ilovefuzz.com

I know a lot around here aren't a big fan of crowdsourcing, but anyone see the Orba?
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ar ... your-hands
Looks like a super fun device for noodling around and coming up with new ideas. And pretty reasonable price too. Kind of curious how I can incorporate it as a MIDI controller too. I'm giving it a shot.

Does look kinda cool. Will wait and see how it integrates with other gear but I do like the idea of a small non-keyboard controller, plus it could be great for composing and passing time while travelling.

Sorry to bump old jazz, but did anyone actually get one of these? I just happened across this little guy and am wondering what ILF thinks.

Ive been curious about this thing since I first heard about it too, but have held off cause it seems a bit like the pocket operator gimmick and although those are "instruments" I tend to use them more as toys to play with and I don't need another $100 toy that I might use on a train ride even though I haven't left my house in 9 months.

I got one! Couldn't really pass it up for the price.

Initially, I wasn't super impressed. I had trouble getting a hang of some of the controls. Specifically, I couldn't erase loops consistently. It was to the point where sometimes it was easier to just turn it off and restart; it was driving me nuts! But I recently updated the firmware and the whole thing feels much more consistent and easy to use. Not sure why they even shipped them with the buggy firmware in the first place.

It also felt a little cheaper than I expected, but I mean it was really cheap. It's a hard plastic with some weight to it; feels like a bit of a step above a toy. There is a "haptic feedback" vibration that happens when you hit a pad. I don't hate it, but I would appreciate the option to turn it off.

The sounds aren't anything to write home about. They're not bad at all, but there's also no way to control or tweak them that I am aware of (other than the motion controls, like tilting, which mostly messes with filter cutoffs and distortion). There are a bunch of preset sounds to choose from that give it a few different flavours, but unfortunately they're pretty horribly mixed so it's hard to use different presets together. For instance, you might run into problems if you want the bass from one preset and the drums from a different preset. There is one preset I really like, but it is so quiet that you can't use it with any other presets. I might just be missing a volume control somewhere though. There's also no on board effects that I know of.

The biggest actual problem I have run into is the Android app that you're supposed to be able to use to change presets. It is in beta still, but it is absolute garbage. My Orba won't stay connected to it for more that 30 seconds and I have not successfully changed a preset using it. The only thing I have managed to do with it is crash my Orba making it 100% unresponsive until I found the hard reset button combo. That being said, the computer app works perfectly. I've had no issues with it, but it's not exactly portable.

One thing I haven't done yet is try to use it as a controller, which most reviews I have seen have said this is where it truely shines.

I think the comparison to the Pocket Operators is pretty fair (I have had like 4 in the past and still have a PO33). They're roughly the same price and they are both somewhere on the edge of novelty/toy/real instrument. I would say the Pocket Operators provide much deeper programming and sound design options, but I never found them super intuitive. The Orba is much easier to use, but it is much more limited.

The Orba is also great to interest non-musicians. My dad came over the other day and saw it sitting on our coffee table. He picked it up and after I explained what it was he started bugging me about how many synths I had, what's so special about this one, etc. But I turned it on for him and he messed around with it for like 45 minutes. Drove my mom nuts. It was hilarious.

Overall, I really like it. Most of my issues will hopefully be addressed through firmware updates. It's probably still more of a novelty along the lines of the Pocket Operators, but I'll be packing it for long commutes and trips.



TL;DR, it's a bit of a novelty in line with the Pocket Operators and it has some limitations, but it is fun to play and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

MrNovember wrote:I got one! Couldn't really pass it up for the price.

Initially, I wasn't super impressed. I had trouble getting a hang of some of the controls. Specifically, I couldn't erase loops consistently. It was to the point where sometimes it was easier to just turn it off and restart; it was driving me nuts! But I recently updated the firmware and the whole thing feels much more consistent and easy to use. Not sure why they even shipped them with the buggy firmware in the first place.

It also felt a little cheaper than I expected, but I mean it was really cheap. It's a hard plastic with some weight to it; feels like a bit of a step above a toy. There is a "haptic feedback" vibration that happens when you hit a pad. I don't hate it, but I would appreciate the option to turn it off.

