Thomann Nataraj Surpeti Shruti Box Mal

First of all i have to say I don't use the Shruti Box for Indian music. I use it for accompanying "a cappella" traditional air-like European songs.

Beautiful sound for the low notes (C-F?). After a bit of practising with pumping it is able to give a nice continuous drone.

The higher the notes you use, the more they start lacking body and sound more shrill. You probably won't use the higher notes for solo performances. I haven't been able to compare this tone to more expensive Shruti boxes. Maybe this it inherent to the way these traditional instruments are designed and built.

Tuning seems OK to me (though I haven't measured it). It is possible to open more than one note at the same time (to add a 5th or a 3rd...).

The first Shruti Box that was shipped had one note that did not work. It was replaced immediately by Thomann.

Conclusion: as most of the songs I practise need drones around the low D it suits my needs very well and I am happy with it!

I like folk and traditional instruments (I have bought many from Thomann!) I've bought this Indian Shruti box to use it as a sound effect when playing music live, for vocal training and for meditation purposes! You can use it to play single notes or chords (13 chromatic keys from c to c')
The sound production (air) reminds a very simple accordion!
Let's see some pros & cons!
Pros:
*Nice note sustain (useful for drone-pads!)
*It comes with a metal handle (better than the plastic one that was used on previous model!)
* Comes with a bag!

Cons:
*It's not so responsive always! Sometimes, some keys, don't have fast response and you have to wait some seconds to hear the sound (that's why I put 4/5 stars!)
* A footswitch option (pumping air) could be useful, so you can play the Shruti Box, alone, along with guitar or another instrument!

All in all, a nice Indian traditional instrument from Thomann!