D'Addario Micro Tuner - My Review.
I had the Mini version of this tuner and hated it. It wouldn't lock on during a jam yet many people said their tuner worked fine. Maybe I had a dud. When the micro came out there was a newsfetcher post about it and, again, everyone raved. I was the only dissenter and as much as I want to jump on the bandwagon, it just didn't work for me and I didn't plan on buying another.
Surprise to me, our friendly D'Addario rep pm'd me and offered to send one for me to try out and I accepted. Thank you for your generosity. I've used it in our weekly jam where it's loud and crowded and at a recent BG festival and used it enough to give a review.
First, I LOVE the form factor; my favorite part. It's so tiny I clip it to the headstock on the underside, push the convenient button that flips the display, and it's ready. Beautiful, quick and easy. The clip works great.
Second, readout and screen work well, red, yellow, green and can see it just fine. I didn't try it in sunlight but since I keep it under the deadstock I think it'd be OK.
Third, and really the most important part, how does it tune. Unfortunately, not well. I can tune perfectly when I'm alone and/or it's quiet. But as soon as I get into a jam with a banjo on the left of me and a dobro on the right I can't get the darn thing to lock on. I've tried hard pick strokes, soft ones and standing on my head. Nothing works.
Sometimes it locks on, sometimes it's two bars sharp, sometimes it fails to register. This happened, all three, at the same time. Every pick stroke read different. I so wanted this to work better than the mini and as well as my other tuners like the Snark. But, it didn't perform. Maybe the next go around might work better and I'd make it my daily driver.
To be fair, I gave it a taste test against my Snark that I've had for almost 2 years. I went to a quiet room and put both the Micro and the Snark on the head stock. I also used both in jam situations. I varied the positions of each. Time after time it was the same result. The snark is capable of locking in consistently regardless of the situation and volume level. The Micro fares marginally better than the Mini but still can't cut it.
I love everything about the Micro except that it can't tune my mando and I'd say that's a deal breaker.
Breedlove Quartz FF with K&K Twin - Weber Big Horn - Fender FM62SCE
Wall Hangers - 1970's Stella A and 60's Kay Kraft
Whether you slow your roll or mash on it, enjoy the ride.
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