Best Metronome Reviews 2020

As a musician, playing an instrument can be a challenging task, especially if you're merely a rookie—or worse still, have a certain, ahem, innate lack of rhythm, which can be a major spanner in the works. Now, to compensate for these rather irritating shortcomings, you may: 1) Put in hours of practice and possibly disfigure your fingers horribly in the process, or 2) Buy a contraption called a metronome and equip your respectable self with a sleek beat-making buddy! Joking aside, combining the two aforementioned approaches is probably the best way to go, and to help you out with your beat-machine of choice, we've devised a top-five list of nothing but top-tier metronomes from some of the best brands! Check it out, and see for yourself!

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Overview

PROS

CONS

SPECS

Type

Design

Size

Tempo Range

Power

Our Top Choice

Wittner Taktell Piccolo Metronome

The Wittner company has been one of the most prominent manufacturers of music accessories ever since it entered the market in 1895.

Sleek build. Precise beats. 3 colors available. Works without bell.

On the flipside, it’s made of plastic, which might not make it all that appealing to some customers, really.

Analogue

Traditional Tower-Type

Black (3 colors available)

40 – 208 bpm

Mechanical (Winding-Up)

Best Value

Cherub Metronome WSM-330

Established in 1998 by two engineers with an entrepreneurial bug, as they like to claim, the Cherub company now enjoys quite a reputation on the music accessory market.

Simple spring mechanism. Enables you to pull off various tempo speeds. Bell can be moved in five positions. Winds up; no batteries needed.

Unfortunately, calibrating this thing can represent a bit of a trouble at times.

Analogue

Traditional Tower-Type

Black

40 – 208 bpm

Mechanical (Winding-Up)

BOSS Dr. Beat Metronome

Having manufactured a number of top-tier accessories for musicians across the board, the BOSS company has done itself proud over the years.

Connect your electric and bass guitars to it via a cord. Special rhythm coach feature. Offers 50 memories.

Comes at a high price, but is worth it due to the incredible features.

Digital

Digital (with speakers)

Silver

30 – 250 bpm

One 9V Battery

Seiko SQ50V Quartz Metronome

Well-known for its cutting-edge precision tools and boasting a long and fruitful history of over 100 years, the Seiko company delivers quality products for its customers.

Simple digital tool. Gives out both audio and visual beats you can follow. LED allows for visual tracking. Compact, sleek-looking design.

LED light cannot be turned off.

Digital

Digital (LED flashing light)

Black/Red

40 – 208 bpm

One 9V Battery

Korg Instrument Tuner & Metronome

Well-respected and beloved throughout the communities of professional musicians, the Korg company has made some pretty impressive electronic goods in recent years.

Works both as a detailed metronome and a tuner. Available in 5 colors. Meter is LCD. 15 rhythms to play with.

Can’t record your playing sessions, but other than that, it’s a warm recommendation on our part.

Digital

Digital (LED light)

Black (5 colors available)

30 – 252 bpm

Two AA Batteries

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What is the Best Metronome?

Whether they look like a steam-punkish lava lamp, or a pager from the times long gone (the 90s), metronomes are all brought together with the same illustrious goal—to provide some precisely-timed beats! (And also act as tuners at times.) If you're a musician and need a simple reference-point tempo-spewing device to help you with your practice sessions, get one of these plucky little contraptions, and awaken your inner virtuoso. Consult our top-five list to find the best model for your needs!

Our Top Choice

Stylish and capable of keeping a good beat alive long enough for you to hopefully develop some playing skills, the Wittner’s Taktell Piccolo Metronome is a mean little machine that you’ve got to have. If you’re not into acoustic contraptions that much, check out the Wittner 865061 Metronome instead!

Wittner Taktell Piccolo Metronome – Available in 3 Colors

Features

By all accounts, the industrial year of our Lord 1895 was quite a lucrative and fruitful one for Germans. Not necessarily in any chronological order, or, indeed, that of priority, these merry events took place in the lands of the Teutonic “Volk”: 1) The first ever gasoline bus was introduced (the line went from Siegen to Netphen), 2) A distinguished gentleman called Rudolf Diesel patented the now world-renowned diesel engine, and 3) Gustav Wittner established a company for the production of high-precision musical contraptions called—metronomes!

Thanks to Gustav’s unparalleled expertise in the department of musical instruments, the newly-developed company took off like a greased-up lightning, and the brand was soon established. Now, unlike many other German tales of yore, this one doesn’t actually end in scenes containing dismembered limbs and graphic deaths. Rather, it still goes on to this day, much to the pleasure of practicing musicians worldwide! Grand stuff, indeed. Now, let’s take a look at one of its products to see what these folks are capable of.

