MUSE S (Gen 1): The Brain Sensing Headband

I'm also an owner of the original Muse Headband. Which I found great for meditating, and getting yourself deeper into the zone. Although it does have its share of issues, like randomly losing signal, and issue I was hoping that this version would eliminate, and that it does. The muse s is comfortable, reliable and excellently packaged, you certainly get a great feel for quality, much higher than the original. It's also compatible with the community c# sdk if you're interested in developing for it.

I would be slightly disappointed with the description of the condition as very good. The head band seems to have received more use than I expected I think a description of moderate maybe good at best would have been more accurate. The muse causes more stress than it could possibly alleviate due to the issues connecting the sensors. It had stressed me out so much that I’m going to return it. I wouldn’t recommend the muse at all.

I so much want to give it five stars, but I can’t. It works exactly as described, and I think it is wonderful. Unfortunately, repeatedly the rear sensors have failed. It’s still under warranty, so the band has now been replaced - twice. On each occasion, following detailed questions about the nature of the failure, I simply had to send evidence that I had destroyed the faulty band, and a replacement was posted to me. I’ve only used the newest band twice in the past month or so due to the anxiety I now feel when waiting for the calibration process to complete. I certainly can’t contemplate using it while sleeping as I feel it’s a bit fragile, which is a pity because that’s one of its core functions. A simply wonderful piece of tech *when it works*.

I really enjoy this product, I used it most days and I do believe it has helped me generally to become more aware of when my thoughts are racing. I would have given it 5*s but the headband is a little bit big for my head. I have it on the smallest setting and it does wobble around a bit sometimes, making it hard to get a connection. However if you aren’t a female with quite a small head then this shouldn’t be a worry!! I still love it!

For the money, this is a really well thougth out product. They got the software right, the hardware right and the combination sweet spot. Most importantly, the hardware is really sensitive, so the software can do its job, and that is to guide you into various states of meditation with auditory cues. This takes the boredom out of meditation, and in addition gives you biofeedback insights into how well you are doing. Add to this a virtually complete "sleep monitoring lab" and ... get one!

Wonderful product. If you’re hesitating about buying this and wonder if it’s worth it , the answer is a resounding YES YES!!! Absolutely brilliant device helps me track my meditations shows me when I’m drifting and when I’m on track. Having data has made my practise a thousand times more consistent. Just started using it for sleep tracking and It’s great although I wish the data was more detailed but that’s a minor point. Go for - it’s expensive but worth the cost.

I’ve always struggled with meditation in the past and tried various books and downloads, streaming etc. I haven’t used all the functions such as sleep tracking but the features I have used have been pretty good. It’s really helped me cope with difficult days, calmed me down and helped make me more productive. Definitely worth considering and there’s a good range of options without upgrading to the extra meditations on the app. Battery life is good and it’s easy to use. Fairly comfortable to wear once the headband is adjusted

I bought Muse S directly from their website and chose the bundle package that comes with a 1-year subscription to the Guided Meditations. PROS 1. When it works the near-instant feedback is great in determining a correlation between what is happening subjectively with your actual brain activity. This is quite a powerful tool if you're interested in such things. 2. It is a cool gadget and does add an interesting dimension to daily meditation practice. Now the initial novelty has worn off I tend to uses it 2 or 3 sessions out of 5. But this could be influenced by connection problems. 3. Because of number 2 it helps with motivation to practice, especially in the beginning. I imagine for someone just started out in meditation it can help allay any fears on whether you're doing it right, etc. CONS 1. Support is incredibly bad. If you ask a question of support (and you will) it will take 4 working days MINIMUM before they get around to replying to you. Often they take much longer, up to 7 days. If your query is in any way urgent, or in need of a timely response, you are on your own. Good luck! 2. For me, the headband disconnects at random around once or twice per session. I have read the articles and watched the videos on how to mitigate this, but it's a rare session where it doesn't disconnect. You have to stop what you are doing and manually tell the app to reconnect - which can be a bit of an ordeal - and then manually resume the session. Needless to say, this interruption isn't conducive to the meditation experience. 3. I bought the bundled package that includes 1-year subscription of the Guided Meditation. When activating your account they insist that you enter your card details so they can automatically renew you, even if you have no intention of continuing with the subscription, or want to make a decision later. You can cancel the subscription immediately after you've signed up BUT they still have your card details. If you are careful with your card security this will present you with a problem. Especially as you won't get any reply from them for 4 days you're going to have to compromise on card security. 4. I've been through all the free sessions and am working my way through the guided sessions. Personally, I find just 1 of the free sessions of any real use, but I imagine that's down to the individual. VERDICT If I'd have known the above ahead of time I would not have purchased it. With it continually disconnecting all the time at renders it unfit for purpose in my opinion. What would make me definitely NOT purchase the Muse S is the failings of the headband compounded by the company behind it with their worrying insistence on having your card details, but more so by their totally inadequate support function. It's not a simple and consistently reliable device like a toaster that just works. Given it is more sophisticated and prone to issues there needs to be extremely prompt and responsive support, either in real-time or a couple of hours. 4 working days at best - meaning if you put a support query last thing on a Monday you will not get a reply until the following Monday, longer if there is a public holiday - is simply not good enough for the money spent on the device. I have 5 friends who were extremely interested in this device and eager to learn my feedback before purchasing. Given the above, I cannot recommend it and have advised them all to give it a miss, at least until Muse provides an adequate support function. It's a shame because it has the potential to be amazing.

