First off, I had a Snark SN-2 before, the red one. Back when that tuner was still new in the market and a forumer brought those in. Had no problems with it whatsoever. Brought it to practice sessions, gigged with it, lent it to my bandmates and to other bands during gigs. Really a solid performer.
Unfortunately, that unit was bought from me by a guy that came all the way from Alabang to my area. Our deal was supposedly a guitar only, but when he saw my Snark SN-2, he insisted on buying it too. I was really hesitant and did not want to sell that tuner since it was already tried and tested. Again, solid performer. Being a sensible and considerate guy, I gave in. He took the trouble of going to my place anyway.
So I had to buy a new clip-tuner. Checkout out the Korg Pitchclip, but ended up buying the newer Snark Super Tight SN-8. I bought the unit at Lyric Trinoma. When I got home, I tried the tuner but the display was really dark. It's like the battery was close to dead. Went back to the store and they replaced my battery with a new one. Didn't had the chance to test it thoroughly since it was already closing time. Tried it again as soon as I got home. Same problem. Dark display even with a new battery. So I went back to Lyric and the guy told me that he'll just replace the unit. Okay, now the new unit I got was working. Took good care of it, never gigged with it, kept it mostly inside the box, and even rarely used it to keep the unit "fresh" and as "brand new looking" as I can. Usage was probably around 5 minutes in total. (Yes, TOTAL.) But the issues doesn't stop there.
Earlier today, the "claw" of the tuner's head that holds the ball for rotation broke. See the photo below. What's the point of advertising a tuner that can rotate its display for 360 degrees that can't even function the way it was advertised? Total BS. Anyway, I didn't bother to check if I can do something about it since it's too much trouble for a single unit of clip-on tuner. So I took a photo to share with you guys. Another thing I noticed about this new model/unit was it had some salt-looking material between the claw and the ball. You can clearly see it on the photo. My previous red Snark didn't have this salt thingy before. This could have contributed to the breakage of the unit. Snark's quality is obviously not improving.
I'm not satisfied with the current "batch" of clip-on Snark tuners. Now I have a clip-on tuner that is practically
useless. I hope Lyric can do something about these. Both the durability issues and my broken tuner. Thumbs down for Snark.