BOSS Micro-Br review
Posted by Tim Cole on December 26th, 2006
IMPORTANT NOTE: I have transferred the detailed notes in this blog to the intermorphic “BOSS Micro BR” forum which I have set up. It should be easier for people to track comments and find answers, as the forum can be searched. I would be very happy if people on this blog wanted to join the forum and post there.
December 29th, 2006 at 3:06 pm
I got one of these as a gift recently, and I agree that it’s pretty good. The interface is a bit hard to get used to, and the manual is terrible. I still can’t quite figure out how to create an arrangement and give it a name.
I was also disappointed to see that it uses a proprietary file format. Each song has its own directory called, e.g. SONG0000.BR0, with a bunch of files in it of indeterminate type.
It would be great if Boss provided desktop software that would synch with the Micro BR and allow more editing to be done on the desktop. Clicking all those little buttons can be pretty tiring after a while. For me this gadget is great because I can record anywhere, but doing final mixing and fiddling on a desktop PC would be easier.
I’d find it useful to have a “shift down one octave” feature for creating bass lines (for those of us who don’t have a bass). I don’t know if this can be done in real time (of course that would be best). I do this when recording with audacity and it works pretty well.
December 29th, 2006 at 4:43 pm
I think an octave shift feature sounds good (for using a guitar as a placeholder bass), but the quality might not be so good… I think the Zoom PS-04 gets around that by having its own MIDI-like bass line editor.
Yes, a desktop converter tool would help… but I think the real (and surely easiest solution?) would be to support standard file formats (such as WAV or MP3 for the v-track recordings – also provided you could browse to a file a load it up into a v-track.
I noticed that Future Music have reviewed it this month and given it an 8 out of 10.
December 29th, 2006 at 8:25 pm
Just got one an quite impressed, being a bit dim on the technological side, that I was able to go from picking it up to having an mp3 in one evening, evewn after a couple of whiskies.
I wonder whether I can put a normal mic into the guitar channel or put an attachment to bung it in the tiny mic input…
Great gadget, though, and so much more reliable than other musicians!
December 30th, 2006 at 4:14 pm
Late breaking news .. Roland emailed me that Wave Converter 2.0 will convert files from the Micro BR to WAV. I haven’t tried it yet, but here’s the URL for download:
http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.aspx?ObjectId=699
December 30th, 2006 at 11:42 pm
Intersesting Andre, thanks for the pointer. I will check it out. It would be best, of course, if the Micro-Br would directly support WAV/MP3 files as track data, as you would then not first need to convert them to their proprietary format. But, if Wave Converter 2 works, then at least there is an easier desktop conversion option.
December 31st, 2006 at 9:49 am
Thanks for the review as I’ve thinking about one of these for a while now, well since I saw it on the Boss web site.
) Have you tried it for phrase training? Can you for example pop a WMA/MP3 on to the SD card and loop phrases and slow ‘em down? If I’m reading the spec right you can. ‘Tis a pity you can’t add WMA/WAV/MP3 to the v-tracks though.
If you think the manual for the Micro is poor you ought to see the one for the GT-8!!!
December 31st, 2006 at 1:05 pm
Hi Tony, cheers. Yes, you can pop an MP3/WAV on the SD card (both have to be in specified format) and then in MP3 phrase trainer slow it down and loop a (user) specified section. It is pretty easy to use for that. There are quite a few artifacts when you slow it down (i.e. it is no Melodyne in a box), but it should be fine for phrase practise.
December 31st, 2006 at 2:38 pm
Wrt question from James, yes you can plug an external mic into the external input (3.5mm stereo). I have just tried that with a Sennheiser external dynamic mic, and it works (although the sensivity might be a little low?). It has given me an idea, though, which is that it might be possible via this socket to feed a guitar into one channel and mic into the other, and record to both tracks. Would prob mean a small outboard battery powered mixer or preamp – but might be worth a try….
December 31st, 2006 at 3:00 pm
Update on Wave Converter: It does work as advertised. If you give it a filename, eg blah, then you will get a bunch of files that look like this:
blah_track_vtrack.wav
where track and vtrack are the appropriate numbers. The rhythm doesn’t copy over, but here’s a trick that works: go into mastering mode, turn the level to 0 for all tracks and record it. You don’t need to convert to wav or mp3, just let it save the result. It seems that Wave Converter will then put the rhythm into the next two available vtracks.
January 3rd, 2007 at 7:41 am
Sounds like the Micro BR is almost exactly the kind of thing I would want, although I can’t see myself buying it until BOSS implements many of the missing features you mentioned. I wish I could combine the best features of this thing and the ZOOM unit.. oh well
January 4th, 2007 at 11:57 am
Getting used to all the functions takes getting used to, but for me part of the fun is learning how to use all the functions effectively and efficiently.
The great advantage is the portability, despite its weak points. This by far is worth the reasonable price. Having a 4 track recorder, almost pocket sized,to record creative moments is fantastic.How many of us have had great ideas (at least in our minds) and have forgotten them?
Despite its limitations, it is a glass more than half full.
It would be kind of cool if there was a fold out design to allow for larger buttons, while keeping the small footprint.
January 4th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
I’ve recently bought one of these, and I’m really VERY impressed.
I have an appauling memory so this is perfect for ’sketches’ whilst noodling on my guitar.
one really stupid thing I’ve found so far, is that saving a song does *NOT* save the tempo (WTF?).
So if you record a guitar part along to a drum beat at anything other than the default, power off/save.. then come back, you’ll notice the drum beat is totally out of time, because it always reset to the default tempo!!!!!
Also, I cannot figure out how to bounce the rhythm output to a track (this would use a track or two, but save the hassle of remembering every tempo).
Paul
January 5th, 2007 at 3:19 am
Paul, I think you might be able to do this by going into mastering mode, and then setting the volume of all 4 tracks to 0. Then record it and save it. I think it will put the rhythm on the next spare vtrack. Give it a try …
January 5th, 2007 at 9:25 am
Michael, Paul. Yes, it is a lovely, well priced (shiny!) unit, and it has already helped me out on the creative front in being so portable. Interesting comment on not being able to save the tempo for a song (sounds like a bug) – will double check that behaviour.
January 8th, 2007 at 11:57 am
how do i open the files on the computer mp3 is working but not in hi fi it all very new to me
January 8th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Thanks for all this great info! I saw this advertised in my Musician’s Friend catalog and I am so happy to see people giving honest hands-on opinions rather than the just marketing specs. Cheers and happy recording!
January 9th, 2007 at 7:12 am
hi also what program do use to open files can anyone help thanks
January 9th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
Tim, very good analysis and review. Thanks! I currently use a cheap little digital voice recorder for song ideas, but this looks like a better tool. The main feature I need to use is a USB port to transfer mixdowns to PC in WAV or MP3 file format.