I purchased the Muse S a few months ago and since then, have been using it daily. Here's the TLDR: The Muse S is a fantastic device, beautifully designed, and the first sleep headband I've tried that's actually comfortable enough to wear to bed. It has tons of sensors to monitor brain activity, heart rate, breath rate, etc... and it's useful not only for falling asleep, but also for general meditation purposes, as it uses the same software and includes the same sensors as the Muse 2. Interaxon is a solid company that's been around for a while and considered the industry leader in this space, so it's unlikely you'll get stuck with a useless paperweight, as happens so often with products sold on Kickstarter. The downside is the Muse app, in its current form, isn't the greatest. In fact, it's pretty bad. It doesn't support any sleep tracking features, so it's really only useful for falling asleep, not monitoring your sleep. The included daytime meditations are a mixed bag. Some are decent, others not so much. For example, the breath meditation is great, except unlike most other breathing apps, that allow you to set your desired breath rate, this one forces you to breathe at a preset rate, which can be uncomfortable. The good news is, Muse has a new app in beta, that's supposed to be vastly improved and includes all the sleep tracking features, which is the main reason why people would buy this device in the first place. Here's the full review: First, the un-boxing was a really nice experience. It was like un-boxing an Apple product. The packaging was very premium quality and much smaller than I anticipated. The box was literally smaller than the box my Apple watch came in. You can tell they put a lot of effort into making a good first impression The device itself looks and feels super-premium. The power source and CPU pod attach to the center of the headband using a strong magnet that snaps into place with a satisfying click. Likewise, the clasp that holds the band in place also uses a strong magnet, rather than a conventional plastic snap connector. It’s very stylish. You could wear this in public without attracting much attention. It might even make a good conversation starter! Most importantly, it’s super comfortable to wear. It feels like you’re wearing a normal headband I often forget I have it on, and have worn it all day without any problems, no headaches or anything. I'm also able to sleep comfortably while wearing it, which makes it the first sleep headband I've tried that's actually comfortable enough to use for its intended purpose. I had never meditated before and didn’t buy the Muse for that purpose. I bought it for two reasons: 1. I have high blood pressure and there’s a lot of scientific evidence suggesting the technique used in the Muse breathing meditation can lower blood pressure significantly .I previously purchased and subsequently returned a $300 Resperate unit that’s FDA approved to lower blood pressure using a breathing meditation. While the Muse S is not FDA approved for anything, after using both devices, I can say the Muse S breathing meditation is pretty much the same thing as the Resperate’s, plus the Muse S does a lot more than just breathing meditations. Also, the Resperate uses a wired band with a pressure sensor to detect your breathing and wired ear buds; very inconvenient to use. 2. I often have trouble falling asleep and the Muse S is specifically designed as a sleep aid. I previously purchased and returned the $500 Dreem headband, which is a dedicated sleep aid and sleep tracker. Not only did the Dreem look completely ridiculous, but it was extremely uncomfortable to sleep with it on, which pretty much defeated the purpose of all its advanced sensors and technology. So, the theoretical appeal of the Muse S for me, was that it replaced the functionality of two other devices, while offering much additional functionality and being more comfortable and stylish than either of those devices. Over the past several months, I've been following a daily meditation protocol, I implemented to attempt to lower my blood pressure: 1. Breath meditation for 5 minutes. This calms your body down, putting you in a more relaxed state. 