Boss Micro BR

Plenty of features from recorder to MP3 player. Looping, effects, etc. Even use it as a portable amplifier. Fairly easy to use although best to read the manual to familiarize yourself with the buttons and what they do. First try I got good sound from this unit. The manual covers all everything one needs to know.

Excellent for such a small portable unit.

Seems to be built well. All buttons are smooth and precision. Only time will tell.

na

I am very pleased and impressed with this unit. I considered the Zoom H4 and some MP3 players, but I was after a small recorder unit. This unit is feature-function rich. IMO it doesn't look toyish like the Zoom. It's look sharp and feels solid in hand. I like the fact that it uses a removable SD memory card unlike the Zoom unit. I've since installed a 1 gig card for increase song capacity. I find the battery life is very good. This unit suits all my needs perfectly as a portable, practice unit, for play along with songs or rythyms, and for recording snipes of song ideas. It's conveniently small enough to carry with you. I hhave have a gripe with the unit, it is that this unit only supports MP3 and WAV formatted files so you'll need a converter utility to convert non-MP3 or non-WAV files to one of these two formats in order load the songs into the unit. You will also need a USB cable with a mini type B plug on one end. Using the USB interface is a breeze as this unit is plug and play. The unit/card is immediately recognized when connected to a PC.

It may take a while to get used to, but once you do its really not too bad. Ive read some complaints that it was complicated but that was only the first hour or two.

For this price and size, i think Boss did a pretty good job. The sound seems somewhat digital and it lacks a bit of warmth, but hey its not an amp. For on the run recording its very useful especially since it can run off 2 double A batteries. The built in mic was surprisingly good. I read on other review about the sound being thin on single coil pickups such as strats, but i have yet to test that. I tried with duncan passives and EMG 81s and the sound seems pretty good, except a bit too sensitive.
The built in effects are good, other than the reverb.

Seems to be working fine so far. Great for practice at home if you have annoying neighbors.

Never dealt with

Overall, for this price its a good buy. Give it a try before you buy though.

it's easy to a degree but not to go all out on

i suppose the micro BR doesnt quite have studio quality sounds but alont, it sounds pretty good and plugged into a computer, a little better

it always works so its dependable

i am having a little trouble transfering and listening to the songs on my mac powerbook i dont think i have any software installed? so i cant listen to it on my computer...but the portability is great i bring it in my car everyday

Yes, I read all the reviews below, but I thought I was cleverer. Just create a "song" with all your default settings and use that each time. Nope. No way to save under a new name. You have to start each new song from scratch and switch off all the default effects (some are recorded to the track - some are in the monitor/phones only. Fun to figure out.)

I also thought it would be great as a notepad for capturing ideas, but by the time you're set, your idea is gone.

And you cannot just select a 4/4 drumbeat (or even just a metronome) and jam to it because next time, the drums and guitar are out-of-sync (unless you stick to the standard tempo). The only way to get it to remember the tempo is to create a complete drum track(!?!). Yes, really. Major inspiration killer.

Sound quality is good but built-in mic picks up switch noises, and if you have not turned off the reverbs first, you start each take with a reverb pulse triggered by the record switch click.

It's back in the box and I'm going to give it away, so I probably will never find out.

What Roland/Boss did here is create a cut down version of their bigger desktop recorders. Consequently, the complexity is still there without the feature set to justify it. It's small but not really portable because you have to take the manual along. It's not really good for capturing spontaneous inspiration because its too complicated to get set. It's not really an MP3 player either because it only runs 3 hours on batteries so you need a power supply.

Boss unwittingly created a new market by introducing this device: a simple portable pocket multitracker. Unfortunately, the Micro BR is not one. Boss must now think again about what this market segment really requires and come out with a Micro BR-2 that addresses it properly. THEN we will have a killer device!

C'mon Boss/Roland, I know you guys can do it!