In Mastering mode, how does it save the track mix to the SD media? Is it a WAV file or is the mixdown saved in the BR0 file format? Could I mixdown to MP3 file format? If not, does the converter utility convert to MP3 file format from BR0 or WAV? Also how long does the export take for a 3-4 minute track roughly?
January 9th, 2007 at 11:37 pm
Don’t quite understand the comment wrt opening files, but on the Micro BR you record to a special V track format, but you can then convert (”export”) that/those recordings (on the device) to either WAV (44khz 16bit) or MP3 (44KHhz 96,128,192kbps) files. Or vice versa, i.e. you can “import” files in those formats (i.e. on SD Card) into the Micro BR format for use in V tracks. There is also a desktop conversion tool for the Micro BR files that Andre (above) advised a link to.
Wrt to transfering the exported WAV or MP3 files to the PC, that can be over USB (or just use the SD card and SD card reader).
Wrt to “mastering”, yes you master to WAV or MP3 files which are saved on the SD card. Exporting takes a while, but have not timed it yet…
HTH!
January 10th, 2007 at 10:34 pm
thanks Tim for your help & everyone, ive started to work it out now thanks again
January 11th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Hello
I´m thinking of buying this unit in order to record and dub tracks in the moment. Is the mic reasonable? For phrase training or jamming along recorded track(s); can it loop?
Nice forum, hard to get objective ctitics in commercial sites
DIY
morten
January 11th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
Thanks Morten. The mic is OK, but (to me) it seems the sensitivity is a bit low. If you are thinking of using for ideas capture etc it should be just fine. I am not a mic expert though, so that may not be of much help! It is fine for me though.
Yes, you can easily set up a loop in MP3 trainer mode and also slow the loop section down and use FX on your input, so it is great for jamming/practise. HTH!
January 11th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
Hi again, Tim
2 things(for now..):
1. Is it possible to loop a recorded phrase in waw? on one track, whilst another track continues and loop that other after another amount of bars?
E.g I record a bass line that dures 4 bars, then I loop it, and know I want to add a melody line that dures 12 bars, before looping. Is that possible?
2.
The timestrech, how far down can this feature decrease the tempo; 20-30%
or more like 50-100%?
Thanks alot, you´r really a great help… I feel like a monkey in the jungle of marketing on the internet, jumping from one branch to another…
Morten
January 11th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Hi Morten
, it should be OK for practise, which is what it is for. To do what you want to do in Q2, you would record your bass line, then copy and paste that twice after your original bass line to give 12 bars of bass. Then, set up normal AB loop for those 12 bars and add your melody to the second track, and so on. HTH!
The hard limits for time stretching seem to be 200% down to 25% of orignal recording. The level of audio artifacts increases quite quickly the further you get away from the original, and, provided you don’t go mad with the time stretch
January 11th, 2007 at 10:08 pm
O.K Thanks.
Must check out the Zoom H4 in regards to looping and time stretching, before deciding what is best for me.
morten
January 12th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
I’m thinking of buying one to use for work. if you use it to play mp3, will it go straight into the next track or will it stop and wait for you to select THEN play the next track? It is important to me that it DOES stop after each track for live use.
I hope this is clear, any help would be apreciated.
cheers
Jason
January 12th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
Jason, sadly it goes straight to the next track. And, when it gets to the end of all the tracks it starts playing at the beginning again. I had thought to try to create different folders under the MP3 folder, and then put one track in each to see if that could be a solution. Alas, it only likes tracks under the MP3 folder. Why they did not support folders under the MP3 folder I have no idea. Even if they did not support playlists, this could be a compromise solution. And, it would make sense I think that when it got to the end of a track list it stopped, requireing a manual restart (because you can easily loop within an individual track). HTH!
January 12th, 2007 at 9:02 pm
Thanks Tim,
I managed to download the owners manual after writing my question which confirms what you said. I am now wondering if I used it in trainer mode would it then play the one track and then stop. This is something that the manual does not make clear. Could anyone who’s using the Micro Brrrrr (is it getting cold in here?) please inform me about. That said and done, it still lokks a very nive piece of kit.
cheers
Jason
January 13th, 2007 at 8:05 am
Hi Jason,
I case it was not clear, my comments were about MP3 trainer mode operation where it just goes from one track to the next in a kind of infinitely looping playlist, with no stopping in between… HTH, Tim
January 13th, 2007 at 4:57 pm
I am considering buying a microbr, or a KORG PX4. I am brand new to the world of electric guitars (Been playing acoustic for 30 years) and I’m just looking for something that I can sit on the couch and plug headset into an practice without disturbing the house. I want to simulate the various guitar voices of my favorite musicians but without having to buy an amplifier. I like the phrase sampler/looping capabilites of the boss unit ( I use transcribe! sofware currently for that function and it would be nice not the need the laptop to practice). Anyone have an opion as to the quality of the effects of the two units? Thanks for any iput.
Geoff
January 13th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
Hi Tim
Very useful blog so far.
Mmmm. Is this a 4/4 time sig box only ? Are there any 3/4 or 6/8 rhythms programmed into the box ? A few 5/4 time sigs would also be very useful. The pdf manual makes no mention of other time sigs.
If 4/4 only – thats a deal breaker.
January 14th, 2007 at 8:38 am
Wrt to time signatures, no, only 4/4 patterns – except that there are a range of metronome beats from 1/1 to 8/1, 1/2 to 8/2, 1/4 to 8/4 and 1/8 to 8/8 (and all integer beats in between, i.e. 5/8, 5/4 etc). Pattern extensibility is another good reason BOSS should have made the format open, or used MIDI files, so people could get their own beats in. HTH!
January 14th, 2007 at 8:41 am
I cannot comment on comparison on FX between Korg PX4 and MicroBR, but the MicroBR range is pretty extensive. The manual lists them all, and there are some good demos shown in the BOSS video demo link at the top. HTH.
January 14th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
Can the Micro BR use a stereo powered mic?
Can you suggest a good external mic to use?
Also, can you use a SM57 mic adapted to go through the 1/4 inch guitar input so you can add effects to acoustic guitar?
Thanks,
Mark
January 14th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
For instant rewind to zero, hold down stop and press rewind. For instant wind to end, hold down stop and press fast-forward. This info was buried in the manual somewhere
January 15th, 2007 at 12:11 am
Hi Mark
I have not got my head around the powered mic bit, as it seems to say it only supports 2.5v powered mics, whatever they are (does anyone know?). But, from what I can tell, it would expect it would support a stereo mic as it supports a stereo input, and the manual seems to alude to this.
I am not a mic expert, so cannot recommend there, maybe someone else could. However, I have used a Sennheiser cardiod, and it seems to work fine.
If your acoustic has a transducer or body mic, then you can plug the guitar right in (I have a Takamine steel, and that works great). Or, you can record your guitar via an external mic. Either way, you can add “insert fx” to the audio in and record it (or record dry but listen to the FX). Does that help?
January 15th, 2007 at 12:12 am
Cos the stop and rewind buttons are just a bit too far apart, I would still like an operation mode whereby if you hold down the stop button for say 2 secs, it goes to the beginning!
