Latest SNARK Tuner (ST-8T) - better or just different?

DavidR

SNARK ST-8 Titanium Rechargeable Guitar Tuner (ST8-TITANIUM) : Amazon.co.uk: Musical Instruments & DJ



Bought one yesterday (as a little treat!) and it arrived today.  :-)

£30.11 courtesy of Amazon so a bit more expensive than the red ST-2's I have been buying in last few years which are currently £23.35.

So what's different. Snarks are quite popular I think. Maybe its the two ball and socket joints, which enable positioning to be whatever you want and ensure that the screen is always facing you.

In the older Snarks those sockets would sometimes split. An easy fix with an elastic band but a bit annoying. More recent Snarks have that area reinforced with a stronger collar so this defect has clearly been addressed. Otherwise the base clip on all the Snarks I have ever had have been the same. 'Supertight' refers to the accuracy of the electronics not the tight grip of the rubberised spring grip which has never marked any guitar I have used them on. I think perhaps this part has not ever been changed because it is fit for purpose.

The ST-8T has a jazzy rubber collar with a large bevelled tooth grip around the dial which is quite nice and this, together with the Titanium construction of the round head is advertised as reducing ambient noise which might otherwise interfere with pickup of vibration, and therefore tuning. OK.

The only other problem I have had with Snarks over the years is that the blue ones used to go all sticky and shed their paint. I can't see any blue ones on the Snark website so maybe they have ditched this colour. The ST-8T just seems to come in dull silver/grey (duller than above image) plastic coating which is subtle and not blingy.

Biggest change is no batteries! There's a USB socket and a (possibly unnecessary since who hasn't got 5 in a drawer) cable is included. There's a charge icon on the screen so you can see when you need a recharge. Snarks last decades so you will probably recoup the increased price from not buying batteries. 

Of course it's advertised as being extremely good and better than all the opposition. But on acoustics I have never found any of them anything other than excellent to use and more than accurate enough for home practice or for performing. This for me has often been in dark, cold halls and churches and Snarks have always been excellent for these difficult conditions.

So the usefulness of this Snark is similar to all the older ones in my view. It's just the evolutionary changes and the correction of previous design issues which is good. That and no batteries which is a nice feature.

Using a product which is basically sound and has ironed out its problems is its main strength.

Overall, better than the older models.

CarpeDiem

Thanks - very helpful. I’ve got a red-coloured Snark which now feels slightly sticky but works well. 

Blueingreen

I used to use Snarks and still have at least a couple kicking around somewhere but moved to Polytune clips and much prefer them.  They are more expensive but worth the extra in my opinion.

 

On the face of it rechargable batteries is an interesting USP but the batteries in the Polytunes are cheap and last for I'm guessing more than a year with my use pattern.  I take a spare and spare batteries to gigs just in case but I'd want a spare even with a freshly charged battery. I'm not convinced it would really be an improvement.

DavidR

Not that much more expensive than this Snark - 

TC Electronic PolyTune Clip Guitar Tuner, White at Gear4music

£42 vs. £30.11

drofluf

Or cheaper is the D’Addario Equinox https://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/products/daddario-equinox-rechargeable-clip-on-guitar-bass-tuner  at £19.99. Bigger screen than the Snark and I’m still wary of the Snark ball and socket joints. 

But in terms of accuracy I’ve never found a great difference between any tuner I’ve owned so the best choice is whatever you prefer

ElectricXII

£30 for a clip on tuner? I've only got one Snark which I bought for less than £10 years ago. The only downside for me is that it eats batteries, but I still prefer it to the other clip ons that I've tried.