Best tc electronic PolyTune 3 Tuner/Buffer Alternatives

Based on 6 reviews

I was looking for a high quality tuner to go on my desk or in my rack in the studio, so I don't ever have to find a tuner or use a plugin. This fits the bill perfectly; and I've since found that the metronome is very powerful too, at the moment it loves downstairs where I practice my instruments, and once my studio is renovated I might consider getting another one so that I have one handy. I prefer it to using an app on the phone; it's always ready, and the battery lasts quite a long time (charged by USB). You can get smaller tuners/metronomes, or pedal format ones, but if size or floor use is not a consideration and you're after the best quality and features, then this is probably the one to get.

Based on 6 reviews

Overall, this is a good one. The tuner is pretty accurate and precise enough to be used when playing with the band, at least to my ear. It has a huge and bright display that you can read from any angle and from a considerable distance, which is a good thing in the studio when your mates have none or use clips since you can lend them your tuner for a second. It still has a downside, though. The buffered mode turned out to be too noisy, at least for my setup, which is still alright-ish since you can switch to the bypass and forget about this at the expense of the not-too-loud pedal switch.

Based on 3 reviews

Right out of the packaging, I liked its diminutive size and its featherlike weight. It has a reassuring grip on the headstock, and the plastic of which it is made appears to be durable. To give you a better idea, it reminds me of '90s Nokia phones, which looked a bit cheap but felt tough. As someone with nearsightedness, I especially appreciate the fact that all note names are displayed in uppercase letters, which makes them a whole lot easier to see without having to put on my eyeglasses. I also love the strobe feature, which offers more accurate tuning for adjusting the intonation, for example. Last but not least, I really enjoyed the fact that instead of red and green LEDs, it has red and blue ones. For those who did not know this, blue LEDs had been so difficult to make that the...

Based on 2 reviews

Tunes well, shines on standard and on higher pitch tunings (you can tune the guitar with a capo on, try on 5th fret you'd be impressed). Surprisingly, has troubles with lower pitch strings (I bough the bass edition 'cause I thought It should be able to handle lower frequencies better than the standard one). By 'troubles' I mean that it takes much more time to tune a Drop D's low D string than a G string, also Drop A tuning has driven the tuner crazy. But this can be improved via firmware updates. Has not tried it on bass and in the noisy environments. Overall, I had lots of fun playing Open G and weird Radiohead's Open D, hence the rating.

Based on 1 reviews

Nice bright clear and stable display. The clamp connects to the tuner via an adjustable neck. Apparently you can have various frequency settings but I will never use those. Great that it's re-chargeable but shame it's not USB C. I ordered this particular model because it comes with a "carry case". Unfortunately the case looks more an item of packing material but I guess it will protect. I haven't needed to charge the battery yet and only have it turned on to tune my bass and then turn it off. It's my first head mounted tuner and so far I am happy with it and it saves lugging my boss tu2 footpedal tuner.

Based on 153 reviews

I've tried rackmount tuners and a couple of other cheaper boxes, but there's no escaping this simply rules the roost. Excellent accuracy and note acquisition, even for notes on a bass too low to be deemed safe for your trousers.Feels durable and safe to give a good whacking with your foot when using the mute function. Doesn't seem to drain battery life either. My only gripe is that for a top of the range tuner, at quite a few pennies, you're buying literally just a box. No power supply, no case. That's just the way with Boss; but it is the only thing that really holds it back. For the tl;dr... Pros: Durable as mad Plenty of functionality without being confusing Very accurate Very fast to acquire notes Decent battery life Cons Nothing but the tuner is supplied

Based on 66 reviews

Great tuner with a built-in buffer at a reasonable price! In addition to its size that saves a lot of space on a pedalboard, the tuner is quite accurate particularly in strobe mode, normal mode is also very accurate and fast. However, when setting up my pedalboard, I ended up preferring to keep it in true-bypass mode, because it honestly sounded better and felt better under my fingers, so I think it's great to be able to turn the buffer on or off, and see what works best with your setup. Unfortunately it is not possible to use the always on mode in true bypass, because obviously when a pedal is on it is using a buffer, so it cannot be in true bypass turned on. I really liked the switch's soft click-free feel, and I hope there will be no problems with it in the future, given the rumors...

Based on 34 reviews

this is my second StroboStomp HD. first was an early one, second one is slightly revised hardware, most notably they now include a velcro pad. I can say that this is one of the best pedal tuners on market. when you need enough accuracy to set up your instruments, I just need a hardware strobe. Polytune, Pitchblack or anything digital is not enough accurate for this. currently two pedal tuners on the market provide a real strobe: Peterson StroboStomp HD and the Sonic Research Turbo Tuner. I chose the former, as I prefer the display. so, what do we get: 1. a real strobe with no needle mode. it's extremely accurate and can confuse new users for a while. but you'll get used to it 2. a color display with user-changable color, visible in direct light as monochrome 3. 'sweetened tunings'. I...

Based on 10 reviews

In a world full of of poorly designed and built throwaway items, this Korg tuner seems as if it were designed by folks who wanted to make something intelligent and functional instead of flashy. It is well made with a nice LCD screen so the 2 AAA batteries lasts a long time. Aside from that it just works well. In addition it is not expensive. I would also check out the option of its bigger brother, the 60, which has a screen light and a metronome for a about 10 Euros more but on the downside has a less legible screen. I am very satisfied with the purchase.

Based on 52 reviews

Every pedalboard should have a tuner, and for the price, you can't really go wrong with this one. It's accurate and fast, and has a bright display. I will start with a list of pros and cons, with more details provided below. Pros * Small footprint * Accurate * Choice of chromatic and strobe tuner display * Multi-string tuning * Built-in buffer (can be switched off) Cons * Cannot change LED colours; keep this in mind if you are red-green colour blind(!) * Only tunes to standard concert pitch (A440) * Polyphonic mode does not support 7-strings Accurate and fast The Polytune tunes quickly and accurately. By default, the display shows a chromatic tuner, but it can also be set to a strobe-like display. The latter appears to provide somewhat more accurate results due to the higher precision...