Fun, silly instrument – and the PAC-MAN design makes it even better!
We’re already an Otamatone family since our kids each have one, so when I saw this PAC-Man version I thought it would be fun to get one for my husband so he could join in. It turned out to be a great choice. These things are just silly in the best way, but they’re actually pretty fun to play around with. My husband loves music and played the French horn growing up, so he’s been having a good time experimenting with it and figuring out how to get different notes out of it. The Deluxe version feels a little bit nicer than the standard Otamatones, which we already have (we have the black one, the pink one and the baby blue one). The strap is a nice addition and makes it easier to hold while playing, which gives it a slightly more “instrument-like” feel compared to the smaller ones. The PAC-MAN design is really cute too. My husband likes video games, so that was a fun extra detail that made this a little more special for him! Overall it’s been a fun addition to the ones we already have in the house. Now I’m kind of tempted to pick up the tiny PAC-MAN ghost keychain one or maybe even the deluxe Pusheen cat version to add to the collection for myself 🥲
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Allen
★★★★★
Quality build with a wider musical range
High quality Otamatone with multiple features like volume control, 3 pitch settings, and a Line Out for external speakers or headphones. This is a well built instrument and is quality made. This thing will survive more than a few drops. The notes are easier to play on the Deluxe model and have a wider range to allow for a larger amount of songs to be played. This is a high value for the money and worth it to all who have an interest in Otamatones!
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RCM
★★★★★
Another beautiful entry in the otomatone universe
These are fin little "instruments" that aren't more than a simple synthesizer in an appealing form factor. I've gotten a few over the years and have had my fun with them, but as more are introduced, you realize that there isn't much more to them than the display/visual factor.
This one is a well crafted pacman edition one that looks the part and feels well made. There's noce attention to setail and I'm happy to have this along my others in my music room.
It's a bit pricey for what it offers, but it's uniqueness plays a role in this as you won't find anything quite like this out there.
Overall I am happy with this and can recommend if you're a fan of the product line.
Dennis
★★★★★
My daughter loves this SO much!
I don’t know what the appeal is, but it makes my 11yo giggly happy to get and play this Otamatone. She has several, but this is by far the largest. I thought this would be the same as the others, but apparently size has its advantages and this has more feature and sound effects than the smaller versions. Additionally, this one is themed for Pac-Man, which I can appreciate and fortunately so does my daughter. If you’re a parent, it’s gonna be hard to figure out what the appeal is to the kiddos. I stopped questioning. This one is just a fun instrument to have with a fun theme to boot that will keep them happy and entertained for hours.
Grace Ibanez
★★★★★
My kids are obsessed with this synthesizer!
Their favorite Christmas present this year! It is the coolest synthesizer we’ve had. My husband and my son loves music and has an ear for tune so I thought this would be a fun present for the family.
Super easy to use and settings are easy to follow. Quality is good and it also comes with a strap so easy to bring every where. The full charge battery last for 3 days. Id say it will be depended on how often kids use this.
We all lived it and there are soo many fun videos on YouTube that we have been watching to make sounds and songs on this Otamatune. We also used it also during NYE to make noise! Fun design, great quality and definitely worth it!
Amazing gifts for kids!
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Mama B
★★★★★
Son loves it!
Otamatone Deluxe PAC-Man Electronic Musical Instrument for Adults Portable Synthesizer Digital Electric Music from Japan by Maywa Denki - This instrument looks cool and has given hours of fun and enjoyment to my son. It sounds like a synthesizer and doesn’t require you to blow on anything (something I had thought before getting it). You can adjust the volume by opening or closing the mouth. Battery life is great so far, as my son has been playing it nonstop and it’s still going. This is a great gift idea for kids (or adults!) who are interested in music.
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Samuel Rosenberg
★★★★★
Coolest Synth Pac Man!
Okay, so I have a little miniature Otamatone which plays a variety of songs, so I was stoked to get this Otamatone so I can freestyle and jam away.
For those who don't know, basically it's a Synthsizer which you can control the pitch/tone by pressing on its "mouth" and moving your finger up and down the stem of the device. With this particular Otamatone it's quite a bit larger than the "standard". It comes with a neck strap (much appreciated) and it has three different "voices" for a lack of a better term going from a deep bass to a high pitched falsetto.
