Precision of $20 Tuners and $300 Tuners

[alexcccp]

Is there a (big) difference in accuracy between small-cheap tuners and big-pricey tuners? It there one big clear reason why I should spend 300 bucks on a tuner?

[tplyons]

Are you comparing a rack tuner to a handheld? A strobe?

What features are you looking for?

I use a $150 tuner as well as a $20 tuner depending on what I need.

They're both plenty accurate.

If you do your own setups, a strobe tuner may come in handy.

[62bass]

I use a low priced tuner with a nice readout (vu type) that is plenty accurate for everything I do as well as setting intonation on guitars. I see no reason to get a more expensive one.

[georgestrings]

I find the Boss TU-2 to be a very good tuner, and well worth the $90 I spent on it... For many years I used a Sabine, but the TU-2 definetly works better - tracks MUCH faster on lower notes...



- georgestrings

[MichiBass]

Well, I use this:


I also want to know the difference.
Is the tuned note on my 20$ not the same in tune as in strobe tuners?

[ibz]

I'm fine with my $20 tuners as wood in it's very nature isn't perfect. Spend too mind time worrying about being in tune to .001 of a cent you'll never worry about the more important thing, playing.

[62bass]

Originally Posted by MichiBass

Well, I use this:


I also want to know the difference.
Is the tuned note on my 20$ not the same in tune as in strobe tuners?

Unless you're tuning pianos for a living the cheap ones work fine. The rack mount ones look pretty and the expensive ones are very accurate, but a decent $40 or so quartz regulated tuner is as accurate as anyone needs to get a bass or guitar in tune. Mine is accurate enough to confirm that the Yamaha keyboard of a guy I often played with was dead on with the tuner. It sounded like it was too, which is the important part.

Back in the pre electronic tuner days we used to tune by ear to the acoustic piano on gigs and in the studio. We did fine. A lot of hit records were recorded with instruments tuned by ear. You used to carry around a litte pitch fork for other tuning. Just one pitch-A 440. You tuned everything using that reference. It's not hard if you can listen. To call yourself a muxician you had to at least be able to tune the thing.

[JimmyM]

Ya, I've got perfect pitch and I use $20 tuners and they're plenty accurate for tuning instruments and even setting intonation.

[MichiBass]

Let's bump this up:

Is the Korg DT 10 a "high-tech" tuner, I mean as good as the DTR ones? I would like to get the DT 10, because the DTR 1000 or 2000 are sooo big and expensive...