Re: Tuners: TU-12BW, TU-80, OT-120?
Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 11:46 pm
You want to buy a tuner? I want to stop buying tuners. I have four!
I have the Boss TU-128W you mentioned, the Korg OT-12 (the predecessor of the OT-120 you mentioned), the Korg CA-30 and the Korg tuner/metronome TM-40. Here's my take on them:
First of all, they are all accurate. If I line up all four of them on my music stand, they all read the same. If I use one of them to generate a tone, the other three indicate that the pitch is dead on. It is possible for any particular tuner to have a pitch defect (either originally from the factory or from rough handling). I recommend you check any tuner against two or three others. The odd man out should be discarded.
The best tuner I have is the OT-12. I looked up the OT-120, and it seems to be a re-packaged version of the OT-12; the specifications look the same. This tuner is sensitive, covers a huge pitch range (including the basement) and has an illuminated dial. There is a choice of three response speeds (I use either medium or fast). This tuner also supports historical temperaments for those of us who are into Baroque and earlier music, and has a huge calibration range (again, useful for historic kinds of instruments). It has many other features. Also, it has great battery life.
The TU-128W is growing on me. It can clip onto the bottom lip of a music stand and contains storage for the included contact micropnone & cable. It covers the tuba range well and has selectable medium and fast response time. It doesn't have as many features as the OT-12, but does have all that a tuba player probably needs. I'm using this tuner more and more.
The CA-30 is a basic inexpensive tuner. It's not as sensitive to the lowest notes as the first two tuners, above, but it will do for tuning up and adjusting things. It's something to keep in your instrument case/bag if you aren't carrying one of the expensive tuners.
The TM-40 contains a basic tuner and a basic metronome. The all-in-one approach compromises the performance and convenience of both sections. It does work, and it lives in one of my instrument cases so I'll always have some kind of tuner and metronome with me.
I should mention my use of tuners, so you can have some context for interpreting my remarks. For me, tuners are mainly for practice time. I use them when evaluating valve slide settings, alternate fingerings and to make sure that my pitch sense isn't drifting off. Also, I have to check my very lowest notes more frequently, to fight my tendency to play sharp down in the basement. I'll carry a tuner to a rehearsal or gig just for a quick check. If I have to honor of playing the Bb to tune the band, I'll try to have a contact microphone on the tuba so people will take me seriously. [Connecting the mic to the tuner is optional.]
Cheers,
Allen
(who is hoping he doesn't have to 'fess up to his metronome collection)
I have the Boss TU-128W you mentioned, the Korg OT-12 (the predecessor of the OT-120 you mentioned), the Korg CA-30 and the Korg tuner/metronome TM-40. Here's my take on them:
First of all, they are all accurate. If I line up all four of them on my music stand, they all read the same. If I use one of them to generate a tone, the other three indicate that the pitch is dead on. It is possible for any particular tuner to have a pitch defect (either originally from the factory or from rough handling). I recommend you check any tuner against two or three others. The odd man out should be discarded.
The best tuner I have is the OT-12. I looked up the OT-120, and it seems to be a re-packaged version of the OT-12; the specifications look the same. This tuner is sensitive, covers a huge pitch range (including the basement) and has an illuminated dial. There is a choice of three response speeds (I use either medium or fast). This tuner also supports historical temperaments for those of us who are into Baroque and earlier music, and has a huge calibration range (again, useful for historic kinds of instruments). It has many other features. Also, it has great battery life.
The TU-128W is growing on me. It can clip onto the bottom lip of a music stand and contains storage for the included contact micropnone & cable. It covers the tuba range well and has selectable medium and fast response time. It doesn't have as many features as the OT-12, but does have all that a tuba player probably needs. I'm using this tuner more and more.
The CA-30 is a basic inexpensive tuner. It's not as sensitive to the lowest notes as the first two tuners, above, but it will do for tuning up and adjusting things. It's something to keep in your instrument case/bag if you aren't carrying one of the expensive tuners.
The TM-40 contains a basic tuner and a basic metronome. The all-in-one approach compromises the performance and convenience of both sections. It does work, and it lives in one of my instrument cases so I'll always have some kind of tuner and metronome with me.
I should mention my use of tuners, so you can have some context for interpreting my remarks. For me, tuners are mainly for practice time. I use them when evaluating valve slide settings, alternate fingerings and to make sure that my pitch sense isn't drifting off. Also, I have to check my very lowest notes more frequently, to fight my tendency to play sharp down in the basement. I'll carry a tuner to a rehearsal or gig just for a quick check. If I have to honor of playing the Bb to tune the band, I'll try to have a contact microphone on the tuba so people will take me seriously. [Connecting the mic to the tuner is optional.]
Cheers,
Allen
(who is hoping he doesn't have to 'fess up to his metronome collection)