Blrfl
Friend of Leo's
I've long said that if you want to know what technology has become cheap, look in the toy aisle. So it goes with modelers. Here's a look at the Sonicake Pocket Master.
Origins: I'm 99% sure the Pocket Master shares DNA with products made by Hotone and Valeton, as both share a building with Sonicake. One hallmark of all three brands is the ISP Decimator noise gate model which, based on my experience with the Hotone Ampero MP-100, is pretty well-behaved. The Pocket Master models share some descriptions with the other brands and the software exports patches into the same .prst files.
The Thing: It's a bit bigger than a deck of cards. The housing and bottom panel are plastic (feels like ABS) and build quality seems decent. The package includes a clip that screws onto the bottom for attaching to your belt or strap. I didn't get the USB cable that others seem to be getting, which is fine because I don't need another. The photos in the FCC filings aren't clear enough for me to get an idea what's under the hood, so that'll have to wait until I've had it awhile and have a peek.
User Interface: Minimal: one pressable rotary encoder and two rubber stomp buttons. It's surprisingly-quick to navigate with just that. After unpacking, upgrading the firmware and maybe ten minutes exploring, the four standard patches that I put together for any new modeler went together in about 40 minutes, two on the unit and two using the app. Something that tripped me up is that what the manual calls "pressing" on the buttons really means a short click as you would on a mouse. Holding them does nothing except from the main screen, where it brings up the looper.
Apps: Sonicake provides Windows and macOS programs for upgrading the firmware, loading IRs and NAM profiles and managing patches (import, export, copy, paste) but not editing. There are mobile applications for Android and iOS for editing patches and all of the functions of the computer app except firmware upgrades. Everything works well and seems reasonably polished. There are no accounts to sign up for and no dependence on anybody's cloud service for importing and exporting patches. (looking at you, Fender).
Effects: There are 48 effects in six categories, 20 amps, 5 user NAM profile slots, 15 cabinets and 5 user IR slots. The drive, amp, IR ad EQ blocks are in a single group that has to stay together in that order, as shown in the picture below. Everything else can be moved anywhere except inside the drive/amp/IR/EQ group.
The models are better than they should be at this price point, but parts bin products often get the benefit of software developed for more-expensive products at basically no cost. A lot of it feels very Hotone-ish based on my experience with the MP-100. Some of the modulation effects could be better, but most everything I've tried so far has been serviceable. One thing that lets the Pocket Master down is the lack of a high cut parameter in the IR block. That makes a huge difference, and I'm going to badger Sonicake about adding it.
The presets start of with a bang and taper off to a whimper. Develop your own.
NAM: It works and shows some promise. I downloaded a handful of Fender Twin profiles from Tone 3000 (formerly Tonehunt) and they ranged from serviceable to meh. Profiles are supposed to be 48 kHz and this is a 44.1 kHz system and I have no idea what they're doing under the hood to make that work. Very important: When running a NAM profile, the IR block doesn't do anything even though the software allows it to be turned on and an IR selected (that's a bug). That means any profile must be of an entire rig with the speaker. Head-only profiles are no bueno.
I/O: The USB port is class-compliant for audio and MIDI. (Since @Alamo asked in the other thread, it works fine with Fender Studio.) Bluetooth works for both as well but doesn't remember its full state between power-ups and won't auto-pair the audio with your phone. I got my Boss FS-1-WL set up to spit MIDI at it for something I don't mind stomping on; that has to be re-paired each time, too. That means more steps to set up when you use it.
Other Stuff: There's a looper with a very-short maximum loop time of 20 seconds. Audio is 24-bits at 44.1 kHz, which is typical for this stuff; the Boss Katana:GO and NUX Mighty Plug Pro do 32 bits at 48 kHz. EDIT: There's also a drum machine, although the only patterns you can get at from the front panel are the metronomes.
So What Do I think? The Pocket Master is probably the best sub-$100 multi-effects there is right now. Definitely worth $65, but don't buy one as a cheap substitue for a more-expensive product. I've had a bunch of fun with it over the last couple of days and have good versions of my standard four patches. The Mighty Plug Pro is a better product sound-wise but requires a mobile app and is also twice the price. The Pocket Master probably won't end up in my travel kit because headphone lumps (Mustang Micro, Mighty Plug) are so much smaller and don't require carrying a bulky 1/4" cable. But close to 100% of this thing can be operated right from the front panel, which is worth something. And it's fun to contemplate that wat you're holding in your hand would have been impossible 20 years ago at the price point.