January 15th, 2007 at 3:05 am
Thanks Tom,
That helps alot. I’m going down to Guitar Center tomorrow and pick one up. This should make being on the road alot more palatable.
All the best,
Mark
January 16th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
Thanks for the review dude
I have one and am very pleased with it but I agree the manual is a bit vague. For instance if I change the tempo of the song-turn off the BR-then turn it back on again this gets lost and the tempo goes back to 130. This isn’t covered in the manual as far as I can see. Pressing stop followed by record is meant to save settings but it doesnt work. Anyone solved this?
I find how it saves out track data a little confusing (so you can back up the actual track dat as well as having an mp3 of it)
I use a shure sm57 with it and it’s fine but really you’ll need a mic preamp when using an external mic.
January 16th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Hi,
Useful blog. Cheers.
Just started using the micro and wondered if anyone has found a way round this:-
“”one really stupid thing I’ve found so far, is that saving a song does *NOT* save the tempo (WTF?).
So if you record a guitar part along to a drum beat at anything other than the default, power off/save.. then come back, you’ll notice the drum beat is totally out of time, because it always reset to the default tempo!!!!!
Also, I cannot figure out how to bounce the rhythm output to a track (this would use a track or two, but save the hassle of remembering every tempo).”"
Cheers
Ramsey
January 16th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
Hi, I’ve just been having a read through all the comments (great stuff) and I’m almost sold on the idea of getting on, but I’m confused about the simultaneous recording; on the Boss website it says: “At its core, the MICRO BR is a four-track studio with four simultaneous playback tracks and two simultaneous record / input tracks”, surely you can record a guitar and mic on independent channels at the same time then??
January 16th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
Alan/Ramsey: FYI I can confirm that it does not seem possible to save the tempo in a track – quite a major oversite, really, and I don’t know how BOSS missed that one. Means you have to remember the tempo which you use for each track. I have managed to open tracks with 120 and 130bpm tempo, but cannot figure out how that has been/is the case if tempo cannot seemingly be saved. Certainly, pressing stop and record (at the same time) does not save the tempo in a song.
Guy: Wrt to recording guitar and mic on independent channels simultaneously, see my note 3.
Ramsey: Wrt recording the rhythm track, Andre la Plume above suggests a method….
January 17th, 2007 at 11:05 pm
Hi all,
About the stereo powered (”plug in power”) Mic entrance in the Boss:
That 2.5v power is a function that usually Mic entrances (in Mini-Discs, Video Cameras and other portable recording devices) have and is called “Plug in power”. It enables them the use of a special type microphones wich are called Electret Condenser Microphones (ECM).
Electret condenser microphones
This type of microphones need to be powered with a current to work, much like a normal Condenser Microphones needs “Phantom power 48v” except this microphones need a lot less voltage (2.5v) “Plug-in power”. This current is tranfered to the microphone trough the stereo jack cable.
These type of microphones are usually used for field recording, speaker frequency test, music and general sound recording. They are usually very sensitive, have
a plain response in all frequencies and a reasonable SNR ratio and distort a little bit at high SPL (wich can be changed with some modifications sometimes)
Example of ECM microphone from SONY
The ECM cartridges (element that captures the sound) are all of the thing i said above and are very very small, cheap and easy to find in any electronic components store so they are the perfect DIY project. It’s possible to create some very good sounding mics to use with the Boss Micro BR.
There are several brands and models of ECM cartridges, some of them are very good, the Panasonic WM-61A for example wich can be found here for 1.86 USD.
To build your own microphone with this you can check this Tutorial
Example of Panasonic WM-61A recorded sound – Panasonic WM-61A mp3
More info:
http://www.geocities.com/ferocious_1999/md/micpreamp2.html
(A DIY 9v battery portable preamp with Plug in Power to use with a ECM and a Line in, for example Boss Micro Br Guitar 1/4 line in)
Bye!
Hope you understand my english,
Pedro
January 17th, 2007 at 11:25 pm
Cheers Pedro, very helpful! Thanks for that…
January 18th, 2007 at 5:17 am
Tim,
It’s very helpful blog…
I just got one…and need some comment…about set up
I have my main rig that consists of pedal board and Mesa amp…
If I want to play along with mp3 backing track or drum rhythm from Micro BR and record what I played through the main rig…
Where should I put Micro BR???
Normal :
Guitar >> Pedalboard >> amp
If I want to do as above mentioned..How about diagram below?
Guitar >> Pedalboard >> Micro BR >> amp …… (I don’t think so)
or
Guitar >> Pedalboard >> amp … and Micro BR connected from amp line-out..?? Can record..but can’t play rhythm..????
or..
Putting Micro BR in amp loop…??
or..
I do really need powered mixer…for that purpose..??
If so,can you recommend that mixer to me?..I need to find one..
and where should I put mixer in???
I’m a beginner of electric guitar..So,I have not much knowledge about it..Also my English is poor…
Hope you clearly suggest, otherwise I may misunderstanding…
Thanks in advance
January 18th, 2007 at 10:23 am
Hi,
Anyone tried Section 7 of the manual? “Tuning an Instrument”.
The manual says : “Hold down [EFFECTS] and press [UTILITY] to get the screen to show Tuner(440Hz).
I tried pressing the two buttons, but am unable to get the screen up for tuning.
Any ideas?
Regards
Ramsey
January 18th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
Re: tuning. You need to hold down EFFECTS and RHYTHM at the same time to get the tuner.
Doug
January 18th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
Thanks Doug. I thought I tried all the permutations available.
Cheers
Ramsey
January 19th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
Can the drums be recorded with the tracks and then put in the computer for a finished song? Also can a lead be recorded with a regular song and saved? Thanks for the site!!!
January 19th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
Hi Kelly. Yes, drums can be recorded along with the mix, either as a bounce, or a mastering process. All you do is have the rhythm set to “on” to have it included, or set to “off” if you do not want it included in the recording. Wrt to recording a lead with a song. Yes, you can do this, but not in MP3 trainer mode (where you can play against the song but not record what you play). You need to import your MP3 or WAV song into a V track (in normal mode), and then you can record your playing as another v track. Then you can do a mix down (bounce/master) to include both! HTH, Tim
January 19th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
Jeffy, you want to play along with mp3 backing track or drum rhythm from Micro BR and then record (on MicroBR) what you are playing through your main rig? I think what you would do would be, first, as above, import your track to a vtrack (e.g. V3/4-1 in Micro BR song “Jeffy”. Set the tempo of Jeffy to be that of the MP3 track. You may need to move the vtrack a bit to get it to synch with the rhythm track, but I think this is possible. If not using an MP3 backing track, and just the Micro BR rhythm, then even easier
. Then take the amp line out and connect to the MicroBR line in. Using e.g. headphones you can hear the rhythm/MP3 backing track and you can record the input to another v track. I think that should work. Maybe someone will correct me 
. So Guitar>>pedalboard>>amp>>ampline out>>MicroBR line in. HTH! Tim
January 20th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
hi why does my br scream thru the amp when i plug my guitar into it if i turn the vol down to stop it sreaming then i cant hear the guitar plus if i record a backing track onto say track 1 how can i play along to the track and record on track 2 thanks very confused
January 20th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
oh i forgot to mention this is my 1st try at digital recording im a bit lost i have a 4 track tape i only bought it for the drums and effects i might just play them thru the amp and record on the tape
January 20th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
Hey, I accidently deleted all the main files from my microbr! D’oh!
