Korg CA-30 Chromatic Tuner: Review

Most musical instruments, unfortunately, require a bit of maintenance. Regular tuning is crucial to having an instrument that plays well, and failure to tune correctly can result in broken strings and a less than desirable sound. Many musicians choose electronic tuners to accomplish correct tuning, so it's no surprise that the Korg CA-30 tuner is a popular choice among guitarists, bassists and violinists, among others. But is the Korg CA-30 tuner worth the price?

Product Ratings for the Korg CA-30 Chromatic Tuner:
Features: 4/5
Accuracy: 5/5
Price: 4/5
Overall: 4/5

Main Product Features

Like many guitarists, I can't really be bothered to tune the guitar by ear. The few times I've attempted this, it's resulted in broken strings. I decided to give the Korg CA-30 tuner a try and was quickly impressed by the accuracy. This tuner, unlike many other tuners, picks up even the lightest notes, making it possible for me to tune both my acoustic guitar and my electric guitar-even when it is not plugged into an amplifier. It is also surprisingly accurate when it comes to picking up the actual notes and will tell you if a note is flat, sharp or just right.

The CA-30 tuner itself fits in your hand and has four main buttons: on/off, two calibration buttons to adjust the tuner to fit your unique needs, and a sound button. There is an LCD screen that displays the frequency of the notes. There are also three lights: one light is red if the note is flat, one light is green if the note is perfect (or near perfect) and the other light is red if the note is sharp.

A nice feature of the CA-30 is the ability to give a loud reference pitch if the tuner does not do its job well enough. I've never personally used this feature, and find the sound somewhat annoying, but I definitely don't doubt its usefulness for experienced musicians.

Another good feature, though one I have not used, is that of the calibration feature. This allows musicians to change the pitch of the tuner so that it can be used to accurately tune in any key. So if you tend to play a lot of different songs in a lot of different keys, it'll come in handy.

Finally, there is the auto-off feature, which goes into effect if the tuner is on but has not been used in the last 20 minutes. However, due to the hyper-sensitivity of the tuner and its ability to pick up even the faintest sounds, if you live in a household that is even remotely noisy, the auto-off feature will rarely go into effect.

Price: $19.99 at Musician's Friend

Overall:

For the modest price tag of $19.99, this is a tuner that comes jam-packed with several nice features. However, some musicians will be frustrated with how sensitive the tuner is, and the fact that it only has a few features. While it won't compare to tuners costing double the price, the Korg CA-30 is a good tuner for beginner and intermediate musicians who want an accurate tuner at a low price.