Boss BR-1600CD

I have had this wonderful product just three days and have gotten all kinds of awesome sounds and recordings. I have had all the GT series pedals so I was already familar with the basic sounds and presets with their parameters for the guitars and bass. Yes, the main manual is pretty involved, but if you are willing to reason with reading it, it is very intuitive and written to understand. (Repetition makes it easier to comprehend) The basic manual, also included, starts you off in the right direction. The unit I purchased is the upgraded 2.0 model

So far with what I have done and accomplished, this machine is just great for me. The guitar and bass sounds are really good and effective for my purposes. Not any noisier than anything out there in this catagory, very good at it as a matter of fact! I have a Marshall head, 4x12 cab, 2x12 cab, '66 Fender deluxe reverb (original), '59 Fender bassman ltd reissue, Boss gt8 and other various pedals including a fulltone OCD, Maxon OD-9 pro+ and a bad monkey. This unit has good convenient sounds. I can really use anything I feel like using as far as tone and effects are concerned.

Just got it! I don't know yet. This unit will stay home mostly but I plan on going on a few recording excursions, once I get a handle on it.

Don't know yet

I play rock, country, blues, reggae, heavy rock, and some metal. I have been hacking at it both as an amateur and semi pro for 40+ years. I pretty much listed my gear in the sound section. I would definitely purchase it again if (knock on wood) anything were to happen to it. So far I'm having a ball with this digital recorder, even though it does take some fun work. I don't know quite yet what I really hate about this unit, other than the more difficult internal drum and bass pattern programing procedures. But I would imagine in due time with experience I'll master it. I really don't know which feature is my favorite, I'm having a ball with all the toys in this unit. I shopped around and investigated which digital recorder was for me, I even looked into some computer recording routes, but I wanted an all around, easy to transport, do-all unit that would not be too complex and finicky. I like the fact that with this unit you can really just push a few knobs and buttons to acomplish most tasks. I have the Akai DSP16 digital recorder and this Boss Br1600cd kicks its ass. I wish they would come up with a simpler way to program the bass and drum sequencer. (automatic, after all we live in a high tech digital world whether we like it or not, I like it!)Yes this unit inspires me. I highly recommend this Boss Br1600cd for all of you home and traveling musicians.

The BR-1600CD is somewhat complicated to use. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I had a Tascam 488 (casette, 8 track, )for years, so I'm no stranger to multi-track recording.
Given that, its geting a bit easier, and I do see some light.
The manual is about 400 pages, and is somewhat exhausting to wade through.
The bass and drums are a drag to work with. The amount of programing needed is too much. I am either using the bass sims,or my bass, to record bass parts. For drums, I am using my trusty Alesis SR-16- you know, the drum machine that won't die! (For good reason, its built like a tank, sounds great, and is very flexible)

Sound quality is excellent-pristine, copies like a dream.
COSM effects are great, bass simulations very good. Effects go on and on, and sound great.
It is digital, so its unforgiving-if garbage is going in, guess what's coming out?

Its kind of lightweight. If you were very careful, you could consider it portable, but it would not, I think, take much abuse. I think it was designed to be put in one spot, and keep it there.
Only had it one month, so I cannot realy speak to long term reliability.

I've spoken to Boss/Roland support staff, and they are very good, if bored as hell sounding. Maybe I would be,too.
They answered my questions quickly and accurately, which is what matters.

It records anything, so your style is immaterial.I own lots of guitars, amps, effects, etc.. Fender, PRS, Ric, POD, blah, blah, blah.

OK , I do have a major beef. If you want to use the Mastering Tool Box, and you probably should, you cannot record on tracks 9-10. Now, tracks 1-8 are mono tracks, but 11-12, 13-14 & 15-16, while stereo, only have one input, so, in effect, its really a 11 track recorder. Now, granted , that is still a lot of tracks, but a recorder advertised as a 16 track, should be able to record 16 separate tracks. I know through bouncing, you can get a lot more then 16, but I want to have vol control over each track, which is lost when you bounce and combine.
The Vocal Tool Box is complicated to use, as you have to enter each chord of the song, at the appropriate measure, in order for it to work. I believe you also have to give up a track for the harmony part.

OK, that's that. I love having compression, EQ, reverb, etc, control over each track, and it does sound great.
A bit of a steep learning curve, though.

