|
|
Post by factorychef on Feb 9, 2011 9:22:46 GMT -5
Does any know about This? I'm thinking about getting one. It sure has a lot of goodies on it.
|
|
|
|
Post by aquaduct on Feb 9, 2011 10:03:30 GMT -5
I've had one for a couple years. Nice piece. All kinds of bells and whistles.
Never did any significant recording with it, mostly used it for the phrase trainer and as sort of a practice aid.
|
|
|
|
Post by secondroy on Feb 9, 2011 10:51:27 GMT -5
Is that the four track?
|
|
|
|
Post by aquaduct on Feb 9, 2011 11:22:40 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Lonnie on Feb 9, 2011 11:47:16 GMT -5
I don't know this particular model, but I just looked at the Boss page. Saw it listed at Amazon for $198. Depending on the size SD-card you can use, the price is worth it simply as an mp3 player and quick-sketch recorder.
I get all squinty when I try to work with those tiny multi-page windows. My only suggestion is to look at the Boss, look at some of the live recorder things like the Zoom H2 (my favorite for capturing live shows and quick idea recording), decide what features are really important to you, and act accordingly.
|
|
|
|
Post by aquaduct on Feb 9, 2011 11:55:06 GMT -5
I don't know this particular model, but I just looked at the Boss page. Saw it listed at Amazon for $198. Depending on the size SD-card you can use, the price is worth it simply as an mp3 player and quick-sketch recorder. I get all squinty when I try to work with those tiny multi-page windows. My only suggestion is to look at the Boss, look at some of the live recorder things like the Zoom H2 (my favorite for capturing live shows and quick idea recording), decide what features are really important to you, and act accordingly. Exactly. Mine's older and can only take a 1 meg SD card which are damn near impossible to find these days. |
|
|
|
Post by Greg B on Feb 9, 2011 11:55:58 GMT -5
Yes I have one. I love mine which was given to me by Wren. So let me tell you what I like about it, what Wren didn't, and what I've discovered since I've had mine.
Likes and features:
It's a 4 track digital recorder which can, through a bit of wiring trickery, record up to 2 tracks at a time. Each of the 4 tracks has 8 virtual tracks which you can think of as alternative takes. You can't play multiple virtual tracks at one time, but you can do something like record a solo 4 times and switch between takes to cover mistakes.
It has dozens of preset sound patches for your electric guitar. You have everything from Telecaster country to ZZ Top Texas blues sounds to metal distortion, U2 echos, and beyond. However, if you want a real clean jazz tone you'll have to modify the presets because they're all set up to show off the effects. Luckily, each preset can be modified and saved as a user preset so you can have your own modified sound and the original sound available.
It also has a built in drum machine with multiple drum sets and many different preset drum patterns.
You can copy mp3 files to the unit and slow them down without changing the pitch. This is great for learning licks off of CDs.
It also has a tuner built in.
Issues:
It comes with a 128 meg SD card. It will handle up to a 1Gig SD card. 1Gig cards are getting hard to find. newegg.com has them. SanDisc cards work well, Transcend cards have some issues. I bought 4 of the Transcend brand cards and all 4 of them had memory read problems within a year. There is a firmware patch that fixes that problem but it's very hard to find on the web. My nephew works for Boss and he sent me the files. I can send them to you if you get a Micro BR.
All of these features are accessed via some combination of the 21 buttons on the unit. There are many menus which go very deep. There's a noticeable learning curve to get through just to record your first song and master it. It's easy to get option anxiety when confronted with all the options available to you. That combined with a non intuitive interface can be really confusing unless you really sit down and spend the time to learn the menu structure. This was Wren's biggest complaint and I find that I still need to keep the manual next to the unit.
The battery life is terrible. It pretty much has to run from an AC adapter all the time. You probably couldn't get through a 2 hour practice session on one pair of AA batteries.
Real World Use:
Oddly enough, my most common use of the Micro Br is not as a recording studio but as a headphone amp. I plug in my guitar and headphones and I can practice while my wife watches TV.
When I was doing the online lessons I recorded all my audio examples on the Micro BR. But more often I just record myself playing the chords to a jazz tune over and over. Then I practice soloing to those chords. For that kind of practice I'm finding that I like the Hold setting on my DD-7 pedal more. With the hold setting I just record the chords once and instantly loop it.
However, I find that I also get a lot of use out of looping one drum pattern and playing chords over that. I record that , and then practice over the chords and drums. It's like having the ultimate metronome.
Overview:
The Micro BR is designed as a recording studio in your pocket. But I think it's greatest value comes as the best practice tool you'll ever own. It takes time to learn the interface. Also, it's easy to get lost trying to make your backing tracks perfect rather than actually practicing. But once you get the hang of it you'll have an amazing tool.
It's also a cure for "Red Light Fever". This is the condition where you can play your tunes perfectly during practice, but when you're recording and that red light turns on you get nervous and mess up. Since you can record your ideas at any moment you get use to being in recording mode.
|
|
|
|
Post by Lonnie on Feb 9, 2011 12:12:15 GMT -5
You can copy mp3 files to the unit and slow them down without changing the pitch. Real curious about this... what does a slowed-down mp3 sound like? Does it "bubble" or does the unit "color in" the digital info to keep a smooth playback? |
|
|
|
Post by aquaduct on Feb 9, 2011 12:38:05 GMT -5
You can copy mp3 files to the unit and slow them down without changing the pitch. Real curious about this... what does a slowed-down mp3 sound like? Does it "bubble" or does the unit "color in" the digital info to keep a smooth playback? I found the playback is decent down to about 75-80% speed. Then it becomes too garbled to be useful. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2011 12:47:46 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Greg B on Feb 9, 2011 16:13:53 GMT -5
drulee--nice review. Want to come work for us?  After this week I might consider it. |
|
|
|
Post by factorychef on Feb 10, 2011 20:37:44 GMT -5
I picked one up today and I'm enjoying it.
|
|
|
|
Post by billhammond on Feb 10, 2011 20:51:20 GMT -5
I picked one up today and I'm enjoying it. You'll probably enjoy it even more if you BUY it and USE it! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA |
|
|
|
Post by factorychef on Feb 10, 2011 21:30:38 GMT -5
I'm old but I have fast hands.
|
|
