Boss BR-1180CD

read themanual and you're good to go...

great sound quality. Some of the machines effects are a little cheesy. Overall, very good sound quality

after 6 months of owning the machine...In the middle of recordings, "DRIVER BUSY" kept on popping up and the whole machine freezes. I then have to reboot the recording device only to find that my recording is nowhere to be found. I would recommend looking into something else...for almost the same price you can get a solid lap top up and running with everything you need.

never called

It's pretty dope when its working...but by the sounds of things, this model craps out in alot of cases. I treated my BR like a baby...handled it very gently, etc., and it ****** up

It is fairly easy to get very nice sounds right out of the box. It does take a bit of reading to understand the logic behind how these units work. I just burned my first song to CD after sitting down and working with the BR-1180CD for about two days. Mine came with Ver.2 so I didn't have to upgrade. I feel pretty comfortable with it now and ready to make and burn more songs.

Very Nice sounds for a All-in-One Unit for around $300.00 used. Lots of good sounds for many styles on Guitar, Bass and Vocals. I use several different Guitars, Mics, and an Alesis QS6.1 keyboard. Good built in Drum tracks with different Drum Kits. I'm still trying to learn how to adjust the Drum tracks and import loops. It is fairly quiet on noise. Just set your levels right. As with anything, it just takes time to get better sound through trial and success.

So far...So Good! Since I don't have a back up, I guess I would use it alone. I would just be Careful not to bang it around too much! I see on here where some people have had problems...I guess there are a few bad lemons out there, but most people seem very happy with the BR-1180CD.

Haven't needed them yet, but I hear Boss is pretty Good at backing their products.

I use it for all types of music. I've been playing for about 25 yrs. If it were lost or stolen, I would surely get another or upgrade to a BR-1600CD for about $500.00 more on a used unit. I like Boss products, I just wish it had a Metal casing, not plastic. I compared it to other units in the same price range and the BR-1800CD gets my Vote! I wish it came with a USB port, but I guess you can't get everything for this price. Just have to import/export thru the CD player. If you have the time and patients to learn how this unit works, I think you will be Very Pleased with the BR-11800CD!

After I watched the video and messed around with it for a couple days, I pretty much had the hang of it. But I still don't know a thing about how to incorporate MIDI functions on it, even though it's equipped with it.

The sound quality is pretty good, but it still sounds "digital" which is what you'd expect, I guess. I don't like the way it records bass guitar though, and it's a role of the dice if you get it right. Vocals seemed too "soft" too, until I switched to using dyamic mics instead of condenser microphones. (in spite of all the settings) Trust me I've explored this machine inside and out. But my acoustic guitar recordings come out fabulous with 2 condenser mics in stereo of course. Also i'm just running a 1/4" line in for keyboards and it still sounds like a real piano...impressive...and simple.

Overall, I'm glad I bought it. I've recorded one album at a real studio, and one album on the BR1180, and this unit sounded better, believe me.

So far so good...but everyone's got me scared with all the bitching about their hard drive problems. I've had mine for over 3 yrs...nothing yet...?

Never needed customer support.

I write guitar and piano pop songs, and they come out nice with this machine. There've been a few snags along the way, but I've managed to get around them, because I'm resourceful...lol

Very intuitive. Simple to use, not as simple to master. You can get a recording to sound decent right out of the box, but if you spend time exploring the settings you can really get it to sound great.

Very surprised and happy with the sound quality. It doesn't sound at all "tinny" or shallow the way I expected a reasonably priced digital recorder to sound. The reverb, if used effectively, really deepens the sound and if you have a nice condenser mic you can really get a nice rich sound.

Honestly this category is the only reason I'm writing this review. I've had my BR1180 for 3 years. In that time my band has invested some serious cash on a Mac and ProTools etc etc. The Br1180 has been sitting in a corner with stuff piled on top of it. To make matters worse, we were just evicted from our practice space and during the move it was thrown into a huge garbage bad and, subsequently, mistaken for garbage. With the rest of the garbage it was tossed onto the sidewalk and covered with other heavy bags of trash. Once I realized what had happened, I dug it out, rushed it home, plugged it in, and it didn't even flinch. Never given me problems ever. I do appreciate shit that doesn't break.

