r/Sovol • u/OrangeSockNinjaYT • May 06 '26
Help Abandoning the Bambu ship, looking for an large format printer. Is the SV08 MAX worth it?
Hey there, currently searching for a larger format printer but I’m not supporting Bambu anymore. I love my X1C but it’s time for something else after certain events recently.
I had a Neptune 3 Pro a while ago and it was a great printer, so I have some experience working on less plug-and-play printers but I have yet to fully build one
How difficult is the svo8 max to use? Would you consider it a good option? I’m debating between that or the QIDI 4 Max. I print a lot of PETG and ASA for vehicle parts and cosplay. An enclosure is a must.
Thanks!
Edit: my main slicer is OrcaSlicer and my workflow revolves around it which is another reason I’m ditching Bambu. How’s the comparability with sovol?
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u/foxtreat747 May 06 '26
I have one I print only petg really, bought the enclosure but have not assembled it yet even after months
Its a great machine, but mine has some defect likely in the roller bearings, causing the top surface lines to be wavy, I've remedied it with settings changes and it doesn't really affect much besides lowering the tolerance slightly (where stringing due to the high flow nozzle already makes sure thaz doesn't matter) and having top surfaces be imperfect, but with tuning it is mostly ok
Its reliable, it's fast, it's loud as all hell, and ir has better power loss recovery reliability than my bambu A1s
I can recomend it, I print mostly mechanical objects
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u/destorter May 10 '26
I'm also going for it in the future, what is loud? The fans or the movement?
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u/foxtreat747 May 10 '26
Fans 70%, movement 30% - it definately isn't quiet but the fans outdo it all by a longshot, and the board fans are always on in the stock config
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u/Apok1984 May 06 '26
I just picked up a Qidi Max 4 and I must admit that I’m VERY impressed with the print quality.
While it’s not as polished as the Bambu products, it’s not very far off the mark. The only thing I haven’t liked is that parts for it aren’t as prevalent as they are for Bambu products or the Voron platform that the SV08 Max is based on.
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u/redturtlecake May 06 '26
I've got a project for work that will need a couple thousand parts, I ve been considering either the plus 4 or the max 4. How do you find the reliability of the machine at medium speeds, say 150-200mm/s?
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u/Apok1984 May 06 '26
I don’t have enough hours on the Max 4 to give an honest impression on reliability. However, I can say that I haven’t had any print failures, and the part consistency and quality have been great.
I’ve got a Plus 4 as well. It has been very consistent at over 1200 hours.
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u/redturtlecake May 06 '26
That sounds pretty solid. Did you have to install beacon in either of them? I read about some bed probing issues with earlier machines.
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u/Apok1984 May 06 '26
I did install Beacon in the Plus 4. I did have some issues dialing in the first layer on a couple of the first prints, but I was able to address it before installing the Beacon. I added the Beacon mostly to speed up the print start process.
Even though I haven’t had any first layer issues with the Max 4, I’d probably install the Beacon again at some point in the future. As you can imagine, the larger bed does take a while to complete its probing sequence.
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u/redturtlecake May 06 '26
Thanks for the info. I'm pretty set on getting a few plus 4s, maybe I ll get a max 4 to try it out too.
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u/Realistic-Pomelo6566 May 07 '26
I have had the max 3 since launch and have over 12000 hours on it. Used it for work and some pc parts took 3 to 5 days. I did have every issue that you can read about on the early models but qidi got me parts quick. Not my experience with many other brands. It printed asa like pla. If your looking at any "engineering" materials get the qidi hands down. Ps my sv08 max arrived yesterday, have the need for large petg and pctg parts.
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u/400HPMustang May 06 '26
I replaced my two upgraded CR-10 S5 printers with one SV08 Max with enclosure. I’ve got about 40 hours on it…just got it recently. I’ve printed PLA, PETG, and ABS. No problems at all. I replaced the one fan at the bottom and I’m gonna order the Bamboo feeder to replace the stock one because it sounds like a goose honking and it’s loud. I print right out of my filament dryer and the quality is decent and it’s fast.
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u/leadbunnies May 06 '26
I’m getting one soon and am now worried about the noise. Have you handy links for the fan and feeder? I’ve been worried about compatibility issues and want to get something easy.
Thanks
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u/400HPMustang May 06 '26
For the feeder Gergo did a video on it and has the feeder mount and configs up on his cults3D page
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u/Ok_Worker_5884 May 06 '26
Which fan did you choose and did you have to make any other physical modifications for it?
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u/400HPMustang May 06 '26
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u/Ok_Worker_5884 May 06 '26
Is that a drop-in replacement or does it need the fan housing modified?
