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View Full Version : Roland Micro BR-80 - highly recommended tool for any guitar player!



jpfeifer
February 8th, 2012, 10:51 AM
Since I travel quite a bit for my job, I'm always looking for ways allow me to take along a guitar for practice or writing when I'm stuck in some hotel. I have a travel-sized guitar that I use (check out the Traveler Guitars, I have the one called the Speedster). Recently I decided to look for a palm-sized tool that I could use with my travel guitar for practicing and recording while I'm on the road.

After checking out a few different models I decided to get one from Roland called the Micro BR-80. After getting this and playing around with it for the past week, I have to say this is one of the best, most well-thought-out tools for guitar players looking for a way to practice or capture song ideas on the go, or even at home. (unlike a PC, you don't have to wait for it to boot up, or setup mics to capture your song idea :-)

This device is just a little larger than a smartphone, (about 2x the thickness also). It contains an 8-track recorder, built-in stereo condenser mics, guitar-amp modeler (COSM modeling), SD Card input, Guitar input, USB connection (for side-loading stuff to/from your PC), etc.

The device can operate in several different modes.
One of those modes is called E-Band, which allows you to plug in your guitar and jam along to tons of pre-loaded background tracks in various styles. Or you can plug in your iPod or load MP3s of anything you want to Jam along with. The COSM amp modeler allows you to get tons of amp sounds that are very usable, including an acoustic guitar simulation, bass guitar simulation as well as tons of classic guitar tones. You can also use the device to slow down your favorite songs to transcribe solos etc.

The second mode is MTR mode (multi-track-recorder) which allows you to use it as a standard 8-track recorder, layering your own guitar tracks with the built in drum patterns. The COSM amp modeling is available in this mode also. One of the best parts of this is that they allow you to track bass parts with your guitar using the bass-guitar model. This is great for getting a simple bass part down with your guitar tracks so that you have your song idea captured.

Lastly, the unit has a mode called Live Band, which allows you to capture a live recording of your whole band using the built-in stereo condenser mics. Then you can take your recorded performance and add more of your own overdubbed tracks, or master it right from the unit to create an MP3 of your final mix.

I'm very impressed with this device, even as just a practice tool it is incredible. But adding the capability to do demo recording on it with all of the amp modeling and 8-track recording makes this thing insanely useful. I paid $299 for this at Guitar Center. There are cheaper field recorders out there, and less expensive headphone amps for guitar, but none of them has integrated it into such a useful package as this. I've tried some of the other ones and this is the best I've seen. Highly recommended!
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/boss-micro-br-br-80-digital-recorder/h73443000000000?src=3WWRWXGB&ZYXSEM=0


--Jim

msteeln
February 8th, 2012, 06:31 PM
I was thilled until I read the well-versed user review;
1. If you have finally figured how to use the previous model BR-4 and want to upgrade it to BR-8 all the time and effort spent on learning BR-4 is now a waste of time. BR-8 is an absolutely different devise that must be studied all over again. Even worse, when you try to apply BR-4 logic to the same function you get frustrated each time pushing the wrong button.
2. On BR-4 you could record a song and during the mastering convert it to MP3 which made lots of sense to me. BR-8 does not give you that option. Your song will end up being either WAV or AIFF that take lots of memory and cannot be emailed to your friend. You will have to import them to your computer and covert them to MP3 on your own.
3. One major setback – there is no Input selector as it was on BR-4. That means if you want to record thru Live line-in jack, say, from a mixing board or from an Ipod, you microphone will always be on picking all surrounding sounds too. Same goes with eBand recording, however if you plug in a guitar cord it will shut down the microphone but will add noise from the cord.
4. BR-4 could be used as a MP3 player, BR-8 is not designed for that. Though you can copy MP3s to its memory under eBand folder for Mastering or even Live and use them from there that is something for you to figure out as it is not in the manual. If, say, you copy them under User, that would make more sense than Mastering, you won’t see them.
5. There are a few software applications that are saved on the memory card. You will have to open, unzip and install them from there. Why couldn’t they come on a CD? If you accidentally delete one of them, it’s too bad.
6. eBand being a great idea otherwise does not fit into this devise in terms of the reason you buy this recorder for. I would rather not have it as it takes up memory and has all kinds of functions that are unnecessary. And if you have not backed up your memory card and accidentally deleted some files while figuring how to use it then too bad again. Your eBans turns into a dead feature.
7. If you created some songs and you want to back them up on your computer you will have to figure where in the vast majority of existing folders they are hidden. This is where I miss BR-4 most.
8. For backup operation you will have to copy the WHOLE memory card to your computer. If in the meantime you created a few nice songs and suddenly your memory card shows a problem in order to restore the functionality of BR-8 you will have to copy back the WHOLE content back to your card. That automatically deletes your songs that you just recorded.
If you are a computer programmer that wants to learn playing a guitar you are going to like it. If you are a guitar player who tries to figure how to get things work you may be frustrated. However I believe the service you can eventually get from it will overpass any of the above.

jpfeifer
February 10th, 2012, 09:44 AM
Yes, I saw that review also. There are, no doubt, some short comings with this device. It's not going to replace your home studio.

But for what it does, I haven't seen anything else on the market with as many useful features as this one has. I've looked! Most of the field recorders are simple, only meant for recording from a mic, or if they do offer a way to plug in your guitar, they usually offer no modeling, let alone a practice mode so that you can use the device for something other than recording a live performance.

If you only need something to use at home, I'd say your better off setting up your PC as your recording system, with some good mics and good mic pre-amps, etc, and getting Band-in-the-Box along with a Line6 guitar interface for your practicing.

But if you're away from home a lot, and need something compact that does a lot of these things. This is a great device to have.

--Jim

bcdon
February 10th, 2012, 12:58 PM
That is a very cool little device!

http://static.musiciansfriend.com/derivates/18/001/572/319/DV016_Jpg_Large_H73443_V.jpg

msteeln
February 10th, 2012, 03:25 PM
bloops!

msteeln
February 10th, 2012, 03:26 PM
By the time I'm done buying my (current) wish-list guitars maybe they'll have a more complete package available.