Lets get this one straight-this is not easy-it is intuitive only up to a very limited point, after that, its read the manual, and memorize, memorize, memorize. I had an eight track Tascam 488 for about fifteen years, so I'm no stranger to multi-track recording.
The manual, is very good, all 400 pages of it. That's not to criticize,it does a lot, an awful lot. There is a steep learning curve, but I believe it will be worth it.

Sound quality is excellent-its digital, so it should be , right?
Some of the guitar patches are noisy, but there is a noise gate built in, so that should be fixable.
Some guitar patches sound good, others, not so good, the key here is to edit the sounds, which is very flexible.
The bass simulators are very good, I was about to grt my bass out of the closet to add to a song, but, just to try it, used my Tele on the "Loose Bass" patch, and it turned the Tele into a very good sounding bass.

Looke pretty tough, but a lot of plastic, and with the built in hard drive, be very carefull moving it around. Only common sense here.
Only had it a week, so hard to tell. Will update this after a few months.

High marks. Got a person after only a minute wait, he was knowledgeable, not in a rush, knew his stuff. I was impressed.
Don't know how they'd be if the unit died.

I play rock, pop, blues. I do want to record my band, we'll see how that goes. Really bought it to get away from obsolete technology (casettes), and to fool around with it as a hobby down my basement.
Been playing 40 years, have 9 guitars, seven amps, lots of effect( I do love my POD).
I wish it had a screen output to my laptop, that would have been nice (although data can be saved right to a computer).
I also don't like that it automatically loads the last song saved when you boot it up-that can be a real time waster. Let me decide what I want to work on. Roland, if you read this, fix in a future version (mine is Ver. 2)
I have been wanting one of these for about three years- was leery of the difficulty involved ( I was right there-it'll be a while before I am really comfortable with this unit). I actually had a Fostex unit home for about three days-it was so complicated, that I gave it up and brought it back. The guy at Sam Ash told me it was a very difficult machine to work with.
Overall , the technology is amazing- you can do so much with the BR1600, its almost too much. Time wil tell if I wind up using most or just some of the features. Even though it has a built in drum machine, it too, is very complicated to program ( unless you want to just stick with the programmed beats and sounds. I will defintely continue to use my Alesis SR-16, and also a good deal of my effect units--wish the drums had an auto-fill, pedal triggered feature).
I looked at Zoom, Yamaha, and Korg. They were good in their own right.
I bought it at Sweetwater, (Thanks, Dan), and they rec'd it highly, and told me why. Oh, it was also on a 10% sale, +$65 rebate, from its everywhere else price of $1399.
It will help me make better sounding songs, once I master it.

Once you get used to it,it is pretty easy. But it takes awhile to get all the drum patterns figured out.

Pretty good sound quality. I recorded many, many songs with this unit (and my BR1180), and it is hard to get a good accoustic guitar sound. Even with an expensive Taylor accoustic guitar.

Verrrry poor reliability. I also own the BR1180. Both have had to be sent in to repair the hard drive. Imagine hours, and hours of work to go down the tube because the hard drive freezes. I can't believe I bought another Roland workstation after the problems I had with the first one.

I am really displeased with Roland right now. As I mentioned, this is the second workstation I bought. Thank GOD I bought the extended warrantee. Both units that I owned crapped out on me. The service tech said he sees quite a few of the Rolands due to hard drive problems.

Hooked up a pair of Roland MA-8's, plugged in a guitar (Fender American Deluxe Fat Strat with locking bridge) and out comes something similar to music (not a shortcoming of the device :)). It is very easy to use and records clean. Takes a little while to go deep into editing the drum and bass patterns but the loaded drum loops are quite fun but the bass loops are kind of boring and uninspiring.

I use a Roland XP-80, Fender Strat as described above, a Yamaha BB5GS bass, a Martin Eric Clapton signature acoustic guitar and a Shure SM-57 for miking the acoustics. I also use a Fender CyberTwin Amp, Yamaha DG-Stomp and occasionally the Marshall MG15DFX.

For me, this unit is perfect for songwriting but I would still want to do my final recordings with my computer based system because of its versatility and options for more and better effects.

The effects are pretty good and serviceable for working out ideas but I wouldn't expect to master my CD on this thing.