It's not intuitive as everyone has said, but w/ the manual it's not really that bad. I've certainly seen worse. For the features and the size.. well, it's more intuitive than my Roland VG-8 or VG-88!

As for editing patches, it's very limited. See more information in the sound category

This all refers to the guitar/amp/effects sound, NOT the overall recording quality.

This is where it really loses it for me. It pretty much sounds like a Rockman circa 1984. It's been over 20 years since then. Given the sound quality of the Line6 products (like say the new pocket pod), this is awful. Everyone else that gives it high ratings must be referring to the recording quality or something. Overall I like this unit, but I may return it simply because the sound is SO awful. If you wanna play some Boston, or something off of Surfing With The Alien, then you've come to the right place. It's got Rockman sounds for days. Otherwise, look elsewhere. My old Korg Pandora PX3, which I believe is well over 5 years old, and sounds sterile and processed, sounds better and more natural than this, and there are more effects and they are more editable.

The quality of the effects is medicore. Chorus sounds like Tom Scholz, as stated above. I kept listening to my patches wondering where this reverb was coming from (the unit has no reverb effect that I have found), and realized that it is coming from the feedback parameter of my delay effect. IOW, instead of feeding back the delay into the delay and producing distinct delays (esp. when playing staccato), the delay feedsback in and it gets all smeared rather than distinct and ends up sounding like a really crappy reverb instead!

I am seriously considering returning the unit because of the sound.

When you slow down mp3s, you can hear the digital noise that gets created pretty distinctly. It's not as bad as devices and software used to sound just a few years back, but it's not great. Transcribe! and Amazing Slow Downer on my Mac sound WAY WAY WAY better than this (haven't tried them on the PC yet).

The following is important to know for some, and not mentioned ANYWHERE in the manual:

It won't decode all mp3 types. I haven't delved deeply into this, but I grabbed a bunch of MP3s and copied them to a smart card and popped it in. Several of them got unsupported format errors (they play find on my iPod and on other computers). I can only assume that it doesn't like certain mp3 codecs (I had a Sony mp3 boombox that liked frauenhofer and blaze mp3 encoded files but crapped out on LAME mp3 encoded files - may be a similar situation here).

MP3s, if they do not follow the 8.3 naming scheme, will be renamed to follow that scheme (they won't actually be renamed, but they will be displayed like that). IOW, FooFighters_song1.mp3 and FooFighters_song37.mp3 will be displayed as FooFig*1.mp3 and FooFig*2.mp3, etc.

When you put in a card and initialize it, you will see that it creates a Roland folder and an mp3 folder. You must put all mp3 files in the mp3 folder, and NOT in subfolders, or the device won't see them, whihc kinda sucks and reminds me of the $10 mp3 CD players that you can get at wallmart. Even the cheapest of mp3 players these days will understand some sort of a directory structure.

Like I said, it sounds like an old Rockman. I think that the difference between say "SmoothLead" and "MetalLead" are simply the COSM amp models, and it sounds to me like the different amp models are basically all the same amp model with different EQ profiles selected. Pretty sad...

It's Boss. It'll probably outlast most of us. :-)

Haven't had to deal with them for this item.

My style of music ranges from blues (Freddie King to Jimi Hendrix) to fusion (Mahavishnu to modern stuff like Brett Garsed, Richie Kotzen, etc.) with some metal edge thrown in (Megadeth, Pitchshifter, etc.) for good measure. Been playing for 20 years+.

If it were lost or stolen I'd look for something else. Right now I'm thinking of returning it and getting something like the StaelthPlug, but I really wanted something that I could use away from the PC. :-(

I really feel lik in this day and age, this thing shouldn't sound like a Rockman! I have other Roland COSM stuff (VG-8, VG-88) and they sound WAY better (as expected), but this thing should still be at LEAST on par with a 5+ year old, old technology Pandora PX3.

Maybe I'm being overly harsh, but come on. It's 2007. This thing should at least sound like, say, oh, 1995!

