Boss BR-8

Extremely easy to use. The COSM amp pre-sets are so good that you don't have to use any other effects and definitely don't need to set up an amp and mic it. The on board effects work better, and what could be easier than plugging a guitar cord into the unit? You can also record tracks dry and experiment with different effects patches later. The voice effects are damn good. I'm not a strong singer, and I've always been self-conscious about my voice. But the effect on board make even me sound great! I like the Enhancer 1 and 2 effects the best. Everything else on the BR-8 works as easily as Boss advertises. No patch bays, busses to assign, etc. Just set your input clip, adjust the input level, pick a patch, and hit record. It is that easy. I sold my Roland VS-880EX and bought the BR-8. I can't appreciate any sound quality difference at all, and the BR-8 is ridiculously easy to use, yet sounds like you've recorded in a state of the art studio. I'm just a hobbyist, not a pro, but I swear to you that I am getting pro quality recordings out of this baby! It is the best deal going if you want cheap digital that you don't need an engineering degree to learn how to operate. The folks at Boss put a ton of thought into this product, and it really shows. This unit is great for the hobbyist who wants everything in one easy to use self-contained unit. Pros will love it too, because you certainly aren't compromising on sound quality.

Unbelieveable sound quality. The built in effects are worth the price of the unit alone. Add to that 8 tracks of digital recording, and this is one exceptional little unit. All I do to get good sound is run a guitar line or mic line in, pick an effect, set levels, and record. I run the digital optical cable out the BR-8 directly into the digital in on my Philips CD-R burner and I am recording first generation digital directly to a CD!!! I burned my first CD with 10 songs in less than an hour. The CD sounds like I bought it at a record store...it is that good. Talk about easy CD burning...that digital optical out is unbelieveable. You are NOT limited to a Mini-Disk either. I've burned maybe 20 CD's now and they are all perfect. The Philips CD writer is also a cool little unit and it allows you to dupe other CD's or burn them from an external device. Mine cost $350 at Best Buy. Such a deal!

I've had it for about 3 months. I've recorded about 20 finished songs on it without a single problem. I haven't (and will never) take it on the road, so I can't comment on how rugged it is. But, I can say this, you have an entire studio (effects, mixer, patchbay, etc.) in one well-laid out small unit. What else could you ask for?

I haven't had to use it, so I can't comment.

I play pretty simple stuff, mainly blues like SRV, Hendrix, etc. I've recorded some keyboards on the unit, and they sound superb. Also, I have used my old Roland SD-35 sequencer to transfer some 50 or so old MIDI files that I have sequenced over the years. Syncing up to the BR-8's midi clock so that I could record each MIDI channel to a separate track was super easy and worked flawlessly the first time. Man was it ever cool to take stereo drum tracks, a bass track, keys, etc. and record them to zip disks on their own separate tracks. Now to record new versions of my old sequences, all I do is lay down new guitar and vocal tracks and I'm done. Then I mix the songs down directly to a CD-R using the optical cable out into my Philips CD burner. I can play the CD's in my car, my stereo at home, my office stereo or where ever! This unit is simply amazing! The hype is all true. The only criticism that I have is the phrase trainer is a bit cheesy. My Ibanez Rock & Play (10 years old now) works twice as good. Other than that, I have no complaints whatsoever. I had the Roland VS-880EX, and I ditched it for the BR-8. I can't discern any sound quality difference, and I can actually operate the BR-8. The VS-880 was a real bitch to operate with a steep learning curve. You don't even need to look at the manual to use the BR-8!

This is a piece of cake even if you've never used a casette-based recorder before and the manual is easy to find your way around.
There are a few annoying quirks though which you have to get used to.
e.g. the FX default to ON every time you plug in.

generally pretty good, miles better than my old Yamaha 4-track though you do get quite a bit of white noise from a lot of the FX patches.
It's not studio standard but not bad.
The mic patches can be quite noisy and a lot of them are very gimmicky. Once you've found a half decent one to suit you, I can't imagine bothering with any others (unless you're doing a sound track for a shoestring budget Sci-Fi movie)

it's never conked out in the year I've had it.

never used

Here's the problem - the total recording time is 49 minutes per 100mb Zip disc. Fine if you're doing a 3 and a half minute pop song and nail everything on the first take.
However, when you record something then delete it, you don't get all the used time back. So if like me, you make mistakes, you can suddenly find yourself running out of recording time.
Fine if you use drum machines/sequencers but for mere mortals with twitchy fingers and tempermental vocal chords, its a real problem.
If anyone's got any solutions to this I'd love to know what they are.