I have worked with this unit for around a year now and I have had no problems that could be directly attributable to the unit (e.g. if you have an expression pedal plugged in, have the pedal full down or some of the settings will go silent on you.)

Haven't had any need for support, yet.

I play blues, blues based rock and heavy metal. I have been playing off and on for 30 years. My other gear has already been mentioned.

The only complaint I have about it is the time it takes to start up. I usually go get something to drink while it runs through its start up routines.

It's fine. If you are familiar with BOSS products, it's pretty intuitive. You'll be on familiar ground right out of the box. You will need the manual for reference, but you wont have to study it like an organic chemistry textbook.

Im compelled to write this as an appendix to the initial review written on this page ... by Scott Flemming ? He is not alone. I had the EXACT same experience. The winding/buzzing sound upon boot up, which matures into a steady buzz/humm. I was certain that my unit was defective, but after reading Scott's post - I see that it's a KNOWN issue. I did speak with customer support...I will get to that. As far the the recordings - they sound great. But performing, and mixing...the buzz is quite a disturbance - not to mention a huge buzz-kill. You finally get your hands on it, you race home, bust it out of the box, toss the manual aside, plug in - and what do you get ? A nasty buzzing sound - very dissapointing. I cant give the sound an overall rating as a result. I give it a 9 as far as the finished recordings are concerned, but I give it a 2 otherwise.

I never had an issue with BOSS products flat out breaking, or not working - I will give them the benefit of the doubt and assume the same applies to this machine.

Very fast - No long wait. Only one automated option to select, and within seconds I had a live voice on the other end. However, she wasnt very helpful. As far as them admitting this was a "KNOW ISSUE", no luck - I flat out asked her if they have heard of this before, and I know damn well that they have - but she wouldnt admit it. She immediately told me about the ground lift, but suggested that I not use it all the time...why, I dont really know - I wont use it if there's a lightning storm, or when I am using other appliances or whatever. She tried to pass the buck by teling me it could be my televeision, or my the outlet in my apartment - but I explained how I get the noise no matter where I use it. She also told me that I may want to change adapters from the 3V to the 7V. I asked her if none of these things solve the problem, what can i do ? She told me to call back.

Not applicable yet. Seems pretty easy.

The reason I am writing this review is because of a sound problem the device had right out of the box. I had this ordered specially from a local shop in Pittsburgh that didn't have it on the floor at the time. I chose it over the Yamaha because I did NOT want the super professional qualities that come with the Yamaha. That sounds odd - but I work at a recording studio. We have all the real bib boy stuff there. I wanted something to be clean, sure but easy and actually - fun. The Boss unit has that in spades over the Yamaha which is trying too hard to be like something that really should be a computer-based system.

I open the box, connect the unit using brand new RCA - 1/4" UNbalanced cables to a brand new pair of Behringer Truth B2031A's (powered) monitirs.

Without opening a manual - I start hearing tons of audible hard drive start upo noise THROUGH the speakers. Once the boot up is done - I just hit PLAY to see what I'll get. First I get a horrible, rhythmic noise. Then I get a nice multitrack demo song. I pan down the masters and I still hear the rhythmic noise. I look and the little light that shows that the hard-drive is being accessed is actually flashing at the same tempo/time as the noise. I check the headphone outs, no noise. Very nice audio quality. So I check all my connections, check the troubleshooting and then (finding nothing) I call Roland.(see the support section)

Not at this juncture.

It is Friday, 6pm EST. I know according to the Roland website that I have a couple hours yet to get them on the West Coast. I call. I do NOT have to wait too long or navigate too many menu levels. The guy that picks up - doesn't ask me for serial numbers or my name or anything. At the time that was very refreshing as it is hell to try to go find all the proof of ownership when you just want help quickly.

I tell him the problem and he says "Oh, I don't know. That's odd. I actually had a guy a couple weeks ago and he had a similar problem and he solved it by plugging the unit into the same outlet as the speakers." Cool, I'll try that, thanks. (Actually I then remembered reading something like that in the Behringer manual) so I go do that. Problem still there, maybe even louder now. I call back support at Roland.

