Boss BR-8

Very easy to use, once you get used to where everything is. I've only used a few patches, but I really like the sounds it makes. I, too did the 250 meg zip drive upgrade, which turned out to be easier than I expected.

I am using a Park amp (cheap Marshall to practice) and I've hooked up to Mackie boards to record and play back, and pushed it through Crate full stack. No complaints about sound quality here. Go to www.myspace.com/striketherock to hear 3 demo songs I recorded.

I have used it to gig in and record practices.

Never dealt with them.

Great for the rock sound! I recorded speeches, worship practices and performances, and live concerts. Never had a problem.

When I first got home my friend and I recorded a song immediately, without having ever used a BR-8. We were excited about the results.

Fairly easy to use. I could think of better, easier options then what they gave, something like using the dial for the menus and not just for scrolling through patches. Overall pretty good usability for the simple stuff. Advanced stuff is a little confusing. For example, creating loops in your tracks is a litle confusing.

Finally, it isn't difficult to get a usable sound from the BR-8. It is, however, almost impossible to get a great sound and ever more more difficult to record a sound without tons of noise from the interference cause by the ZIP drive.

Sound quality is fair. Not the best. Guitar sound is really crappyy for making an album but decent enough to record crappy demos that no one will ever hear (I hope).

Back then using a computer for digital recording was much more expensive and much slower. That was 2000. As the years have progressed I have become more and more aware of how much the BR-8 sucks compared to using your own computer with a Pro Audio sound card.

I carried my BR-8 to live recordings and practice rooms all over my city. The amount of gear I recorded into the BR-8 is endless and would not fit on this page by any means. The BR-8 makes everything sound noisy and lackluster. Guitar sounds are only good if they are clean.

Very reliable unit, though I would never use it as a backup unless the record was something I intended for my ears only. I forgot about my BR-8 being on top of my car one weekend and as my car was in 3rd gear I saw the BR-8 fly off of my car and into the street. My disks were damaged but the BR-8 was still in one piece. The BR-8 would not power on when I got the unit home, but after I made one minor repair all was in working order and I have not had any problems since.

It's noisy but it works, ha.

Upgrade was simple. Boss had good support for the device, though I never had to call them for repairs (I do my own repairs, thank you)

I have recorded every style of music with the BR-8. Rap, Country, Jazz, Soft Rock, Bluegrass, Speed Metal, Thrash, Vocal, Acoustic Rock, Acoustic Folk, RnB, Electronica, DJ mixes, Live band mixes...

It's all rather noisy and the quality sounds very digitalized. It's like everything on the BR-8 has bit-reduction turned on. And the noise is awful and just brings the aliasing out even more.

The guitar patches suck really bad. Only the clean patches work well.

Got this about 6 Months ago..

Very easy to use and to get a good sound..
Editing patches are easy...
Very easy manual...
Firmware upto date...

I use Carvin TL60 and SC90s, Parker Nitefly, Yamaha Bass and AKG3000B Mic.

Sound quality is surprisingly good for a 6 year old machine (EBAY).. the bassist has one so it won over the competition. I use it for as a composition tool only, so Im not to worried about getting 24bit/192Khz sound out of it, and 20bit/41Khz is good enougth for me. Compression system is good and it takes 'keen ears'to hear any difference in playback quality compared to a commercial CD playback. Of course this won't replace my:

EMU(1820M)/ ECHO MIA/ GENESIS3/ BassPODXT/ Peavey PC1600X/ MidiMan x8/ PODXT Live /JoeMeek VC3/Boss VF1/Mackie 1402VLZ/Mackie HR624 / TC Electronics Finaliser PLUS/ VOX AC30TB/ AKG, RODE and Shure Mics/
P4@3.6GHz setup.

but it cost #150 (inc del), the other stuff cost me half my life.

Ive done THE mod on this.. It now has 250MB drive (EBAY) and now have 2hrs recording time. I transfer to PC using the digital cable cable but plan to get another 250 zipdrive.
Hasnt broken down yet...quality is ok. I wouldnt move it around a lot, its abit chunkier than the modern recorders.

There are three bad pionts: No Effect Loop, headphone amp could be better and Lack of drum programmability. Tempo editor is OK with the rythem guide but lacks any fills. I use a BOSS-770 (Ebay), as far as drum machines goes, this is the best I've ever used.

Dont know..I hope this never breaks down.
Boss products are aimed ENTRY TO INTERMEDIATE LEVEL players. Of course there are exceptions to this as some of there pedals are used by pros. This thing is good but there is better out there..BOSS 900CD for example.

Try them all out before you buy. This thing is getting old now.

