The new Boss Micro BR 80 8 track recorder

Bob Martin · Post by **Bob Martin** » 23 Sep 2011 10:29 pm

Does anyone own one of these new units or ever used one? This unit as Boss hypes it up will do anything except yodel LOL! I'd like to find out as much as I can about this big brother or the Boss Micro BR which is a great unit as well. Let me know what you might think of it. Thanks

Bob

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 24 Sep 2011 3:44 am

Boss always offers a quality "kool" product

http://www.bossus.com/gear/productdetai ... uctId=1167

It appears after reading the specs that it does a number of things for the users which makes this very versatile. Standard recording is in BOSS format but converts, Eband and Live are in wav or MP3 which means take this to a gig or rehearsal and record away in a low MP3 setting...or to a concert ( I didn't say this ) and keep it in your pocket !

I did have a Micro BR and that unit , the biggest limitation was a MONO on bd mic, problem solved here. I had no complaints with the Micro BR performance or what it offered,if there was a stereo on bd mic I would probably still own it as I would be using it for recording all gigs. It was replaced with a zoom H2.

I didn't really use the BR for multi tracking but did fool with it, it was easy to use, no issues.

One thing the 1st microBR has is the preamps can be edited and I did write a preamp program for the Steel. I would download the new model users manual and be certain that can still be done. Remember these things are designed for guitar players so a preamp edit will be in order.

Battery life far exceeded a 4 hour gig and the ability to pull the SD card and transfer files to the PC is big time...

Will I get one ? Probably not..I'm looking at two portable stereo MP3/Wav records, a Zoom R16 and a PC with Pro-Tools...enough is enough ! Price wise this new unit fits. The first small stereo wav recorder I bought, Edirol R1 I paid over $400, the Zoom H2 I paid $135, The R16 I paid just over $300...so $299 +/- seems to fit the market for what it does.

Comparing it to the Zoom R8,that unit has Phantom power as well as mic inputs , a different deal, probably more suited to multi track projects with more flexibility for engineering. The big picture matters here with regard to purpose and goal. @ $299 I am thinking the R8 is also a great value, what it does not do is record in MP3, only wav. And obviously does not fit in your pocket if that's important. So if you record rehearsals ,a gig or a concert they will be wav files which are very large.

that's all I got..
t

Bob Martin · Post by **Bob Martin** » 24 Sep 2011 2:23 pm

Thanks Tony, I have a chance to trade an eight track stand alone Roland recorder for one of these units and the person that wants my recorder which I no longer use brought the Boss Micro BR 80 over today and I am very impressed. It has effects from the GT-10 and yes it has editable pre-amps and plenty of them.

The effects system even works like the GT-10 meaning that if you set it to record from your guitar and plug your guitar in the 80 brings up the guitar effects then you can pick and choose and edit to your hearts content. One big difference in the 2 units is the effects and pre-amps sound much better and realistic than the older unit the complete recorder seems to be several steps up from the older micro br. So if a guy likes the micro br he's going to love the 80.

The drums are no exception they sound much more live sounding and the effects are much nicer. I also like the idea of the stereo on board high quality Mics. I tried them out and I can say they are very nice.

All in all I think I'll make the trade and use it in several different ways but recording live bands will be great.

Big Bob

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 25 Sep 2011 3:24 am

Great Bob, have fun with it !

Check the Boss website, they have some sort of a free DRUM editor program which can be used with the Micro BR, even though it is not listed, try it with the MB80. It allows building the drum track on your PC then saving it back to the BR.

t

Bob Martin · Post by **Bob Martin** » 25 Sep 2011 6:08 pm

Thanks Tony, I'll be sure and check it out, the guy that I traded with said the the tracks they use called e-tracks were plentiful there as well and many different places around the web. Probably most of the custom made e-tracks will not be my type of music but it sure won't hurt to check them out.

Big Bob

Bob Martin · Post by **Bob Martin** » 12 Nov 2011 10:19 am

Well after a few days with it I think I've hit the jackpot on this trade. As some may know I already have a full studio full of great equipment but when bad weather comes my wheel chair at times won't make it out there so that's why I always try to keep something in the house to record with (last winter it was the Micro-BR) on those cold rainy snowy days and then when it's nice I can take it to the studio and transfer them to my computer.

This unit is very high quality and records live stereo thru it's 2 on-board condenser Mics which aren't to shabby either. The recorder I traded him for this unit sold for over 2k when it was new but they sell for around what the Boss BR-80 sells for now so I think we both came out good. If I was asked to say one thing that makes this unit stand out above the other recorders in it's class I would have to say it's versatility. If I never used it for anything except recording live concerts or bands I would say it's well worth the price of the ticket

Big Bob