Boss BR-600

This is a fairly straight forward product, the biggest problem I had with the manual is that it didn't explain the Drum machine in a way that made sense. I found help online and now have no problems using it.

The sound quality is decent no extra noise, I like a lot of the built in effects especially for Acoustic guitar and Bass and the vocal effects are nice.

Mine has always worked flawlessly that is all I can say.

Now we are getting to why I'm really writing this reveiw. I have found that Boss and Carvin have the rudest Customer service around. Carvin being first and Boss a close second. The main issue with the BR-600 is that they take an old style CF Card which can be difficult to find because of the speed and size of the card. I emailed Customer Support about getting cards and they give you links to CF Card Manufacturers the only problem is digital cameras moved forward and started using faster, larger cards so even the manufacturers don't have them. I did find an SD to CF adapter once and emailed Boss support to see if that would work I also asked the question if it was possible to offer some kind of upgrade to the machine to allow it to run with more current cards. The first question was answered no pretty short and sweet the second question wasn't answered.

This was a good buy 4 years ago for 400.00 dollars, mine was a floor model and so was cheaper than that plus it came with power cords and all of the other stuff that people are complaing about it not having. Now, this machine shouldn't even be on the market without some upgrades to make it compatible with newer cards. My recomendation is save up for something better or go with something cheaper such as a tascam hand held recorder or something of that nature.

I've used my BR-600 for close to a year now. Paid $330 CAD new. I am actually very pleased with it overall. I purchased 1 gig Compact Flash Cards ($20 CAD each) for it right away. You get approx 40 full songs storage capacity when using the 1 gig card, however, 1 gig cards are discontinued at most computer suppliers now. I was disappointed to know the unit did not come with a DC adapter (Boss DC Adapter, approx $25 CAD extra). Manual is okay but a bit confusing. Wish it came with a DVD manual or better yet, an online instructional video/manual. Still figuring out all of in's & out's of bouncing & mastering tracks.

I am exceptionally pleased at the sound quality. No hiss, no pops, nothing, near CD quality. Finished songs sound amazing when bounced & exported to an iPod. Haven't played with the Mastering Tools & EQ so I'm sure with a little more experimenting, final cuts could even be better. I run cables out from the BR-600 to a 200w Ampeg bass amp combo & it sounds amazing during playback, lots of low, mid & high ends. The built in drums have a great low kick & snare. Wish there were more drum sounds (sticks, rim shot, more cymbols, etc...). The built-in condenser mics work very well for vocal tracks but a high quality mic works even better. Lots of built-in vocal effects to choose from.

Portability (fits in a guitar case) & reliability are what I'm most impressed with. I have had a couple of instances where the unit displays a message "Disk Error" (or something to that effect). Turn the unit off then on seems to reset it without losing tracks. I like that it takes 6 AA batteries, so when you want to play back a tune after a practice or gig, you don't HAVE to connect the DC adapter. That's cool.

Haven't had the need to deal with Roland/Boss customer service, thus I don't have an opinion.

I've been playing guitar & bass for over 20 years. I've owned a low-end Tascam analog 4 track in the past (remember cassettes?, lol). The BOSS BR-600 digital recorded blows it away, especially for the same cost. My, how technology has changed... for the better.

Instruments/gear: 4 string ESP LTD Bass guitar thru an Ampeg BA210SP Bass Amp (210W) Combo, Ibanez electric guitar w/ 2 double humbucker pick-ups thru a 65W Marshall amp. 6 string Ovation electric/acoustic guitar. 4 string Wasburn fretless bass.

PA gear: an 8 channel Peavey Powered Mixer/Amp XR(R) 8600, a pair of Peavey PV(R)215 Loudspeakers (700W @ 8 ohms/1400W @ 4 ohms). Shure mics.

If my BR-600 were ever lost or stolen, I'd probably upgraded to BR-1200 or BR-1600 simply because they have an 80 gig hard drive built-in, that's even cooler.

I really wish BOSS/ROLAND would have thought through the whole max 1 gig Flash Card thing. It should be able to accept 16 or 32 gig Compact Flash Cards from day one. Kinda limiting that way. It should also come with a DC adapter, that was a little sneaky, but for $330 CAD I consider it one of the best musical equipment purchases I've ever made.

