Zoom 802CD vs Boss 1180CD

O

OSB

New member
Hi All,

If anyone has had any experience whether good or bad with these please let me know as i am unsure which one to go for. I can get both for the same price (i live in Australia by the way) but after checking around the Boss usually retails for a bit more. Both seem quite good & seem to be exactly what i am after. I am leaning towards the Boss at the moment as it seems to be a better deal but like i said if anyone has any experience in the two please help!

By the way does anyone know of any on-line music stores that can ship overseas?? With the current exchange rate i have found equipment alot cheaper through some of the on-line stores i have seen, but they only deliver within the US.

Cheers,
Sam
 
They both look pretty similar to me. 20gig HD, x2 simultaneous inputs, 10 track mixer, CD-R/W etc.

I suspect the effects may be a bit better on the Boss but I've never used one so this is based purely on reputation. I have the Zoom MRS 1266 which is the 802's big brother. A lot of the effects are a bit shit but a few are useable and you can use outboard stuff via a 'sub-out' jack although I'm pretty sure the 802 doesn't have this.

If you get to A/B them then I'd concentrate on the quality of the effects (particularly reverb and compression) as I think this may be what distinguishes the two units. Ins/outs, tracks, HD size all look the same and I doubt there is any distinguishable difference with the preamps.

I can vouch for the Zoom as having a fairly user friendly interface but I doubt the Boss is much different in this respect.

If you really can't decide just pick the one that'll best fit in with your decor. :D
 
Zoom vs Boss

I had a Zoom MRS 4 for a short time until I decided that I needed something bigger, so I sold it & got the 1066. After a month or two I was still having difficulty wrapping my little pea-brain around the Zoom's OS, so I traded it for the Boss 1180. Zoom owners may disagree, but I feel that the Boss is easier to operate. The only limitation you may want to consider is that you can only record on a maximum of two tracks. Sorry but I have no advice for you about music stores who ship down under...
jonboy
 
P.s.

Hope I didn't confuse anyone, but I meant that the unit will only record on two tracks at a time...
Also, may I suggest you join the yahoo owners groups for these two units & see what kind of problems they're experiencing. I've had no problems with mine except for an occasional freeze if you try to punch in too many times when recording, but it's not a major problem in my opinion & easily avoided.
I didn't care for the drum presets in either unit, but if you get the Boss with the disk drive there are better drum kits available on CD. I suppose that's possible with the Zoom CD also.
As far as the built-in preamps, just figure on using an outboard pre no matter which one you buy...
 
jboy917 said:
I didn't care for the drum presets in either unit, but if you get the Boss with the disk drive there are better drum kits available on CD. I suppose that's possible with the Zoom CD also.
As far as the built-in preamps, just figure on using an outboard pre no matter which one you buy...
Click to expand...

Yeah you can upload CD-ROM stuff to the Zoom.

Jboy how do you bypass the onboard pres then?

My understanding is that the mic and line level inputs both go through the onboard pres but for line level signals you just turn the gain knob fully left. However this still means the signal goes through the onboard pre meaning use of outboard preamps is a bit of a waste of time.

This is just my understanding anyway I'm not saying it's right for sure. Feel free to add/correct.

Sorry to hijack thread a little OSB but I reckon this could be good info for you anyway?
 
Thanks guys, like i said any info helps. I guess the decision will come down to which one has the better onboard effects & drum machine. How easy is it to edit & create your own drum patterns? Are there quantize features etc? From what i have read, the Boss seems to have preset patterns rather than a fully programmable machine.
Cheers,
Sam
 
OSB said:
How easy is it to edit & create your own drum patterns?
Are there quantize features etc? From what i have read, the Boss seems to have preset patterns rather than a fully programmable machine.

I think you're right. If you want to create your own rythyms you'll have to go up a level.
Click to expand...

It depends on your budget but if you went up to the Zoom 1266 (or an equivalent unit by Boss or whoever) you'd get programmeable drums (and bass, should you need it). You'd also be able to record up to six tracks at a time and you'll get more effects (amp modelling etc.).
God that sounds like a sales patter.
I just think with hindsight I'd be frustrated by now with the restrictions of the lower spec units. I think you'd get some good deals on these units at the mo as there's currently a wave of new digital multitrackers being released which means the older models will come down in price. I think here in the UK you can pick up a 1266 with CD/RW for under £500 brand new. If you were patient you'd get one on ebay for maybe £300-£350. I don't know what the Aussie market is like for these things?

I guess you need to have a think about what's going to be important for you and save up if you need more capability. Hope this helps (I go on a bit sometimes :D ).

All the best

Nick
 
OSB said:
Thanks guys, like i said any info helps. I guess the decision will come down to which one has the better onboard effects & drum machine. How easy is it to edit & create your own drum patterns? Are there quantize features etc? From what i have read, the Boss seems to have preset patterns rather than a fully programmable machine.
Cheers,
Sam
Click to expand...

I have no idea what the AUS$ prices are, but have you considered a Fostex VF80CDR, and an external Zoom 123 Drum machine? The Fostex VF units are very solid, very simple, and very stable -- with 16bit uncompressed audio. From what I understand, the Boss units use data compression, not full 16bit uncompressed storage. Just a thought.
 
Um...

I'm not a guitar player or a vocalist, just synths & drum machines, so I really haven't paid too much attention to all the preamp advice going around, but as I understand it from reading what the other owners say on the Yahoo BR-1180 group, if you want a quality preamp you're not going to find one built-in
on a medium priced mixer or recorder, you get what you pay for as they say...
As for bypassing the preamps on the Boss, I was under the impression that a line level signal into the RCA jacks accomplished that, I'll double check the manual when I get home & confirm this, Nick...
And as far as the drums on the Boss, they are programmable, but the consensus is mixed as to how easy that is to do... Some guys can wrap their heads around that kind of stuff easier than others & a lot of them on the users group have programmed some cool rhythms with the Boss, but I'm not one of them... I've got two outboard machines that I'm familiar with so I haven't spent too much time with the Boss drums, it's a pretty straightforward system though, you create patterns with the mute buttons for each channel & then string your patterns together... actually it's a little more involved than that, but it's not brain surgery... maybe foot surgery...
 
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