Boss BR-864 Reviews5 Found On 2004-06-10, dave beard gave this Boss Recording a 5...(9086)
Purchase: I bought this unit on ebay for $385 U. S. and $15 shipping
Pros: This is the first recorder I have ever had. I was able to record and play back within a few hours using the COSM guitar effects and umlti channels. I connected to the game port of my Phillips CD player. It sounded great. I was able to use one of the 40 patches for mic so my voice didn't sound too bad. The guitar patches were very satisfactory. You can plug your guitar into your effects pad and then use the onboard effects as well. nice.
Cons: The manual was a little clunky. i had to read it several times and play with the machine before it started to make sense. It would be nice if the memory card were 512 instead of 128. for the money it's great.
Quality: good construction Summary: I am more than satisfied with this unit. I am amazed at all the effects that are built in. the sound is very good on most patches.
Search for more Boss Recording reviews and comparisons On 2004-02-29, cpaauw gave this Boss Recording a 4...(8094)
Purchase: I bought the unit in Germany for 500 Euros, this included (a non original Boss power supply).
Pros: The portablility and the ease of use I like best, also the sound quality is very good. I take theunit everywhere I want and can even run it for a long time on batteries. Because of its portability and easy of use it promotes what it is all about ; your creativity making music.
Cons: The biggest shock is that you don't have software to convert the recordings on your PC, you have to convert your tracks on the unit itself to .wav or .aif format before you can export it to the PC. The conversion on the unit takes a lot off room on the Compact Memory card so the included 128 Compact Flash doesn't get you very far. It is super frustrating that after your recording you find out that you can't convert it because your Compact Flash card is full. It is strange because the BR-8 and the BR-532; which are older machines do have the software to convert on the PC. I contacted Roland; they have no plans providing the software.
The internal microfone is also noit very good; using a good external microfone ( I use a Shure SM58) works very well and is recommended.
Also; one can only plug one guitar in and one microphone; I would have liked extra inputs.
Quality: The Boss-Br864 feels pretty solid (better than the Fostex). The knobs and functionality are similar from the ofther (bigger) Boss multitrack recorders so when you upgrade the learning curve you have with this unit transfers easilly. Summary: Overall; for guitarists / song writers like myself a recommendation; unit which you have years of recording learning and flexibility. The lack of software conversion is a big minus; recommend to get the 1 GB Compact Flash.
Search for more Boss Recording reviews and comparisons On 2003-11-28, lalus gave this Boss Recording a 5...(6505)
Purchase: samash worl wide web
Pros: sound and price, 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.
Cons: 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.
Quality: 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.
Summary: 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.
Search for more Boss Recording reviews and comparisons On 2003-11-26, Bex gave this Boss Recording a 4...(6475)
Purchase: I was given this unit as a birthday gift. I believe it cost about $750 Canadian.
Pros: It is very easy to operate. The manual is clear and I had it up and running in no time. Being a person who avoids electronics at almost any cost, I was delighted by the ease of operation. Resulting sound is brilliant, especially the quality of the vocals!
Cons: It's a bit fiddly to transfer the tracks to PC to be burned, especially if you're not at home with your PC when you are recording. Anyone that is on the road a lot would probably want a unit with a built in CD player. The drum tracks are a bit weak sounding, and were tough for me to program at first.
Quality: The unit seems very durable. It is lightweight and compact, and all the pieces are solidly put together. Summary: For this price range, I would strongly recommend the Boss BR-864.
Search for more Boss Recording reviews and comparisons On 2003-11-11, Javan Gordon gave this Boss Recording a 5...(6124)
Purchase: I picked up the 864 at Guitar Center for $599. I always dug roland products.
Pros: I thought the sleek design was "Boss". It was loaded with features but they were a breeze to use. I laid down some tracks added effects, mixed it then dumped it on to my pc to burn it to disc. The quality was unreal! This unit was portable and it rocked!
Cons: The only thimg I didn't like was the fact I wished I had it sooner.
Quality: The 864 is built rugged and durable. Everything worked like a charm. It took some hard bumps like a trooper. Summary: I would reccomend the Boss 864 to anyone. It was simple to operate even though it had features of a $2000 unit. It was worth every penny.
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© Chris Bereznay - Gear Review Network / MusicGearReview.com - 2000
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