Love it. This is the coolest toy I've bought in a while. I also own a Roland VS2000 so I was already very familiar with the menu style of Roland, so I did not find it difficult to use. I recorded a few minutes of a guitar track and then spent about 4 hours going through the manual as if it was a tutorial and tried the different recording, editing, copying, looping, bouncing functions and I found it very easy to use. It was easy to follow along the instructions and figure out all the main functions. Moving files back and forth between the unit and my computer is a breeze. Excellent for backing up recordings.
Some things I don't like. When I save a song, it doesn't remember what tempo I set the metronome to. Very frustrating if I didn't write it down ahead of time. I have not figured out how to dynamically control the input level during a live recording. You should plan to buy an SD card with it. I think it's pretty lame that it comes with a 128 MB card with a 1 gig is not that expensive. I would have paid the extra money up front to save a seperate trip to the store.

I think the sound quality is great for how I use it. I am not planning on releasing a CD from it, so to use it as a portable song writing, lick learning tool is great. The internal effects are fairly basic and I think they are there mostly to be used when you are just trying to get ideas out without having to plug in a bunch of external units for the "perfect" sound. For the price, I think it is excellent.

I have not had any issues with the unit so far but I have only owned about a month now. I do like the fact that if the power goes out from the AC adaptor that the batteries will take over until the power comes back up.

NA

Again, I think the Micro BR is an excellent song writing, lick learning tool. It is better than I expected.

You'll hear a lot of people whine about various features of this product. Try it for yourself before you rush to judgement. I toyed around with my Micro-BR for about an hour after skimming the basics in the manual and it's actually very easy to use. With some patience, on a creative day you'll be laying down cool sounding tracks in a few hours. Once you've mastered the basics of using effects and laying down individual tracks, it pays to study the manual more in-depth. Granted the manual is not 100% perfect, but it will generally point you in the right direction. I like to just mess around and record 4 track songs in one take to sketch out ideas. Some suck, so I erase them, others have usable parts or provide me with inspiration to go a different route. The Micro is a great sketch pad type tool. I don't think anybody expects to rock totally pro sounding songs on it for under $350 (USD). You can however create some really cool layers with it and the built in mic is pretty neat too. It does a surprising number of things considering the sparse button count, that's what may confuce some users is having to hold certain buttons and tap others to scroll through features. In the long run though it's just like learning a new cel phone. It'll all become second nature in time.

This device is fantastic for quiet settings. Throw on some studio quality headphones and you can record till dawn without waking the neighbors. The vocal effects can be slightly over the top but they can be adjusted to sound cool and be of use. The guitar/bass effects patches are pretty nice too. If you're turned off totally by built in effects, plug in your favorite stompboxes or play around with Line 6's modeling pedals like I did, lots of fun. With patience and practice you can lay down tracks easier and with overall better quality than a traditional tape machine. I bought a Yamaha 4 track about 10 years ago and it's in mint condition because I never used it. For some reason the Micro is much easier to use and mor inviting to play with than an old machine with 4 dozen sliders and knobs.

I trust Boss stuff. Just in case though, I bought the guitar center extended warranty AND a second Micro-BR because I love it so much. It's lightweight but seems pretty rugged for a plastic device.

No experience, though Boss stompboxes are built like brick ovens.

If you want a fun, easy 4 track sketchbook that plays Mp3s in a portable package, look no further. Try it before you buy it, that's what sold me on purchasing two of them in the same week. This is an awesome gift for musicians at a fair price. Just stock up on AA batteries, this thing devours them, or spring the $25 for an AC adaptor. You'll also need to buy a bigger SD card, lika a 1 gig since the included one is like, 128 MB and only holds one or two songs in addition to the lame pop punk demo song. Any major brand regular dimension sd card will work. Take the Micro with you when shopping for a USB/Mini b cable. I mistakenly bought the 4 pin, should have been the 5 pin shaped more like a trapezoid. Damn. Overall though lots of function, small portable package. Much fun.

