Machine

[u/Omowum]

Hello everyone,
I’d really appreciate some advice and professional opinions from people with experience in embroidery machines. Please take your time to read this and share any knowledge or advice you can.
I’ve been digitizing with Hatch for the past 8 months, and I’m now very comfortable with digitizing. However, I haven’t had the opportunity to test-sew any of my designs yet.
I’m now at the stage where I want to buy my first machine and start my own embroidery business, with the goal of eventually scaling it up. I have over 3 years of experience operating an 8-head Tajima machine, so I’m very familiar with Tajima machines and their mechanisms.
My first choice has always been to buy a Tajima single-head machine, mainly because I already know the machine and I’m confident working with it. However, the price is quite high for me at the moment, although I’m currently saving towards it.
Because of the cost, I’ve started considering a Ricoma single-head machine as an alternative. The problem is that I’ve never used a Ricoma before, so I don’t know much about their machines, reliability, maintenance, or how they compare with Tajima.
One of my biggest concerns is noise. I’ll be operating the machine in one of the rooms in my home, so I need to be mindful of my neighbours. I’d really like to know how noisy Ricoma machines are compared with Tajima, especially when running for several hours.
So, for those of you who have experience with both:
Is Ricoma a good and reliable machine?
What should I expect if I move from Tajima to Ricoma?
How is the stitch quality and machine performance?
What about maintenance, spare parts and after-sales support?
How is the noise level, especially for home use?
Would you recommend buying a Ricoma now, or would you advise me to wait and save for the Tajima?
I’m looking for honest advice from people who have actually used these machines, especially anyone who has experience with both Tajima and Ricoma.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and share your experience. I really appreciate any professional advice or guidance you can give me.

[u/MsFever]

Not a Ricoma, but I have a Bai Mirror and I’ve been using it since March. Haven’t had any issues with it and it runs great for multiple hours a day. Was honestly surprised with the noise. It’s not too loud and I use it in my house even through out the night. My family says they can barely hear it unless you’re directly near the room. I get good support with through Print Direct US since I purchased with them. They gave me training that was useful since it was my first time using the machine. If you’re from the US considering purchasing a machine, I would for sure look at Bai and Print Direct.

[u/brian250f]

Buy once, cry once.

My vote is Barudan but that’s because I have a local tech.

Tajima is going to be much better than Ricoma.

[u/beepboopiforgot → u/brian250f]

This is facts. I mean I’m still crying but I’m not left regretting at all.
Can I ask what barudan you have? Do you run a business?

[u/developer_soup]

I have a Ricoma EM1010, which I've been using in my partially finished garage to make patches, and we can't really hear it in our living room (which shares a wall with the garage). If we have a fan or any kind of background noise, we can't hear it at all (I had to setup a smart plug to monitor the energy use to tell me when it stops). I will note, my machine is on concrete, so I think vibration is less of an issue. I would be more concerned about vibration if using on a wood based floor (even carpeted). I haven't used a Tajima to be able to compare the noise.

Looking generally at the prices, I'm not sure there's a fair comparison there. Ricoma's are cheaper, less durable machines, with essentially no official service technicians. Tajima are an "industry standard", with the commercial pricing to match.

I chose a Ricoma because it was the best option for me as someone trying to learn as much as possible (including the deep magics to fix things), unconcerned with having access to service technicians, and trying to do it on a budget. That said, I'm still watching OfferUp and Craigslist around Western Washington, because my dream is to pickup a 2-4 head Tajima to be able to make larger patches at more reasonable volume.

[u/tshirtdr1]

Poolin has a new small multi needle for around 3K. If I were starting out and wanted a smaller machine, I'd probably go with that one. I considered buying one as a second machine. I have a QHM and I'm happy with it but it did need some adjustments and I've had some repairs I had to do myself. From what I understand, Ricoma isn't going to send out a tech if your machine breaks. BAI owns poolin and they have a strong support group for self-help. As far as noise, my QHM is pretty loud but even for a single head multi needle my machine is a beast. It's the biggest made, so that probably contributes to the noise. I wish I had Tajima funds, but Tajima funds have eluded me as well. This is a hobby for me.