Boasting a complex, clockworkish look that only a German-made contraption can possess, the Wittner 836 Taktell Piccolo Metronome represents a proper marvel of acoustic technology. Its highly-precise scale combined with an easy-to-use measuring system, makes this particular model a breeze to use. Also, its durable, sleek-looking housing makes it a perfect item for showcase, so you might want to consider placing it on your mantelpiece!

The list of the most prominent features of the Wittner 836 Taktell Piccolo Metronome:

Plastic casing
Comes in black, ruby, and mahogany brown
Made in Germany
Doesn’t come with a bell

Assuming the appearance of a Fabergé egg that’s been mixed with a mechanical clock, the Wittner 836 Taktell Metronome sure makes for one odd-looking musical accessory. Comes in three colors, no less, and works without a bell. You’ve got to have one!

Need to fine-tune your respectable self using a plucky metronome? Get a Wittner’s, and start honing your musical skills!

Best Value

Towering high and issuing beats, the Cherub Metronome WSM-330 can become a reliable ally in your quest for musical greatness! (Or just for not sounding like a litter of dying cats.) For a digital version, check out the Cherub WSM-240 instead! Small and plucky with a disproportionately loud speaker—what’s not to love?

Cherub Metronome WSM-330 – No Batteries Required, High-Quality Metal Construction

Features

Taking on the appearance of a winged middle-aged woman with curly hair and a prominent unibrow (in Slavic depictions, anyway) and given a profoundly demanding task of running chores and errands for God himself, the cherub is a divine creature with a busy working schedule and, reportedly, a pretty good singing voice. So, what better name to pick for an up-and-coming metronome-producing business, than that which would concur with that of one of these magnificent beings? (Who are represented in three different religions, no less!)

Having started out small in the year of our Lord 1998, the two colleague engineers behind the Cherub company quickly “struck a chord” with their target audience after the introduction of their first-ever instrument tuner. After this magnificent, and no less trailblazing event, they quickly added more items to their roster of products. Nowadays, their production lines include all kinds of accessories and tools for music practices. If you’d like to learn more about them, check out their website.

Now, as the second entry for this list, we’ve decided to go with its model WSM-330. This mechanical metronome possesses a rather simple design that kind of looks like an air freshener with a scale and a bunch of Italian words printed on it. There’s a convenient spring mechanism inside for producing highly-precise beats, enabling you to produce a tempo ranging from 40 to 208 bpm.

The list of features for the Cherub’s WSM-330 Metronome:

A precise spring-mechanism
Built in the shape of a tower
Offers a wide array of different tempos
Offers +-1% precision (in regard to the tempo)
No batteries required
Features a top-grade mechanical mechanism

All things considered, a great little beat provider that can make your practice sessions much more productive! Thanks to its simple mechanical build and an easy-to-read scale, even a complete rookie can operate it without any issues whatsoever. No batteries needed, either!

Not the model you would have chosen? No problem, plenty of beat-making ware at Cherub’s! See what else it has!

Brim-filled with all kinds of buttons and ports for practicing with all kinds of instruments, the BOSS DB-90 Dr. Beat Metronome is a must-have for a professional musician! If you’d like a carrying bag to pack all of your respectable gear in easily, get the BOSSBAGL2 as well.

BOSS Dr. Beat Metronome – Comes with Unique Rhythm Coach Exercises

Features

Constantly expanding its roster of cutting-edge digital contraptions by entries with names such as Katana Cabinet 212 and SY-300 guitar synthesizer, the BOSS company is surely a business that knows how to market its goods well! (By awarding them sci-fi and Japanese sword-soundin’ names!) In recent years, the folks behind this cheekily-named company have made quite a name for themselves, mostly thanks to their efforts related to a meticulous designing process for their new products.

Whether it’s guitar synthesizers, stomp boxes, digital, or, indeed, analogue tuners, chances are it can be found over at BOSS, and often for quite a reasonable price! What’s more, it has a well-organized website, so if you’d like to learn more about its existing ware, or what it has in store for the future, feel free to pay it a visit and see for yourself. (We mean—go to their website, don’t just turn up at their doorstep and demand a tour saying TopProducts sent you.)

The BOSS DB-90 metronome we’re showcasing as the third product on this list carries almost the same name as the well-known British automotive icon Aston Martin DB-9. Mind you, this similarity is not the only good thing going for this particular car, ehrm, metronome, as this model comes with a built-in microphone as well as some drum patterns to spice it all up. You can further enhance your music sessions by engaging the rhythm coach function, enabling you to putter about with various tempos! Lovely stuff, indeed.

Let’s see some other features this BOSS DB-90 metronome comes with:

A large LCD display for easy operation
4 different metronome sounds
Special rhythm coach practice feature
Footswitch control for hand-free operation
Comes with a 5-year warranty

All things considered, a nifty high-tech contraption with enough options and ports to serve the needs of an entire orchestra! Then again, if you have an orchestra, you wouldn’t really need all the artificial beats and drum sections. But still! The name’s BOSS DB-90 folks—a complex and well-rounded metronome. A warm recommendation on our part.