Never needed it.

The sound of this machine is pretty good. I used to have a BD532 and this one is much better. The COMS effects are usable although I really prefer the sound of my amp. I am recording this directly using a mic. I don't use many effects apart for a wonderful sounding Boss Cs3 compressor modified by a Spanish company called Pedaldoc.

I had also a BD8 and that one was a piece of crap if you ask me.

Good sound.

My equipment:

Stratoster SRV / Boss Cs3 compressor (mofified by pedaldoc) / Fender BLues deluxe 40W

I got it about two years ago and I still haven't had to phone ROland for anything so I would say this product is quite reliable.

Don't know. It has always worked fine.

I play mainly blues (real blues) and the machine records everything pretty good.

I have been playing for 15 years.

I don't know if I would buy another one if it was stolen. Probably I would go for something newer.

This unit was fairly easy to learn how to use without the manual, but I needed the manual to understand the "Advanced Use" features. If you have firmware version 1 you definitely will want to upgrade to firmware version 2.0, which is available as a free download from the BOSS website. I like the fact that this device allows me to organize my music by songs, and once I title the songs, then I can burn a CD by merely rotating the selector knob and choosing the titles I have already assigned to the songs. This is a new way for me to work, and it is helping me become more productive. At first I didn't know how to turn on the Phantom power, which is underneath the "System" menu.

I use this as a live mixer to mix the sounds that are going to the mains during performances, while simultaneously recording everything to the hard disk. I like the effects, but I haven't tried them during the initial recording... I like the Digital Delay for my trumpet sound, which adds presence if I wasn't able to get it from the room sound. So far I haven't explored all the COSM effects, but I like the ability to edit the reverb delay time by pressing the "Delay" button. So the fact that there aren't a lot of room presets doesn't bother me much. My main gripe is that I would like more than two simultaneous recording tracks... but an upstream mixer would solve that problem.

From the manual I was able to record a MIDI sync track and use it to synchronize with an external sequencer (the Boss DR-5.) I was very happy that the unit recognizes both MIDI sync, and also recognizes different kinds of time code... both PAL and NTSC, with different frame rates. Very impressive.

To me the BR-1180 sounds great,especially for the price I paid.

The BR-1180 has been mostly reliable for me, except in one situation where I think I had unreliable line current.

I haven't needed to call for support yet, because so much good information is available from the website. The PDF manual is very informative, as are the PDF notes distributed with the firmware upgrade. After the firmware upgrade I was able to install a 40 G hard disk with no problems.. and now I can access either partition from the partition menu! A pleasant surprise indeed, since I had read that this unit maxes out at 20 G.

I am a jazz musician, and for me this unit is an excellent match. I don't mind that it has lots of guitar effects because I want my music to sound contemporary when I want it to. I'm very impressed with the unit. When I bought it, CD burning didn't work but I still felt it was worth my purchase price for the other functions, so I chose not to return it. After upgrading the hard disk, now CD burning works! I am just thrilled. I would definitely buy another one, unless I decide to graduate to one of the larger units, such as the BR-1600.

Easy to get sound out- easy to use.
Manual and phone support really suck. It's like somebody threw you in front of the controls of an aircraft and was trying to explain how to fly the plane -and you had no idea what they were talking about ( refering to the section on drums)

Very easy

Yes

They are helpful but have no clue how to explain anything

All styles

Playing guitar for 25 years

Really love the machine. I can be a band by myself

as recording in general goes i found the boss br1180cd a little intimidating at first but as you sit down and slowly work your way through it you find that its all just a button away really.
ive had mine for two days now and i think its great but my only problem with this unit is recording drums as there are only two xlr inputs and at the moment im trying to find a good way around this.
if anyone is a drummer and knows how to concour this problem please let me know at my email adress on this reveiw.

