Boss BR-864

I imagine that this unit is nowhere as easy to use as the 1180 or new boss units, but, what the heck, for anyone willing to spend a little time investigating and experimenting, minimal manual reference is needed. If a computer clod like me can figure it out, anyone can. Editing the guitar and bass patches is a breeze...and they sound pretty fantastic.

I mainly use a Peavey Wolfgang guitar and Ibanez bass with this unit. When I use acoustic guitars I use Takamines only...classical and steel string. I do have trouble getting a lead guitar sound that I like, but all the rest is great. I have no complaints at all about the other sounds that I get. As good as a Line 6 POD? No. Good enough to sound professional? Most of the time, yes. As for the finished product when all the mastering is done, color me happy. For $370 I am simply floored by what this thing can do.

The guy who shipped this to me (2nd hand) put it in a 8 by 8 by 12 box with only a few pieces of magazine paper for packaging (ARGH!!!) But even a trip though the US postal service did not seem to hurt this baby. It seems to be built like a tank.

I have had only one discussion of any length with the customer support at Boss. Good folks. They spend plenty of time working through problems I raised.

I play mostly hard rock and classical music although I am recording classic rock with some buddies of mine. This unit works perfectly in every context.
How happy am I? I have been playing guitar now for about 16 years religiously and I think this is the best piece of musical equiptment I have ever invested in. I would recommend it to anyone. If it were stolen, I would definitely buy another. If anyone is interested in recording on a budget or simply getting their feet in the water when it comes to recording, this is the way to go.

This is the first "home studio" I've ever purchased, but it seems pretty easy to use. The Manual explains everything you'll need to know about it...or you can just fuck around with it like I did.

First, I always record everything direct. The unit has a built in mic but I've never used it, so I can't tell you how that sounds. The sound seems quite good. The effects are useful, and if you don't like 'em, you can always use your own. The only problem I'm having with it is mastering, the mastering tool kit tends to make everything sound a bit fuzzy.

I've had it now for about 6 or 7 months, no problems yet.

I actually emailed roland with a question I had about exporting .wav files. They responded within a couple of days.

I'm no expert, but this seems to be a good unit. It's especially easy to use because of the onboard USB port. I think if I broke this, I would probably buy another one.

I am a 40 year old with screaming kids & no time to waste learning how to program an electronic device. This was a breeze. I am educated in home recording, first through tascam recorders (644 midistudio when I was a bit younger) and them the Sony MDM X whatever 4-trak digital recorder (cool piece for its time) and then Sonar for the computer. Except for the Sonar, which has a much higher learning curve as far as getting the MOST out of the recorder, patches, drums etc... this is the best sounding and coolest unit of them all.

For what it is for, and even a bit more, this is a great sounding unit. I'm rating it based on its category and not "best in the world" sound. Are you going to get a finished product as good as expensive home based software or a big expensive studio? No. I'm pretty sure this was designed so you could record a whole song with drums (built in, fully programmable drum machine!!!), guitars, vocals and more instead of just hitting record on an old tape deck and recording guitar and vocals at two in the morning (I do miss that though).

You gotta remember, it's digital and not analog. I'm still learning this. Peaking the meters once in awhile on an old analog unit usually doesn't hurt anything. This, like any other digital recorder gives some really horrible buzzing. I love the guitars and bass sounds built in as well as the drums. The effects for vocals are more than adequate. Again, will it sound as good as a miked Marshall or Mesa? Hell no! But mic a Marshall or a Mesa and it will sound great.

I've only recorded two songs but they both sound better than the quality of the 24 track stuff I recorded in the late eighties. The vocals came out punchy and full using an AKG C-1000 S using only the 9v battery. Acoustic guitars? Awesome (at least to my ear)

Only had it a few months--so far so good.

I called them once, just before I bought it to question something I read in these reviews about which operating systems it will work with. I have Windows Millenium, they said it will work fine, and it does. They answered quickly and were pretty friendly also.

I play rock, metal, middle of the road, thrash--whatever I'm feeling at the moment. This unit seems to be able to record anything. I've been playing 25 years and have lots of great stuff like a Les Paul, Epiphone Casino (1968), Strat, etc... I also have a Crate Blue Voodoo BV-60 with the slant cab loaded with Eminence Legend speakers and a 2-12 Avatar cab with a Vintage 30 and a G12H30. If it were lost or stolen I'd get another one that day--I can't live without my portable battery powered recording studio. I'm old enough to remember the days when a simple 4-track with NO features was around $2000 and a crappy drum machine was around $500. To an old, hairy, washed up old rock n roller like me, this is a freakin' bargain and a half!!!!!