So now it doesn’t work too great (well at all)!
Any chance somebody could email them to me? tim_skinner@hotmail.com
I’d really appreciate it!
January 20th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
Tim, I sent you the files.
January 22nd, 2007 at 1:20 pm
Hi
Thanks for really helpful Blog.
I’m looking for a gadget to practice guitar via headphones over continuously looped backing tracks with bass lines as well as drums. I’ve got an old Pandora PX3 which has a range of preset drum/bass lines & almost fits the bill, but no option to import mp3 backing tracks.
The 4 track scratch pad, multiFX and “time shift” (for transcribing) are nice features on the MicroBR, but not essential for my requirements – I’ve got decent effects, recording gear & “Transcribe” software. What I need is something to jam to at rehearsals whilst waiting for the drummer & bassist to arrive !
Is the MicroBR the best tool for my needs, or would something else be better (eg. Korg PX4 or Zoom units)?
Also, is it possible to loop mp3 backing tracks for continuous loop play on the MicroBR, and how many MB of mp3 backing tracks could I store on it?
Many thanks in anticipation
Dave
January 22nd, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Hi Rob,
Your first question: Not sure why your br is screaming when connecting the guitar and the br is plugged thru the amp. Do you get the same thing when using headphones – ie excluding the amp?
Your second question: record backing on track 1. Select Track 2, and make sure you rewind back to the start, ([stop] & [rewind] simultaneously) then [play] & [record] and you should get your rhythm+track1 while you’re recording track 2. Same with tracks 3 & 4.
Cheers
Ramsey
January 22nd, 2007 at 8:04 pm
how do you think it compares to other products on the market as a field recorder,irrespective of the 4 track feature..or do you think it would be more worthwhile getting a designated machine for that
January 23rd, 2007 at 8:05 am
Hi Dave
Have not tried the Korg or Pandora units, and the MicroBR does not have a bass line generator (sadly
). But, what sold me on the MicroBR in the end was the 44KHz recording capability (plus other stuff I can’t now recall offhand). I am happy with the decision, though!…
Yes, it is easy to loop an MP3 (either in MP3 player mode, or if you import to a V track – where you could mix in some other recordings ontop). I use a 1MB SD card, so if an MP3 was say 5MB, that would be 200 tracks. Mind you, there would be no room to record on it. However, if you use it just as a MP3 player, there is no support for playlists and all the files have to be in the same directory. You might be better off getting a cheap MP3 player!
Dunno if that anwsered what you asked though….
January 23rd, 2007 at 8:12 am
Hi Algy
I am not sound engineer, but, being battery powered it seems to work well for field recordings – I have used it to record some ambient sounds and the quality is pretty good (well, recorded at 44KHz via the integral mic). You might want to plug in an external mic, though. However, if you need to do that, then maybe it is worth looking at the Zoom H4 instead, which looks like a nice little unit indeed, if about 60% more pricey than the MicroBR. HTH.
January 24th, 2007 at 3:13 am
I have the micro br digital recorder and im wondering how i get the songs ive created on my computer to burn the only files that come up are mp3 files and when i record i am not in mp3 mode im in normal mode. can i transfer files i have saved in normal to my computer or can i make them mp3 files. get back to me by email gangia2545@yahoo.com
January 24th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
Thanks Tim!
I played with a Micro-BR in a shop yesterday. Good guitar FX, but multi-function buttons means its difficult to get much further without the manual! Other possibilities are: Pandora PXR-4, Tascam MP-GT1 (easy mp3 playback but no built-in drums or bass line), Zoom MRS4 & MRS8 (built in bass & drums, but ? no easy mp3 playback).
Think I’ll put up with using my MP3 player into the aux input of the PX3 for now – a bit clumsy, but it does all I need it to do – and hope that someone will bring out a palm-sized studio with built-in drums, bass & easy mp3 playlist function in the near future!
Best wishes
Dave
January 26th, 2007 at 2:44 am
Hey, I was wondering if a demo could be posted of it? some sort of sound example before i buy one would be great. I’d like to hear the mic and the guitar quality. Thanks !
January 30th, 2007 at 10:47 am
hi ramsey when i plug earphones into it its fine but when i connect it to an amp after bringing up the vol after about 25% vol it screams and below that vol i cant hear the guitar or backing
January 30th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
Hi Rob. Do you, by any chance, have the input volume set high and you have the input set to MIC? You could be getting feedback. A quick check would be to turn the input volume down to 0 to see if you still get that effect….. HTH
January 31st, 2007 at 11:22 am
Hi there,
I think i’m being a bit dumb here, but i can’t figure out how to convert (EXPORT) a COMPETE song (more than one track) to MP3 or WAV. whenever i export i can’t seem to get an option for saving all the tracks together. Maybe i’m not finishing the song correctly? I know i’m missing something really obvious!
I’m not a guitarist but teach singing and want something to import MP3 instrumental backing tracks to (say as track 1) and then record a couple of vocal harmony (duet or trio)parts as other tracks. i’d then like to export the different versions (say track 1 + track 2, then track 1 + track 3) so i can give e.g. two students each an MP3 with the instrumental and their own individual harmony part on it. Hope this is clear! I’m not sure if the Micro BR is what i need. also considering a Zoom H4. Any and all advice welcome!
Also, the shop i bought the Br from have been great and have said i can bring it back for a full refund if it’s not what i need. but i think i’ve accidentlly wiped track 2 of the BIGDANCE MP3! would anyone be able to mail me the BIGDANCE file? Really appreciate any help!
I know these are a load of questionas so please don’t feel obliged!
My mail is: davidrobertson@gmx.it
February 1st, 2007 at 4:50 pm
You certainly can do what you are looking for either through the Mastering Tool (page 74 of the manual) or with “Bounce (page 50). The Mastering Tool is probably where you should start since that is the best way to do it and allows far more output control, and converts directly to a WAV or MP3 without using another track.
Alternately you could use bounce with combines (mixes) multiple tracks to a new v-track, then you can convert that v-track to an MP3 or WAV.
February 2nd, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Sorry just tried out the Mastering, it does use 2 V-tracks (stereo), but for what you are doing Mastering appears to be the way to go.
February 5th, 2007 at 8:36 am
Thanks for your review – I recently bought a Micro BR and have learned far more from reading these posts than from the apalling manual (which looks like a failed attempt to prove the “infinite number of monkeys with typewriters” theory!).
