Korg CA-40 Large Display Auto Chromatic Tuner

Easy enough for a child to use (2010-07-20) : 5/5
I know absolutely nothing about tuning a violin. My 13-year old daughter plays the violin. She takes private lessons but her instructor will not teach her to tune her violin until she thinks she is ready. This can be a problem since she practices at home and an out of tune violin makes it difficult to practice. My daughter also takes Orchestra in school, she had mentioned they use a tuning device that would show a green light when the violin was in tune. The Korg CA-40 Tuner resembled it. I went ahead and ordered it for her. She is tickled pink because now she can easily tune her violin without having to worry if she is doing it wrong. Since she is not an advanced player, she probably does not know all the tricks and functions the Korg CA-40 can do, but she just plays a note and makes her adjustments until the light turns green. Hopefully in time she will be able to use the other functions.br /br /This item has been extremely helpful for her and I have to admit it is very affordable (was 57% suggested retail price shipped from Amazon). It has no bad reviews so that should tell you this item is a keeper!
It's fun to play music. It's even more fun when you are in tune. (2010-07-12) : 5/5
I don't need 75 to 300 words. I ordered the Korg CA-40 in order to be in tune when I play in my chamber groups. It allows me to do that. I'm pleased with it.
Know Its Limitations (2010-07-11) : 4/5
This is an excellent tuner. It's a fine choice for a band or orchestra instrument, where exact intonation is under the control of the performer. It is accurate, responsive (will lock onto staccato notes), can produce a user-selectable reference tone and can be calibrated in 1 Hz steps from A=410 to A=480.br /br /The last-selected calibration and reference tone are remembered when the tuner is off, until the batteries are replaced. Unlike some tuners, the reference tone is a tone, not a buzz. A good optional clip-on microphone is available, but the built-in mic works fine unless there is a lot of ambient noise. Small enough to fit in most instrument cases and sits securely on a standard music stand.br /br /A close look at the display will reveal the needle moves in 2-cent increments. That means, assuming the electronics are perfectly accurate, this tuner will show anything between +/- 1 cent off the target pitch as perfectly in tune. That's a trivial difference for most orchestral and band instruments, because the performer is continuously adjusting intonation by ear, over a much greater range than +/- 1 cent.br /br /However, it's not ideal for any instrument where intonation is relatively fixed, such as a guitar, because many trained musicians can hear a difference in the .3 cent range. Bottom line, a chord played by a guitar tuned solely with this or any other low-cost electronic tuner will sound out-of-tune to many people. As your ear develops, it will sound worse.br /br /You could fine-tune by ear once the instrument is rough-tuned with the tuner. Or, better, tune one string to match the tuner's reference tone (or a tuning fork), then tune the other strings to each other by ear.br /br /Technicians and studio musicians who don't want to tune by ear often use a strobe tuner, such as those made by Peterson or Sonic Research (most other brands are ordinary tuners with a strobe display). These are more accurate than most musicians can hear, are expensive, and take a day or two to get used to.br /br /Korg LCA-120 Focus Tune Chromatic Tuner with Large Backlit LCD performs almost as well as a strobe tuner for a lot less money. Its Focus Tune feature automatically switches the full display from +/- 50 cents to +/- 10 cents, so the display resolution becomes about .5 cents, 4-times better than the CA-40. Most musicians would be satisfied with that. It also has a larger display with back light, adds jacks for headphones and external power, and volume control for reference tone. It's bulkier, unstable on a music stand, and probably more likely to be damaged if dropped. So I prefer the CA-40 for orchestral instruments, LCA-120 for guitar, and a certified technician with a good ear for piano.br /br /Another alternative is software: TB Strobe Tuner. It's as accurate and precise as a real strobe tuner, and probably easier to use, provided a computer with a mic is handy. It generates a serial number based on your computer configuration. When you buy a license, you send this number to the developer to bypass the program's annoying trial mode. If you subsequently need to make a hardware change, such as upgrading a hard drive, it will revert to trial mode until you send the new serial number to the developer - a minor inconvenience unless the developer decides to stop supporting it. A license is very inexpensive and covers up-to-3 computers.
Excellent tuner (2010-06-05) : 5/5
This tuner is excellent for my accoustic guitar and mandolin. Besides just having it near the guitar, you can plug in a guitar with a cable if you wish. Not quite as good for that purpose as a tuner pedal, but still a good tuner.
korg tuner (2010-06-05) : 5/5
Arrived quickly, and was brand new. Seems to work great. Well worth it in my limited estimation.