ArtiphonReviews of artiphon.com

My husband contributed $90 to Artiphon's Kickstarter in January 2020 (or maybe earlier). It is now February 20, 2021and he still has not received his Orba, or any apology or other communication. Very dishonest! Update: Orba has made things right for us! Though the original Kickstarter process did not work well for us, when Orba found out the problem they immediately sent us an Orba and silicone protector. The Orba is a really cool device!

I have been lied to for more than 2 weeks by this company! From the moment I ordered there has been no info about whats going on with the orba I ordered! At the week mark I emailed their pr department just hoping for an update I got an email 2 days later saying my order had been put through fror the weekend and thanking me for my patients. I am now 4 days after the weekend I was told it was "pushed through" and 3 days after the 2 week I was told it would take the first time!! we have sense emailed them again to no response at all!!! Just cause the company sucks at dealing with customers in no way discredits their ability to make what looks like an amazing instrument. I love what they have made and the work they put into it is astounding and truly to be recognized! Having said that DO NOT ORDER ANYTHING FROM THE COMPANY!!!!!!! send your money to GUITAR CENTER ZZSOUNDS or anothey other music store you trust

This little device is a blast. My students can easily get up and running on it within seconds of turning it on. The looper controls are a little harder to get, but I'm sure they'll get easier with repeated use and updates. At least 4 of my students received these as gifts over the holidays. The Orba really fires up young minds.

Orba is rock steady! I am going to try really hard to not sound like I work for the company. I just became an instant super fan. This was an xmas gift from my brother who knows me a bit too well. Background: I am a multi instrumentalist professional musician and a drummer first. When I moved to an apartment, I became a Dr. Rhythm Section drummer, as well as a virtual (due to the pandemic) drum instructor with a non-profit music education program. I was not pleased with these changes until recently when (Santa:) Artiphon found me. Okay, I will scale it back. Heard. lol. Basically, Orba is a super awesome tool and I cannot be more excited to play with it on the regular. I use it with my students now and find myself creating sounds on the road. I can't wait to fully travel again because the last time I was on a plane with an MPC, it was not very comfortable to say the least. The design of Orba is fresh. The options feel unlimited and the overall vibe I get from the company is sincerely down to earth/passionate about this line of work. Oh yeah, it communicates with SoundTrap too (which is a program like GarageBand that so many middle school students across the country are using currently) which was a huge unexpected bonus. Reminder: It's not about being a pro but allowing music to heal the soul. Game on. Let's go!!

I bought Orba via Kickstarter. They had 8 months delay in shipping and a really bad communication with the backers. In the end they delivered a device which looks nice but seriously underdelivers. The goods first. The device itself looks good and is nice to hold in hand. The keys on the top are great to touch and (with serious limits) react to touch with haptic feedback vibrations). This is by far the best element in Orba, the highlight of the whole project. And fun to use, I must admit. The device has 4 modes which work quite well and a simple, but well thought track recording. Also, the 11 preset sounds shipped (in the catastrophic app) sound generally good. The device promises a number of gestures that alter the sound, including vibrato, radiance and more. These are very fun and cool... but work only sometimes. By that I mean that there are some very strange conditions for a given gesture to activate (e.g. "shake" works only in DRUM mode and only if you keep the "8" key pressed, the "radiance" can only be heard with BASS etc.). The only reliable gesture is a tilt and - to some degree - vibrato. I hope one day they will fix that with firmware update. The whole experience is ruined however by a very bad - catastrophic, I would say - app and a very poorly designed sample management. The app currently works reasonably only with USB, which is stupid for a device relying on gestures and movement. Bluetooth works sometimes, very slowly and for short periods (constant disconnects) which makes even changing the sample a nightmare. Basically the mobile phone cannot now be used as an extension of the device shortcomings. The app itself looks like someone had an idea to use the app to easily change modes... and then hired high school students to implement all the rest without instruction nor checking what and how they do that. In the effect the sample management is plain stupid (where are the strings? Oh, in "Boomy Booms", of course!) and non-intuitive, the controls are in random places (changing the current key? sure, open the song and look for a drop-down box) or missing the most obvious features (want to delete the last track? sorry, no). All in all - I give the device 3 start for innovation and physical construction and with hope that the most severe shortcomings will be soon fixed by the software. I think that the software could fix the device and make it something more than just a 15 minute toy to play a bit and toss on a shelf. Perhaps they should open source the software? This would definitely help, as the device has potential and many of the 12k+ backers alone are software engineers :)

I got my kickstarter Orba way too late. Weeks after I bought another one online. About the same price. The software is very bad (no save/load). Not suitable for serious stand-alone use. It can be used as a midi controller via a USB-cable. But there are better and cheaper solutions for that. Artiphon constantly promises improvement. Nothing. I wouldn't buy it until Artiphon has the software in order ... PS: Yes, this is Artiphon's standard response. Translation: - temporary = 4 months already - it's our top priority = apart from selling cool stuff with bad software without a decent warning - we are perfecting this feature = not possible because it is no longer there.

My review is in regards to the Orba. I ordered this innovative little device for my daughter as a Christmas present. I figured that with her I retest know music and her Autism and ADHD, this would serve as a wonderful stim device, as well as creative exploratory device for her. She has had the Orba for a little over a month now and I have to say it meets the expectations set for the device. With the Orba app allowing for quick sound changes and a growing variety of different instruments available, my daughter has used her Orba to make some pretty interesting tunes. Now the process of getting the Orba was not the smoothest, but to be fair, Artiphon is a small company that has had to deal with trade embargoes, and pandemic fueled logistical nightmares in order manufacture and distribute their product. So when I ordered the Orba in the beginning of October 2020, I did so expecting certain delays. What I did not expect was a local of response from Artiphon to my early inquiries regarding my order and it’s delay. After grabbing the company’s attention on social media, I finally established a dialogue with a representative at the company. A new position had created at Artiphon to help handle customer inquiry, and responsiveness to communication now doing great. The representative was also open to my honest feedback, and when I mean feedback I mean constructive feedback not just complaining. All in all , while my experience could have been smoother, this is a small startup company and bumps in the road are to be expected. What stands out to me is for one, the imagination that went into making the Orba. For real, if you are thinking about buying one just do it. It’s worth the wait, and I’m sure cool stuff is in the works for it as far as updates. The other thing that really stands out to me is the company’s willingness to adapt to new needs without making excuses. Keep up the good work guys.

Ah, the Orba. Do I dare order this amazing looking musical instrument for a loved one for Christmas? That was my question. I was assured by the Customer Service Rep at Artiphon that all supply and shipping issues had been resolved, that most of them had been associated with the Kickstarter phase of the Orba. The Rep told me that orders would ship in approximately 2 weeks, with an additional week for shipping. Three weeks, then. Was I brave enough to chance it? With her reassurances, yes! When the Orba became available at an online music store two weeks in, I almost caved, but again she reassured me they could see when orders were shipping, there were no worries. And, guess what?! She was absolutely correct! My Orba gift was, in fact, early! It arrived 3 days prior to tracking information predicted. Now the Orba itself. It was a gift, so I’ve been waiting for an honest review from the recipient or his wife. The fact that he is “sneaking off to play with it,” speaks volumes! It’s a hit! He adores it. It will be exciting to see what he can do with the Orba! I’m glad to have supported the small business itself, rather than buying from a huge company, especially this year when small companies are a bit more in danger of closing. And the Rep was pleasant every time I contacted Artiphon, which was at least twice a week for three weeks. It’s a success story! Thank you, Artiphon, for making my son in law’s (and thus, my) Christmas so very happy!