Tentacle Sync tiny TCbox review

[VM]

On 16 janvier 2016 at 8:28 PM, Philip Perkins said:

Are most users syncing the boxes directly to a recorder (like with other TC boxes) or to each other, or are most people doing the phone thing?

 

Most of the timesI I jam my Tentacles from the 633. Sometimes from my Android phones. It works like a charm.

[Nathaniel Robinson]

On January 16, 2016 at 2:28 PM, Philip Perkins said:

Are most users syncing the boxes directly to a recorder (like with other TC boxes) or to each other, or are most people doing the phone thing?

 

I really only use the app to change frame rate if necessary. Otherwise I use exactly the same as my Denecke SB3.

[audiofp]

The problem was in the HP jack.  While I tried to clean it there was debris keeping the plug from fully inserting,  The iPhone naturally goes into my pocket upside down, leaving the power and HP jacks in a position that accumulates lint. I was able to carefully poke around with a pin, invert and then tap on a surface to knock it out.  Everything is fine now.

Sven, from Tentacle Sync was very responsive.

I've used the unit on three day's shoots and I love the small package, stable timebase and long battery life.  Will buy more.

[Constantin]

Well, I'm glad you didn't prematurely blame the manufacturer for not doing their work or whatever re ios testing

[audiofp]

Exactly how many days is premature? I emailed Tentacle support and immediately updated my comments here and on their blog when I discovered the cause. The information was missing in their knowledge base and because of my efforts will be added.

[chrismedr]

6 hours ago, audiofp said:

The information was missing in their knowledge base and because of my efforts will be added.

the information that if you have a crapped out headphone port on your phone it will not connect to their unit? 

i know constatins reply sounds a bit harsh but he has a point...

if you point fingers at the manufacturer and blame them for not doing their work and then finding out that it's simply your phone being dodgy then that's kinda embarrassing. happened to me too often, so now i usually try to stick with the motto "i think there's something wrong here but maybe i'm just missing something obvious"

chris

 

[Constantin]

The information was missing in their knowledge base and because of my efforts will be added.

By "their" you mean Apple, right? "If dirt gets into your iphones headphone port it may cease to function", something like that? It's an issue with an APPLE device not Tentacle. Next when you drop your phone and shatter your display, will you also ask TentacleSync why they haven't told you that a broken display will impair your ability to read their app's display?

I'm sorry, maybe this is all a big misunderstanding. I'm glad you are happy and feel like you've helped them.

[audiofp]

"i think there's something wrong here but maybe i'm just missing something obvious"

It wasn't obvious at all (unlike your statement).  In my initial post I stated I attempted multiple times to clean the HP jack. Actually, headphones worked, Tentacle didn't. There were many cordial emails back and forth with Tentacle support to try to narrow it down.

"It's an issue with an APPLE device not Tentacle. Next when you drop your phone and shatter your display, will you also ask TentacleSync why they haven't told you that a broken display will impair your ability to read their app's display?"

The analogy smells.  If Tentacle chooses to bring an iPhone including its warts into their system, they need to be aware of everything that can go wrong.  I gave them one more.

I've received way too many NEW pieces of equipment by leading industry manufacturers over the last three years that had obvious flaws on arrival, so obvious it seemed as if there was no final inspection before shipping.  This included two expensive mixer/recorders by one of the top two manufacturers and two expensive transmitters by a leading wireless manufacturer.  I still buy from these companies because of the way they handled me. Same with Tentacle.

By not stating their product had been tested with iOS 9.2, Tentacle left IOS as a potential culprit. When Tentacle finally informed me it was qualified with 9.2 I stopped looking there.

Actually, Tentacle didn't need defending as I already did that before you two jokers showed up.

  

[Constantin]

6 hours ago, audiofp said:

I attempted multiple times to clean the HP jack. Actually, headphones worked, Tentacle didn't

It is possible, though, that only the right side on your headphones worked, when the tip was blocked.

6 hours ago, audiofp said:

Actually, Tentacle didn't need defending as I already did that

It's not so much about defending Tentacle, although there may be a part of it, too. But I'm sure I would have commented pretty much in the same way, if it had been a different manufactuer.

By not stating their product had been tested with iOS 9.2, Tentacle left IOS as a potential culprit

It says on their site that at least iOS 8 is required. Doesn't that include 9.2?

The issue for me, however, is that you accused the manfuacturer of not doing their homework properly, or even any homwork at all. You jumped to a conclusion as to the cause of your problem, before you had that problem resolved. That's simply very unprofessional behaviour.

Unless, you really, seriously, meant that TentacleSync should have a warning on their site that the Tentacles may not sync with your phone if the hp port is dirty. Should Zaxcom also warn users that they may not hear anything on their headphones when dirt has gotten into the port?

Should McDonald's warn customers that when they order a hot coffee it may actually be hot? Oh, wait a minute...

[audiofp]

I'll respond one more time as there's little left to offer regarding the problem.

 

"It is possible, though, that only the right side on your headphones worked, when the tip was blocked."

No, it is not possible as both sides worked, possibly because the headphone cable connector was TRS and Tentacle's data cable connector is TRRS.

 

"It says on their site that at least iOS 8 is required. Doesn't that include 9.2?"

It also includes v12.7, v20.9, v150.2…, insufficiently clear to qualify the product with the latest IOS version. For instance, Avid's Pro Tools compatibility:

System Requirements and Compatibility with Pro Tools 12.4 Software (more info)

• Mac OS X 10.11-10.11.1 (El Capitan), 10.10.3-10.10.5 (Yosemite), 10.9.5 (Mavericks) and 10.8.5 (Mountain Lion)
• Windows 8.1 64-bit and Windows 7 64-bit - Note that Windows 10 qualification is still in progress

 

"… you accused the manfuacturer of not doing their homework properly, or even any homwork at all. You jumped to a conclusion as to the cause of your problem, before you had that problem resolved. That's simply very unprofessional behavior…"

You've made your feelings clear enough and while there is some validity, you seem to need no less than a full page ad with an apology. This thread had some usefulness to users and manufacturer until you mucked it up with a pissing match. That too is "very unprofessional behavior".

 

"Unless, you really, seriously, meant that TentacleSync should have a warning on their site that the Tentacles may not sync with your phone if the hp port is dirty…"

It's quite obvious you see no benefit to mere mortals from a discussion about various ways the repurposed HP jack can go bad (even while headphones work), resulting in zero control in the field. I disagree. Without a working iPhone app this unit becomes a dumb box that can only jam to one frame rate.  The manufacturer is probably interested in the issue. Without a working app the Tentacle is much less competitive with other units that have onboard controls.

Bottom line is problem solved and Sven at Tentacle thanked me for my recommendations.