There are bette machines out there.

I use this for Composition only and its great for that. If you want to produce music for release, then look elsewhere. This has a good sound but not a great one.

Once you read the manual and play with it for a while it's very easy to use.

Sound quality is excellent. There is a PC conversion program to transfer the Zip disk version to .wav format so you can use a software program to do advanced editing of your song.

I give it a 7 because there are known issues with the BR-8. It's called the IC-21 problem. Roland fixes this for free, however you pay the shipping. Apparently there are pins on the IC that did not get enough solder. Some people have fixed this on their own, others have sent it to Roland. Check out the BR-8 Yahoo group for more information. I'm the moderator there.

I haven't needed them but other people have contacted them with success.

I bought it new. They cost much less now.

Check out the BR-8 Yahoo group. We have lots of information there.

Very Easy to use - Parameters are layed out in a standard fashion - editing and mixing is easy - bounced tracks are clean - I record mostly vocals and have no problem layering vocals ect. - The only thing I have not been able to figure out is how to record the drum machine on to a track - if anyone knows how - Please email me

I am able to get a great clean sound for vocals - have recorded Some guitar direct - and used the bass effect to record baseline with guitar - clean & full sound - my instrument recording experience on the BR8 is limited, but the BR8 is the best unit I have been able to find for recording vocals.
Draw backs - When bouncing you must use the same effect for all channels - cannot use reveb on one channel and Chorus on another without bouncing twice
EQ - settings could be broken down even more to allow more flexibility

Unfortunately this unit tends to wear out - I am on my third one! - For no aparent reason, this unit will suddenly have difficulty powering up consistently or loading zip discs. I would never use it for live recording - I need a simple unit for recording vocals only -in my home studio - mostly for rehearsal and writing rough tracks - I don't need a CD burner ect. - and the BR8 is the best unit I have found - that's the only reason I continue to replace it.

My favorite feature is the marker & in out - allows for very quick editing

Least favorite feature - It can not handle frequent use for more than a year.

all the basic functions of this device are pretty simple & easy to learn

the sound quality all depends on what you are recording. if you use the COSM guitar sounds, you can get a decent sound for a digital recorder, but it's not so great for micing your amp, live drums, or vocals. i have found that it is also very difficult to blend vocals with music or live drums with COSM guitar sounds, yet the guitar sounds blend well when i use a drum machine.

if you would have asked me last week i would have said its great, but now i would tell you not to buy it... first the 2nd channel level knob stopped working normal for no reason... then one night i was listening to some music i had recorded and suddenly it kept stopping saying "ERROR: DRIVE BUSY!".. then all my zip disks started doing this, and it started interfering with recording... i used all precautions when this happenend, i made sure all my songs were optimized, but nothing helped, i think the zip drives only last for 3 or 4 years of often use then they just die... mine is almost dead, and i had some pretty important preproduction going on it, i'm not going to tell you what it was though

it will work good for 3 - 4 years, thats it, then it's useless and theres nothing you can do but replace the zip drive but i'd recommend a different unit, after all boss isn't the greatest company to ever make equipment... its ok, its not a good long term investment, it's not for professional recordings

its hard on some songs to get a good sound
i dont have a manual but i wish i new were to get 1
no i dont know the firmware number

no guitars r amps
on some efects its noisy/but they are some really good onces
no amp
the effects are all right/but not when u are tryin to import a song off of somthing to the br8
on the pappers it said that u can turn off the efects but the efects stay on no matter what
like if u are trying to record a song reagular with any efects it sonds like it is still on

i really cant depend on it that much
i would use it on a gig only if it was the only thing i good use but if there were simting else i good use i would use it

never dealt with the company
no

i am a producer/rap artist
if it got stolen i would buy somthing eles
i love the efects and sound quality
dont hate it i just think it could of been made better
i love the voice effects
i wish it had a cd player/cd burner so i could upload music that i already made for an example i add already made songs but i tyred to put it on the br8 by pluggin a cd player into the back of it.it works on most of my song but on some it fades out difernt parts of the songs like instramets that i had already put in the beat

i know u probly saying it is not for hip hop or pop or r&b but i think it should be made for every body in for there on use/it should be fitable for every 1 and every music still/every typ of music
and that way u could sell more because den every body would want one including artist for when they are on the road

It's simple and straight forward in the area of actually recording, though it takes a little bit of scrolling through the lcd screens to perform some system functions (like formatting the disk for example.)

over all the sound is clear, but if you crank the built on cosm distortion or the compression you will get a hiss like what I have experienced with every guitar I've put through it. I wouldn't buy this expecting to hear the tone of your dreams coming FROM the recorder itself. Its your basic digital distortion. Obviously, if you are micing a 5150 your tone is going to sound miles better than using a little software patch on an 8 track recorder. That being said, if you were micing a 5150, I feel it would faithfully replicate the sounds coming out of the amp if you knew what you were doing with the mics and the recorder, within reason of an 800 dollar list machine.