Roland/Boss could improve the usefulness of this little wonder so much by making some short video demos (like the NAMM one) of the main functions and posting them on their support site. Perhaps when I’ve become a little more confident with it I may make a couple of tutorial videos and send them in!
February 12th, 2007 at 3:56 am
Hey, thanks for the great reviews, one thing I want to know about is the MP3 Trainer: I see you can loop and slow down, but can you change the ptich so you don’t have to retune? Thanks
February 14th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
Hi, is it possible to just use a card reader for importing/exporting br data instead of having to connect the br itself to the pc ? Thanks
February 14th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
“… can you change the pitch so you don’t have to retune? ”
The slow downer adjust the pitch automatically to the playing tempo so that the notes are correct. It sound pretty good down to 85% from there on down you get some break up, but I’ve found it usable for figuring out individual notes all the way to 50%, I have tried slower than that. Overall the trainer is quite usable.
BTW I bought this primarily for the training functions and to allow me to record and playback during practice. I had been using a laptop for this (Audacity for recording, Amazing Slow Downer for training) but hooking up the the laptop was annoying. I find this a much better solution and I am definitely using more than I was the laptop setup.
February 15th, 2007 at 7:51 am
“is it possible to just use a card reader for importing/exporting br data instead of having to connect the br itself to the pc “. Yes, I tried that and it seemed to work OK….
February 16th, 2007 at 8:52 pm
Gonna go out on a limb about the tempo snafu. The manual states in three places “temporary change” in tempo. I think that you can’t change a pattern or an arangement, BUT when you copy to the song mode, I bet you can save the tempos. Gonna try it tonight, if I get time (on the road). bRAD
February 16th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
A Good Mic, this is a really cute stereo, compact mic thats ~2.4vdc. I bend at a right angle up to 90 degrees. For around $20.00 USD, it can’t be beat. It the Sony ECM-DS70P. Its as if it was built for the BR. bRAD
February 17th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Cheers for the mic comment Bad Brad. I took the MicroBR with we to 3GSM and made some mic recordings of ambient sounds at the airport – these have come out fine.
February 18th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Hi all. Last week I received a Micro BR as a birthday present. I received it from the beautiful hands of the most beautiful lady. I did not have enough time to do something really useful with it, but having take look to the manual and after having playing around for a while with the interface, I have the feeling that a more friendly tutorial is needed. Something like a video, or at least an illustrated and detailed paper. The manual is not clear enough.
I’m used to compose with Hydrogen-Audacity and a Zoom G2.1 pedal, but I guess from the experiences out there that the potential of this little gadget is just enormous and really want to to learn how to get something from it. I understand that the interface has to be difficult because of the miniaturization and stuff, but that’s also a good reason to have been writting a more carefully detailed manual.
Oh.. all this stuff sounds like just complaints. The only thing I want to know if someone from the users community has done something like a tutorial. When I have something done I promise to write everything down, step by step, to do my part.
Cheers
February 19th, 2007 at 3:27 am
Is anyone out there using a Lexar SD1GB-231? I can’t seem to play wav files copied to it. I get “Drive Busy”. I can access mp3’s I copy but not wav’s.
February 19th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Hey peeps,
i own my micro br for some weeks now. a big disadvantage is battery usage. for the ones that don’t know i have a tip: use 2700 mA rechargeable batteries by GP (or any other brand). they give more than reasonable battery life and therefor put less pressure on your wallet and the environment.
February 21st, 2007 at 12:37 am
What external mics have you had success with? How is the pre-amp in the BR? I want to record acoustic guitar and would like for a single-point stereo solution that works well with the BR. I’m looking at AT 24 Pro, Sony ECM-907 and possibly the more expensive AT822. Any experience with these connected to the Micro BR? Audio samples would be great. I’m mostly interested in recording at low volumes, such as single acoustic instrument, voice or ambiance.
Thanks in advance for any feedback.
-Geert
February 21st, 2007 at 4:36 pm
I’m about to buy the Audio Technica AT Pro 24 Stereo Condensor mic. I’ll let you know how well it does.
From the reviews that I’ve read, it seems that it isn’t very sensitive, which will be good for me since I’m going to use it for demo recording my loud band, but probably not good for someone using it for acoustic instruments. I’ll definitely try it out with my acoustic, though, and let you know.
February 21st, 2007 at 6:25 pm
I’ve read some reports saying the drum beats are a bit awkward to program and the bass can be a bit quiet. I’m pretty new to this and don’t know whether to get the BR or the Zoom MRS8. Any ideas???
February 21st, 2007 at 8:42 pm
I have been considering buying one of these for a while now, the only thing i am not sure about is can i still use the drum machine while using my own effects sytem (instead of the onboard effects on the Micro BR) ?
…Also i would want to record at the same time.
February 21st, 2007 at 10:48 pm
Received my Micro BR Play Case today.It allows you to access all the sockets and controls on the unit (except for the Hold switch) whilst at the same time offering protection against knocks but not spillage of liquids into the unit which is a possible hazard.Included with the case is a thin cellophane sheet with holes in it to accommodate the buttons and onboard mic.This sticks to the “mirror” to reduce the chances of it being stratched.
The case also comes with a karabiner attached to it which I removed straight away.The velcro belt loop seems sturdy and secure but I can’t imagine myself walking around with the thing attached to me.All in all its a fairly good quality case and should be for the price , just a shame it’s not water proof.
February 24th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
I tried sending this question before but think it disappeared into thin air. As a complete beginner (age 64!) I have just bought a Micro BR and managed to record 4 tracks and finalise them to MP3 – despite the worst efforts of a very disorganised user manual. But bouncing 2 or 3 tracks onto a single track to leave me more frree tracks for recording is beyond me, the example in the manual is so confused. And how can I tell which tracks have actually been freed up, since playback plays them all together? Simple advice, anyone?
February 26th, 2007 at 5:35 am
Hello All-Great site with great folks. I am toying with the notion of buying a Micro-BR. Very early in the Blog, I saw a mention of a Micro-BR2 as a future possibility. Has anyone heard if and when this might happen? I definitely know where to go to get good info on using this when I spring for one.
Thanks,
Annandale Dave
February 26th, 2007 at 11:23 am
Hi, I was just about ready to order the micro br tomorrow, but some of the things I’m reading on here now make me wonder if I should, or wait until Boss comes out with a better model with the kinks worked out.
I guess my biggest concern, and I don’t think this has been answered yet, is if it will keep the same tempo when I master a song. Otherwise, this thing would be pretty useless right?
I don’t like the fact that you have to convert files back and forth either. I guess I could live with that though.
So, is the tempo thing really an issue or is it just a matter of concern when you are in the midst of working on a song, come back to it later, and have to remember what tempo you used?
Thanks for any input.