2. Heart meditation for 10 minutes. This allows you to slow your heart rate. I’ve been able to get my heart rate down to less than 50 BPM without exercise. 3. Mind meditation for 10 minutes. This calms your brain activity. Following this protocol every morning, I’ve been able to lower my blood pressure from 140/90 to 100/70. The effect is both cumulative and persistent thought the day and will actually last for several days without meditating. I’ve been taking blood pressure medication for many years and while it helped in the beginning, I’ve found that it’s become less effective as I’ve gotten older. I believe this meditation protocol has addressed the root cause of the issue, by reducing anxiety and stress. The sleep features are where the Muse S has much room for improvement. First, the Muse S has no built-in speakers. I knew this when I bought it, but still, it was a bit of a “duh” moment when I was getting ready for bed the first time and realized I’d have to either use my iPhone speaker or my Airpods, neither of which seemed ideal for sleeping. I opted for the Airpods and it was fine when I sleeping on my back, but it prevented me from being able to sleep on my side. I ended up purchasing a Dreampad sleep pillow, which delivers sound via bone induction rather than conventional speakers, so when your head is on the pillow, you’re immersed in the sound. The Dreampad has worked out great and could be used effectively with any audio source. Another big problem is the Muse S currently does NOT support sleep tracking! How can a company release an EEG headband, with a 10-hour battery life, specifically advertised as a sleep device and not include sleep tracking? It seems like the device hardware was engineered specifically for sleep tracking, but the app doesn’t support it. I was so shocked by this that I went back and re-read the Muse website to make sure I wasn’t missing something. Sure enough, there’s no mention of sleep tracking on the website. I just assumed it would support it, since every similar device I’ve looked at and tried, supports sleep tracking. The good news is, Muse currently has a new app in beta, which includes all the sleep tracking features. The “Sleep Journeys” are just meh. There’s maybe a dozen to choose from and they only last for 10 - 20 minutes, which is not enough time for me to fall asleep. Supposedly, they adapt to your brainwaves to play different sounds depending on your mental state, but I didn’t notice this happening. The big problem is, after the Sleep Journey ends, the device shuts off and that’s it! If you haven’t yet fallen asleep, you have to open the app and manually start another Sleep Journey. From such a hi-tech device, I’d expect that it would continue playing the Journey at least until it detects that you’ve fallen asleep. The Soundscapes use a timer, so you can play them for up to four hours. This is better than a 20-minute Sleep Journey, but still seems arbitrary. What if you want the sound to play all night, to prevent you from waking up in the middle of the night? What if you want it to play until you fall asleep? What if you want it to play until it’s time to wake up, then use a smart alarm to wake you when you’re not in a REM state? The whole point of an EEG headband is to be able to detect what’s going on in your brain and adapt accordingly. In its present form, the sleep features are actually worse than those offered by numerous iOS apps. It’s also disappointing that the standard Muse app doesn’t support viewing and streaming raw EEG data. For that, you have to buy the Muse Direct app, which presently doesn’t support the Muse S. I ended up buying the Mind Monitor third-party app, which works great, but the UI is not very polished, so it feels like a hobbyist app, not in keeping with the premium feel of the Muse device. For $350, I think Muse should make Muse Direct a free download and add support for the Muse S. Despite all these criticisms, I'm giving the Muse S a 5-star review, because it has helped me lower my stress level and my blood pressure dramatically, which obviously, you can't put a price on. Moreover, once the new sleep tracking features become available, the Muse S should become one of the best sleep tracking devices on the market, which I view as an added bonus.