Laying down & editing tracks has been easy from day one. Play back sound is killer, especially through an iPod.

If someone out there knows of any instructional videos or tip/tricks for the BOSS BR-600, please post them on YouTube. Thanks for reading my review, now get back to playing music, you slacker!

This unit is incredible for the price. I am using it live as a combination guitar processor/drum machine. Editing patches is a breeze, once you read the manual once and play with it for a couple of minutes. (This is not rocket science, people)

Sound quality is excellent; no noise at all. I am using a nylon string Takamine TH-5C with the CoolTube preamp, into an FRFR amp...
The effects are excellent; I only wish there were a spring reverb...
(but I have one in my LR Baggs amp)... I usually use from clean through blues/light crunch sounds, but the metals compare favorably with other units I've tried...

But a MAJOR feature for me is the Toneload, which allows me to import my own .wav percussion samples, and edit drum tracks on the computer using the downloadable editor. AFAIK the Zoom HD series is the only other Multi-track that allows this, and it is 'way bigger....:-)

I can get the BR-600 into the outside pocket of my guitar case, sling it over my shoulder, put a Roland Mobile Cube in the sportpack of my motorcycle, and I have a complete portable solution that can be battery powered and sounds great for small venues.

It is small, but if you take care of it, it seems substantial enough...

I've always have excellent response from Roland/Boss technical support via email or telephone.

I think the complaints about the old-style flash cards not being available are somewhat justified, but you can find them pretty easily on Amazon, EBay. Ritz camera also carries them...

The lack of storage may be a problem (its bigger brother, the BR-900CD lets you record to computer via the s/pdif). I would like to see an upgrade to version 2 of the BR-900, but I am very, very happy with the sounds and amp models as they are....

I can't buy the flashcards that are compatible with this machine. It renders this thing useless, because you can barely fit one song on it. Terrible planning from Roland, terrible.

Great, but storage capacity ruins the usefulness of the machine. When you run out of storage space, you cannot record anymore! Talk about Roland dangling a carrot! Upgrade the machine to use 4 and 8 gig compactflash cards!!!!

Rating reliability is moot if it is incapable of doing its job in the first place. The BR-600 is a waste of time and money.

Roland are terrible for customer service. What's worse is that Long and McQuade in Canada, where I bought this thing, doesn't even carry flashcards!...how stupid is that?

Lame...I was excited about this product until I tried to record one bloody song. Looking for these stupid flashcards should not be what I'm doing...I should be recording!!!!

No previous experience of recording but wanted something that I could use to record live gigs, a bit backing work and to help with a sound FX drama class.

Despite nearly going for Fostex due to other critiques, I found it very easy to use (decent recording to tracks within half an hour of reading the manual).

The manual is very helpful for those first time queries and once you understand the menu abbreviations you are away and running.

Easy and intuitive editing of effects fields such as reverb, chorus etc.

REALLY impressed with the two built-in mics. Used it on batteries to record a live gig and was really impressed by the sound quality. With no effects it really recreated the atmosphere and picked up fine detail that was lost on the night.

The built-in FX are very effective. I only really use the vocal effects although the guitar and line in effects are expansive. Vocal FX in real-time are amongst the best I've heard and are all editable.

I wouldn't recommend throwing it about but it comes with a bag to stop scratches etc. I carry it in an aluminium case so have no worries about that. I have no experience of the value wheel failing and hope that it doesn't turn out to have been "value quality"

No experience

Glad I didn't buy the Fostex. I went for this as it came wit hdrums on board and decent effects. Despite the view that the menu system is complex I think you'll find it intuitive and easy to understand first time as long as you have the manual to hand.

My 5 year old now knows how to record to a track - what more can I say.

Headphone output is good quality and volume - I also use this as a line out for a PA when listening back...

Really useful bit of kit for recording live or in the home studio - really helps with creativity.

Shame it doesn't ship with a PSU. Upgrade to a 1GB card was easy - stocked at Maplin - Type 1 CF Card - easy.

This is not the easiest thing for beginners however the guide is pretty good and you can be familiar with the thing after a week or so.
Would be much better if just more buttons installed, just to make easy to go through menus or adjust EQ or effects. Installed "value" rotary switch is not bad but if works, mine actually gave up after a month or so :-(
LED also could be twice bigger to display levels and time at the same time.

