Soundbrenner Core - An Honest Review

Let's have an HONEST review of the Musicians Watch, the Soundbrenner Core. It's a smartwatch (sort of) and metronome, specifically made with musicians in mind. Does it help? Is it any good? is it worth your money?
If You want to pick one up, you can find them at Sweetwater
www.sweetwater...
#soundbrennercore #coresteel #honestreview
Hey, if you want to subscribe to my email list as well, there will be extra content going to those signed up there, like new music alerts, more personal vlogs, etc.
Just click here to sign up;
mailchi.mp/ef3...
▶My other pages:◀
Facebook: / darkroastrecording
Soundcloud: / darkroastrecording
Main website: www.darkroastr...
Instagram: / darkroastrecording
▶My Music:◀
bandCamp: jbauerproject....
Facebook: / jbauerproject
Apple Music: itunes.apple.c...
Spotify: open.spotify.c...
Tidal: tidal.com/brow...
▶Some of My Gear:◀
Beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO openback - amzn.to/3FCQ8aZ
KRK KNS8400 closedback Headphones - amzn.to/3Ukm8EX
Arturia Keylab MKII 49 midi controller - amzn.to/3SYUYlP
UNO Synth - amzn.to/3DXEUMR
iRig HD 2 - amzn.to/3hbVVdz
IK Multimedia iRig 2 - amzn.to/3h6hY59
IK Multimedia iLoud Monitors - amzn.to/3T4roLE
Positive Grid SPARK 40 Amp - amzn.to/3h9CEt9
Positive Grid SPARK Mini Amp - amzn.to/3fxfyMw
Presonus Studio One Artist v5 w interface - amzn.to/3zFAqbc
Presonus Atom - amzn.to/3sY37fG
Akai MPK Mini MKII - amzn.to/3h613ja
Q1002USB Mixer - amzn.to/3a81Nfu
Focusrite 2i2 interface - amzn.to/3T3KVvY
Behringer UMC1820 - amzn.to/3T7Gb8u
Behringer Control2USB - amzn.to/2IjZM3i
Behringer Compressor/Gate- amzn.to/2TkScMg ko
kali LP6 Monitors - amzn.to/2Tk2NHg
Arturia Minilab MKII Midi Keyboard - amzn.to/3FIgjNE
VoiceLive3 Extreme - amzn.to/2IoOM4B
M-Audio Uno Midi : amzn.to/3U4RbVA
Guitar Stand - amzn.to/2PLCSpI
Shure SM57 - amzn.to/2IiVLw7
Audio Technica AT2020 - amzn.to/32OnIFv
1/4" Patch Cables - amzn.to/3NyUuBV
XLR Patch Cables - amzn.to/3cwSOG0

[@ElsieA_Piano]

Thank You for such a complete unbiased review! As a Musician I am completely sold on the concept of the watch but was a bit wary of the quality. Watching this video has helped me decide on whether to invest in the watch now or later when the watch quality has improved. Once again, Thank you!

[@DarkRoastRecording]

hey @ElsieA_Piano, thanks for your kind words!

[@BenIdoine]