the sound quality is sweet i love it the onboard effects are exellent and there not just presets you can alter them.
i dont know if this is what most people do but i am hooking the headphone input up to an amp and its a tad noisy but it isnt their on cd recordings as i was mucking around and slapped eight tracks of nonsense onto cd to see.
my overall opinion is that if your expecting an album of amazing quality dont kid yourself that can cost a lot more than the boss and thats only one album so i like the quality in general and it gets the job done.

i cant really anwser this topic at the present as i have the unit stationed but i think its quiet durable due its decent robustness
i wouldnt use this unit in a gig as the preset drum tracks loop on and theyre boring after a few minutes i am a drummer and the drum program is nothing more than a toy but the sound quality of them are ok.

ive only just got the unit really and i havent needed these guys really.....

i like it still unshure about the drum recording issue but ill manage. if it were stolen well i hope not cos it would break my heart and the bank!!!.

i have to say there isnt anything i "Hate" but more a tad uneasy with ie. there are ten tracks but you need nine and ten free to bounce in order to record ,at least thats what i think im still trying to troubleshoot this!? but overall yup i have to say its a wicked peice of kit for the cash
and buy looking at its competitors it looks the easiest to use

NOTE: These are all my personal ratings over one year of use.

About me: A guitar player, been in a band, now solo. Genres encompassed: Metal (Metallica, Pantera, Cannibal Corpse) , Rock (Dream Theater, Dokken & the 80's Metal scene, 90's grunge scene), Jazz (John McLaughlin, The Guitar Trio, Al Di Meola solo ventures, John Abercrombie, Gambale etc) , Fusion (Shakti, Prasanna, Shawn Lane), New Age/Neuvo Flamenco (Strunz and Farah, Pierre Bensusan, Michael Hedges, Tommy Emmanuel etc)

This is my first recording instrument and I watched the demo video (2 of them) twice and I had this thing up and running. Boss has some nice patches (Arpeggiated, Clean Solo, Blues Solo and Delayed Solo). I particularly like the BASS patches (maybe not authentic for some), but for a solo musician / home recorder as myself, its a great help, and its really good for some Stanley Jordan/Kiko Loureiro type 2 handed playing (chordal, not Van Halenesque single liners).

I used the manual for inserting effects and re-recording some pieces. I really have not exploited the equpiment to its fullest, so I have not really read the manual too well either. Used a Mic to lay vocals, and a mic for Acoustic Nylon Guitar. Came out rather well, but you do need to mess with the frequencies a little.

The drum patches are to my liking. There are some solid beats already in there and I have some of those Discrete Drums CDs which I import and use. This gets a rating of 10 at this point because its so damn easy to import and sequence drum patterns for this instrument. I'm not really into Dream Theater/George Bellas "change complex time signature every beat by x= 9.5 z * [5% odd time of last beat] " style, so it works well for me. I have used, for my CD, some of the in built Rock, Heavy, Jazz and Fusion beats. I would recommend buying a couple of Discrete Drum Cds if you like some percussion beats(tablas, Latin drums, congos etc) in your music, coz this is something that the BR-1180CD does not have. Discrete Drums has Cd's specially designed for Boss 1180CD product (how nice!). And they are real easy to import. Plus, the BR-1180CD automatically adjusts the tempo to the current settings and you can manually change the tempo at every beat if you like and thats real easy to do as well.

You can also slip a Cd into the system and Jam with it / import it to the disk: VERY VERY USEFUL for people who like to mindlessly solo like the 80's shredders for 2 hours. Put a backing track and solo like there is no tomorrow. The "Jam with" series and "band in a box" style Cds are always in my Cd tray and you can mess with different effects while soloing. Oh, the disk offers a reasonable 60 hours of recording. So you can have multiple songs on the equipment itself. But since you have a CD burner, you really never run out of space, unless you need to keep all your songs in an editable manner (track by track: non bounced)for later, and even then there is a long time before you run short.


So far (touch wood) no problems with this unit. Been with me for 1 year now.

I used this piece with: Electric Guitar, Keyboards, Vocal Microphone and an Acoustic Recording Mic (well, kinda designed for Acoustic Guitars). I have a CD out and people say its near CD quality. I'm not sure about their views, but its way, way, better than some of those promo CD's by bands I pick up at my local Cd shop !!!

