Boss BR-600

The BR600 is my first ever recording unit. I play guitar and always wanted something to put my ideas down. I've read a lot of reviews where people complain about the manuel or say steps are missing in manuels so I was concerned I would be lost. However I found the BR600 manuel to be excellent. So my recommendation is to READ THE MANUEL. Yea it's as big as my bible but it has to be since the BR600 does sooooooooo much. The small screen is not a problem as everything is logically set up. I've used it about 30 hours the last 3 days and already am doing things without the manuel. I will admit the amount of stuff this thing does is daunting and it will probably take me a month to actually get to know every aspect of this recorder but that's why I bought it. It's simple enough to lay down a few tracks but complex enough to really get a quality recording done. Bouncing is easy if you make sure and read the manuel completely on how to do it. I had a heck of a time figuring out how to bounce from 7/8 to the other tracks but once I read the manuel it was easy so in reality you have unlimited tracks available. The drum patters look extreemly complex to cut and paste into a song and I have not done it yet but the manuel shows how to do it step for step so when I'm ready for that I'm sure it will be fine. Lastly I wish they would have put a pop-up screen on this thing just for ease of viewing the info.

As mentioned by others the stereo mic's are absolutely awesome. You will have no problem recording an acoustic with other noises in the room. I was flipping around the vocal patches tonight and was completely floored at what sounds can be made just by saying testing 1..2..3..
I was wayyy leary that the COSM guitar effects, and wondered if they would be sad but to my amazement they are quality effects and every aspect is tweakable. To me it's like having 50 Boss pedals that will record in perfect stereo. The Bass simulator is a GOD send. My only problem is I have to pick the guitar like a bass to make it sound right which is fine, I just have to remember. I believe again it will take me months to really mess with all the guitar effects and get my sound down. The acoustic simulator is ok. A few sounds are outstanding and a few not so much. I recommend using your own and adding the effects in post recording. I have a feeling I will be constantly suprised by what sounds I can generate.
I've not yet used the mastering toolkit but looking through the options there are ways to master the sounds I've never heard of so there is a learning curve on my part. One note of concern is make sure you do what the manuel says and boost the master volume as loud as it can go without distortion in the music. I recorded a song without doing that and it was way to low volume.. However I boosted it the next time and it was inline with the other MP3's on my computer. Also make sure your headphones have a volume control built in because you have to turn the master way up which makes the sound in the headphones really really loud.

To me it seems a little easy to break?? The sliders are really light feeling. The recorder seems feather light. I think you will really have to take care of this and not bang it around. The carrying case is really plush so I recommend putting it in there when not in use.

Purchased from American Music Supply on the payment plan. I can say they shipped it same day and were very helpfull with the online chat they have on their website. As for Boss/Rolland who knows

Maybe I'm excited easliy but for me this thing is a steal at $349. I am now a one man band which is cool. I purchased the Boss PSA power adapter and recommend to everyone the get one also. You will just burn batteries if you don't. Also the Compact Flash card only holds about 3 songs in HiFi mode so get the 1GB card as well. I ran out of space in the first day. The USB transfer to computer is way easy.. Again read the manuel it's in there. If you've never had a digital recorder you will not be disapointed with this unit.

It took me about 2 hours before I was able to record some guitar and add some drums to it ... pretty good hein ? !!!

Very good sound ! The drums patern and arrangements are good and you can choose from 9 drums kits ... heavy , 808, dance, hip hop, standard .... and more ! I hooked it up into my line input of my laptop and I use me computer speaker to play it ... souds great !

With the internal compact flash card , you easily transfer it into your computer or you can use the usb cable (not include) to transfer your song ... so you can easily keep them "safely" into your computer ...