I wish I'd watched this review before buying the Core Steel. I was super enthusiastic for this, being a guitarist. But, I've found so many flaws with it from both a conceptual and practical angle. Firstly, I went for the Steel so that I'd have a watch I could just wear. In reality, it doesn't feel like a watch I'd use all day. It's not particularly comfortable, and it's not especially well featured beyond basic notifications, time, and the metronome feature. The additional cost for the Steel is really not worth it. Now, the metronome - as a guitarist, I put it on my left arm. I then found that my wrist points down while fretting. This meant that the watch hangs down beneath your arm while playing. If it is then not on *really* tight you cannot feel the pulse as it is not in contact with you. Of course, having it tight on your wrist then starts to restrict your tendon movement - not great when you are trying to play quickly. So, I tried it on my right arm. Better, but still not great as it needs to be on tight. Maybe fine for pick players, but again not great for finger style if you need that dexterity. So, next I tried upper arm. After a length of time it either slipped down or if I tightened it up became uncomfortable quite quickly. Next I tried it on my upper leg. Same problem, it needs to be on tight to transmit a pulse strong enough to feel over your instrument. Lastly, I tried the body strap. The only place that felt 'useful' to me was to have it right on my collar bone. There it could be slightly looser, but I'm guessing it works because it was largely cooperating with gravity. Next - practically problems. I am quite technical, but still had massive trouble synching with Logic Pro on the Mac. Had to run through the setup a few times before I could see the Core in the Midi devices. After some teething problems I managed to get the pulse synching with my project tempo. BUT - I found a flaw. The temp sync ONLY works correctly if you run your track from the very start. Not great if you want to over record parts later in your project. I also found that if you have repeat cycle turned on, the pulse is suddenly one beat out of sync with your project. The delay might actually be an arbitrary amount, but I found between 80 and 120 bpm it seemed to be one beat out after each repeat. I've not tried it with tempo changes in the project yet. Another issue - the double tap to start is fine, but having triple tap do a tap-tempo is REALLY annoying. The number of times I have tapped once to wake the watch, then twice to start the tempo and it has read it as a tap-tempo and set my tempo to some random number. I really would like the option to turn off tap-tempo. I pretty much always want to pick a specific tempo. This is a really irritating and time wasting feature. Finally - Soundbrenner told me that they endeavour to ship from stock in your own country. I ordered in the UK. They have stock showing on their Amazon UK account. I emailed them before ordering and they said if they don't ship from UK they would repay and duties and taxes incurred as a result of shipping from outside the UK. I placed the order and saw that they had shipped from the USA. I emailed them again and was promised that I just need to email them the fees invoice and they would repay the costs. They acknowledged receipt of my email for costs, but to date have not refunded my additional fees as promised. This means that I paid a lot more than $300 - more like $460. This watch is worth nothing like that amount! So - if you are outside of the USA, I'd recommend not buying - they lured me in with a promise that they reneged on. In short, I'll probably be using the 30 day money back guarantee - but I'll be out of pocked for shipping costs. I think they should be paying that, since their product really doesn't live up to their claims, so this is a clear case of mis-selling. Luckily I bought on my Visa Credit, so I have some additional buyer protection - so Visa can chase them for the money back on my behalf.

[@LuxuriousMistakeMusic]

what they did to you sounds illegal in the United States but I’m not a lawyer

[@DarkRoastRecording]

Hey @BenIdoine . thank you for sharing your experience with us here! I had the soundbrenner Core for just under 30 days, enough for me to become familiar with it, use it and do a thorough review. I felt as you did about the price vs features. Its way over priced in my opinion. It delivers features onmany levels, but fails horribly on some of the more advanced features like midi sync and Daw sync for tempo. the DAW sync was what I was really after. I primarily use Studio One, and Logic for DAWS, it couldnt sync with either very well. not well enough to be usable. each time I tried to record guitars with the tempo sync for metronome, I ran into some issue. It worked magically in Studio one for a bit, then it just went back to being terrible and I have no idea what changed.... that said, I returned it through amazon at the time, and got the full refund. When I look at the devices now on Amazon, the return policy isnt held by Amazon anymore, its direct from Soundbrenner (at least in Canada it is), This means that Soundbrenner can now determine of your return is worthy of refund or not. This is not a good thing for consumers. I wish that Soundbrenner fixed these issues, as the concept for musicians is fantastic. If it did the things it claims to do, it would be an invaluable tool for musicians gigging and recording in the studio. but alas, its more gimmicky than real.

[@faithite]

I have both Core Steel and Core Steel Limied Editon. What's fun is I can use the app to connect 2 at the same time. so my teacher or me can change and feel the metronome at the same time.

[@streetlife20]

I kinda like the bezel smooth like it is lol

[@nicolaspachano304]

Don't buy this product. I have a Core 2 and almost everything about it sucks. Everyone that's been scammed by this company should get together and file a lawsuit. This is a massive scam.

[@wr2343]

What's the red bass on your wall? It reminds me of an 80's Yamaha model. bb1000s maybe?

[@DarkRoastRecording]

Hey, its a Cort actually. The thing has survived so much, its a very well built guitar!

[@cheeseandmilk14]

How long has it work for you guys? My bf has bought 1 and it worked for like 2 o 3 months. He has received another one using the warranty but it's been less than 2 months and now this one it's not even turning the screen on. Has anyone experience this?

[@DarkRoastRecording]

Thx for watching! Sorry to hear he’s had such issues with it. The one I reviewed here didn’t have any issues with turning on or battery. That said, I didn’t have it as long as your bf either, so I couldn’t speak on whether it would have the same issue. I returned mine after the review cause I was really disappointed with it overall. The performance with Bluetooth DAW sync was terrible and glitchy, so I got a refund. I love the idea of the device, I just wish they improved on what’s is now an out of date design. A “2.0” Core would be great with all the bug fixes and a nicer physical appearance. If Apple can make a watch that runs smooth, looks nice, and works for years, I think Soundbrenner can find the tech to do it as well.