This next guy is not as gregarious and takes my name and phone number dutifully before chatting with me. I say I told the first guy about this problem... And he says "Well whoever THAT was didn't do his job and didn't log in the call so I don't know who he was or what the problem is!" Ah well, no free lunches. So I tell him the problem. This guy says (no lie, this is pretty much verbatim) "Oh yeah, that's a KNOWN problem with these units. It's a little grounding wire and we can't get them to fix it." WHAT?! I just paid $1300 for this unit! It's an AUDIO recording device! How do you release it with a KNOWN problem that generates blatant noise?! "Well, there ARE digital outs and I guess they expected people to use those. You can still use the headphones and I can tell you that the sound is NOT going on to your recording." Oh, hey THAT'S a relief, so all I really have to do is either - 1) Buy new monitors (how convenient that Roland makes like the only affordable digital speakers at Musician's Friend) or 2) Mix using headphones (Audio 101 No-No number uno) or 3) Just ignore it and try to mix through it, because it's not on the recording.

This is the official Roland/Boss support response.

I say - Wait, this is a brand new product and you're saying - you can't do anything about it? You can't fix it? "There's nothing to FIX. It's not broken." So -I LIVE with it? Or what - take it back?
"Most places have a 30 day return policy sir. And I cannot legally suggest this to you but a ground lift will probably help." Wait - so I can solve this with a 3-2 prong adapter? "Well, it's against UL rules and will void the warranty, but it should help. But I really cannot officially advise you to do that."

So this was my Fellini-like experience with Roland/Boss today. Unbelievable that this company can release a $1300+ DIGITAL AUDIO RECORDER that is KNOWN to generate horrible noise from the hard drive unless you have very specific speakers or use a ground lift that then voids the warranty and isn't even legal to suggest.

Now I like Roland. And so far - I'm keeping the unit because I still have hopes for it and I had done all my research and had decided on it for a reason. By the way - I DID use the ground lift and the problem IS gone completely. But this experience is wrong in so many ways - I hope somehow - Roland gets wind of this and deals with the problem.

So actually - support was truly helpful and honest. It's the company and the product that are faulty in this case.

Roland is getting like Volkswagen. We buy their products based on how cool they USED to be, but now they are so busy advocating their CULTURE and beating other companies to the punch on image that they are too big to know what both of their arms are doing at any one time. Yeah their sounds are great. And yeah this is an amazing piece of technology. But how about Beta testing it for a week or so before putting it on the market, guys?

So I'll come back and give this a more full review once I've used it for a while. But out of the box it's getting a 3

takes atleast a month to figure it out . im cursing like crazy trying to edit drum and bass patterns to do what i want them to. i had a cake walk program for my computer that was much easier to program rythems on .the undo/redo button doesnt tell you what its undo/redoing .the lcd monitor is brutally small and with the usb connection, why cant you plug it in and pull up a screen on your computer?it would be a huge improvement.

does an exellent job at recording sounds, although the bass and drum machine dont impress me. loop drum tracks sound exellent , as they should. using a les paul 2002 ,guild and larivee acoustics ,vox valvetronics and a rode nt1a . very quiet . guitar effects are good and the vocal harmonies can sound good after you program in the proper chords(very time consuming).

made of plastic i dont think its some thing you want to through around, the cd drive sounds clunky. buttons , faders and dials feel ok

i play classic rock,blues . the portability is nice if you want to track afull band . id like to cmpare it to thekorg mk1600 but havent had that chance . editing drum ,bass, vocal parts is a pain without a big screen. by the time ive come up with a decent rythem track i,ve completely lost that cool guitar part i had in my head, very frustrating.needs more percussion loops eg. tamborine,shakers,bongos,claves,triangles

I HAVE BEEN USING THE BR-1600CD DIGITAL STUDIO FOR ABOUT 6 MONTHS.
I HAVE THE ROLAND 24BIT DIGITAL 90WATT MONITORS RUN TO IT. I DID THE SAME LIKE EVERYONE ELSE. OPENED THE BOX AND IMEDIATELY RECORDED.
YOU GET 2 VERY DETAILED MANUALS WITH IT. ONE IS LIKE A QUICK-START
MANUAL.VERY EASY TO USE AND EXCELLENT FEATURES.

