Review: Sonic Research Turbo Tuner Mini
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While this is a review article, I did want to touch on the topic of tuners in general and why anyone would specifically want a strobe tuner over any of the regular tuners in the market, so before I get to the review, I'll be going into a short background information section on strobe tuners.
My Sonic Research Turbo Tuner Mini on my palm
Background: Strobe Tuners
Note: There is plenty of literature online about how exactly strobe tuning works, so please refer to them if you would like a more detailed technical explanation on this specific tuning method. In fact, the FAQ section of the Sonic Research's website is perfect if you'd like to do some further reading on strobe tuning.
A strobe tuner, simply put, tunes through illuminating a rotating reference disk (a physical rotating disk with black & white patterns on traditional strobe tuners, or an electronically generated reference frequency on modern ones) with a strobe light driven by the input signal. The pattern will appear to stand still when the input frequency matches the speed of the rotating disk (i.e. the note is in tune), whereas it will appear to rotate if the frequency is faster or slower than the disk (i.e. note is out of tune).
Conversely, a needle-type tuner uses a microprocessor to measure the average period of the input waveform, then uses this to drive the needle/row of LEDs. Due to the complex nature of the input waveform from a musical instrument, the tuner must take an average of a number of cycles to determine the input signal's pitch before it can drive the display, which makes it unstable especially in cases where there is background noise or harmonics from the instrument.
Because strobe tuners are able to detect tiny differences between the reference frequency and the input signal through the rotating display, they are typically much higher in accuracy compared to needle-type tuners. Moreover, since they do not require any averaging of the input signal, they can respond immediately without delay.
Now onto the review…
Review: Sonic Research Turbo Tuner Mini ST-300
First things first; I do not use any custom temperaments and use it exclusively on the chromatic setting. I have tested this with all of my instruments, including my 5-string basses that sometimes cause issues for tuners when tuning the low B string. I can safely say that the tuner tracks accurately and grabs onto notes incredibly fast. I've also had to tune several times in direct sunlight, and am happy to report that the LEDs were still clearly visible. The build quality is solid & inspires confidence, and I like that the footswitch is a soft relay switch which doesn't make an audible pop when engaged.
As seen above, the tuner display is different from the typical tuners that use a row of LEDs to indicate whether the note is flat or sharp. Strobe tuners show a circular array of LEDs that spin counterclockwise when the note is flat, and clockwise when the note is sharp, spinning faster when the note is farther from the desired pitch on either direction. For a note to be in tune, the strobe must be more or less stationary. This display method may take some time to adjust to if you are new to strobe tuners, but once you realise you just need to turn your tuning peg in the direction of rotation to get to the right pitch, it becomes pretty natural.
The only downside to this tuner is that it's so accurate that it's hard to get the strobe to not move at all, which can be annoying if you are used to seeing that nice green LED at the center indicating that you're in tune. For perfectionists like me it's hard to accept that I am never truly, 100% in tune...
Do note that the tuner does not have any room to power it using a normal 9V battery, so you'll have to use an external adapter. Sonic Research offers a bigger version of the Turbo Tuner (around the size of a single MXR pedal) that can take batteries if you need it to, at the same price. The tuning functionality is identical between the two sizes.
Turbo Tuner Mini on my pedalboard
Do I Need a Strobe Tuner?
Simply put - no, it's not for everybody. Is an accuracy of +/- 0.02 cents overkill for most applications? Probably. I do however believe that every guitarist/bassist who plays live should own a quality tuner pedal. Tuning by ear in between songs in a noisy bar is not only difficult, but also looks sloppy and unprofessional. Headstock tuners work great in the comforts of a quiet room, but when your instrument is resonating to everyone else in your band soundchecking at the same time, especially on a stage with subwoofers, getting it to track the notes you play is rather difficult. I've found headstock tuners to be especially unstable when trying to tune 5-string basses with a low B.
The published specs of the Turbo Tuner Mini states a +/- 0.02 cents accuracy guaranteed (this isn't a typo - the tuner tunes accurately to 2% of a CENT). Let's compare these specs with the other popular tuners in the market:
Boss TU-3: +/- 1 cent
TC Electronic PolyTune 3:
Chromatic Mode: +/- 0.5 cents
Strobe Mode: +/- 0.02 cents
While the Boss TU-3 has been around since 2010, the TC Electronic PolyTune 3 was announced very recently (at the time of writing this article) and as you can tell, it offers a strobe tuning mode that can tune to the same accuracy as the Turbo Tuner. With the PolyTune 3 being USD99 while the Turbo Tuner is USD129.99, you may be wondering why anyone would get the Turbo Tuner. This is a decision you've got to make yourself. In my case, I started using the Turbo Tuner before the PolyTune had this level of accuracy and so far I see no compelling reason to change to something else. I do also enjoy supporting Sonic Research because I admire their confidence in their product - they offer a 30 day no-risk guarantee where in the case that you are not satisfied with the tuner, they will refund you everything, including the return shipping! Only you can decide whether this tuner is worth it for you, but as far as tuner pedals go, this is always the first one I recommend to anybody who asks me.
Hope you guys found this review helpful. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. You can get the Turbo Tuner Mini from StompboxSG. Happy tuning!