February 27th, 2007 at 2:15 am
My first question is, What is the advantage of the wav converter that I’ve downloaded from Roland US? Does it allow for editing possibilities on my PC? Editing on the BR itself seems to be kind of painstaking. And are there any other downloads or programs available that could be used for editing or converting files to/from my BR? Thanks -A-Rock
February 27th, 2007 at 4:34 am
It keeps the tempo, but the drum machine needs to be reset every time you play that song using the drums as an effect. If you master a track with the drummachine, it will become a wav or an mp3 file, so you wont need to woory about the tempo setting anyway.
February 27th, 2007 at 4:40 am
Graeme Ogg wrote about not being sure which tracks are free, I would try looking at the V Tracks to see which ones have files, also remember you can control the volume and pan of the individual tracks as well..
February 27th, 2007 at 4:47 am
Here is a mic found out about. Havent tried it yet myself. Its an APEX162 – Mini-Stereo Condenser Microphone. The price seems reasonable.
http://www.apexelectronics.com/index.php?tmp=4&id=73
February 27th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
i have one and its pretty good but ive lost the maual and have forgotten how to convert my music into mp3’s, ive tried everything! Anyone remind me plz?!?!?
February 28th, 2007 at 1:43 am
Atkey lost his manual.
If he registers with Roland he can download it as a PDF.
February 28th, 2007 at 1:49 am
A-Rock asked about a wav editor. The interface you got from Roland only transfers files.
Heres some info and sites on wav editors and other software.
http://www.kvraudio.com/
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
February 28th, 2007 at 3:54 am
This is for A-Rock: I suggest you check out audacity, which can be found here: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/. It’s a nice audio editor and it has the other benefit of being free.
You can import wav and mp3 files into audacity using Project/Import Audio (or Control-I). You can then mix them, apply effects, and do some editing.
It’s not as fancy as commercial programs, but I find it works quite well for a lot of things.
February 28th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
Bought mine yesterday, and have only used the Effects and Drum Kits so far. I have a pair of Creative Travel Speakers that work really well, as an alternative to headphones. Now, forgive my ignorance, but is there a way to plug the Micro into a Standard amp?. Guitar in- ok, but Line is mini jack?. Is there a converter?. Or am I being silly?. Thanks, Murray.
February 28th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
how do you view what is on thecard as the br defaults to the last recorded track how do you bring up the other tracks that are saved
March 1st, 2007 at 4:36 am
Rob asked about opening other songs.
Press utility
Song
Sel
and there ya go.
March 5th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
thanks for answering my questions can i have 1 more how do i delete a complete song from the card the manual only deals with bits of songs
March 5th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
thanks for answering my questions can i have 1 more how do i delete a complete song from the card i think the manual only deals with parts of songs
March 6th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
Hi Folks,
Wow, what a wealth of information. I just need one clarification about metronome/drum rhythms. I’m actually not a guitarist, but play wind instruments, so I’d be more interested in a decent metronome function. And I’m not sure what Tim meant about the functions available here (the manual has nothing, I already looked).
Quote: “there are a range of metronome beats from 1/1 to 8/1, 1/2 to 8/2, 1/4 to 8/4 and 1/8 to 8/8 (and all integer beats in between, i.e. 5/8, 5/4 etc).”
I’m not really sure what this means. Whilst a metronome can “click”, it doesn’t place emphasis anywhere in the bar. This is actually a good thing, since “7/8″ can mean:
CLICK-click-click CLICK-click CLICK-click
but also equally:
CLICK-click CLICK-click CLICK-click-click
So, what does the Micro-BR metronome actually offer?
Oh, and is it loud? Quiet metronomes are a disaster! :=)
March 6th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Thanks for your great website. I have been in recordings since 1974 as non-professional. I have home studio and work with Protools from Digidesign. Just bought my Micro Br recorder after reading your review and followed your blog site for a while. The Micro br is a fabulous little toy that has it all you need when making a demo on the run. Your web site has been a great help for technical matters though I read the entire manual. Thank you again.
Michael
From Iceland
March 12th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
I am mostly interested in the training modes rather than producing final demos. I have been waiting a long time for a n mp3 player sized FX box that ticks the following boxes
1. plays mp3s as backing tracks
2. can slow them down and stay in tune
3. can change the pitch by a semi-tone (and still slow them down)
4. allow me to record some rhythms to a drum beat
and play along
5. firmware upgradeable
It looks like this ticks nearly all of them but no. 3 is
important because about on a 1/3 of the stuff I play, the
guitars are tuned to Eb (Thin Lizzy, GnR etc), or worse
the pitch is somewhere between a semi-tone above or below concert E. I use audacity or similar to compensate on my PC, but it would be nice to have this on board.
On 5, well, nearly all my recent gadgets are fw upgradeable. You get used to new features and bug fixes released this way.
Can anyone confirm 3 & 5 ?
March 14th, 2007 at 8:53 am
Well, I got mine last week, but haven’t done any recording yet. I have been reading the manual and I went through all of the guitar effect programs. I gotta tell ya, they sound like they have potential, but compared to my Zoom G1, they are really dry and don’t have enough volume output. I haven’t tried them through an amp yet, so I don’t know if they sound any better when amped.
I,too, am a little dissapointed that they only provided an 8th inch jack for the output. I wish there was a 1/4″ inch in as well aside from the guitar in. Hopefully this thing will record my zooms effects through guitar in. I played the zoom through this thing an it totally change the sound. I don’t know if it’s just a weak headphone output or what.
I’ll let you know more as I play around with it more.
March 14th, 2007 at 10:58 am
I bought mine yesterday and think it is brilliant – the only downside, as I can see, is the inability to plug in a guitar and mic at the same time to record simultaneously. I bought it so I could hear how bad my timing is and improve it! Any ideas on the bset way to resolve this? Thanks.
March 17th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
This is an amazing blog . . . . After reading this, the BR may not be right for me. What I’m looking for is a high-quality field recorder, that can also double as an MP3 player. I love my Minidisc, but no drag and drop. But I want to keep all of my minidisc fuctions, like DIVIDE, COMBINE, DELETE and it’s great recording quality. Not all that concerned about multitrack recording. Anyone know of such a creature? THANKS!
March 17th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
I got a micro-br today, this site is great, I’m sure I’ll have questions.
Quick note about my setup as it may help some people with decisions about things. The main issue i have is that my Vox Valvetronix does not have line-in, though it does have line-out, but I don’t want to have to keep plugging/unplugging this when I want to record.
So here is my solution (thanks to my Boss CE-3 chorus pedal)
Guitar—>Fender PT-10–>Marshall ED-1–>Boss CE-3…
…Boss CE-3 Output A–>Amp (Vox AD30 valvetronix)
…Boss CE-3 Output B–>Boss Micro BR (Guitar in)…
Discman–>MicroBR (Line in)…
…MicroBR –> Standard speakers
So basically this setup means that I don’t have to change anything, because my Boss CE-2 has dry signals from both its outputs regardless of whether the chorus is engaged or not, I can hear my guitar through both the amp & the speakers connected to the microbr.