I like add guitar on some electro beat ... exactly what i needed ! Its also pretty good to practice some tough riffs, it can slow it down for you ... With almost all of the Boss guitar effects , you can play the way you want it to sounds . It's my first digital recorder but , for sure , it a great gear ! You can easily capture the moment of inspiration with the press of one button ! ( sorry for the quality of my english ... I use to speak fench ... ! )

My rating in this category might be a little predjudiced since I have been using Boss BR recorders for several years now, and I can run them with my eyes closed. This recorder is set up exactly like the other BR series recorders, so it was a snap for me to get up and running right out of the box. However, BR recorders are very well known for having perhaps the most intuitive user interfaces of ANY digital recorders on the market, so even without the extensive knowledge of BR recorders that I have, anyone with any sort of experience running a multi-track recorder (either digital or analog) should have very little difficulty getting off the ground with this unit. I have tried all sorts of recording options, both stand alone DAWs like this one and computer based recording set ups. I keep coming back to the stand alone DAWs for several reasons. First and foremost, the stand alone recorders still have old fashioned knobs and faders which I find absolutely critical to the recording experience. I know that full size desk interfaces are available these days for the computer recording software, but they certainly aren't cheap, and any of the boards that are truly helpful are almost as much as a stand alone DAW. If you are operating without one of these boards, trying to push virtual faders and turn virtual knobs all with a mouse is enough to drive anyone up a wall. Second, the DAWs are portable and truly have nearly all of the editing and processing functions that are available in their software counterparts...at least on the basic end of things, which is where I tend to hang out. Hauling around a computer to band practices in order to record performances isn't the most practical thing to do...whereas a stand alone DAW (especially this one) packs up and travels very easily. Third, and this is my biggest reason for preferring stand alone DAWs to computer software, is that the tendency to go overboard with the number of tracks and the amount of processing on any given song is just way too much with the computer based recording programs out there. For me, unless I am recording in a full blown studio with a COMPETENT engineer that knows his way around Pro Tools and won't waste my time (and more importantly, my money) fumbling through hundreds of menus and submenus to find the plug in that will allow him to do what I can do with the simple turn of a knob or movement of a fader...well, you get the point. I know that computer based recording has changed the whole face of the industry, but I prefer to save that stuff for someone else. DAWs can and will produce mastered tunes that are every bit as good as the best home recording programs out there, and this little Boss unit is amazing when you consider that it packs the best stuff from its bigger brother in the BR series into a small, ultra portable, ultra convenient package. My last CD was produced from top to bottom on a Boss BR-1180CD, and without exception, everyone who has listened to it has thought that it was prodouced in a multi-million dollar recording studio. Although I have a TON of experience producing multi-track recordings, a lot of the credit for the sound of my last CD has to go to the machine. It is amazing how quickly and easily you can track and master an amazing recording, and it blows my mind how Boss was able to take all of that capability and stuff it into this tiny little eight track studio.

Sound quality...that's a bit of a different story. Let me start off by saying that if you are using outboard gear (like my PODXT Live or my Digitech GNX3000) for your guitar sounds, you will be just fine. This recorder is VERY transparent. I track directly to the hard disc with my effects as part of the recorded signal, and I spend more time up front developing my sounds for a song rather than recording dry and filling in the colors later. For me, this unit works wonders because of the way I record. However, if you were to rely on the guitar effects that are actually present in the Boss BR600, I think you would be disappointed. First off, I have a pretty substantial guitar collection (three Strats, two Les Pauls, a Tele, two PRSs, a Parker P36, a Variax, four acoustics, and a Fender P-Bass), and I have noticed that if you dial in a decent sound on the BR600 for one guitar, it will almost always sound like garbage for any of the other guitars. I don't know what causes this. Obvioulsy, when I dial in sound on my Digitech or Line 6 gear for one particular guitar, the patch may or may not have some relevance when you plug another axe into it, but it doesn't normally sound absolutely terrible. Not so with the Boss guitar effects in this unit. They aren't great to begin with, but you literally have to stick with whatever guitar you used to create the patch you are using. Even if I go from one Les Paul to the other, the patch just doesn't hold water. I don't imagine that I will ever use the internal guitar effects on this until for ANYTHING other than practicing (and the unit does come in handy for late night sessions where you want to play without waking up the rest of the family...and since it is first and foremost a multi-track recorder, once you are plugged in and jamming, you never have to lose another musical idea). Like I said, if you are running outboard effects in front of this recorder, you will be very happy with the sound...it captures every nuance perfectly. I don't mic amps all that much anymore since I started using Line 6 gear, but even when I did mic up my amp and try it out just to see what it sounded like, I was VERY impressed...not only when I used my own mics, but when I used the mics that are built into this unit. I didn't expect much from a couple tiny condenser mics built into a recording unit that is less than an inch thick (and I have mics that cost more than this entire recorder, so I really wasn't expecting these built in jobs to be anything worth using), but I was absolutely SHOCKED by how good they sound. I would never choose them over any of the mics in my collection, but for convenience, they can't be beat. In fact, I have captured some absolutely amazing acoustic performances using only the condensers built into this deck. One thing that would have been nice would have been a phantom powered XLR input, but considering the size and the dimensions of this recorder, it would have been impossible. Boss was cool enough to include a cable to convert from XLR to 1/4" so you don't have to go out and buy one in order to use your own mics.