Need a versatile playback device to make your practice session more fruitful? Get one of BOSS’s high-tech metronomes!

Small in size and easy to operate, the Seiko SQ50V Quartz Metronome can be an excellent solution for both rookies and intermediate musicians. For a couple of bucks less, you can also try out the Seiko DM51S Clip-on Metronome.

Seiko SQ50V Quartz Metronome – Simple Design, Two Types of Metro and Beat Sounds

Features

Going under the official name of Seiko Instruments, Inc., the renowned Seiko company is one of the most prominent Japanese manufacturers dealing with sound and audio equipment. The story of this grandiose business hailing from the Land of the Rising Sun starts all the way back in 1881, when a distinguished gentleman called Kintaro Hattori established a small retail store for watches and clocks. Tinkering with all kinds of contraptions and tools that have precision as their most notable perk, the employees at Hattori & Co. Ltd. made a name for themselves, and the company was destined to grow larger and larger with every passing year.

Even though Seiko was initially, and surely enough, still is, predominantly a watch- and clock-producing business, the array of different high-precision instruments that are produced by this company has increased significantly over its rather long history. Nowadays, you can find a whole bunch of products at Seiko’s, dealing with a variety of measuring tasks and other tasks that require cutting-edge precision. These would include watches, musical instrument accessories, radiation detection systems, and many other elaborate contraptions for good measure!

The Seiko Metronome model SQ50-V represents a petite utensil that comes with a sizeable control knob, a wee metal stand so that it doesn’t fall over, and not much else. Not much else is needed, though, as this little fella can be made to let out a mean sequence of beats when wound up properly! (You don’t actually have to wind it up; it works on batteries, we just liked the phrase.)

The list of features for the Seiko SQ50-V Metronome:

Petite design
Based on quartz
Comes with an LED light
There’s a headphone port
Provides 2 types of tempo and beat sounds

Need a tough little device to help you reach expert levels of skill on your instrument of preference? Well, Seiko’s SQ50-V Quartz Metronome might be just what you’ve been looking for! It can fit in the palm of your hand, and it comes with a convenient port for your headphones as well as an LED indicator.

Need a device for helping you maintain a certain beat? Get a Seiko Metronome, and play at your own tempo!

Lightweight and well-lit, the Korg’s TM-50 Metronome can be a great solution for an experienced musician in need of a simple and reliable means of keeping the beat alive! (And also, possibly tuning the instruments.) For a simple mini keyboard, check out its MicroKEY Air 37 model!

Korg TM-50 Combo Tuner Metronome – Available in 5 Colors

Features

Founded all the way back in 1963, Korg is one of Japan’s biggest exporters of music-related electronic goods, and it still manages to amaze its audience with new cutting-edge products! From its very inception, the goal of this company was to create a series of gadgets and odd-looking contraptions to enable the talented people who are using them to make new and exciting sounds, and offer their best performances. So far, Korg has been responsible for a number of trailblazing products such as Japan’s first-ever disc-based rhythm machine, first synthesizer, and the world’s first needle-type tuner.

All in all, it would be safe to say that whatever it is that you need in order to start your DJ-ing career, it can be found at Korg. Whether we’re talking about tuners, synthesizers, digital recorders, or amplifiers, the folks at Korg are making it, and musicians worldwide are surely buying it. If you’d like to learn more about what makes this business so successful, check out its official webpage and learn more about what it has to offer.

On our part, we’ve chosen to present to you one of its best-sellers—the Korg TM50BK Instrument Tuner and Metronome. This smallish device comes with an easy-to-read LCD meter, as well as a host of different buttons for performing fine settings or otherwise meddling with the tuner!

The list of features for the Korg TM50BK Instrument Tuner and Metronome:

Comes with a tuner
Easy-to-use LCD display
A wide sound detection range
Needle-type meter
A wide tempo range
15 rhythm variations
Comes in 5 colors

Featuring a simple construction with a small LCD screen, the Korg TM50BK Tuner and Metronome can be a great ally during a music practice session. The screen itself is a breeze to read, and there are plenty of buttons you can tamper with, to make this little device “dance” to your tune, so to speak. Choose between black, gold, red, silver, or white colors!

Need a well-made metronome to enhance your practice sessions? There are plenty of cool models at Korg’s!

How Do I Choose the Best Metronome?

By all accounts, and quite discouragingly at times, music can be a fiendishly complicated matter, as honing your artistic performance to the point where it sounds just right can be a major pain in your elevated bottom! This is especially true if you're working with faulty instruments and outdated, malfunctioning equipment. Indeed, an ancient viola or a guitar that's seen some abuse can present an insurmountable hurdle to your progress. Even a tacky music stand can throw a spanner in your sound-making works under the right unfortunate circumstances! Therefore, obtaining some high-quality equipment before you proceed to practice your way into music history is an absolute must! (The downside of this would be that you can't blame bad equipment if your performance isn't exactly tight, but oh well.)