Its noisy once I introduce my Korg Ax1G in the routing loop. There is a significant hiss / noise that comes thru with the small effect pedal, but this is true for the Keyboards as well. If you're playing a full orchestrated song (like in a band) you won't notice this one bit, but if you're doing a solo piece, this could be an issue, albiet a minor one.

The effects are great and to my liking. *****I'm not trying to emulate any guitarist I know, so I dont have any issues*****. [And while we're on the subject how the hell am I to emulate Steve Morse's sound when he uses 5 pickups specicially wired for his sounds!!!]. For someone trying to do that, you may want to play with this thing before you buy it.

The BASS effects are great for 2 handed playing and the vocals hide my croaking (I actually won $10 off a friend who couldnt believe it was me!). I use the Patches 32 (Clapton), 50 (Distortion), 53 (Metal solo), 58(Bluesy Solo), 59 (Delayed Solo) and 60 (wah solo) a lot and these work really well for me. I modulate a "rounder" sound using my guitar Epiphone Fat 210 - tone and pickup settings. The acoustic patch settings are nice as well.

I have gotten the "bubbling arpeggio" sound (a la Yngwie, Bellas, Cooley) from it and a nice crunch for rhythm and some clean comping for Jazz voicings. Again my friends were quite impressed with the quality.

You can't take this to a Gig (unless you're filthy rich).
So far so good : realiable

Nope, so far no need for them folks

My influences (recently) are primarily : Indo-Fusion, Jazz and New Age (Michael Hedges, Preston Reed, Kaki King etc style of tapping and whacking ). Metal took a back seat for sometime. The drum patches on this are great and they are really easy to use. I did try programming my own patterns, and I got a decent beat from that ... but it requires patience and I would rather import than sit and program (I do that as a day job anyways: Programming, that is).

Been playing for 5+ years. Got 4 Guitars at home and some flutes and keyboard.

If stolen, yes I'd buy it again .... this time in installments.

I like its ease of use, I find it nice and light and fits into a corner rather snug (important for an apartment). The effects are nice and sound good.

I compared this with the GNX4 and some other Roland models at Guitar Center. I chose this for its ease of use, Budget and the chance to learn and make my own CD on it.

I wish it had some more drum tracks (not beats) to add. But you can only add one extra to the pre-existing track (havne't explored it in full, but thats what it seems like).

It helps me create the ambiance I need for my kind of music. So two thumbs up for that.

I have had no issues for the last one year and I use it regularly for messing around (read everyday at least on hour) either to practice or jam or record. At the drop of a hat I can get up at 3 in the morning and record an idea/riff/solo piece running in my head in about 8 mins and go back to sleep knowing that I have captured the idea and its not lost !! Bye bye lost riffs !!

The sound reproduction quality is amazing. BUT DO NOT BUY THIS UNIT!!! I've had it for two years, and the hard drive has been replaced twice. And although it sounds great when it is working properly, there are way to many problems, and it is very difficult to use. I just got it back from the second round of repairs and it still has the same hi pitched sound, and hiss that made me send it in for repairs both times. I am giving up on it and buying something else. A thousand dollar loss.

The repair facility in Los Angles, CA says that they have thousands with the same bad hard drives that they have had to replace. They would put another type of hard drive in, that is of better quality, but nothing else will fit in the space.

I am in Northern CA, and I have been without my BR-1180 for two months due to repairs needed. I repeat, DO NOT BUY THIS UNIT!!!

Many Regrets

Randy

Great sound and effects

I have needed two hard drives, and it still is not working properly.

They were very efficient and nice people. So was the manager of the department.

I play folk music, and the sound is great. I've been play for two years,and I paly a Epiphone Gibson AJ. Not only would I buy something else if it were stolen or lost, but I am throwing it away so no oneelse will have to deal with it. I love the sound, but the problems are ridiculous. I did not compare it to other products. Ultimately it frustrates me horribly because of difficulty of use and reliability issues.