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.

I have read reviews of this unit going off the beat. As of yet, I have not experienced this shortcoming, but if I should the solution is to put it off and restart it. Nevertheless it works great and does help internalize the beat. I used it for several days playing piano for 3+ hours and truly enjoyed the experience and I recommenced it. For 4/4 I run it 2 beats to the bar, catching the down beats. You do not have to pay for the extended app. The free version lets you fine tweak it to your hearts content. Very glad I made the purchase. A quality product.

This is a great idea. When I use an audio metronome and playing on the beat, the music drowns out the audio from the metronome. Alternatively, I could turn the volume on metronome way up. With the Pulse, I can always be on rhythm and not have the metronome interfere with the music. Also, the app allows a lot of customization, different vibration duration and intensity as well as different color lights. The Pulse also allows different timing, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16 notes, even triplets. It does take some getting used to. At first I used both the audio from the app and the vibrations from the Pulse. Once I got more used to the vibrations, I stopped using the audio. When I had issues, their customer service was very responsive and helpful. I’m pleased with both the product and the support. It is a little pricey for a metronome. I wasn’t going to shell out for it but a friend bought it for me as a surprise gift. Now that I have it, I can’t imagine practicing without it.

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.

I had bought this for my son for the holidays. The first one didn't work at all. It wouldn't even charge. It was quite disappointing. My son was willing to give another one a try, so we returned the faulty item the very next day. I can't believe it took over a month for the company to receive the return. The second one arrived a few weeks later and worked immediately and my son seemed happy with it. He is a drummer, so he wears it for his percussion sessions.

While I really like this metronome but it isn't without its faults. First of all I thought all the functions were self-contained, but you need the app to change most settings. I guess I should have read the reviews regarding that. Yes you can increase or decrease the tempo on the watch itself, but need the app to let you know the bpm. I'm personally tired of using apps for everything, including ordering a pizza. To get all the functions in the app you need to pay!!!! One other small complaint is there's no clock on the device. How hard would it be to get it to function as a regular watch as well? Its' not advertised as a timepiece, but the cheapest devises have a digital clock built in. All in all it does function well as long as you use the app to fiddle with it.

The tactile pulse is somehow more effective than just hearing audio clicks of a metronome. I'm using three devices for a trio group, and this has helped us fix several tricky rhythmic sections of pieces we have worked on in the past, but never quite got correct. It's a little mysterious why it works so well. The pulses are a little "instrusive" but in a good way. It's like having a music coach tapping you on the shoulder. Maybe its because touch is a different pathway to the brain than hearing? The company has been supporting the device very well. I did experience the Pulse timing being way off from what it was supposed to be, but that only happened a few times early on (April 2018) and it seems some firmware and software updates have fixed this -- it hasn't happened since. They also replaced a non-functional USB cable in one of the devices at no cost. The software on the app is quite good. It has many options to customize things, including the type of touch, the pattern of tempo, whether to hear metronome sounds and what type of sounds, colors of pulses, etc. The pulse can be set very short and crisp. You do have to recharge the Pulse frequently. They claim to have improved the battery life with a software update. I just recharge after every use, and top off before using. Not a problem. I use a USB hub device to charge all 3 devices at once. They provide two straps, a short one and a longer one. In my group, each person has chosen a different place to wear it. This is a very innovative device, and remarkably stable and useful for a "version one" product. I only use this in rehearsal. My one wish would be to have a foot pedal to pause the pulses during a ritard, maybe press and hold. And perhaps switch to a different tempo with a quick foot pedal press.

I was excited the very minute I learned of this invention. Originally I bought this with the idea that my other band members would also purchase one allowing us all to "sync up" and stay in time better during rehearsals or live shows. Well unfortunately the other guys never bought one and don't seem to see the benefit of it anymore, so I let mine collect dust for a few weeks. Not until recently did I start using it to practice piano scales and I truly believe it has helped me develop better timing and I've been playing for right about 20 years now. It's a great tool to practice guitar or piano with. Even though it's not being used as I personally hoped for I still wanted to keep it because it's just such an amazing tool to have. The app that controls it is also very easy to use as well. Highly recommend this! If you can convince your band to buy one I'm sure syncing them up (you can sync up to 5 at once!) would be a lot of fun.