FELIX BPM COUNTER

Tempo and decibel levels, on demand.

The Felix BPM Counter reads the room and tells you the truth about it. Tempo in beats per minute. Volume in decibels. Both live, both continuous, both rendered in the warm orange glow of real nixie tubes.

No app. No pairing. No screen to wake up. You plug it in and it starts reading.

Why nixie

Nixie tubes stopped being manufactured at scale decades ago, which makes them an absurd choice for a modern instrument and exactly the right one. A seven-segment LED tells you a number. A nixie tube presents it — each digit a separate shaped cathode lit in neon, sitting at a slightly different depth in the glass. Numbers acquire a physical presence they don't have anywhere else.

Driving them takes about 170 volts, generated inside the enclosure from a 12-volt supply. That is most of the engineering, and all of the reason this isn't a cheap object.

Built by hand, in small numbers

Every unit is assembled by hand in Massachusetts. Production runs are limited and numbered — not as a marketing device, but because hand-assembling nixie hardware doesn't scale and we'd rather build a small number properly. Each unit carries its number engraved on the back. Allow 4–6 weeks from order to shipment.

Specifications

• Live BPM (tempo) and dBA (sound pressure level) readout
• Nixie tube display, internally driven at high voltage
• Power: 12V DC, 1A — UL Listed adapter included
• No wireless radio of any kind. No Bluetooth, no Wi-Fi, no cloud, nothing listening
• Hand-assembled in Massachusetts
• No user-serviceable parts inside

Free shipping within the United States. 30-day returns, and we pay the return shipping.