UPDATE FROM EARLIER REVIEW

I've given the Micro BR a little more time, and as I mentioned earlier, it takes a while to become familiar with the menu--- so now I do okay on the thing.

One fun thing I'm using it for is my weekly Beatles jam session-- i.e. a friend and I have been getting together for years and simply go through the Beatles catalog (big thick japanese complete scores)--- The Micro BR allows me to import the original recordings in excellent MP3 files, and then we play along with the record-- AND, this is the cool part, I can modify my guitar that is going into the micro BR simultaneously as a guitar effects, and tweak my guitar to match the sound of the Beatles guitar part I am playing-- i.e. I listen to the original recording, and get pretty much the exact sound of George, John, or even Paul. Nice fun.

Yes, the guitar effects are limited to basic effects, but extremely good quality except for the reverb, which sucks. Just use a little bit of this effect, cause it is pretty lame. Surprising, because otherwise excellent sound quality. The Korg Pandora snuffs the BR completely on the reverb.

I got mine for DIRT cheap on Craigs list, $125. You should be so lucky.

Neil Slade
The Amazing Brain Music Adventure
www.BrainRadar.com

If you ignore some of the advanced features of this unit, it's relatively easy to record a 4 track song. If you stick to the basic guitar and/or mic inputs and add a few effects, and ignore the rhythm section and bouncing, you'll be up to speed within a day.

My biggest gripe with the Micro BR is that it won't record two inputs to two separate tracks, in other words you can't record a guitar and mic at the same time to two separate tracks unless you jump through some hoops to use a splitter on the line input and forfeit the abilty to add separate guitar and mic effects.

The sound quality is actually pretty good. Using the external mic to lay down a track on guitar with vocals is surprisingly good. I've used external mics with it but I find the built in mic does a reasonably good job of capturing a live performance of guitar and vocals.

The effects are ok, most of the guitar inputs are suited to electric guitar and being an acoustic player, I was still able to find a few that enhanced my sound. Vocals effects are respectable e.g. there is a compressor and the reverbs are ok.

So far so good. I've use it with batteries and I bought the optional power supply. Both work as expected. Overall the unit is well constructed, I don't expect any problems with it.

Haven't need Boss support.

I like the portability of this device which is why I bought it. It allows me to record wherever I am without being tethered to a PC or a bulky digital recording workstation.

It does a respectable job of capturing a live performance of acoustic guitar and vocals on a single track without anything "plugged in".

I'd give the BR Micro a 10 if I could plug in the guitar and sing into the on-board mic and have them go to separate tracks. This is the one disappointment I have with the BR Micro. There are many times that I'd like to record guitar and vocals with separate effects, and keep the one of the tracks and re-record the other, alas that isn't possible.

if you are familiar with roland gear you can expect more of the same here. tedious non user friendly interface. somewhat cryptic manual, but if you pay attention to it you will get the job done eventually and it makes sense eventually in a rolandesque fashion. i have allot of roland/boss gear because it is rugged professional gear for the most part. so i understand roland/boss thinking a little more perhaps. if they get some real users and musicians to collaborate on their manuals and prototype evaluation they could be awesome. the manual assumes allot and under explains allot too.

for a basic sketch pad and recording features it is adequate, but as someone else mentions it stifles creativity by smothering it with cumbersome technology. the guy who designed windows vista must have helped design the micro br. get a mac guy next time senor boss.

after owning it for about a month i have resigned myself to using it's basic recording features as a practice tool and to capture ideas but will go to my studio and mac/digital performer interface for anything else. the micro br is just too mentally cumbersome for anything else without snuffing the creative spark.

no firmware updates available (or possible) to my knowledge. i'd sure like to swap some of the drum and guitar patches for something more useful. i have been a rock blues folk musician for 43 years and build electric guitars and tube amps so i know useful tone and rhythm. this doesn't blow my hair back. the usb seems to be only for dumping and loading files you create. it would have been wise to include a programming interface to allow use of the computer instead of multiple tiny button sequences to personalize your unit.

