@Arawfish I still don’t have a TM, but I have read the whole thread and more about it so keep that in mind while reading.
The general consensus in this thread for a long time has been “buy one (or more) immediately”.
It does have great performance, and some of the design issues it started out with have been changed for the better, but there are still things that I see happening to people too often.
For example:
1. Many people experience performance drops at some point. Usually after a long period of great performance. Most of the time seems to be related to electrical contacts, but there are several contacts and without guidance from the manufacturer people have had to either send them in for repairs or come here for help.
On the positive side, I think these issues are almost always fixable and most of the fixes aren’t too difficult to try.
I should also say that while most people have good performance for a long time first, some people can have issues earlier and I suspect it has to do with the environments they’re using their TMs in (and/or whether or not they’re clearing their hits).
If you use it every day in a clean room it’ll probably be fine for a long time, but if you use it outside a lot you might want to talk to
@slayyou about the parts he 3D printed himself. I think they might help to keep dirt out of the device since normally the wooden body and metal ends are not well sealed and it’s possible to end up with dirt under the cap which can mess with that electrical contact.
2. The haptic feedback motor stops vibrating more than I’d like to see. I think the design of that part might need another look, but most people who have problems with it fix it easily and I don’t think it’s as common a problem.
3. There are some small things that people can miss or when putting it back together after cleaning such as o-rings, the heater screen (which should be secured better in my opinion), and the metal ring around the stem that tightens (along with an o-ring) to hold the stem firmly and seal the air path from the top.
That said, almost everyone here who has bought one has been happy they did. If you don’t want to mess with it at all you may end up having to send it in for service at some point, but it would very likely work solidly for you for many months or more without much work from you.
I don’t want you to think I’m saying that you have to mess with it every time you use it to get it to work right because when it’s working it gives consistently great results, but if you ever do have one of these problems you may need to open it up or send it in.
I hope that’s a helpful answer for you.