This is absolutely easy to pick up and play. I love the pac-man motiff as it's fun and whimsical and it fits the theme extremely well. The build quality is superb and it comes in a very fancy package. For anyone who is looking into a deluxe version of the Otamatone, this is absolutely the one to choose. Ive been jamming out to my cat, and she has tolerated my musical freestyling!
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KC
★★★★★
Fun Musical Instrument
This Pac-Man Deluxe edition of an Otamatone is so cool! It's a great way to introduce kids to playing an instrument that keeps them interested, because it makes music, but is also quirky and fun, and not too serious. Everyone gets a good laugh watching the mouth get squeezed, and hearing how it changes the note. The sound quality of this one is amazing. It has a volume control knob, so you can turn it up or down; and an octave switch so you can go from low to mid to high tones.
It's so easy to play, and I think anyone could pick it up and have fun with it. One of my grandkids recently asked me to get him one for his birthday, so I got him one that was rather small, but he loves it. When his cousin saw it, he wanted one too, and I can't wait to give him this one for Christmas. The fact that it is the Pac-Man edition is a total bonus!
This instrument is definitely a deluxe version and even has a stereo jack, AC input jack, and came with three AA batteries. It feels durable enough to handle kids playing with it, and the larger size makes it easier to play. Outstanding product!
Jay HQ
★★★★★
Fun, Weird, and Way Cooler Than Expected
This thing is really cool. I grew up playing some of the Pac-Man adventure games, so the design alone already sold me, but it’s also just a fun little instrument to mess around with. It’s kind of like a weird trumpet, flute, synth hybrid, and you can actually make some cool sounds once you get the hang of it.
It’s not meant to be serious gear, but that’s kind of the point. For the price, it’s a fun, nostalgic piece that looks great and puts a smile on your face.
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Scott P
★★★★★
More like OtamaTON!
Ok, everything about an Otamatone is ridiculous. The shape, the squeezable face, the sound made by radio interference, all of it…and I love them. It’s a toy, sure, but it can make some fun music. And this one can make it really loud across a super wide range of notes.
This is the Deluxe size, which as you can see in the picture is much, much larger than the Standard. On the back is a power switch, the octave switch for low, middle, and high, a full on volume knob, an input for power, and a headphone jack which is great for practice or noodling when nobody else wants to hear it.
This model is Pac-Man. The style is that of the old arcade cabinet, or more correctly the early 80s cartoons. Ot is quite the hit of nostalgia.
To play an Otamatone you need to understand how it works. The sound board on the neck works by being shorted out when you press it. There are no frets, so it is more like a violin where you need to learn where C is and go from there. As a lifelong woodwind player, this has been my biggest challenge. You can also give it a bit of a wha-wha effect by squeezing the cheeks of the face. I kid you not. Get in there like Ricky’s mom in Better Off Dead getting someone to say Christmas. Think of it like a trumpet mute.
Ok, so it’s fun and it CAN play actual music. But as a beginner how do you do that? For regular, I printed out a scale on my label maker and put the notes where a tuning app told me they were. For this beast where the different octaves aren’t the same notes in the same places, I sourced a sticker that goes on the neck. It mounts between the top and bottom screws and shows where the notes are for each tone setting. There are also a number of beginner books out there that use the note letters either alone or in combination with actual music notation to help you learn to play and read music at the same time. Grab one. Yes, playing Mary Had a Little Lambxas a grown adult feels a bit silly, but you gotta start somewhere. And if you’re getting it for a kid, that’s exactly where to start.
What can it do if you’re good? Well, I’m not. But there are tons of videos online of people who are playing songs you’ll recognize on these instruments. There is a particularly good Evanescence one. I’m not even a fan of their music, but it really highlights the versatilitynofntheotamatone.
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Sarah
★★★★★
Amazing toy/instrument, whatever your musical knowledge level is
I grabbed a couple of otamatones for my kids awhile back after I saw a great video of some folks playing a song with a set of them. As a lover of old video games, I HAD to grab this Pac Man one when I saw it. It’s a fun toy/instrument to begin with. You slide your finger up and down to make different noises and you can open the mouth to affect the sound as well. There’s 3 different modes to make the whole thing lower or higher pitch. The smaller ones just have a low or high volume but this one has a dial so you have more control. It also comes with a Pac Man branded strap so you can wear it. It’s fun to play around with but also pretty easy to learn to play actual songs on to. I was able to quickly find a youtube video and learn a favorite song, I was giddy. I love it! I might have to get the kids bigger ones too so they’ll leave my Pac Man alone!