As for other effects, the bass simulator isn't too bad, the acoustic simulator seems decent, and the chorus, delay, and reverb insert effects are awesome. My only complaint if that the chorus, delay, and doubler effect are on one knob...in other words, you have to pick just ONE of those effects and stick with it...you can't have chorus if you are running delay, and vice versa. That can be a real pain at times.

It seems dependable enough, but I haven't subjected it to anything rough yet.

I've never dealt with them.

If you are looking for a portable recording solution, I can't imagine anything more suited than this. I have been using it not only to record live performances using the built in condenser mics (and I have produced very musical, very listenable CDs from these recordings), but I have also been using it for preproduction for my new album. Although I will be recording the new album on a Boss BR1600, I don't see any reason why you couldn't record a whole album on this unit. It has the EXACT same recording and mastering algorithms that you will find in the bigger Boss units. The only limitation for me with regard to the BR600 is the lack of phantom power...I wouldn't be able to use any of my high-end studio mics with this recorder unless I had outboard power. So, although I could produce the guitar, bass, and drum tracks on this unit, I would have to transfer the music mix to the bigger unit in order to lay down the vocals and master the recording for the CD. The USB port on this unit, however, makes transferring songs very easy. You can go right from the BR600 to a .wav file on your PC or a .aiff file on your Mac, and burn a CD from there, so this thing really is flexible. I have developed a tendency of taking this thing with me everywhere I go. You never know when inspiration will strike, and since this thing runs on batteries and has two great built in mics, I can literally come up with a new riff, fire up the unit and have it recorded in about two minutes. This thing is invaluable for laying down riffs so you don't forget them. Since buying this thing, I have a library of about 200 riffs that I can sift through at my leisure when its time for the next album. I never realized how many riffs I wrote and then subsequently forgot until I bought this thing. Like I said, I've got 200 riffs and counting, and that's just in the few months since I picked this up.

This thing is the most perfect "notebook" studio I can imagine. Using it just for capturing ideas and live performances like I'm doing, I just can't imagine it getting any better than this. Like I said, I am convinced that you could use this unit to create a full blown CD if you had outboard power for your mics...again, it contains the EXACT same recording and mastering capabilities of the bigger Boss units. This is easliy the most valuable piece of songwriting technology that I own.

good sound quality so far. (only had the unit 2 days). actually using the unit for all its features lookes pretty complicated but once learnt it should be easy to use. as for the manual. its pretty darned big. everything covered in it though but seems a bit wordy. about 150 pages.

been using mics infront of the amp to get the sound so far but will try the onboard mics next as they are apparently very good. as for effects it has alot including a kinda amp moddeling function. havnt really tried the effects yet but the ones that i have used are very good with changable paramaters.

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only real concerns with the unit as with other boss equipment is the lack of required accessories that come with the kit.usb cable to connect with computer, not provided. powerpack neccesary for actually turning the unit on, not provided, however they do give you batteries which apparently last for 10-12 hours. other than that pretty good.

