Boss Br-800 sketchpad

[bearfoot]

(DISCLAIMER: If you recommend I record in a DAW, you're a carrot!)

I could not resist picking up a Boss BR-800 , secondhand, but in the original box, for $100.

My first impression: very cheap build quality, and disappointing "touchscreen" buttons on the top panel (except for the trim knobs), and the faders are also quite cheap feeling. I'd have been annoyed if I paid $500 or even the going used price of $300 considering that.

however, I find testimonials of people using them for years without failure.

The features column on this beast is considerable. The unexpected 4-track capability is what made me really want one - this is AFAIK the only device in its class that has 4 XLR inputs and can record to 4 tracks at once. I will be pushing this to the limit in a few days -

The 4-track capability is a boon also to songwriters who perhaps want to record stereo piano + vocal. Another cool option is to use the stereo built-in mics + a DI signal for acoustic guitar.

I haven't owned a dedicated MTR since the late 90's when I gave up my Tascam Porta 003. I love the massive palette of the DAWs , and still have my Gadgetlabs PC card that got me going down that path - I was a somewhat early adopter of 24-bit recording, and it seemed like the DAW was the solution to all my problems then.

Now I recognize more that different tools are suited for different purposes. I have a backlog of material that never seems to get recorded. I'm not sure if the BR-800 is going to increase my creative output , but it is the manifestation of our wildest MTR fantasies 30 years ago.

Will post more impressions, and perhaps results if there is any interest here.

 

[bearfoot]

Once you get going on this thing, it is pretty smooth. The buttons are actually not that bad. Kind of like an LCARS display meets 1980's orange monochrome with a few knobs thrown in.

I was able to get a decent take of "Yesterday" , solo bass + vocal, which is a work project. (nice to be able to use the BR-800 at work!) I just set the inputs , went with whatever vocal preset it gave us (reverb heavy but nice), and grabbed Fretless mod from the bass section (identical to BOSS GT-10B effects).
I realize we can also record dry, with the FX only in the monitor /phones, but went with direct FX recording.
Sounds good.

Minor caveat: there does not appear to be a mode that will capture the Hi-Z input + stereo mics on 3 separate tracks. It instead records 1 stereo channel and 1 mono. Obviously, this can be done using the 4-track mode and leaving one out, although it might necessitate a DI box in some cases.

Thursday is the real challenge. I need to pre-mix about 8 vocal channels and a stereo piano on to 2 tracks, and then guitar and bass on separate tracks. There will also be a drum kit in the room, which will just end up bleeding through the vocal mics. Although, I *could* possibly use the Zoom H1 stereo condensers into another stereo channel for the Track 1+2 mix. (Used that last week and got a very nice drum sound)

Obviously , for a band with a lot of vocals, a more professional multitrack unit is needed, but this is what I've got to work with. I love the specs on the Behringer Xenyx mixer for that future task, or the XR18.

So far, so good with the BR-800.

 

[DirkP]

If you take the normal price: the Zoom Livetrak is only 495,-, the Zoom R16 is 313,-. Both have much more to offer, esp. the Livetrak.

 

[bearfoot]

If you take the normal price: the Zoom Livetrak is only 495,-, the Zoom R16 is 313,-. Both have much more to offer, esp. the Livetrak.

Neither of those devices has anything more to offer that is relevant to the singer/songwriter sketchpad niche, except they can each record natively in 24-bits, the BR-800 can only do that as a DAW interface, otherwise it is a 16-bit recorder.

R16 and L12 are devices that more are in the band / ensemble recording niche, for which the L12 exceeds.

As it so happened, I also found a deal on a Xenyx UFX1604, which is a different and competitive device to the L12 and XR18 price ranges.