The ease of use and sound quality out of this recorder are fantastic. Very logical menu setup, effects are straight-forward and fairly easy to edit (could use a little easier user interface though). Recording/bouncing/mixing are MUCH more intuitive than any tape machine you're likely to come across - especially in this price range. The manual is very comprehensive, but not entirely necessary to get started. However, going through the manual - in detail - will get you into several areas of enhanced capabilities than what is readily apparent by just going through the menu icons.

The sound quality is clean and professional sounding - somewhat startling given the relatively low-price of the unit. I plug my Les Paul Studio straight into it and use the built-in amp-modeling and effects. One of the main reasons I bought the BR-8 was to have something I could plug straight into, and not have to bother setting up amps, preamps, and microphones. I had been using a four-track tape and used my Zoom 505 for some basic effects, but the ones built-in to the Boss are far superior, and simpler to use too. It won't be mistaken for 64 track studio work, but it's a HUGE jump from 4-track tape - and not much more expensive than it either.

So far, so good. Seems well built and of high quality.

Great website, had all of the features accurately described in detail. Was very helpful in my pre-purchase info gathering. Have not needed any post-purchase customer support as the ease of use has been great - I really haven't had any questions I couldn't figure out with the manual and doing a little "tweaking".

I play rock, blues and acoustic. Main instrument is guitar so the features included with this model are well-suited to me. I think it can suit any musician though, really - I've recorded some real cheap keyboards with it, applied some phase shifter effects and they sounded great! Vocalists will be pleasantly surprised at the warmness of tone they can get out of even cheap mics. I've been recording on 4-tracks for about 15 years and this thing beats them hands-down and "goin' away". I love having the ability to plug directly into it and start writing/composing at a moment's notice. Getting an idea down, WITH Rhythm, WITH effects, and WITH the ability to copy/cut/paste all over the song was never faster nor easier for me. You just can't compare it to a tape machine - they aren't anywhere near as capable. If it were lost or stolen, I'd buy another in a heartbeat. Besides having onboard effects, I love having faders for all 8 tracks (no bussing - all individual faders), the extra 8 "virtual" tracks per track, the built-in rhythm machine, and having a removable media storage device. At first, I thought the 100MB ZIP disks would be too small with only 50 total tack minutes per, but by using a lot of "looping" techniques - it not only frees up a tremendous amount of storage space on the disks, it makes my recordings much better. Get one "good" lick down, and I can loop it to my heart's content all over the song and never have to worry about "punch-ins" and also never have to use any additional disk space. In reality, you can probably get closer to 90 total track minutes if you use the copy/paste looping techniques efficiently. It's also a fun way to "chop up" and rearrange your songs in ways you might never had thought of before! I compared the BR-8 to the Fostex VF-08 (not having a removable storage device scared me away from that one) and the Roland VS-840GX (no rhythm machine turned me off to that one). If I could change one thing about it, I't give it the ability to record more than two inputs/tracks simultaneously. I'd prefer having all 8, but would settle for four (this really is a PERSONAL recorder - not a BAND recorder). This is the machine's only weakness in my opinion. I think it's still the best value for the money compared to all the others, though.

I don't think you could buy an easier to use digital recorder. I litteraly had recorded a 6 track "scratch" song in less than an hour after opening the box. This has been easier to use than analog 4 track machines that I have used in the past. The manual is fairly well written and covers in detail most of the procedures that you can use with this recorder. Also comes with a video which is a little helpful. This machine is truly "plug and play".

The sound quality is actually better than expected. I heard lots of rumors about Roland's sound compression scheme and wasn't sure what effect it would have. I am simply amazed at how professional sounding the end product can be. I had recorded with analog/tape equipment for years and could never come close to this quality. Don't get me wrong, this won't compete with a 2" tape deck going at 30 IPS, but in this price range, it's all I ever hoped for. The effects are more usable than expected. Most of the guitar and bass effect are usuable depending on you application. The vocal effects seem to be split between usefull and "look at what I can do" type effects. I did not expect the effects to be this functional. I had assumed that I would always be micing my guitar to get a good sound, but was pleasently suprised that the internal effects are highly usable.

