanced features and really set the device up to your preferences, you have to pair with a smartphone and, in this, I had to do a bit of digging in the documentation, but, other than that, it was very easy to get started. It also takes a day or two to get used to playing "against" the pulse. After you get the hang of it -- you forget it's there.A word about the interplay with the phone -- the phone app is also very well designed and the bluetooth connection is stable. The connection "feels solid." I have no need to "play" the Pulse beats out loud, but, if I did, the phone would serve beautifully as a sophisticated aural metronome speaker. You can also use the phone app to control the function of device (especially the deeper functions). However, beyond setup, I wouldn't do so would so because the last thing in the world I want to do is fiddle with a phone during performance. As far as I can see, its prime benefit is that you can control the Pulse's basic functions just by tapping lightly on it. People in other situations might benefit from the capability of controlling function through the phone.I did have to contact their support in the first couple of days because I wanted to order backup wrist straps in a configuration different from what they offer. A very nice person got back to me in a timely manner and arranged for me to get exactly what I wanted, saving me $20. I think this is an extraordinary level of support -- they're going through the trouble of repackaging something in order to save a customer money. (Frankly, that's the main reason I'm taking the time to write this review -- I'm grateful to them.)For me, this was one of those happy situations we get sometimes where we order something with a bit of uncertainty and then discover that it actually exceeds expectations. I love this thing and admire the creativity of the people who developed it. Well worth the money, in my opinion.

This might not be for you, but the tactile feedback resulted a substantial improvement with my piano performances. It is different than trying to mix the audio of a traditional metronome with that of the piano and then, when performing with a group, mixing their percussion with what you are doing (by the way, several of these Soundbrenners can supposedly be networked to sync the playing of multiple musicians). I really don't know what to compare it to...it is so different from an audio metronome that I wonder if beginning students couldn't benefit from using one sync'd with their teacher's. Also, really helps with complex rhythms and helpful as well with just the standard 4/4, 3/4 stuff. Impressive. I am using it with an Android tablet (Nokia/HMD).

When I saw the video on the product page in Amazon and the advertising in Instagram, they said that you could use it without the app, I got it and didn't get the app at first to test it. The reality is that if you don't have the app it is not practical because it doesn't have a screen, so to set up the right tempo you need another metronome to know the correct tempo and then you tap it into the pulse and it get's it. Another issue is that the instructions that come with the pulse are not intuitive and for example they don't say how to turn it off, also they don't say the correct way to tap the screen, so you will struggle to tap it correctly and have the pulse respond, it will work sometimes and sometimes won't and you will have to figure out how to turn it off.Another issue is the battery, it says that it gets to full charge in 2.5 hours but I had it connected for about 10 hours and the light remained red as if the battery was low, when I tried to use it the battery worked but I didn't use it for a long time, so I don't know and don't feel very confident it would last the 6 hours it is supposed to.Once you install the app you learn the correct way of tapping and you have a way to indicate the tempo without another metronome, what bothers me is that they advertise and say that it works without the app and it really doesn't. Still some functions work irregularly even with the App like for example turning it off.Another problem is the advertising presents the vibration as the magical solution for you keeping complex rythms in sync, but the reality is that the vibration is not very strong, neither the instructions nor the app said how in increase the vibration strenght (the box indicates it has several settings but it doesn't say how to activate them) and even if the vibration was strong, you have to relearn to keep the rythm with a vibration instead of an audible beat and it will take effort and time and I'm not sure how much more effective it will be when trying to learn complex rythms, I am studying Jazz piano and I really wanted it to help with complex rythms and beats but it didn't, so after some attemps I went back to my audible metronome.In addition, the Pulse blinks while on, part of the lights you can turn on but part of them continue on and if you are on a stage, you don't want something around your wrist or arm calling the attention of the public because it has a light on, you want your metronome to be vibrating so that it is concealed from everyone, if they could put a function to turn all lights in the Pulse off it would be much better.In terms of the bands, although the box doesn't say that you can put it in your upper leg, some advertising videos say that you can, but the long strip that comes is too short for that.Last but not least the device looks fragile, I do this as a hobby and I'm not comfortable it will last long, if I was a teenage kid with a band practicing several times a week or a Pro having gigs often it would probably be broken fast. I read they will launch a steel version, that may be better, not sure of the price though. In all honesty 99 dollars for what I got seems way overpriced.To conclude the review and as you may have guessed, I am returning it today.