I was going to get a digital four track at first but this was only a little bit more and it had more sounds, a drum machine and eight tracks. I thought that was a no brainer. The only other thing I wish it had was a John Bonham clone that could jump out and play along with me so it wouldn't take me a whole day to program the drum machine! (totally on me, not the drum machine).

Get it--you won't be sorry.

As far as "out of the box" sound goes, this unit is superior to all others I have used (with the exception of the 1180 which it is patterned after). Tha manual is relatively easy to follow (although I owned the 532 for some time so I was familiar with the features).

I go directly into the guitar port with my RG and S series Ibanez guitars. I also use a Fender acoustic with an acoustic pickup and get virtually no outside interference or noise. I have been recording for years and have never been able to achieve such a sweet acoustic sound before this unit. The sound seems true although some of the patches need tweaking for better saturation. I played for years through two Boogie full stacks with an unmanagable amount of rack effects. I actually like what I can do with this better (as hard as that may be to believe) as it is obviously much easier (and cleaner). I am able to achieve all the sounds I shoot for or at least get very close. I have not attempted to simulate any artists although I would like to go for a good Van Halen sound (I'll report back)

Never had any problems with it! Period.

Haven't needed any.

I play alot of rock/metal which has been no problem with this unit. I have been playing guitar for 32 years and have played on alot of different equipment over the years. I would absolutely replace this unit if needed. I wish the slider controls were setup a little differently as they all cannot be controlled simultaneously during bounce/mastering/playback modes. I also wish it came with a larger media card although you can back it up directly to your pc so it is only a minor inconvenience. I am able to create entire songs in a matter of hours (and the more I use it the quicker it gets).

Gotta read the manual. Many of the functions record, rewind, etc etc are pretty straight forward. But...the in-depth stuff, copy/paste bounce you need the manual. Hooks up are easy. Guitar/Bass input, mikes and AUX type plug adjust and Go.

The nice thing is that the menus and buttons are user friendly, EQ, PAN easy to figure out. Moving through the menus is a breeze. Clear and bright display. To many options to give it a 10.

I mastered those basic record functions in about 2 hours.
The in-depth stuff well, I'm not ready to Bounce or Master as of yet
but if the other features are any indication. those will fall into place nicely.

Yes this thing sounds great I use a set of Digital powered Philips speakers to monitor until I pick up some real monitors Edirol?
No noise I can detect with my Sennheiser cans.

One or two of the guitar patches are a little on the noisy side (you know the massive distorted/metal ones!) Being a drummer, I'm guessing that they represent the actual amp noise? Alot of the patches are super quiet no hiss at all.
Acoustic sims are pretty cool.
Bass sims work.
Something that I found kinda cool was the SYNTH sims HEY! I didn't expect that ;-)
Bass amp patches sound too boomy to me. I record the bass straight in. comes out the cleanest.

I've had the unit about a month... nothing yet. Roland/Boss products
are pretty reliable so I'm not expecting any failures in the near future.

No need yet.

I'm using a Les Paul Custom, Ibanez Roadstar, Yamaha DTXv2 Electronic drums and Fender Jazz Bass. I don't plan on using the MIDI functionality but it can trigger through MTC.
I was recording with a Yamaha MT50 which has great sound,
but it's tape YUCK!!!
You can't go wrong with the rewind to zero function or repeat function in the digital world. God I hated rewinding that damn tape deck.
Set up your repeat, a section or the whole song and practice to your hearts content. Over and over and over.

Haven't used the phrase trainer. But I have played with the
built in drum machine. It is functional. Not the greatest but hey
its free!
Everything is laid out cleanly. I was recording right out of the box, granted it was basic one track, and it did take the manual to point out that you have to select two tracks to record from the AUX inputs
which is where I placed my DTX. D'OH! again the manual clearly says...

First thing to do if you plan on recording onto the included 128mg card is to erase the Demo song. This will give you a great look at the
menu navigation right off the bat. The Menu navigation makes so much sense I started guessing the other functions without the
manual within hours.

OK I recorded three instruments, guitar/bass/drums. 8 tracks is plenty. 64 V-tracks I'm in trouble.

I recorded two guitar lines, two bass lines and stereo drums played them back, "WOW I suck". Sounded great though.