I thing record quality is very good , some effects are also cool and there are lot of them. Including voice effects and lo fi. Guitars various lead effects , acoustics simulation and few bass , with my favorite tube simulation. for sure in comparison to real amp sound rather can't compare but rel. to $that's OK.
Drum souds very good and there some good options too , what is very practical is software for patterns editing where you can much easily do the job. Also you can make you special drum sound if you want.

Here unfortunately I must complain, so after a month or so "value" rotary swittch gave up. Or actually it doesn;t fuction well so skip values down, this makes me really mad , I din't send it back casue I need it all the time , but here is big shame for "boss" to sell such a crap

I don't have much experience with recording both on PC and HW mixer, however I've been looking for simple&small thing in one piece to record demo's or ideas. The thing is very small so I used to program drum in a bed.
There are plenty of effects for GT or bass, mic are also nice maybe except when you want play at the same time GT and mic, than choices are very limited. B
Built in mic. are good enough to sing and record nice sound, however not for lound or live performance.
I wonder why it is not supply with AC/DC power (40$ plus) Don;t think you can survive on batteries it eats up in a 2 hours.
Memory cards are still avaliable and inexpencive I didn't have issue with that (remember to do a backup to PC)
Overall it is cool thing, especially for guy like me who play with a friend without drummer and want to record ideas or pre paths to jam along with it.

The main reason I'd recommend this product is if you're one of those guys who shaves his head and you're tired of spending money on razors. One week of trying to find, initialize and use the virtually obsolete memory cards that these things use will have you pulling out your hair. This is a great piece of equipment. The versatility and possibilities with it are amazing and almost limitless. However, it only takes 1 GB cards, which almost NO ONE carries. You can order them on line but, one wonders how long these things will be available. The Lexar flash cards (which the instructions say are compatible) that we bought didn't work. Not only that, it doesn't come with an AC adaptor so, that $400.00 or whatever you spend on the machine is just the beginning. Top it all off with the fact that Roland's customer service people are about as condescending as they come and it just make me wish I'd spent another $65 on something with Pro-Tools. Verdict: While I love Boss pedals, avoid this thing like a beating.

HOPE YOU LIKE MENUS AS THERE ARE ALOTTTTTTTTTTTT TO GO THRU BUT IT IS QUITE INTUITIVE (SORT OF) GETTING IT TO WORK FIRST TIME WAS EASY AND IT IS VERY QUICK TO SET UP AND PUT DOWN IDEAS WHICH IT EXCELS AT.WISH THE DISPLAY WAS BIGGER BUT FOR 300+ EUROS WHAT DO YOU EXPECT. YOU WILL USE THE MANUAL(ALL 226PAGES)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EVEN MORE THAN THIS AS THE OINION THAT IS THE BR600 HAS MANY LAYERS TO PEEL. THE MANUAL IS EXACTLY THE SIZE OF THE UNIT AND ALMOST AS THICK.

TAKES A LOT OF WORK TO GET A DECENT SOUND HAVEN'T GOT THERE YET AFTER A MONTH WITH IT BUT I AM CONFIDENT IT WILL DO THE BUSINESS YOU JUST HAVE TO LIVE WITH IT A LITTLE(WHOLE LOT OF TWEAKING GOIN ON)IT SEEMS TO BE LACKING IN THE MIDDLE TO HIGH FREQUENCY RANGE.WHY COULDN'T THE 8 FADERS DOUBLE AS AN EQUALIZER AS WELL (ONE FOR THE TECH HEADS IN BOSS) THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENT SOUNDS TO TWEAK IT TAKES TIME TO GET TO WHAT YOU WANT.THE COSM GUITAR AND DRUMS SOUNDS ARE GREAT. THE STEREO MIKES ON-BOARD ARE REALLY GOOD AND VERY USABLE AND SOUND REMARKABLY GOOD GREAT FOR RECORDING ACOUSTIC AND VOCALS.I THINK THE COMPRESSION OF THE SOUND IS QUITE HIGH AND THIS AFFECTS THE DYNAMICS AND HENCE THE LACK OF PUNCH IN THE SOUND.

