£14 Temu Midi Pad M-VAVE SMC - Cheap But What Is The Real Cost - NervousCook$

In todays episode we look at a small bluetooth midi controller from Temu. M-VAVE SMC-PAD. A great little controller but I have some concerns about Temu. Enjoy

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[krazywabbit]

Mad respect for the closing part of the video.

[tatv]

Thank you for being concious about the price you pay for a product and the price "others" pay for a product. I would spend x5 times more for that same product if it would be clear that no one was harmed in the process.

[JPA]

M-Vave (or Cuvave) is decently well known in the budget guitar gear realm. They also have a keyboard controller.
Knowing their quality for their guitar gear, my expectation of this unit would be that it works well, may not include amenities of some other budget brands, and that the weak point will be the software. But would be a good starter workhorse. That's pretty much the definition of their guitar gear also.
They actually just entered the market with a more "big-boy" effects unit with their "Black Box" for guitar. Seems to be pretty good for their first foray into the higher level effects unit with software.
Thanks so much for covering this. More coverage of their products opens up other options to those looking for budget solutions and also makes their products better, as they do actually listen to the community and makes changes as as needed or pointed out from their reviewers and users.
Also their gear is available through other (more reputable) distributers.

[ceciliafbrown]

Man with a conscience! Good for you outing these companies we need to be made a where of what is going on behind the scene.

[ezion]

The most direct way of buying from M-Valve seems to be their Aliexpress store. Not ideal but better for the sellers than Temu or Bezos.

[SONWU]

Great video.
And to add what you said in the end:
The sad thing is, that it's not just TEMU but most things you buy on Amazon will be the exact same product coming from the same factory,
just with Amazon as a store front instead…
It's hard to get around this. I don't know the answer, but I guess stop excessive spending on unnecessary things would be one step.

[jerzboybeats]

The blue tooth lag will be with audio. Bluetooth midi is a wonderful thing.

[FirstoftheFallen]

Just to mention that although you only have 2 banks of pads, you do have multiple +/-octave ranges for each bank. This gives you far more pads at your disposal - however I did find that colour coding each 4x4 snapshot, within each octave, within each bank, can be very helpful! I also now tend to use Bank 1 octaves for triggering individual samples and Bank 2 octaves for triggering scenes. With the Volume and mixer effects applied to each knob, this is a perfect, yet inexpensive companion to Koala.

[Nicole-ptbx]

finally a video about this setup! i've been eyeing this little controller for a while now, exactly to play with koala!

[ThisIsDownstate]

people will be quick to slag off Temu's ethics etc mostly because its from China. But they're no different to Amazon really. Just without the markup for western markets. Half of the stuff we buy or probably way more than half comes from the same factories. I think most of us would much rather support small business and buy directly but also most of us are totally broke. I just had a surgery and was already broke and i had to sell my Keystep pro to afford to pay my rent next month so i too will probably end up buying something cheap like this until i get back on my feet and can buy another KSP. It is what it is i guess.

[oppositelcr]

I'm impressed by the lack of lag - my experience of latency in bluetooth headphones and speakers made it seem like a bad idea

[jasonjayalap]

I got this too. BT midi doesnt have lag like bt audio. Octave up/down is like more pad banks when youre just using midi notes. According to the manual it should show up as a mackie compatible control thingie for daws, but it doesnt show up in logic x when i tested it. Usb c works for midi if u dont got time for setup midi BT (which can be a pain depending on OS/app... iOS is easiest). I wonder why koala doesn't default pads to the notes most drum apps use. Edit: The apps m-vave devices use for customization sucks on mobile but are fine on desktop.

[middlesidetopwise]

I can already tell from the comments that you said exactly what I’ve been thinking about Temu and other companies. It would be great if western countries could produce cheap goods without slave labor that are also affordable for all consumers. Maybe get rid of CEOs and shareholders and create worker-owned factories….

[Thehoodproject]

I got this for $60 US from Amazon and I not disappointed

[jonaslana]

Great thoughts on environmental and social responsibility 10:20 . Speaking from a periphery like Brazil, this kind of deal sometimes is the one most of local producers can get.

[lightbulbtheentertainer]

I just got this last week and it's also got the mixer from them it's just as good ....the both got infinity knobs

[AvidEric]

You cannot compare Bluetooth lag for audio (we're not playing sound via Bluetooth on a different device) with Bluetooth lag from an HID (human interface device). The latter is typically either insignificant or non-noticeable. Think of a Bluetooth keyboard or mouse - there is hardly any lag and it is or at least should be the same with Bluetooth midi controllers. So while that feature is nice since you don't need to carry around cables the battery will die at some point. That budget wise likely is not an issue with this one but it is something that should be kept in mind.
Anyways, this seems like a nice little purchase. Thanks for demoing it! I've seen these M-Vave products before but when purchased via Amazon directly over here in central Europe (south from you) they aren't any cheaper than comparable e.g. Akai or Arturia devices which are of established quality. (The regular price of the M-Vave SMC is 69€.) So going for Bluetooth just never was enough of a reason to go with M-Vave instead (also the lack of additional software/tools you get with the device and presumable lack of service). But for 14 quid that sure is a good deal worth the try.

[bishopdredd]

Respect for highlighting the downsides

[MultiMam]

I bought to much plastic controllers in my life. Get a midi analyzer and look at the midi values when turning knobs. You always get what you pay for. Turn and press the knobs 300 times. Great video’s anyway!

[svggod]

I saw this on the site the other day. I was skeptical about Temu, but after seeing this I’m placing my order