why does roland wait for users groups to come up with the programming interfaces like for the vg-88. wake up roland!! you build quality gear--put it together so the creative non geek musicians who are your customers can make you look good with it. that said i have over a dozen pieces of roland/ boss gear because it is so reliable.

the sd card format is great. eventually after being at my mountain cabin with this for a few uninterrupted weeks without other options i will probably find it better tool. i bought it to replace an old zoom recorder.

roland sounds are very good for the money and this is no exception. if you can and will use them. there are few i will use however. there are few at all right out of the box like i use live or in my studio but as a composing or practice tool it will do. i'll have to spend allot of time tweaking the stock patches. the rhythm sounds good but the arrangement use is confusing and lacking in variety for practical usefulness unless you like 3/4 metronome as an inspiring rhythm to compose slow dance tunes to. i don't at all get how the stock rhythm arrangements are set up to do anything right out of the box.

i have over 50 guitars but almost always play guitars i build. they are several configurations of pickups but my specialty is hexaphonic output blended with custom wound magnetic pickups. i especially like custom dual humbuckers (like k.a. motherbucker in a way) with my proprietary wiring to tap specific coils and change phase for a variety of sounds. i have been using a h-s-h guitar mostly with this recorder as i am recording ideas and not complete layered songs. ideally i would like to turn on a suitable rhythm track, lay down a rhythm guitar track, and solo over it. it works for that but so far all i use is a rhythm verse pattern like a metronome.

i use sony studio headphones with it at home and some smaller headphones on the road that also work with my laptop. it would be good if the mic on those headphones worked with this unit without a preamp for recording rough vocal ideas and verbal notes.

to early to tell most of my roland and boss gear is very reliable and it had been stepped on, doused in beer from dancing drunks and even rained on and it seems to handle it well. once a well lubed patron came up to greet me, stepped right on my vg88 and stood there weaving until a told him at which point he quickly stepped back and spilled half a glass of beer on the unit. i turned it over and shook and wiped what i could off. i was ready to play set 2 and 3 without synth and darned if it isn't still working almost 2 years later. i have had roland gear for 20 years that never missed a lick. you just give em to a student WITH THE MANUAL.

the micro br isn't as rugged feeling as other roland gear but it was designed to be small and light. time will tell.

i attend namm in aneheim every year and spend allot of time at the roland booth. since i am a custom builder and comparitively really sell very few of their units for them i don't think they listen to me hard enough. but some of what they have is on the cutting edge of technology. (like the elusive vg99) so far the micro br is only on the cutting edge of size in my book. listen to the guys in the trenches roland!!! we damn sure know what works and what we want.

so far i would say i haven't needed anything in the way of service with years of roland and boss gear but roland has been non responsive to my suggestions. i even offered to proof read and test their gear for them to help them AND my buyers get more from their products.

i play rock and blues mostly. started playing 43 years ago when there was a guitar a cable and a tube amp to keep up with.

i play in 2 bands and teach guitar. i build custom guitars and tube amps.

i have a studio full of gear and have so much "stuff" i would never even begin to cover it all here. i have a small collection of ovation electric, a few great hamers and allot of good vanilla and chocolate. musicians make music on anything playable.

overall i think roland gave us a handful of dairy queen without even a cone here. you might only get a few licks into it before you hand it off and wash your hands. except for capacity (with a 1 gig sd card i installed)it isn't up to what i hoped for and as a sketch pad my 5 year old zoom is easier to use.

IF YOU BOTHER TO READ THIS ROLAND/BOSS---YOU ARE CLOSE TO GREATNESS WITH YOUR TECHNOLOGY. MANY MUSICIANS DONT WANT TO BE TECHIES. LET US USERS HELP YOU MAKE YOUR GENIOUS USEABLE. LISTEN!!!!WATCH!!!