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 device takes a little bit of getting used to, however it does get the job done once you get used to it. The strength of the pulses are good enough for me, the fact that you can wear the device on different parts of your body is a plus, the extra long strap should have been provided as standard when considering the price of the device itself. I like that I can turn off the lights and just feel the pulse. The smartphone app is a great addition and makes using this device a lot simpler. Highly recommended.

I found myself distracted with auditory metronomes and click tracks so I sought out a vibration option and found it in the Soundbrenner Pulse metronome. I purchased the chest strap separately thinking I'd want to feel the pulse at the core. After trying it on the core, wrist, arm, and thigh, I settled on the right ankle. I've played with setting the tempo to quarters, halves, and eighths. It depends on the song. I haven't downloaded the mobile app yet but can see how it will make setting the tempo much easier as well as pulse intensity. Now I calibrate it with a click of known tempo. It's easy to use and to move from one strap to another. The online video was helpful. Just getting started but so far I like 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.

So obviously this is designed for music, I got mine to try to increase my running cadence. Tuning it to 170-180 bpm, it seems very inconsistent. It would hold a best for about half a minute then start speeding up out of no where. I turned it down and counted it at 80bpm and it was accurate. Maybe it has a hard time maintaining multiple beats per second. My other thought is that it may just be the shock from running throwing the bpm off.Overall, the unit is very easy to use. The app is very simple and user friendly. It is a good product.