Customer
★★★★★
Fun and Educational
This is a real kick if you love to mess with instruments. It's fun for kids. They can't do anything wrong. The Pac-Man look appeals to kids, too. I know some schools are using them for early music education before school band is offered. It's fully functional and sounds better than most instruments that are inexpensive and plastic. It's light and easy to handle for younger or smaller people. I play several instruments and love to try my hand with Renaissance instruments. This was an opportunity to try a new instrument from Japan. They are actually used in bands.
MJ
★★★★★
Large and extra features compared to other Otamatones
A couple years back I bought the White Lucky Cat Otamatone for my kid. It's small, flimsy, doesn't come with a strap, etc. Then my neighbor whos in a band saw my kid playing it and was interested so I got him the Kirby one. He does work with local schools and the kids all love to see him play it and try. Again, its thin necked and not that durable.
But then there's THIS Otamatone. Its easily DOUBLE the size of a regular Otamatone. Which means its slightly easier to drag your finger along the tone board to get the exact "sound" you want. This one is way more easy to use and fun for kids since its much much larger. It comes with a strap so you dont drop it and break it. This larger one has a slot for a 1A/5V DC plug so you don't have to use 3xAA batteries. I HIGHLY recommend some nice PowerOwls or any rechargeable with a high mAh rating so they last longer while playing. If you leave it on, it uses as much battery as if you're actively playing it so it will just die if you leave it on for a few hours. Seems all Otamatones are like that tho. Also there's a microphone (3.5mm) line out so you can run it to a speaker on this one. Does not come with either cable I stated, just the output ports on the Otamatone.
You dont have to be musically inclined to use this. Anyone can learn how to play Happy Birthday or anything simple because you just slide your finger around higher or lower and can hear the tone. So if you understand how to sing the song and raise and lower the pitch of your voice, this is the same. I play the drums, not guitar, sax, clarinet, etc but within an hour I was playing the Mario theme on this. Not perfect but everyone knew and was smiling and laughing. You (or your kid) might be an Otamatone hero and not even know it. This is one of those unique instruments that gets attention and gives you tons of creative freedom. With an adapter you can filter this through guitar effect pedals or even hook it up to your PC for some unique studio sounds. Whatever your use for this musical device it will not let you down in entertainment and function. Also, almost forgot to mention how cool it looks. It's PacMac! But style is personal preference cause my kid likes her cat one more. They all function the same so I guess just get the character you like best. But hands down this is an amazing Otamatone. I'm glad I got this one kinda for free from Vine.
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Customer
★★★★★
Finally, an instrument my 8-year-old can master faster than I can.
This thing is genuinely fun. I spent a full hour jamming on this, which is more time than I usually spend on new gadgets. I’d argue it works like a real instrument, but definitely at a beginner level, since you are actively controlling the pitch. Think of it like trying to manipulate your voice until you finally hit the note you are aiming for.
My 8-year-old jumped right in to play, too. We’ve been putting on songs and trying to match the Otamatone to the notes we hear. She was getting better after just jamming for about 10 minutes, which shows how intuitive the controls are. The basic settings are simple switches located right on the back of the base.
It features three distinct tone levels. This means if we got a few more, we could actually have band sessions with different sounding instruments. For an electronic toy, this does an excellent job simulating the challenge of pitch control often found in wind instruments. It has an audio out jack and an AC adapter port, which is smart because it runs on 3 AA batteries. The Pac-Man head design is just perfect for this; it totally fits. I just wish they had made it rechargeable instead of relying on the replaceable batteries.
Trevor Goodchild
★★★★★
A fun amusement
So, these are a lot of fun. I bought three, one for myself, one for my niece and daughter, and we have "jams" where we make a cacophony of noise.
This Pac-Man otamatone is very handsome, and I think well-made and sturdy.
They take a bit of getting used to play. The buttons on the stem sound notes in a chromatic fashion, so there's no fingerings to learn like a real woodwind. Of course, it's monophonic as well.