Seems very reliable. ZIP drive is the only thing that I could imagine going bad, but I haven't had any problems with this or any Boss items I have owned. I give it a 9 because their is a lot of platic, but once again, what do you expect in this price range.

Never dealt with.

I play many styles of music: blues, rock, classical guitar, jazz and this has been a perfect match for me. It is so easy to use and really lets you capture ideas without the hassle of worrying about setting up tons of equipment. It's not for everyone and does have limitations(Limited recording time, limited inputs)but this works great for my use. If you primarily record either just yourself or just occasionally whole bands, this machine is great. I am having more fun making music than ever.

Very easy to use. I have not looked at the manual yet and I'm preparing to mix my first song with some onboard reverb and a little bit of delay. Very logical setup.

Had it for two weeks now but it really sounds amazing. Most sounds modeled with COSM technology are usable, but some of them are very sweet (twin2, jc120). Some patches work better with humbuckers and others with single coil pickups, especially the acoustic guitar simulations. Different settings of reverb, delay and chorus are very easy to tweek. Can't wait to mike my stock Princeton (original Jensen Alnico speakers).

I sure hope it will still be alive in two or three years from now.

Good for any kind of music (rythm guide provided for just about any style and more). I jumped from Tascam 424 mkII to BR-8. Giant leap. Day and night. So much more creative possibilities (DIGITAL EDITING! yes). Onboard amp modeling and effects. Now can I get rid of the old junk?

Very easy to use. You can just about plug in and go. You'll need to look at the manual to adjust EQ,reverb,etc. parameters per track, but it just about walks you thru it by itself. Very cool. I was able to figure it out within an hour at MARS. The manual is very good.

The recording sound quality is wonderful. What you put in, is exactly what comes back out. I've waited years for that moment. My Mex.Strat w/Texas special pickups doesnt seem to do high gain sounds very well thru the COSM guitar processor. Only one or 2 of them really wail. The demo at the BOSS site shows a guy with humbuckers wailing away, so maybe thats it. Although I dont have this problem thur my amps(?)But I didnt buy it for guitar effects anyway! I bought it with every intention of micing my amp. Used this way, its awsome.
There is no noise from the unit. The reverb choices are Hall & Room. But you can set the pre-delay the reverb and Eq it too. Over all, very usable. I thought the unit sounded 1000X better thru speakers than headphones. Maybe its just me.
The built in drums are ok. They dont eat up a track either! Its somehow saved internally with the song. They are electronic sounding drums, think Yamaha RX series from 1985, but with reverb, they sound alright...do-able at least. And you can control the reverb send to the drums too. You're supposed to be able to sync these drums up via midi to external devices, though I've never delved that far. Pre-amps are very quite too. I dont have a bass guitar yet, but one of the settings thru the COSM amps is bass symulator. I have size 11 strings on my strat, and by god, with a pick and a palm mute, I'm not doing too bad!

Had it for about 1 year. No problems yet

never had to deal with them

I play just about anything, from RAP, to Queen, ThinLizzy, Blues, whatever since I was 13. I'm 35 now. I've had several 4track cassette decks in my time and I've waited a LONG time for this to come and it was worth the wait. Its only got 2 inputs, so if you even think you might ever need more than that, consider its bigger brother in the Roland series. Its never been a problem for me, but I do have to get creative when I use my Dr.Groove rhythm box in stereo. You get 6 min of recording time with the zips. Of course the more overdubs and tracks, the less you get. I imagine you could bounce tracks and overdub your ass off and still have 3 min.

Damn easy to use, although Zip disks can be kinda expensive ($100 for a 10 pack of 100MB Zip Disks).

Fucking amazing preset sounds. This thing was obviously created for Rock and Metal players. Preset sounds kick ass, I can't stress this enough. However, once you start to straw away from the presets and start tweaking with them, the tone doesn't sound as good as it used to. And it almost seems like when you tweak with the preset sounds, there is a negligable difference in the tone anyway. Easily a 10 for presets, 8 for original tweaked sounds.

