I was a Kickstarter backer of Orba so I have watched it mature from concept to product.It’s a stand alone synth. So immediately you think lots of patches or programs, creating on the fly, adding, looping, refining, nope. Basic Drum, Bass, Chord and Lead. As a synth you’re stuck with the 4 on board. If you have a computer or tablet you can swap one of these for something different using their app. But you’re not going to get three different guitars or two different pianos to compose a song. Pick 4 and no more. Much like a 8 note harmonica so your not gonna get 88 keys in a 8 hole hockey puck. There are patch effects if you wobble the keys or twist and turn the Orba, but not something that would lend itself to music notation. Using an included usb cable the Orba can be firmware upgraded. Instead of adding functionality this exercise has only been used to bug fix features that didn’t work as delivered. The sound comes out a speaker that is mostly blocked by the palm of you hand and fingers. Placed on a table for play back it’s ok but won’t fill a room with sound. It can be used with optional earphones But the plug an cable are in the way during use. It basically a musical toy that records and makes it extremely difficult to go back to layer and edit. My journey as an early adopted included, late delivery, an overpriced revision 0 unit and $20 shipping. Watch the YouTube videos and see it any of happy ‘artists’ are still working with it after 3 months. Mine’s on… read more the shelf. At least zZounds has a return policy.

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