Spark Feedback, Bugs & Product Suggestions
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HARDWARE:
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My first wish is for an XLR mic input (ideally with phantom power). Many guitarists will also sing and that would fit that box. Then it would be a complete setup for a singer/songwriter. And as a full 2in 2out recording interface for a home DAW setup. Mic input please ! With an fx send on the mic channel to get the same delay/reverb as the guitars...
It's gonna add a cost, sure, can be made into a separate version called Spark 50+ or Spark 50Dual .. -
Design. It might be useful for you to collect photos of user setups. One reason is to figure out where they place the Spark, floor or desk..? For me undeniably on my recording desk, next to my audio monitors, ear level. Therefore the back control panel is hard to reach when playing when sitting, I'd rather have the controls brought forward for easier access, even if still on top. For the same reason, I find it a bit annoying that the knobs labels are at the back of the knobs, under the knobs would be easier to read.
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Phone holder : could have a foldable mobile phone holder at the back of the unit, a bit like a classical piano has the piece to hold the music sheets.. would be convenient! with hole/place for charger cable, actually might even be worth having a USB slot with charging capability.. damn that would be good for when we jam for hours but run out of battery...
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Tuner : not a fan. On a particularly not well tuned guitar it's easy to get the strings tuned to a wrong note. Makes me think it would be worth considering adding a small LED screen for additional control/visual feedback...
SOFTWARE:
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Pedalboard: easily the smoothest / best part. But I'd recommend after double tapping on any component to bring the list of variations, would be good to equally double tap on the selected device to return to the full unit or to single tap outside that menu ie single tap anywhere on the signal chain above, those two options would help better than the tiny arrow to fold the menu.
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Jam : my biggest grudge (now fixed!!) I felt the backing track volume was too low compared to the guitar and couldn't get more out of the tiny knob.. glad I worked out it's also affected by the phone volume... might happen to many other users. I'm now glad as it's a great way to control the backing track volume away from the amp... but might be worth having a pop-up tutorial when first running the app that helps with most common mistakes/teaches people some tricks, you know what I mean..
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The Jam part HAS TO become much stronger.
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Jam : add the ability to export a midi file which can then be loaded into any DAW. Then Spark becomes not just jam-oriented but fully songwriting-capable. I'd use that as basis for building tracks. Maybe import too, why not take from the thousand available MIDI tracks online or user-created, and maybe just keep the drums and bass, or have options to deal with the rest? That would expand from the terribly limited selection of included jam tracks.
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Create : how come we can not save a Create into a file for further jamming?! once edited we must have the option to save, eg to a new category parallel to pop/rock etc.. called my jam or to save to any category !! otherwise it's tedious to have to go through and try get this jam right again as the AI isn't always on point. I think this is big, so far the app only offers a small selection of tracks and it gets tedious quickly, but if we can manage our own, it could be so much better, so saving edited tracks seems a major request, that links to tracks names, position within the categories, etc...
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Jam : the songs cycle with arrows at the top but it's hard to identify or go back to a specific song, would be nice to add track number and/or names, ability to customise names, add to favourites, etc... for easy recall
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Jam: need to bring scrolling back up to the top when switching to new song.
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Jam : I find myself often leaving Jam to change the tone in the first tab, then come back to the jam home page. I think it's worth staying on the previously opened backing track for most users, whether that means staying on the opened jam (paused) or having it minimized on the jam home page (also paused)..
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Jam : I thought we had the ability to loop a part say a chorus, can't figure where this is. The selection in red does not allow that, would be good to loop, and also have 2 beats or a bar before it plays so we can get ready ;)
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Jam suggestion : could add a counter, how many songs/hours, can unlock new songs, etc.. a way to stimulate users to play more to unlock stuff (gamification..)
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Jam : please cancel autoplay when switching songs, one would like to take a second to review the chords first... or set in a comprehensive options menu (currently the per song option menu is pretty simple, though well done for the addition of the bass toggle option)
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Jam : would be really nice to be able to record the rhythm guitar into the unit or phone so as to be able to further jam with solos on top. Whether permanent recording or just whilst the app is on..
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BIG ONE : I was really excited about the jamming with youtube tracks feature as I guess it is a dream for any guitar player to jam with one's heroes... but it is SUCH a letdown guys I beg you to pour massive love into the feature.
First the search is extremely slow for me in China. It does not work with vpn on. Then... Either I get really poor tabs with inaccurate chords and wrong timing, or it just plays the video but no chords showing.. pointless in either case... So I see a few solutions : either you employ someone to manually review and edit tabs, content curation. Or you do a partnership with Guitar Tabs and port their pro tabs online so your users can rely on your content. Or you improve the AI but for now it is really not working for me on any classic I tried (Dire Straits, U2, OASIS, AC/DC..) As it stands this is a totally useless feature for me as such, whereas I so much believe it could be the most exciting feature of the entire product... If Guitar Tabs or others would be too demanding, you could partner with cool youtubers that would also help with promoting the new version. Think outside the box, most importantly think how you can make the Spark the ultimate teaching+jam companion. I so badly love that idea!! -
When on search, after clicking on a result and trying and pressing the back button we should go back to the search result list, not the general home page.. makes it for faster chance to try a new search result rather than reload the search
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Apple music.. well no no for all Android users..
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I'm sure many users will ask to link Spark to Bias FX2, I do too, I'd rather create tones on my DAW with Bias FX2 then load to the phone app. But this isn't major and I understand there might be different structures at play. Though the more I play with Spark, the more I WISH Spark has some of the jaw-dropping effects I've come to absolutely adore FX2 for... really guys, that would be such a killer update.... “Spark50+ Unleashed” ...
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