I can also turn the amp volume down or speakers attached to the microbr down to hear just one.
I can play my cds through my discman through the speakers attached to the microbr or play mp3 files through the microbr
I think this offers one of the best setups for my needs!
March 22nd, 2007 at 10:59 pm
to Rob bass:
Check out the Olympus WS-300M / 310M / 320M or for even better field recording quality WS-331M. They’re about the size of a Nano (a bit thicker). My friend has one….loves it!
March 23rd, 2007 at 2:30 am
I just got this yesterday. 3 issues/questions:
1) How can you erase or delete virtual tracks?
2) Why is not track #3 showing up in the list (tracks are showing up as 1 2 {blank here} 4)
3) I am SO confused about bouncing!!
March 24th, 2007 at 4:40 am
I am looking at the microBR and the BR-600. If you could only have one, and did not mind about the power adapter, what is the best? Do both have the time trainer ability?
March 27th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
Just a quick question,
Is it fairly simple to download a MP3/WAV Backtrack to the MicroBR, then record the Guitar rhythm track and the lead. Then master/bounce it on the MicroBR as a MP3 or WAV format ?
.
Also are the drum patterns programmable ?
Thanks
March 27th, 2007 at 8:22 pm
The internal mic is worthless. any level that doesn’t clip is barely audible at playback. It does work well with an external mic, i use a sony stereo mic, the little one with the 1/8″ input.
March 28th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
With regards to the tempo problem, it seems to me the whole rythm part is treated almost like a song by itself. You must save your rythm pattern as an arrangement and then choose it before playing your recording. Then it will always have the right tempo. It’s abit like handling two halves of the song appart, not automatic. When you record, the played part goes into the chosen track-first virtual channel, and the rythm goes into the second virtual channel. The tempo this way seems to remain correct. I doubt the above is clear. First compose the rythm pattern, then save it as an arrangement (saving is different from recording), then choose it for your song,then record. Voilá. Hope that helps
March 28th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
Alas, there seems to be space to create only 5 such arrangements at at time. So you either re-use them or write them over as you see fit. Furthermore, although with the preset patterns or arrangements the tempo does indicate the wrong value, the value you used in the recording seems to be remain constant, very weird.
March 31st, 2007 at 7:47 am
Has anybody tried an SD Card over the 1gb size yet?
Does the BR recognize and allow you to use the additional space on a 2gb or 4gb SD card?
If so I was thinking why not go for a 4gb SD card and be done with it… hours of fun!
April 1st, 2007 at 2:32 am
i’m trying to use the mp3 trainer part of the BR and i would like to be able to hear my input intrument louder than the mp3 file i’m practicing with. I have the input volume on the BR and on my instrument set to its loudest setting and yet the mp3 files are still too loud for me to practice along with it. Is there some way i can adjust the volume of the mp3 file without affecting the volume of my bass ?
April 1st, 2007 at 6:11 pm
I cannot seem to find a way to adjust the volume of the rhythm track (the drumkit) ??? I can change the drumkit sound and enable/disable the drumkit but I want to be able to lower the volume….
Any ideas?
April 3rd, 2007 at 7:35 pm
I’ve been using the micro br for a while. It is daunting at first ,but once you get some of the basic functions down it becomes for intuitive. To adjuct the volume of the drumkit check the menu in that area then put the cursor on it.
I have enjoyed layering guitar tracks of mine and making some good jams with them. The onboard mic is really good. I have even overdubbed some studio work with it. I Recorded the previous work in stereo to the micro br then added vocal tracks with a sm57 through a line level output on my mixer. But I also have had vocals just sang into the condenser. They sound as good.
April 3rd, 2007 at 9:39 pm
Hello Tim,
I recently purchased a Marantz field recording unit just to record rehearsals and I don’t care for it.It seems to phase and the limiter seems to cut in and out. So I am thinking of getting the Micro Br.( for both guitar riffing and recording practice) My question (and I did read all the others before I posted this) is, at practice volume (pretty loud) can I set this up and let it record with the internal mic and get a decent recording or will it distort phase ect. like the Marantz? Thanks for your time and this is a very helpful blog. I’m going to print it out when I get mine. Thanks John H.
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:28 pm
Actually I found out how to do this, it was pretty easy
Go to rhythm, then use the right cursor key to move from the rhythm pattern/arrangement choice to the sections that allow you to choose level (volume) & reverb for the rhtyhm.
April 10th, 2007 at 3:51 am
For the guy who wants a superior field recorder, the Roland R-1 that we have is amazing, a bit expensive, but worth it for pro results. Amazing dual microphones, and 16 or 24 bit recording, WAV and MP# at many rates. Great for a pro type guy.
I will be getting MY Micro BR this week, does anyone know that this thing is supposed to be 8 track of playback ? Yes eight, the TRKs can be stereo or so it say in the manual, has anyone tried this?
Rick in SF
April 10th, 2007 at 6:58 pm
Well, I have mastered and exported a few original songs now. That was very satisfying to get this point. I hope to get better at adding patches and editing. It’s amazing what I can do with the drum machine and a few layers guitaring through the condenser mic.
Please keep this Blog going.
Caddoguy
April 12th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
On external mics I use a Yoga EM 268 from Maplin which was £19 and is fine for demos. Also it has a mono switch so you can use it as a mono input by switching off one of the record tracks and recording to the other one. BTW I discovered there is a Yahoo group for the BR . http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/bossmicrobr/
Twango
April 12th, 2007 at 4:52 pm
Another thing – you CAN record guitar and mic together, contrary to the manual – just hit the GTR and MIC buttons together and both inputs become active. the signals are summed though so you have to balance them externally e.g. with the guitar’s volume control. You can also record the combined signals to stereo which is pretty cool.
twango
April 15th, 2007 at 11:16 pm
I see people are still having trouble getting the BR to retain a tempo setting. I can confirm that if you follow the “create a new song” instructions in the “Create an arrangement” section of the manual, then programme a drum arrangement (get “AR” on the rhythm display then hit “Edit” and go on from there), if you then exit from “Rhythm-Edit” and adjust the metronome speed setting on the main display, that setting will be retained for your song arrangement. Shut down the BR and you get the “Song Saving” message. Re-start and you’ll find your arrangement has been saved at your selected speed. Contrary to one comment, the manual says a rhythm arrangement doesn’t occupy one of the virtual tracks, it is stored as a separate “bonus” track and all 32 virtuals are still free. Also, there is a facility in “Rhythm” for setting the rhythm volume which is independent of the volume of any recorded tracks.
April 17th, 2007 at 12:47 am
[...] You can hear a mono recording (made on Micro BR) of the actual demo I gave HERE (which includes me talking through the demo). [...]