I have only had this a few days . did a minimul scan of the manual to
figure out how to record over "Lydia" The supplied demo (Nice)
and recorded one of my songs using the two onboard condensor mikes.
These mikes are pretty good .I was impressed with th e quality
of the audio . So i tried to upload the song to my desktop and found
I needed a different type of usb cable ..also the manuel says
one must have windows me 2000 or xp to use this.
i have win98..F__@k ..always somthing. I was able to dump the song
using the stereo phono outs on the unit into cakewalk and than made a wav out of it. sounded actually really good.
so overall i am impressed with this unit all i need is a usb cable
and win2000. But until than i can use like this so it is versatile.

i used a taylor acoustic and my own vocal .I was about 18 inches to 2 feet from the onboard condensors ..Sound quality was excellent

too soon to tell

doubt they would be any better or worse than any other big corp.

mostly acoustic blues bluegrass folky sort of stuff.bass guitar mando.
400 is pretty steep ..if it was stolen a'd replace it if covered by ins.
Helps me make music. but there is a big learning curve if you havn't done this digital recording thing before.Manual is a novel.
but it tends to jump around alot. there should be a better
quick start section.

I've used other Boss BR-series recorders, and this one is as easy (or difficult) to use as any of them. It's fairly intuitive, but you'll need the manual--which is thorough enough and typical for Boss products.

So far I have only done a few "live" recordings at band practice, which is the main purpose for which I bought this particular recorder. The onboard stereo mics are quite good, and it was easy enough to set up and record.

The only real issue I have with it is the display. I wish it were a little bigger and could display more than two lines and 15 characters of information. Due to these limitations, you tend to do a lot of scrolling and some rather cryptic abbreviations are used. For someone who is new to recording with a digital multitrack, the learning curve is pretty high and this display won't help lessen it much. For this reason, and the fact that many of the buttons are multi-function, I'm giving this category a 7.

I've only had the unit a few days, so my experience is limited to some live recording as mentioned above, and auditioning some of the onboard guitar patches into a pair of inexpensive Sony headphones. The patches sound pretty good and are typical of what you would expect from Boss. I also tried my iPod through the aux input so that I could play along with it. Sound through the headphones was fine. I have not had a chance to run the unit through a set of monitors yet.

The recording quality with the onboard mics was excellent with no added noise that I could detect. Even in a crowded rehearsal studio with the unit not placed in an optimal location, it managed to pick up all instruments and vocals with exceptional clarity and full dynamic range. No distortion if you set the mic input and recording levels properly. I have not tried connecting external mics yet.

Too soon to tell how it will hold up, but I've owned many Boss products over the years and their reliability in general is excellent. I will baby this unit, though, because it is rather small and light and almost entirely made of plastic. All of the knobs are recessed, so the likelihood of breaking one off is pretty small.

It does come with a case, which is really more like a slipcover with a velcro flap. This should be fine to keep the dust and dirt out of the unit, but you will want to find a heavy-duty bag or hard case to carry it around in. I am witholding my rating for this category until I've owned it for a year or so.

I have never had to deal with Roland/Boss for technical or service issues, so I cannot comment on this area. I have contacted them once or twice for general questions and to order extra parts for a BCB-60 pedal case I used to own. I found them to be quick and courteous.

Overall, I'm impressed with the array of features that the BR-600 has packed into a slim, lightweight form factor. I plan to use this unit both as a late-night practice tool as well as for recording (I sold my Korg Pandora when I bought the BR-600). I like the fact that you can submix the auxiliary input with the line out, and monitor this mix at the headphone jack. This allows me to connect my iPod, plug in my guitar, select a patch and play along with whatever song I'm trying to learn--whether or not I want to record it.

I've been playing guitar for over 25 years. I'm mainly a rock and blues player who grew up listening to Clapton, The Beatles, Who, Zeppelin, Skynyrd, Santana, etc. I could list my gear, but really, who gives a rat's ass? I considered similar units by Korg, Fostex and other Boss models, but I wanted something relatively inexpensive and portable. And I've owned many Boss products over the years with no issues. I also like the simple, intuitive layout of the BR-600.

One gripe I have--Boss got cheap on us and did not include a power supply (even though the manual at one point implies that one was included). You will need to purchase a 9V regulated power supply like the PSA-120, so add about $15 to your purchase price (uless you want to keep feeding six AA batteries into it once the included ones are spent, and then the sky's the limit). I happened to have a Visual Sound OneSpot adapter lying around and I have been using that with the unit. Works fine, lasts a long time.

I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better unit for the price, one that offers the same features, sound quality and ease of use. If I had to replace it, I'd buy another one if there wasn't something else out newer and better out there.