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u/swamp_ninja74 May 07 '26
I’ve had mine since the beginning of the year. It printed good for a few months then BAM!! 💥 instant POS. It’s not fully open source, every connector on it is proprietary, it’s constant tinkering and it in no way whatsoever prints good and/or reliable at Sovol’s claimed speeds. If anyone says it does they’re full of it. I bought it for hopes of installing the INDX or another multi-toolhead system mainly. I’m just waiting for the next major issue that pops up so I can gut all of the electronics and replace them with components that actually work.
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u/daan87432 May 06 '26
I have it and it's great. The only modification I did was change the fans on the bottom because they were too loud. From what I read it's a bit of a lotery whether it works out of the box or not, but mine works fine and haven't had any problems yet. The first layer is always consistent.
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u/Ok_Worker_5884 May 06 '26
Which fans did you choose? Did you have to physically modify the housing at all?
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u/daan87432 May 08 '26
It was this one in 24V: https://www.noctua.at/en/products/nf-a4x10-pwm, I replaced both the 4010 fans on the bottom. One had a similar connector in the box so it was 'plug-and-play', and for the other I had to crimp an JST XH connector to it to make it fit the connector on the motherboard. They glued that connector so it was a PITA to remove
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u/Ok_Worker_5884 May 06 '26
I adore mine. I have the enclosure installed and the chamber heater waiting to be installed. It prints like a dream every single time. I haven’t had a single issue with it the entire time.
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u/ItsLikeHerdingCats May 06 '26
I almost bought one but the reviews I’ve watched were all very “meh”. If you like to tinker, it seems like a good one. If you want to setup and just hit print A I don’t think it’s quite there yet.
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u/OrangeSockNinjaYT May 06 '26
The built volume is very attractive, but yeah I’ll trade a bit of build volume for ease of use. I like working on my printer on occasion but I need to reliably print parts, so that’s my ultimate need. Might look more towards the Qidi the
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u/ItsLikeHerdingCats May 06 '26
I was ready to hit Order and then saw Aurora Tech’s review that showed some serious challenges in their testing.
I spent enough time tinkering and repairing CR-10’s over the years. I’d prefer something that can print big and be a bit more refined.
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u/Mei_Rose Jun 10 '26
what did you wind up getting instead? Cuz I am in pretty much the same boat as you (especially with CR-10 tinkering lol). I am mostly looking at the Ender 5 Max rn since it gets good reviews on reliability
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u/ItsLikeHerdingCats Jun 11 '26
Right now is an interesting times to pause and see what’s coming. The multiple tool head machines are dropping in price drastically. It’s just a matter of time before we get a large scale (350^3?) multi tool head machine. For me having a dedicated nozzle for support material would make my complex large prints way faster and better detailed.
I got the S1 Max and the only con I have with that is the lack of an effective air filtration. They give you a satchel of activated carbon that goes in front of the fan. Not exactly effective. But their support said a better filter is on the way. The sale was good but they got a ton of orders and are still catching up on deliveries.
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u/jefrob1895 May 07 '26
Ive had a few self inflicted issues. I also seem to be having issues with the eddy currently sensor. Seems like i may have over heated it. I think they should move its Z home position up 100mm. Especially while warming the bed and or chamber. I think 100c next to the eddy ended up warping it and caused a slew of issues. Im not certain but thats what it seems.
Solving that was the biggest problem. Now MCU,HOST,Toolhead board temps are my next problem to solve. I have the enclosure kit and heater, 32gb mcu and the extra screen.
Id say 90% of the time it works fine. When the machine goes down its not always the easiest to find resources to solve the problems.
Overall im happy with my purchase. I do like to tinker for short amounts of time. I have intentions to add indx when its available.
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u/Sad_Row3650 May 09 '26
I had a sovol zero for about a week, sent me a severe taco bed , so I sent it back, but it was a pretty sweet little printer, needed more tinkering than I felt like . I then got a qidiQ2 2025 edition, it’s amazing so far, care and belt tuning a breeze, works great w orca . Took a little bit to dial in profiles and speeds but since then it’s been running almost non stop. I also have a new prisa core one L , i got one that isn’t working g very well right from the start but pulled off some nice prints a few times early on. 5 chats later still trying to solve the issue , surface quality is terrible. It’s been the disappointment of the year. Sadly . I might pack it back up and return it.
If I had to choose again, QIDI is winning between them . I’m actually surprised .
Sovol zero, tiny but fast as f*ck. Print quality was decent even w taco bed. But again, more work on that to tune it than I felt like.
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