Artiphon Connect

The Orba 2 is a really fun instrument to play with. However, there are couple things that could be done better. The manual was lacking, there was a lot of information missing from there that should have been easily accessible; like how to change the tempo or clear a recording. My biggest issue is the quantization, it’s absolutely horrendous. Even when you click the button in the app to make your song sound "as recorded", there’s no difference between the snap quantization. The "Groove" setting is the only one which makes it sound as recorded, but it ALWAYS adds another beat, and takes the last one away in the last measure. I really want to use this instrument to record music, but I cannot do so unless you fix the quantization.

They’ve made quite a few updates and improvements since this came out. I’d love to see more editing functions to utilize my own sounds in the drum portion. I’d love to be able to make my own kit with either the provided sounds (mix and match) or uploading my own samples to use. Thanks for the continued support!

I’m new to Orba, but so far a couple of observations. We really need the ability to update firmware via the mobile app. Having to use a desktop/laptop kind of defeats the portability of the device. This takes me to the app itself. Why in 2023 do we not have a native iPad app or at least one that recognizes the orientation of the iPad and doesn’t display sideways when in landscape mode. I look forward to messing around with this little device and hope the software side develops quickly. I’ll mostly use this as a midi controller, but anything to make the standalone mode better will be welcome.

The device itself is great but this app is a disaster. How could you publish something like this? It lags, is completely unresponsive and wants to sync for 5 minutes on a regular basis. Virtually unusable on iPhone 14 Pro Max. I’m really looking forward to an update so I can actually use this thing because the concept is very cool.

The device is cool, but the iOS app doesn’t work. NOTHING works. I was able to upgrade the firmware using a PC and USB cable, and I’m able to connect the ORBA 2 via Bluetooth to my iPad mini 6. I’m using the latest iPad with the latest iPadOS, latest ORBA 2 firmware, latest ORBA 2 app, yet NOTHING works. I’m amazed this software was released. It definitely wasn’t tested.

I don’t know if this is a me problem but I can’t get the app to “share” the beats I have created. I can get it to work on the PC. Also the app is generally cumbersome.

I just got an Orba first generation as a slightly late Christmas gift and was tickled when I connected it to my iPad and it worked great as a Bluetooth midi controller! Then as I started exploring more and realizing that I had an older model (hopefully purchased on sale), I was a little disappointed but resided to just be happy with the more limited feature set and have fun exploring what it could do. Then came the realization that I could not use the most recent version of the software! Now I assume that I have features in the older software that closely match the capabilities of the unit that I have… but I also wonder why it needs to be a entirely separate application! It feels like that bodes poorly for future support of the device I now own. Why not just have one overall app that supports the feature set of the various models? I see the graphic feedback of this app for example and I am not sure why that could not be implemented for the original Orba. 🤔 Also, as I was stunned to discover that I could not update the firmware from an iPad Pro. It feels very strange to not be able to use my incredibly capable device to send an update to the Orba. I am hopeful that the distortion I am hearing from the headphone Jack will be fixed by a firmware update, but I won’t be able to find out for another week. 🤨

My mom got this as a Christmas present and I haven’t been able to use it. I have no computer and there is clearly a button on the bottom on step 3 in this app to update it. I spent hours trying to make it work. I only have 4 sounds to mess around with And this app has little to no accessability for blind people.

Where to start with this poor software/hardware integration.. - the app often crashes and orba2 restarts when attempting to save a song. The song disappears. Auto save could help here on software side. Recalling a previous track can also crash the app. - Changing track volume doesn’t stick (getting overridden by signal coming from hardware? Possibly should be prioritizing user triggered messages over programmed ones.) - when switching tracks (clicking the middle A button on Orba2) the new track output audio glitches and stops which just makes live performance impossible. I’ve never had this problem on midi controllers before, it’s a deal breaker. - drum pads should be independently controlled e.g. user should be able to delete all bass drum or high hats without wiping whole track - need to plug into usb to send sample to device. Why? Bluetooth can handle data transfer so hopefully a software issue. - UI bugs. Non standard UI. Connecting to Bluetooth device in onboarding flow doesn’t close the panel and advance user to songs/play screen. Glitchy hard to control volume sliders. Just use a straight slider it’s easier and takes up less screen space. - quantization seems to be turned on regardless of setting on app. Can’t get lead playing back with the same rhythm it was played. Volume/expression is tracked well though. - app should have .wav output option on songs so users can send to DAW to continue workflow - device doesn’t come with manual explaining features e.g. holding BPM while in REC mode removes the click track. The device isn’t that intuitive, documentation needs to improve. I could go on but you get the picture. Orba team I really like the form factor of this device but with how badly this device copes with it’s limited feature set, you should be spending less money on marketing and more on achieving a stable feature set. This is not ready for production.

Cool app when it works, but it constantly crashes. Disconnects from the Orba. Deletes the loop you just crafted. Syncing is mandatory and it fails often. It takes forever when it does work. It’s like telling you it’s a sundae but the worms are real instead of gummy.