Mixing tracks that are monitored (it plays back 8 tracks) you set the faders for each track which is done by selecting the appropriate "track" adjust the fader, do the next track then the next switching between using the TRACK BUTTON. No big deal, 8 faders would be nice but one click and your on that track. Even a drummer can figure that one out!

My next item to get it a larger card. 512mg or higher but the manual
recommends a particluar brand. They seem a little pricier than other CompactFlash cards on the market. The documentation doesn't say they won't work but...?
And don't forget the dump/master function to the computer is only
Windows XP compatible. I don't own a MAC but I think it is compatible.

I joined the YAHOO groups that deal with this unit and the BR-532
great place get other user input and experiences.

In comparing this to the Boss BR-532, I would have to say that the patches have been VASTLY improved. Out of the box, the majority of the patches can be used without tweaking.

There is a lot of depth to the amount of tweaking that can be done. It is set up much like any of the other multi-effect units that are out there - the even added the ability to connect an EXPRESSION PEDAL. The expression pedal can do anything from adjusting the volume to acting as a wah pedal.

Editing patches is very easy and almost intuitive. There is a lot of depth in terms of what can be tweaked - moreso than in some of the multi-effect pedals than I have seen.

The manual is typical - Japanese converted to English. And as usual, unless you are familiar with any of the Boss units, there can be some confusion - this confustion usually revolves things like setting up the rhythm guide, but there is a lot of help on the web to help you get through that.

The sound quality on this is awesome. I use this with a set of studio quality nearfield monitors and a host of supporting guitars, keyboards and vocal mics.

I was getting some hum, but was primarily due to ground loop hum. Easily fixable.

I've ab'd this by recording a CD to the 864 and then switching between what was recorded and what was being played back. There was no appreciable difference between the two.

I have never had any issues with any Boss products.

Since this is a recorder, it can work with virtually any type of music, although the patches are geared towards guitar/bass/vocal. There are no really lush keyboard amp sims or things of that nature, but with some creativity - you can create any effect that you like.

I have owned several Roland VS-Studios, and the predecessor BR-532. This is by far superior to those from the perspective of a guitar player. Unlike the VS-Studios, you don't have to worry about which bus you are applying effects to or anything of that nature. As far as comparing to the 532, you can see what's going on with all 8 tracks at a time, instead of having the ability to only look at 2 at a time.

If it were stolen, I'm not sure that I would replace it, simply because I do more gigging than recording now.

I love its portability. I can grab a handful of batteries and my Stewart RoadRunner Guitar (http://www.stewartguitars.com) pack my tent and go out to the middle of nowhere for the weekend and record till my hearts content.

There is one feature I WISH it would have... since there are only 4 faders for this 8 track any time you switch between using the faders for tracks 1-4 and 4-8, the faders jump to the current fader location once the fader is moved. So, if the fader is set at Unity for track 1 and all the way down for track 5 and you want to gradually increase the volume on track 5 at some point during the mixdown the volume on channel 5 will immediately be where the fader is set to and not where you want it. This is annoying. It would be cool if the fader did not have any effect until the slider was actually moved.

Just a bit of info that is not that obvious from the BR-864 promo
material (inc. Roland website): the USB interface on the BR-864 does
not support Windows 98 and according to Roland Product Support, it is
unlikely that a driver will be developed for Windows 98. I suppose
that this shouldn't be a surprise since Windows 98 is getting a bit
long in the tooth but it's a shame for those who have it and don't
wish to upgrade.

On a brighter note, the BR-864 USB interface does seem to work with
Linux.

This unit..>ROCKS!!!! 8 recording tracks. Uses Compact Flash media, and includes a 128meg stick to start off with. I sold my BR1180CD last week because it actually had more than I needed, but since I've owned one I'll continue to make comparisons between the two, because so far there's not much difference between the two. I will not compare this unit to the Boss BR-532 since the 864 is VERY close in form, function, and features as the BR-1180. Other than being relatively close in size to the 532, there isn't much siliarity between the two. Anyway, the onboard amp simulators and effects seem to be identical to the 1180. There's 99 guitar/bass patches, 40 mic patches, 50 line patches, 50 simultaneous patches, and 19 mastering patches! In fact, it appears to me that there the same number, names, and parameters as the 1180! I thought for sure they would have scaled down the options on the 864, but I was relieved to see the were essentially the same!! Editing the amp sims is actually just as easy as the 1180. The biggest difference is that the 1180 has an icon interface that does make it easier to read and navigate. The 864 has a double line display that has characters which is just as easy to navigate through. Like the 1180, you have user patches and preset patches. The manual is JUST as thick as the 1180 (Almost 200 pages!) No matter how easy this unit is to use out of the box, I recommend reading the entire manual, since this unit has TONS of features that can only be realized by reading everything at least once. Since I received the first unit my store recieved, I'd have to assume I have the first firmware version. The good news is the USB interface should make any future revisions a no-brainer. The controls are laid out almost identically to the 1180, with the exception of having only 4 track sliders, but it has a shift key that re-assigns tracks 5-8 to the 4 sliders, which makes it a little more work to switch back and forth to the tracks. I've owned a lot of digital recorders recently, and BOSS still makes the most intuitive recorders made. If you've used the 1180 before, you should need very little time to get things rolling.

