Since its launch in September, Creality’s Sonic Pad, a smart touchscreen that fully integrates Klipper firmware, has impressed the market with significant improvement in print speed without sacrificing on quality. The Sonic Pad is now available as a standalone product and can be purchased from the Creality website or from authorized resellers.
For those who haven’t got a chance to order one due to limited stock or are hesitant about buying one for your printer, this article will walk you through what 3D printing lovers and reviewers think of this gadget.
Why Use the Sonic Pad?
The main thing to use Creality’s Sonic Pad for is to use Klipper firmware. Klipper is a 3D printer firmware that uses an additional device to perform the computationally intensive tasks associated with 3D printing. This gives you access to additional features that are not otherwise possible with typical 3D printer controllers.
One of the unique features of Klipper is input shaping (resonance compensation) which cancels out ringing issues by using an accelerometer attached to the print head. By attaching the included accelerometer to the print head, you can experience premium print quality higher print speed than otherwise possible.
Setting up and configuring Klipper to function with a 3D printer is a typically cumbersome affair. Not only do users have to tinker with additional hardware and software, like a Raspberry Pi, but they also need a certain level of expertise to get things working properly. The process is made much easier with the Creality Sonic Pad as it greatly reduces the complexity of the operation.
What’s in the Box?
The Creality Sonic Pad comes in a flashy box. Along the pad itself, there is a 12V 3A power plug with four adapters, a USB cable with two adapters for mini-USB and Type-C connections, an accelerometer (G-sensor) with a matching cable, an operating instructions brochure, screws, a USB flash drive (inside there are digital operation instructions, Creality Print for Windows and macOS, and STL files for the accelerometer mounting screw).
How Easy Is It to Use?
For users of the Ender-3 V2, Ender-3 S1 and Ender-3 S1 Pro, the Sonic Pad can connect to them within a few taps as it is pre-configured already. For other Creality printers and non-Creality ones, a detailed manual is offered for easy setup.
If you want your printer to be back to the original firmware after flashing it with the Sonic Pad, you only need to insert the relevant file to the firmware folder on the SD card, and insert the card into the printer with it turned off. Then unplug the USB cable to the Sonic Pad, and turn the printer back on. Now you will have your printer with the previous firmware.
Early Reviews
Several professional reviewers in the 3D printing community have given it a positive review in the past few weeks. The print test results are impressive too.
According to YouTube influencer The Technology Man, for PLA on the Ender-3 S1 Pro, the fast profile bumps the speed up to 160mm/s, around three times the speed of a typical print on the Ender-3 S1 Pro. When using Creality Print to print a calibration cube with the Sonic Pad, it only took 17 minutes, 15 minutes faster than printing with the stock firmware without compensating for the print quality.
Future Updates
After listening to the feedback from users, Creality will continue optimizing the Sonic Pad’s performance on a wider range of 3D printers. The team is improving the username input interface and the input shaping feature on X and Y axis and the update is expected to release in late October. The feature of connecting to multiple printers is also being developed and will launch soon.
The Sonic Pad will be restocked in the Creality Official Store (both EU&US) by October 12. At the price of $159, it will unleash your printer’s potential and bring you more possibilities in 3D printing!
Get your Sonic Pad today from Creality’s US store or EU store!