Origins: I'm 99% sure the Pocket Master shares DNA with products made by Hotone and Valeton, as both share a building with Sonicake. One hallmark of all three brands is the ISP Decimator noise gate model which, based on my experience with the Hotone Ampero MP-100, is pretty well-behaved. The Pocket Master models share some descriptions with the other brands and the software exports patches into the same .prst files.
The Thing: It's a bit bigger than a deck of cards. The housing and bottom panel are plastic (feels like ABS) and build quality seems decent. The package includes a clip that screws onto the bottom for attaching to your belt or strap. I didn't get the USB cable that others seem to be getting, which is fine because I don't need another. The photos in the FCC filings aren't clear enough for me to get an idea what's under the hood, so that'll have to wait until I've had it awhile and have a peek.
User Interface: Minimal: one pressable rotary encoder and two rubber stomp buttons. It's surprisingly-quick to navigate with just that. After unpacking, upgrading the firmware and maybe ten minutes exploring, the four standard patches that I put together for any new modeler went together in about 40 minutes, two on the unit and two using the app. Something that tripped me up is that what the manual calls "pressing" on the buttons really means a short click as you would on a mouse. Holding them does nothing except from the main screen, where it brings up the looper.
Apps: Sonicake provides Windows and macOS programs for upgrading the firmware, loading IRs and NAM profiles and managing patches (import, export, copy, paste) but not editing. There are mobile applications for Android and iOS for editing patches and all of the functions of the computer app except firmware upgrades. Everything works well and seems reasonably polished. There are no accounts to sign up for and no dependence on anybody's cloud service for importing and exporting patches. (looking at you, Fender).
Effects: There are 48 effects in six categories, 20 amps, 5 user NAM profile slots, 15 cabinets and 5 user IR slots. The drive, amp, IR ad EQ blocks are in a single group that has to stay together in that order, as shown in the picture below. Everything else can be moved anywhere except inside the drive/amp/IR/EQ group.
The models are better than they should be at this price point, but parts bin products often get the benefit of software developed for more-expensive products at basically no cost. A lot of it feels very Hotone-ish based on my experience with the MP-100. Some of the modulation effects could be better, but most everything I've tried so far has been serviceable. One thing that lets the Pocket Master down is the lack of a high cut parameter in the IR block. That makes a huge difference, and I'm going to badger Sonicake about adding it.
The presets start of with a bang and taper off to a whimper. Develop your own.
NAM: It works and shows some promise. I downloaded a handful of Fender Twin profiles from Tone 3000 (formerly Tonehunt) and they ranged from serviceable to meh. Profiles are supposed to be 48 kHz and this is a 44.1 kHz system and I have no idea what they're doing under the hood to make that work. Very important: When running a NAM profile, the IR block doesn't do anything even though the software allows it to be turned on and an IR selected (that's a bug). That means any profile must be of an entire rig with the speaker. Head-only profiles are no bueno.
I/O: The USB port is class-compliant for audio and MIDI. (Since @Alamo asked in the other thread, it works fine with Fender Studio.) Bluetooth works for both as well but doesn't remember its full state between power-ups and won't auto-pair the audio with your phone. I got my Boss FS-1-WL set up to spit MIDI at it for something I don't mind stomping on; that has to be re-paired each time, too. That means more steps to set up when you use it.
Other Stuff: There's a looper with a very-short maximum loop time of 20 seconds. Audio is 24-bits at 44.1 kHz, which is typical for this stuff; the Boss Katana:GO and NUX Mighty Plug Pro do 32 bits at 48 kHz. EDIT: There's also a drum machine, although the only patterns you can get at from the front panel are the metronomes.
So What Do I think? The Pocket Master is probably the best sub-$100 multi-effects there is right now. Definitely worth $65, but don't buy one as a cheap substitue for a more-expensive product. I've had a bunch of fun with it over the last couple of days and have good versions of my standard four patches. The Mighty Plug Pro is a better product sound-wise but requires a mobile app and is also twice the price. The Pocket Master probably won't end up in my travel kit because headphone lumps (Mustang Micro, Mighty Plug) are so much smaller and don't require carrying a bulky 1/4" cable. But close to 100% of this thing can be operated right from the front panel, which is worth something. And it's fun to contemplate that wat you're holding in your hand would have been impossible 20 years ago at the price point.
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After removing BLE on the list of available devices...
I understand what they ARE, but what is the actual terminology? I haven't parsed through all of the online manual yet. Wish it had a glossary for the alphabet soup!