April 22nd, 2007 at 12:19 pm
Finally purchased the br and glad I did. This post has been most helpful in buying decision and now in using this marvelous device. Contrary to some of the posts, I tested the builtin mic in a live situation and found the sound quality to be pretty good, sensitivity was good and the created tracks reflected what we actually heard. I am very pleased with this feature. Thanks to all who have been posting here, your insights into using this device are invalueable as the manual is slightly ambiguous on many points. Great device, great site and post…………
April 26th, 2007 at 7:36 am
i have this and its great.i use it all the time. i just cant figure out how to take the things ive recorded on the four tracks and put them all on to track one. i know this is like the bounce v-track thing but i just dont know how to do it. if someone could help me this would be greatly appreciated
April 26th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
I may be one of the only KEYBOARDISTS using the MicroBR. Just curious if its ’safe’ as long as I keep the input level low, or if I need to run it thru a DI box?
Also, seems that when I play MP3s from the unit outputting to my Amp, the DELAY/EFFECTS are being sent. However, during normal playback (on the unit itself) this does not occur.
Any thoughts? THANKS!
April 30th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
Can anyone tell me how to listen to one recording while recording another track or two for mixing later so syncronising the timing. Seems the fundamental use of the Micro BR but the guide notes are very confusing.
Robin
May 1st, 2007 at 5:12 pm
To Robin
Do you mean you have recorded TR1 and want to record TR2 while listening to TR1 …and so on? I also had that problem when I first got my BR, I couldn’t hear anything, but can’t remember now what I was doing wrong. Record TR1. Press “Stop”. Rewind to start of recording, press red record button, press “TR2″ button then hit “Start” and you can hear TR1 in the headphones as you record TR2. Or are you talking about something more complicated than that? In that case, sorry!
To Jerry – don’t think you can put 4 tracks onto 1. The BR “bounce” process puts 4 tracks on to TWO virtuals. Then you can record 4 more and bounce those to 2 more virtuals. Combining the 4 bounced virtuals (each with 2 original tracks) gives a max. of 8 tracks combined into 1 song.
May 2nd, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Is there anyway of connecting a mixing desk to the BR. I have tried using the line in and the result is distorted(sounds like a Dalek talking down a tube). Am I neing too ambitious for such a small device?
In additio I was experimenting with external Mics and getting frustrated the forum has helped clarify a few issues relating to what Mic can be used ECM DS 70P would seem to be the answer
May 2nd, 2007 at 2:01 pm
bought 2gig flash. Won’t format. Says card full halfway through. Any thoughts?
May 2nd, 2007 at 7:06 pm
Nevermind, contacted tech @ roland. Apparently, the Micro BR can only support 1 gig flash cards
May 14th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
hi there.
I have the br600 and has been great up till now.When i bounce and master the track on7/8 and then go to export with the usb it used to take a while to export now when i do it it just flashes for a sec and goes back to`select wav or aiff`,Nothing is exported!so what am i missing s the usb cable and laptop are ok??im so puzzled as ive recorded 5-6 tracks alredy.Would really appreciate the help.
May 30th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
I’m new to the Micro BR. I cannot get the machine to convert stereo tracks to audio output. Although I can use the PC program BRWC to do the job, I cannot get the same result internally in the Micro BR despite following the Manual procedure to the letter. All I get is a MONO version of the stereo tracks. What am I doing wrong?
June 1st, 2007 at 8:32 am
As the MicroBR handbook is rather obscure on this point, can anyone describe, in easy steps, how to convert a pair of track recordings (in stereo) to a stereo .wav file within the MicroBR.
I can do this easily using BRWC on the PC, but attempts at doing it internally only produce a MONO file.
June 2nd, 2007 at 4:41 am
I would like to buy an electret condenser microphone for the Micro BR. I read that people recommend the Sony ECM DS-70P. But I also read about the Sony ECM MS-907 and the Audio Technica AT 822 and AT pro 24. Can someone tell me which one has the best response? I don’t know what to buy. Than you!
June 4th, 2007 at 12:16 am
ref KC Farrell’s question, using the BR with a Keyboard. Yes it work fine into either the line or if you want the GTR input. Just watch for the over signal to indicate the input level is to hot. I have used my keys as well as guitar and bass to create full songs.
June 4th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
Hello! I wuld like to know if anybody know about the quality of the Boss headphones that come with the accesory package BAPC15.
Thank you!
June 5th, 2007 at 4:09 pm
Hi,
What a great blog. I’ve had a BR for about 4 weeks and am doing a colloborative project with someone else where we send SD cards by post. We’ve run into a problem, with cheaper SD cards, once the card gets 50% full, an error message comes up saying card busy and from this point the tracks seem to go out of phase, and the song can have nothing more added to it.
Could this be because I’ve been pulling track data off one card and onto another, by dragging and dropping from the Roland folder on to a mac and back again, or is it to do with cheap cards?
June 5th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
hi
Anyone having trouble with data cards? We seem to be getting a lot of drive busy messages and spoiled tracks. Any ideas?
ian
June 6th, 2007 at 2:05 am
i have a br. when i change the file name on the br it does not change the name when i backup to my pc. it saves the name as SONG0001 or such. is my machine broken or is this a “flaw” with the br? likewise, when i change the filename on my pc, even if 8 characters, it doesn’t recognize it on my br.
any help, comments would be appreciated.
thanks,
jim…
June 6th, 2007 at 6:24 am
For those interested, I learned from the yahoo group that you can record guitar and vocals at the same time. When you select input, press guitar and mic at the same time. The input will be summed though so you have to set your levels accordingly or sing softer or something. I haven’t tried it myself cuz I’m not really a singer. This trick isn’t in the manual.
June 11th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
Jim,
I reckon the BR file structure is quite inflexible – any attempt to change a song name on the PC messes it up badly – my experience is the name change function is only for changing a song name at user lever rather than file level. Interested to hear if anyone ever got that to work.
On the data cards, we’re trying superfast secure data cards, rather than the normal one. I’ll pass on any info I find.
June 17th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
Hello,
i am having a little bit of trouble with the micro BR, i go to record a song and when im done the Br saves it and when i look to listen to it the rhythm is sped up more then usual and it throws off the entire song, how do i fix this??????
June 19th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
i need to master the songs and output to mp3 or wav to put on my ipod , pls help
June 20th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Brendan,
I think this is the fault of dodgy SD cards, as this seems to happen if the song data get corrupted. Either keep a note of the BPM and the drum rythm and change it back, or transfer the song to your PC and use a new card. My basic experience is that really cheap generic brands of cards always go wrong. Never touch Tesco or Boots cards.
Jahstix.
Go to the beginning of your song,
Press exit and utility twice until “Mastering appears”
Play the song and adjust level until you’re happy (Note: make sure master level doesn’t hit the top, as this will distort the final track), then hit:
Record and then play.
This will master song, at the end you can name it, and then export as MP3. Make sure you have loads of batteries in, as the export can take 10 mins or so.
Hope this helps
June 20th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Jahstix,
Another note,
Any volume/panning changes you mak will appear in the final MP3, so you can use this to change panning/fade in/fade out. What you can’t do is change V tracks.
June 14th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
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