A good place to start when building your very own arsenal of musical instruments would be to get yourself a plucky little device called the metronome. This wee fellow will provide you with continuous beats and enable you to precisely time your playing sequences! Now, let's see what the other parameters are for making this contraption “tick.”

First of all, we should point out that there are two major types of metronomes: analogue and digital ones. The digital ones work on batteries, and typically provide a wide array of different options and settings, while the analogue ones have a stock scale, and you have to wind them up in order to set them “ablaze.” What's more, and quite oddly enough, the analogue ones aren't necessarily less expensive than their digital counterparts, and in a fair number of cases, the situation is actually reversed.

Another interesting aspect of the digital metronomes to look out for would be the additional features they tend to come with. Should you decide to go with one of these, you may expect such fancy features as tuners, electric guitar ports, as well as headphone ports, for good measure. Some models even come with an LED light which flashes in the rhythm of the beat played by the metronome itself! Last but not least, analogue metronomes are well-known for their fancy looks, so having one of these around can be a neat addition to your studio decorum in addition to helping you play better. To learn more about the design and the pricing of metronomes, check out the sections below!

Price

Simple and often brim-filled with all kinds of useful additional features, metronomes are surely devices that serve an important purpose with helping you out during your instrument practice. That being said, they are relatively inexpensive, as the price range for these magnificent accessories starts somewhere at 20-ish bucks and ends at approximately $140 for some of the high-tier devices. Of course, factors such as the number of different features, ports, and the size of the display all play a role in the end price; the better-equipped a device is, the more it will cost. All in all, there are many different manufacturers making these devices nowadays, so with some careful planning, you can definitely find a suitable model for your needs!

But we warn you now: stay away from cheap metronomes. If the price tag is a little too low, it may be an indicator that the metronome is either no good or lacks important qualities. How well the device will serve you should always come before price—pay a little more to get the best metronome for your needs. You’re welcome!

Features

Even though they’re predominantly expected to perform a single function, metronomes can still get quite complicated with all the extra features they tend to come with! Since we at TopProducts are big fans of high-quality music, and greatly appreciate the work of Mozart, Bach, Pitbull, and Iggy Azalea, we’ve decided to spare no effort in order to acquaint you with the range of features a properly-made metronome can possess!

Check out the list below to see what features to pay attention to when buying a metronome:

Spring mechanism (analogue metronomes)
Type of batteries (digital metronomes)
The tempo precision
LCD screen
Special practicing features (rhythm coach)
Footswitch control
Guitar port
Headphone port
Additional tuner
Warranty

As always, we would like to advise you this time, as well, to go with a product that’s got a warranty attached to it. That way you can get a refund or some help for troubleshooting in case you experience some problems with the device itself.

Construction and Design

As we already mentioned, metronomes typically come in two variants: 1) analogue, and 2) digital models. Usually, the analogue ones assume the shape of one of those roughly conical air fresheners, while the digital ones mostly look like Tamagotchis and feature multiple buttons as well as an LCD screen for good measure. Further, it’s important to mention that some of the high-quality digital models also come with a foot pedal for easy, hand-free control. Oh yes, also, some analogue models don’t come with a bell, so don’t be surprised if your analogue metronome arrives without one of its vital components!

Performance and Ease of Use

Assuming you’re already familiar with the Italian names of all the tempos, operating a metronome is really a piece of cake. (Even if you don’t know the name, most of the metronomes come with numerical values to accompany the names, so orienting yourself shouldn’t be a problem, anyway.) Of course, when it comes to the digital models with more features, you may expect a more complicated procedure as they come with more options. Other than that, make sure to take out the batteries after you’ve used your metronome (the digital one, of course), so that they don’t discharge while idle. That would be about it!

Go back to the start of the reviews

Get the Best Metronome of 2020!

A metronome is a device that combines high-precision engineering and a typically simple design to produce a clockworkish contraption capable of providing continuous beats for accompanying your musical performance. Even though you can practice without a metronome, having one of these around can be a major asset in the long run, as it will help you get accustomed to correct musical intervals and, generally, playing in a harmonious fashion, so to speak! We at TopProducts hope you liked our top-five list, and wish you a hassle-free purchase. If you want more options to check out, the brands we picked have you covered, too. Cheers!

Our Top Choice

Wittner Taktell Piccolo Metronome

Best Value

Cherub Metronome WSM-330

BOSS Dr. Beat Metronome

Seiko SQ50V Quartz Metronome

Korg Instrument Tuner & Metronome

Go back to the start of the reviews

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