I WOULN'T SAY "HERE CATCH" IF I WERE YOU
TREAT IT LIKE A LAPTOP DON'T DROP
HOPEFULLY THE SELECTOR WHEEL ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE UNIT WILL STAND THE TEST OF TIME AS YOU USE THIS A LOT.

WEBSITE IS GOOD YOU CAN DOWNLOAD DEMO'S AND THE MANUAL AND WORK SHOPS ETC BUT I HAVE NO EXPERIENCE WITH REPAIRS ETC AND HOPEFULLY WONT , MOST OF BOSS'S STUFF USUALLY LASTS.

I PLAY INDIE TO BLUES TO JAZZ WITH AN OCCASIONAL EXCURSION TO METAL
THE KEY THING ABOUT THIS LITTLE GEM IS ITS ACCESSIBILITY.YOU COULD WRITE THE GUTS OF A SONG IN AN HOUR WITH THIS MACHINE AND THATS IT MAIN PURPOSE FOR ME ITS GREAT AND I HAVE WROTE MORE IN A MONTH THAN IN THE LAST 6 WORKING WITH COMPUTER SOFTWARE (IT JUST TAKES TO LONG TO SET UP)SO I LOVE THIS MACHINE A LOT. THE ONLY BUMMER IS THE AVAILABILITY OF TYPE ONE COMPACT FLASH CARDS. WE'VE MOVED ON FROM THIS TYPE OF CARD FOR A YEAR OR TWO AS MOST CARDS ARE TYPE 2 WHICH ARE ABOVE THE 1GB MARK.LUCKILY I GOT 5 1GB CARDS ON http://www.expansys.ie/ FOR ABOUT 40 EURO SO THAT WAS GREAT BUT I THINK BOSS NEEDS TO POST (HELLO IS ANYBODY LISTENING) AN UPDATE SO HIGHER CAPACITY CARDS CAN BE USED AS THE OLD CARDS ARE HARD TO COME BY.I TRIED MOST SHOPS IN DUBLIN AND NO GO.

its fairly self explanatory. you just have to sit and **** with it for alittle bit. i bought a boss drum machine and the digital effects are kindof setup the same way so it made it alittle bit easier. as far as ease of use goes.... you can really spend alot of time tweeking effects and other fine details that you like. though i just like to plug in and record. theres a bit of learning curve which isn't always a bad thing. but i did have to look at the manual a bit. 9.0

bottom line --> you get what you pay for. the sound quality is decent, but unless your running through a bunch of pedals and already have an awesome tone before you plug in....the tone may be different. the sound quality from the unit itself Okay. You can make the sound quality alittle better by tweeking settings. its nothing too fabulous...but its good enough to use when you want to just get the rough version of whatever your doing. for sound quality overall i give it a 8 because for the most part the noise is fairly minimal. though its not "10 pristine" perfect...

I would say all Boss products are reliable based on my experience with them. the pedals being the toughest. but as long you don't drop the unit or spill anything on it, or do anything else to **** it up it should last you. i don't travel or take my recorder anywhere so that eliminates most of the wear and tear. i bought mine new and it came with a cool carrying pouch. but if i ever did take it anywhere i would definitely find a box with some kind of padding for it.

i've never dealt with them.

i still have some to learn with the BR-600 so it will take a little more time to know it inside and out. Overall, I'm really satisfied with buying it because its easy to use and I see my song writing skills getting better before i should need to buy something a little nicer.

My only real complaint about the product is the compact flash card. I bought a 1 gig card separately. I also bought the psa adapter separately too. so be prepared to shelf out some extra dollars if you want more recording space for the unit and a consistent power supply. The last recorder i had was a Fostex 4 track. the br-600 was about maybe $280 more but god it was so much ******* better.

if your looking for a top notch recorder look elsewhere and plan on spending more money. you have to consider all the extra gear you might need also like a mixer, compressor, equalizers and all kinds of expensive **** if you want to mix your sound as well as record it. you can't really do a whole lot of mixing with the br-600 settings. If your more of a minimalist like I am, then this unit might be it for you. my main thing is just plug in and record.

also i think if your resourceful enough you can push alot more worth out the br-600 than you might think. you just have to sit on it and think for a while to figure it out.

the boss 600 manual is difficult to understand for the novice recorder. its hard enough to understand for someone who has experience with recording. However, once one learns to use all the features , it's pretty neat.