I run my Jackson solist straight into the 864, and get superior results. I actually prefer the built in amp sims over my Line 6 PODxt! (With less clutter and setup time.) I'm sure others will disagree, but the sounds this thing can produce on it's own are truly amazing. When I'm not recording, I've started to hook up the output to my keyboard amp to practice. I mainly play hard rock/metal, and I can nail the sound that I like. Sure, it does'nt sound like a mic'd Marshall or Mesa, but I don't care. Even the acoustic amp sims are pretty nice. No, it doesn't sound exactly like a true acoustic, but they make a nice alternative to a dry clean sound. The patches sound IDENTICAL to the 1180!(which is good!) The recording quality seems to be as good as the 1180 as well! I see myself getting a 512meg stick, since there's not a ton of time using the supplied 128 stick. In fact, using all 8 tracks will only let you record one small song at high quality. The good news, is that you can save it to your computer and start fresh. If you want to work on another song, bring it back and keep rolling. Another cool feature, is the onboard drum machine. Unlike the BR532 which was a glorified metronome, the 864 has sampled drum sounds that are MUCH better. If you want, you can load .wav drum sounds to customize the kits, or even add a sound effect. I have an Alesis SR-16 that I'll continue to use since it's easier than programming the BOSS, but it's a cool feature if you don't want to spend the cash on a dedicated drum machine.

Every Boss product I've ever owned has been a workhorse. The main reason I like this unit over the 1180 is that there's no hard drive to break, and no flimsy laptop cd burner to break. Based on my 1180, I would expect this to last. (knock on wood) Time will tell. I usually wait a while before buying a new line of anything, but I feel confident that this unit is solid. The fact that they tout this unit as being a take-anywhere portable studio leads me to think they have a lot of faith in it's durability, so we'll see. Since it's new and untested, I'm gonna give it a "7" for now.

I used to work for a music store years ago, and (in my experience) they had the worst customer service I've seen. I hope times have changed, but luckily I haven't needed them since that time. I hopefully will never need to test them.

I know this review is mushy and gushing, but it's rare that I buy a piece of equipment that I actually get excited about. I sold my BR1180 because it actually had more than I needed, and was expensive. I would spend an hour or two once or twice a week with it, and it just didn't justify the price to me. When I had read the NAMM reports here on Harmony Central about it's upcoming release, it had my name written all over it! For the money, this thing will NEVER be beat!(at least for the next couple of weeks anyway;) I really can't believe that Boss made the 864 so similar to it's bigger brother. Sure, there are more features on the 1180 for the hardcore users. But on the whole, for what I do, the differences aren't worth the extra $600. To record years ago, I had bought a Yamaha 4-track cassette recorder, an entire effects rack, a master cassette deck, and microphones that cost about $1000. For less than half of the cost you can now get more tracks, better effects, less setup time, and superior results! For me, the 864 is about VALUE, which this thing is loaded with. Gripes? Yes...I think they should include the AC adapter. I don't see the point of making the unit battery powered. I really can't see someone lugging their guitar, cords, headphones, and recorder to the park for a day of blissful recording. I would think the people pointing and laughing at me would be so distracting I wouldn't get much work done. I wish it had all 8 sliders, as it does get tiring having to set the sliders for tracks 1 to 4, then hitting the button to get to tracks 5 to 8, and doing it all over again to tweak a track back on tracks 1 to 4 again. Again, for the money it's a small concession. I wish they included a 512meg stick with the unit. I can't imagine anyone complaing that they just have TOO much recording time. More is always better than not enough. Other than those minor issues I'm thrilled with my purchase. This little guy earns his keep in so many ways that I just can't say enough good things about it. If you're a "sometimes" recording musician that doesn't need the Cadilliac of recorders, think of the 864 as the Honda Civic of recorders. Not much money, reliable, and gets you where you want to go.