Boss MICRO BR BR-80

[random works]

Anyone using the Boss MICRO BR BR-80 ? It looks well thought out and versatile, but they all look good when company folks make youtubes for products.

[Doug Young]

I reviewed it for AG. I thought it was a fun and impressive little recorder. Only 16 bits, if I recall, and when in multi-track mode, it records to a more compressed format, but it was very easy to use for basic recording, and has tons of features packed into something that fits in your case compartment.

[random works]

Thanks Doug, good to get a report from guitar and recording savvy guy. I found a good price and am lining this up for my next purchase.

One thing that attracted me was the nice sized, backlit screen, My Zoom H-2 screen is a challenge to read, even with my glasses.

[Davis Webb]

I had one and thought it was a pain in the butt. You spend alot of time navigating menus and things dont work intuitively. I went for the tascam portastudio and am much happier. Unless you need the onboard drum machine in the BR, I would take a long look at the Tascam DP008 first. Much much easier to use, less interuption of work flow to navigate. I was happy to be rid of it.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by Davis Webb

I had one and thought it was a pain in the butt. You spend alot of time navigating menus and things dont work intuitively.

That kind of goes hand-in-hand with many of these little recorders *if* you really try to use all the extra features. Basic recording (2 channel) was no harder than a Zoom, if I recall. Press record, and play. Multi-track required switching to multi-track mode, selecting a track button, then hitting record. Also easy. Using all the effects, modeling, etc, yeah, a maze of little menus. But as an acoustic guitar player, I never needed any of that stuff. There are tons of these things out there, tho, so you want to match features to your needs.

[Davis Webb]

You do make a good point Doug, there is alot packed into that box. Have you tried the Tascam DP008? Its very easy to use.

[Doug Young]

No, I generally record to a computer, or use a Zoom H4n for portable situations. I just have no use for portable multi-tracking these days, and would never try to "master" a recording on one of these little menu-driven systems. Not sure why various manufacturers even include this stuff, it just clutters everything up and makes it all seem complicated. But they have to have nice long feature lists, I guess. There are tons of these things, and more coming out all the time (we'll probaby see more at NAMM this month), so everyone can pick what works best for them.

Of course, I'd expect many of these gadgets to sort of fade away eventually in the face of garageband (or similar) on a phone or tablet.