You just can't say "It's a Boss" about the BR-8 and give some story about how your uncle, a nuclear scientist, dropped a 100-megaton h-bomb on it, cuz it's not a stompbox, it's a digital recorder and it's made of plastic, not metal. But them again, it stays in my basement and doesn't live in the mosh pit.

Never dealt.

I play metal and it kicks ass for this.

This is a very user friendly machine, probably one of the easiest on the market. The manual is straightforward but this machine has problems.I'm taking mine back today.

I was using an acoustic electric but as soon as I play some chords this thing hisses worse than a sick cat coughing up a furball. I tried bypassing my guitars effects/pickup thinking it might be the problem, so I recorded with an external microphone and I heard that same terrible hiss. I've recorded on cassete players that sound better than this thing.

Don't know/Don't care

Sucks, call them and you'll see what I mean, the nerd with pimples who works at radio shack knows more than these assholes

I would say its fairly easy to use. Boss advertised
that you can immediately start using it without
even touching the manual which for the most part
is true. I'm not a real gearhead however which
is why I thought it would be a good fit. The one
thing I REALLY liked about it was that you didnt
have to mess with tape cue controls like on my
tascam 424MKII. It will however take a while
to learn about its full capabilities.

The first night I got it I just started messing with
the amp simulations (more on that later). When I began
to record the next day I laid down two tracks of
acoustic guitar. I immediately played them back, panned
left and right and was a little stunned by the crisp
sound quality. I have only had it for a week or two but
have been really happy with the recording quality. My one
gripe is the quality of the electric guitar amp models.
I felt that the clean and less traditional effect programs
sounded fine however the simulations for the more rock and
roll amp sounds (Marshall, Fender etc) are not very
realistic sounding. I am however using a p-90 equipped
guitar thru a Marshall so perhaps my sound is more
suited for traditional miking. Also, I found that the
selection of line and vocal effects to be pretty good.

It seems very reliable, the only thing that possibly
could break down is the zip drive however I am told
that its a fairly easy replacement.

Not applicable really as I have never had a problem
with boss products.

I play hard rock and alternative (AC-DC, Weezer, Ramones etc).
Having owned Boss DR-660 and 770 drum machines I've been
very happy with Boss products. Overall I think this unit
is one of the best deals out there right now. It cost me
$650 new, which I felt was very fair as I've seen them
regularly sell on ebay in the upper 500's. Because I sold
my four track, the cost to upgrade was very reasonable.
For the amount of recording I do, the zip 100's are not a
problem for me. If you are in a band, you may want to
research your need for how many tracks you need to
record on at the same time (this allows two). Otherwise
its great. Even though I wasnt crazy about the amp
models I'm giving it a 10 because it is a well designed
product that really meets my needs.

I must be dumb... I had to actually read the manual before I could really run with the more complex effects and features; but they all work, and the buttons don't have names like 'EFCT' or 'MSTR' for which I am grateful. the manual reads like its been translated from German - but retains almost unbroken coherency, very easy to read. It's fun to read that the feature you thought you had all figured out has three or four sub-features you'd never find by just fooling around with it.

It dry humps the analogue competition to no relief - for the price, it ought to. Onboard drum machine is just cliche midi drums that sound reminiscent (read: exactly like) KORG or any other onboard midi drum set. The effects are the star here: they sound similar to their Boss standalone effects pedals, only ten times crisper, and there are tons of them and all are almost infinitely editable. If your mic costs more than $15, voice and real drums record very fine as well. My mic cost $13.99 at radio shack, but with the mic effects, the sound was cleaned up considerably.

It seems dependable enough. I'd never set it on the floor, smoke near it, urinate on it, etc., but I bet it wouldn't be too bad as long as you dried it out before you used it again. I would not gig without my analogue with me - the BR8 can only record two signals in at once - so I'd record guitar and vocals on the BR8 and drums and bass on the analogue (a TASCAM Porta02) and bounce the analogue tracks into the BR8 after the gig.

Boss has never made a product that I have broken, but I would assume you'd get no help from them until you took your BR8 to a 'certified Boss reseller' or something since they're internationaly based.

I don't think it was the best match for me, but it was no doubt the most cost effective, esp the massive amounts of filters and effects, the no-hiss goodness, built-in tuner, removeable media, easier-than-KORG-interface, and copy/paste features. It gets an eight because it can't utilize all four input channels at once.