Voilà, un produit plutôt sympathique pour apprendre à méditer, il y a des sessions en français et les autres en anglais. La détection fonctionne bien mais il n’y a pas moment des erreurs, mais avec le support, les erreurs vont être corrigés par le research team. L'analyse de la nuit est encore dans ses balbutiements donc c'est toujours en cours d'amélioration et j'espère que le produit arrivera à la même analyse de la nuit que Dreem. Le support sur le front est super et le Muse S est léger. J'adore le système de méditation avec les oiseaux qui permet de nous dire lorsque l'on arrive à calmer notre esprit. Un super produit et si on a des soucis, il y a un support en face d'Amazon et de Muse.

Llegó a tiempo y en buen estado. A mi esposa le sirve para medir sus ondas cerebrales mientras duerme y a mi hijo le ha permitido dormirse más rápido. Mide sólo las 3 primeras horas de sueño, no toda la noche, pero con eso se puede observar que te deja y que no te deja dormir. En las meditaciones se dan cuenta si las están haciendo concetrados o no.

Die Installation der App und das Verbinden des Stirnbandes mit dem iPhone funktionierten problemlos. Das Stirnband selbst empfinde ich als sehr weich und angenehm zu tragen. Es wirkt auch sehr hochwertig verarbeitet und technisch ausgereift, so daß ich es _wesentlich_ lieber verwende als den HeartMath Inner Balance Bluetooth Sensor, den ich vor einiger Zeit kaufte und dann nie benutzte (falls jemand damit liebäugeln sollte). Vor dem Anlegen reibe ich mit einem feuchten Handtuchzipfel kurz über die Haut der Kontaktbereiche auf der Stirn und hinter den Ohren, und die Aufzeichnung durch die Sensoren hat bislang immer tadellos geklappt. Ich kann insgesamt nur eine teilweise Bewertung abgeben, weil ich bislang nur die Gedankenmeditation verwendet habe, bei der man sich auf die Atmung konzentriert und die ich eben gerne üben möchte, alles andere ist zumindest derzeit nicht für mich von Interesse. Es gäbe auch geführte Meditationen (meines Wissens bislang nur auf Englisch), die ich persönlich nicht verwende, weil ich unabhängig von äußeren Stimmen sein möchte, und außerdem sog. Herzmeditation (bezogen auf den Herzschlag), Atemmeditation und Körpermeditation sowie einen einfachen Timer, für den man das Stirnband nicht benötigt. Außerdem kann man auch aus verschiedenen Geräuschkulissen wie Regenwald, Wüste, Lagerfeuer oder Meditationsmusik wählen. Bei der von mir verwendeten Gedankenmeditation (und sicher auch bei den anderen Formen) gibt es ein paar einführende Sitzungen mit Anleitungen, die man, wenn gewünscht, auch später wieder verwenden kann. Die Anleitungen sind mit einer wirklich sehr angenehmen Stimme eingesprochen, die keinen Widerstand erzeugt. Ich selber meditiere aber nun ohne Anleitung nur mit Soundkulisse. Super finde ich dabei, daß man die Lautstärken der verschiedeen Klangkomponenten (das Feedback, d.h. das lauter oder leiser werdende Wetter, die Belohnungs-Vögel und ein allgemeines Hintergrundgeräusch) separat in der Lautstärke einstellen kann von lautlos bis laut. Man könnte also auch komplett ohne Ton meditieren. Das Vogelgezwitscher finde ich zwar süß, aber es lenkt mich doch ab, sei es, daß ich mich über einen Vogel freue, sei es, daß ich mich frage, wann denn nun wohl endlich mal wieder einer kommt. Deshalb habe ich die Lautstärke für die Vögel auf Null gestellt, und sofort war der %-Wert für "ruhig" besser. Man bekommt hinterher trotzdem angezeigt, wieviele Vögel da waren. Das Feedback (bei mir: Regen) empfinde ich hingegen als hilfreich. In der App wird dann grafisch dargestellt, an welchen Tagen man meditiert hat und wie viel Zeit prozentual man dabei innerlich "ruhig" war. Die Meditation kann automatisch in die Minuten der Achtsamkeit von Apple Health übertragen werden. Ich wollte schon früher einmal mit Meditation anfangen, aber habe damals es nicht geschafft, dranzubleiben. Dabei hilft das Muse Band mir persönlich nun sehr, weil eben zeitlich dokumentiert wird, wie lange ich pro Tag meditiere und wie mein Ruhezustand war, wodurch nicht alles so beliebig ist. Früher dachte ich dann immer "ach später", "klappt sowieso nicht" etc. pp., jetzt weiß ich, daß ich abends zu müde sein werde, also morgens etwas früher aufstehen muß, um meine Meditation zu schaffen. Nach der ersten Tasse Tee setze ich dann das Stirnband auf, was der Meditation, so unvollkommen sie auch sein mag, einen gewissen Anstrich von Wichtigkeit und Würde verleiht (ja, isso!), der es mir erleichtert, das auch durchzuziehen. Auch fühle ich micht nicht so alleine gelassen bei meinem Vorhaben, weil ich am Anfang die nette Stimme höre, die mir sagt, daß jetzt das Stirnband kalibriert wird, und weil die Regenwaldgeräusche da sind, die ich verwende. Ich vermute, daß das Band später an Bedeutung verliert, wenn sich eine gewisse Meditationsroutine etabliert hat und das Meditieren auch zu einem inneren Bedürfnis geworden ist, aber momentan hilft es mir sehr, am Ball zu bleiben. Ich vermute außerdem, daß das Band eher für Entspannungsmeditationen geeignet ist, die mit Ruhe einhergehen. Bei so etwas wie Metta Meditation (Liebende Güte), bei der man z.B. einübt, gegenüber mißliebigen Personen gute Gefühle zu haben, kommt es sicherlich auch zu Anspannungen, die dann ja eigentlich unerfreulicherweise niedrigere Ruhewerte ergeben und Vögel fernhalten müßten, aber das habe ich noch nicht ausprobiert. Oder man nimmt dafür den Timer ohne Stirnbandmessung. Anm. für Donald Duck-Leser: Vielleicht kann man aber auch den Fortschritt beim Gleichmut gegenüber Nachbar Zorngiebel an der Zunahme der prozentualen Ruhe ablesen :-)

This is a follow up to my initial review. Muse customer care (Nita) was exceptionally helpful and understanding. She helped me thru step by step to debug the faulty product. Muse was exceptionally supportive in providing me a replacement with no extra cost. Kudos to Muse! In this age you seldom come across a customer centric company. Thank you Muse