Mine has never given me problems, but I have heard all sorts of horror stories about it, so I will reserve judgement.

Haven't ever dealt with Roland or Boss, but as far as my initial concern regarding how to transfer the audio to my computer, I checked the website and immediately found a program to convert the files on the zip disk to .wav format, so I was pretty pleased with the services on their website.

Overall, I'm pretty glad to have it, though I wouldn't say it is worth the money because of the incredible limitations on the recording time. I enjoy working on it as a means to brainstorm and come up with new things because it is just as easy as hitting the record button. If you are an independant musician looking for something to store your random thoughts and short independant creations then this could be a cool, portable, easy to use tool. It is, however, sort of a poor substitute to the unlimited recording time and graphical layout of a computer based recording system likethe roland vm3100pro. That is the console that replaced the br8 as my main console, and it is undeniably a much more useful, professional, and powerful device, but it is less simplistic than the br8 and can get sort of annoying when all I want to do is lay down a 30 second rythm and lead to get an idea about how something on paper sounds due to the extra features. It just depends what you are looking for, and I suppose also whether or not you are willing to update the disk drive to the higher memory ZIP disks to increase recording time. That was really my main issue with it, so if you did that I'd say you would be pretty set.

its pretty easy to use read the instuctions like anything else

forgetta bout getting real drum tracks unless youve got 5000 in microphones ,but then if you had that what the hck would you be recording on a br-8 for? overall its not bad for a home unit

BIG PROBLEMS MINE BIT THE BIG ONE AFTER ABOUT 2 YRS I DID USE IT A LOT BUT DID NOT ABUSE IT THIS KIND OF MADE ME VERY SCEPTICAL ABOUT FREESTANDING UNITS LIKE THIS,I DOUBT ILL EVEN BE ABLE TO EVER GET IT WORKING AGAIN AND I LOST ALL OF MY MATERIAL IT S DATED TECH IF ANYONES LISTENING DONT BUY THESE PRODUCTS THERE BOUND TO BURN OUT WITHIN A FEW YEARS GO PRO TOOLS OR TAPE OR RADAR OR QUIT THIS BR-8 MADE ME WANT TO DO ALL OF THAT BOSS AND ROLAND ARE HORRIBLE AND SUCK.

THE WORST IN THE WORLD IF ITS BROKE THEY CANT FIX ITS TOTTALLY WORTHLESS

I don't think it could be much easier then plug and record, really a no brainer here for anyone with even basic knowldge of digital recorders or tape for that matter.

If you learn, and I mean learn how to use it, the up and downs of the machine it can be a great tool in any recording process, from to demo's to full on finished album quailty stuff ready for CD (a little help from a computer of course) You gotta upgrade to a 250mb zip to get the most of this beatuy. To get the best sound you have to learn what to do for each instrument. I always run everything into a mixer and then into the L+R in. Electric Guitar I usually run a direct line out from my amp(don't use the built in distortian way way to digital sounding) and use a cab emulatior, if you mess around long enough you can find your sound, also i mic the cab of the amp i use for a full rich sound. Bass I usually struggle to get a good sound that wont clip, i usually get a good overall tone if you D.I. in form the bass head, most bass heads have a D.I. Drums is where this thing really amazes me, first of all when you record drums for god sake if your skins are old and tape'd thats what there gonna sound like on the recording, you have to make sure everything is in the best shape it can be before you hit the red button, also mic placement is key here, i've done better band recordings on this thing then some studios that charge $60-$70 an hour. Just do your research on how to do recordings i've learned how to use this and I love it, I won't pay a studio for something I can do with my BR-8 and Pro-Tools free(i use that to master, you can use the BR8 but it works way better when you use a Software application like that) just figure out how it works.

had it for over 4 years and I use it 4 or 5 times a week never has it ever crapped out on me. The only things is the guitar/bass input is starting to wear and short, but with as much plug un-plug on it I do I can't complain, I bought it used so who knows what the previous onwer did to it.

N/A

Like I said before I done some great stuff with this, it just takes time to learn how to get the best out of it. I have it hooked up to a mixer at where my band plays, One guitar in left other in right bass mono and drums in stereo vocals and I get some wonderful takes, it's a great tool I would get one if I saw it and did'nt have one, if it got stolen i rip out the perp's heart eat it and take my BR8 back!