The sounds aren't anything to write home about. They're not bad at all, but there's also no way to control or tweak them that I am aware of (other than the motion controls, like tilting, which mostly messes with filter cutoffs and distortion). There are a bunch of preset sounds to choose from that give it a few different flavours, but unfortunately they're pretty horribly mixed so it's hard to use different presets together. For instance, you might run into problems if you want the bass from one preset and the drums from a different preset. There is one preset I really like, but it is so quiet that you can't use it with any other presets. I might just be missing a volume control somewhere though. There's also no on board effects that I know of.

The biggest actual problem I have run into is the Android app that you're supposed to be able to use to change presets. It is in beta still, but it is absolute garbage. My Orba won't stay connected to it for more that 30 seconds and I have not successfully changed a preset using it. The only thing I have managed to do with it is crash my Orba making it 100% unresponsive until I found the hard reset button combo. That being said, the computer app works perfectly. I've had no issues with it, but it's not exactly portable.

One thing I haven't done yet is try to use it as a controller, which most reviews I have seen have said this is where it truely shines.

I think the comparison to the Pocket Operators is pretty fair (I have had like 4 in the past and still have a PO33). They're roughly the same price and they are both somewhere on the edge of novelty/toy/real instrument. I would say the Pocket Operators provide much deeper programming and sound design options, but I never found them super intuitive. The Orba is much easier to use, but it is much more limited.

The Orba is also great to interest non-musicians. My dad came over the other day and saw it sitting on our coffee table. He picked it up and after I explained what it was he started bugging me about how many synths I had, what's so special about this one, etc. But I turned it on for him and he messed around with it for like 45 minutes. Drove my mom nuts. It was hilarious.

Overall, I really like it. Most of my issues will hopefully be addressed through firmware updates. It's probably still more of a novelty along the lines of the Pocket Operators, but I'll be packing it for long commutes and trips.



TL;DR, it's a bit of a novelty in line with the Pocket Operators and it has some limitations, but it is fun to play and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

Thanks for the in-depth response, MrNovember! Well done. I have a few POs and think they are great for what they are. What I like about the POs is actually what intrigues me about he Orba. Simple, multi-use/mode, portable and one step up from novelty. One aspect about the Orba that I can imagine might be a detractor is that it's portability is on par with a large orange or a grapefruit.

No problem! And I'd say it's probably a bit smaller than you're thinking. It fits very comfortable in one hand. Maybe more the size of a normal orange. It could easily fit in a coat pocket and would fit in pants pockets, but it'd be quite bulgey.

Ok. Now the orange/grapefruit comments make sense.


How large is in compared to a hockey puck? Or a round of dried figs?

Approximately two hockey pucks stacked on top of each other. Maybe slightly smaller diameter.

Never seen a round of figs other than that picture, looks roughly the same size

Agreed. Wow. Thanks for the amazing write up! You captured my feelings on the PO's as well and I too have a handful of them. I find their greatest value has been capturing my kids' interests in music and having the opportunity to jam with the kids with them either separated or connected. For a while my daughter was pretty obsessed with the POs.

Not sure if you used the volcas, but I'd be interested to hear your take on them as well as they are in the same price range. Toyish? I am a big fan of little desktop synths and noisemakers as well as synths (I have a hydrasynth that I adore) and had been considering the volcas since they are about 100 bucks.

I've never tried the Volcas and haven't really been interested in them. Honestly, I'm not really sure why. The price is good and I've pretty much only heard good things about them, but they just don't seem to inspire me at all. I think it's mostly because they don't really look fun to play to me. I also kind of jumped way passed the Volca stage; my first synth was a Grendel Drone Commander (the original ammo can one. I definitely regret selling that), quickly fell down the eurorack rabbit hole after (and I somehow made it out with a functioning bank account), and now have a handful of standalone synths (Matriarch, AFX Station, DX7, Digitakt, Organelle, and Werkstatt). At this point I don't see too much that a Volca could really add to my setup

MrNovember wrote:I've never tried the Volcas and haven't really been interested in them. Honestly, I'm not really sure why. The price is good and I've pretty much only heard good things about them, but they just don't seem to inspire me at all. I think it's mostly because they don't really look fun to play to me. I also kind of jumped way passed the Volca stage; my first synth was a Grendel Drone Commander (the original ammo can one. I definitely regret selling that), quickly fell down the eurorack rabbit hole after (and I somehow made it out with a functioning bank account), and now have a handful of standalone synths (Matriarch, AFX Station, DX7, Digitakt, Organelle, and Werkstatt). At this point I don't see too much that a Volca could really add to my setup

stop making sense.