Artiphon Avis 265

How do you verify a private Chinese company? You don't answer questions you just keep deleting my review

I'm 86 and a frustrated music lover. I play no instrument,but wish I did. Your product allows me some degree of music creativity. I don't think my "practicing"
will amount to much, but, damn I'm having fun

I had a great experience with the Artiphon team members by e-mail communication. They were professional and courteous...and I received my order quicker than I expected. And the Artiphon INSTRUMENT 1 is SPECTACULAR...THANK YOU, Artiphon!

I don't use the ORBA 2 as a musical instrument for concerts. More like a VERY portable sampler/sequencer. And in that effect it works great. I make experimental music and I can make layers and beats when and where I want !

Would be nice to have more drum presets or to sample our own...

Any upgrades to the software on the way ??

This is a nice little synth 4 tracker but the functions that make it Orba 2 rather than just Orba e.g. recording & samples leave a lot to be desired. I cannot import sound mp3 samples when connected to my pc ( with USB turned off) - I cannot record sound sample - they play so much slower I cannot hear them properly or they don't play at all and cut off. May as well buy Orba and not Orba 2 if you want something to play with.

I really like it. Although new to it. The challenge is I hear more scale tones than available. Being limited to 5 scale tones makes my ear yearn for more. Other than that it is a great handheld looper that will take time to master. I look forward to the journey. I am a fan.

They was great with me went above beyond on a lost item. I never take the time to give a review. But I will tell friends and family. Great Company
Jeff

I wish that there were more authentic acoustic guitar sounds. Lead all kind of sounds the same.

Great musical gadget to let your creativity warmed up. Love it!

Does what it claims, and very well. Suggestion: a slightly larger version with full 12 tone scale.

The Orba2 is an incredible music instrument. Within just a few minutes following setup, I was composing tunes and making functional loops. Within an hour, I was recording new songs and sharing them online with family members who also have Artiphon Orba devices. It’s amazing how much power Artiphon has placed in such a small and portable device.

I love artiphon and the orba so much! I recently ordered 12 Orba 2's through my school, and I can’t speak more highly of my experiences so far with the Orba as well as my interactions with Artiphon’s customer service.
I work as a music therapist at a school for individuals from elementary school age to approx 21 who are on the autism spectrum.
I work as a music therapist at a school for individuals from elementary school age to approx 21 who are on the autism spectrum. The students and all of the staff (myself included, obviously) at my school have fallen in love with the Orba. It is so much fun to use, whether you are a trained musician, an adult, or a child with little to no musical experience. There are a few areas where I see room for improvement. The app could use some TLC. It definitely gets the job done, but I would love to see some updates to it. I love that it does continue to be updated by Artiphon though. Artiphon in general seems to be really good about continuing to work to take feedback from their supporters and put it into action, so I trust them to continue making updates to the app and the orba to make it better as time goes on.
But, aside from some issues with the app, everything about the product itself is fantastically amazing! I noticed the orba back when I was still in college and they had just started their kickstarter campaign. I really wanted to get one for myself, but I also knew it would have amazing applications in music therapy. I have been keeping my eye on it since then, and now that I am working at a school that has a great music therapy budget, so I was finally able to do so! Now that I have gotten to play around with it, it has not disappointed. I can't stop playing with it. A lot of the students and my coworkers have fallen in love with it as well.
I honestly would recommend this for anyone of any age, regardless of their level of musical experience. I think it is amazing and I don't think that enough people know about it's existence. I have been constantly pestering other people that I went to school with for music therapy because I would love to see the orba really take off and continue to improve as time goes on. Also, I bombarded their customer service with questions and they were quick to respond and gave clear and concise answers. I need to give a special shoutout to Evan! He helped me out a lot today. Thanks Evan 

So, yeah. If you can’t tell, I am a fan and would absolutely recommend the orba.

This instrument has such potential but the software is not good. I am hooked up via usb to my computer and it disconnects every 30 seconds. i try to save a song it disconnects- i change to a different preset, it disconnects. I paid $199 for this and its not reliable at all. Almost every time i start up there is a firmware update, but I see no improvement in the actual operation of the device. I have Orba 2- I honestly do not see how this is worth what I paid for it. Ive been using it for months and the connection between pc and the instrument is no bueno

The buttons and functionality is great, if I wanted to used it as a Midi controller. I don't. I want to use it as an easy-to-use expressive instrument. I don't want to be tethered to a USB cable. Bluetooth doesn't work great. I don't want to have to use my phone to change an instrument. It has lots of instruments inside the Orba 2 but I can't directly access them without being tied into another device. You should be able to change instruments and sounds on the fly directly from the Orba.

Edit after Artiphon response: about the Bluetooth, I am frustrated when it says that I have to connect to USB to do something. There's something going on about which functions or presets that can only be accessed via USB. I don't want a cable on my wonderfully standalone handheld device.

Also, about presets. Why do they have to have such ornamentally fancy but fundamentally uninformative names? For example, when I connect the Orba 2 to my PC via USB I see in the sync messages that there's a StratGuitar. But, can I find it among all the useless preset names? No. I want some common standard instruments, like various electric guitars, a Hammond organ, etc. Sure, I can use it as a MIDI controller to a DAW that has those instruments. I want it in my untethered, handheld device. I thought that that was the point.

This charged once and now it won't turn on.

I had a lot of fun just messing around for a little while, then I tried to use it again and it wouldn't turn on. I tried charging it again and it still won't.

Orba 2 works fine, but i have'nt been able to use the App with the new Orba 2. So this is why i gave a 3 star rating. Your company needs to fix the connection issues and errors related to iphone 13 compatibility! I dont have an IOS 13..i am trying to connect my Android phone to the app and it comes up with IOS compatibility errors and wont let me use the app because of it!

This is my Second Artiphon Instrument 1, and I have an Orba 1, they are great to have around to pick apart a melody that I am working on, doodle.

Customer service per se was great. For a product like this, I'd like it to be more repairable / hackable. If you're going to ship a slightly broken product, you should let us try to fix it!