I PLAY A CARVIN AE185 CUSTOM-SHOP WITH HUMBUCKERS,FENDER AMERICAN 50TH
ANNIVERSITY STOCK STRAT AND AN EARLY ESP MIRAGE.I USE A CARVIN LEGACY
2X12 COMBO WITH THD 8 OHM HOT-PLATE. WITH T.C. G-MAJOR IN EFX LOOP.
I ALSO USE A LINE 6 PODXT PRO RIGHT INTO THE BR-1600. AND I ALSO USE A DIGITECH GNX3 RIGHT INTO THE BR-1600.EACH UNIT HAS A FEW TONES THAT
I LIKE AND HAVE STORED IN MEMORY.BUT I CAN SAY THE BR-1600 DOES'NT NEED ANY HELP. THE EFX ARE AS GOOD AND SOME ARE BETTER,AND AFTER YOU TWEAK THE AMP SIMS THEY'RE TOP-SHELF.THE VOCAL TOOL BOX IS ALITTLE HARD TO GET AGRIP ON BUT THE MORE YOU USE THE BR-1600 THE MORE YOU SEE HOW KILLER OF A MACHINE THIS IS.IN 6 MOS I'VE RECORDED ABOUT 30 TO 40 CDS WITH ABOUT 6 TO 8 PIECES OF 3 TO 4 MINUTES SONGS THAT I PUT TOGETHER OVER YEARS ON PAPER.NOW I HAVE THEM RECORDED ON CD AND DID THIS BASS GUITAR, RYTHM GUITARS, KEY BOARDS,LEAD GUITAR AND VOCALS.
ALL BY MYSELF AND THE FINAL MIX MASTERED AND WITH VOCAL HARMONIES.

VERY WELL BUILT AND I HAVE NOT HAD ANY PROBLEMS WITH IT.
I LOOKED AROUND AT OTHERS BUT IF THIS EVER GETS STOLEN .I WOULD GO AND BUY ANOTHER ONE QUICK. THIS THING IS GREAT FUN TO WORK OUT WITH.

DON'T KNOW ABOUT SUPPORT THEBR-1600CD HASNT BROKE.
BUT I CHECK THE WEB SITE OFTEN AND SEEMS TOPPS.

MOSTLY HARD AND HEAVY ROCK AND ALOT OF ACOUSTIC STUFF.
I BEEN PLAYING 30 YEARS.
THE BR-1600 CD NOT ONLY GETS YOUR WRITTING JUICES GOING AGAIN BUT IT
HAS SEVERAL FEATURES THAT BRINGS OUT CREATIVITY AT ITS BEST.
I WOULD GIVE THIS A TEN BUT I NEVER RATE ANY THING A TEN IT WON'T DO DISHES,AND TAKE OUT THE TRASH. HAVE FUN WITH YOUR MUSIC GET ONE YOU WON'T REGRET IT..

Very easy to use. You can basically start recording the day you get it without even picking up the manual! The manual is also straight forward and easy to understand.

Sound quality of a recording is excellent. There are programmed guitar effects in the boss which you can change to suit the sound you like, but they arent the best, so its best to use your own pedals and sounds. I use an ibanez guitar with a tonworks korg pedal, and the boss records it great - theres no noise or change in sound. You can make your own drum patterns or use ones that are already programmed on the boss, and they all sound awesome. Also you can edit the eq, compression, reverb, chorus/delay for each input and they all sound great. All instruments (including voice) sound clear and precise, and the overall sound is very professional.

Very reliable!!!

N/A

I play rock/metal, and just by being able to play the guitar i can create a cd with a whole band on it! - Lay down guitar tracks, make your own drums, use one of the programmed bass simulator effects with your guitar so it sounds like a bass, and youve got a band! Ive been using this machine for a year or so, and it has never let me down, and if it were stolen or lost (please no!) it wouldnt even cross my mind to buy a different recorder. I love the fact that you dont need much equipment to make a cd of a whole band - even if you just own a guitar, you can use the effects already programmed on the boss and use all its effects, and you have a good quality, professional sounding peice of work. I have tried the zoom equivelent to this boss, and it was shithouse. Apart from looking terrible, sounding terrible and being bad quality, it was impossible to use - even the "expert" in the shop didnt know how to use it well!

I love this recorder, and after researching all the other recorders around, i think this is the best you can get for this price and quality. There is nothing i would change, as it is perfect for everything i need!