boss br-8

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SGPIANOMAN

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I was in a pawn shop the other day and i saw a boss br-8 (it had a zip disk on it) and the were wanting 245.00 for it. I was wondering if this was a good deal. I know it can record 2 tracks simultaneously, and it has virtual tracks. could someone explain what v-tracks exactly are. anyway...would this be a good deal for a used boss br-8. I'm sure i can talk them down in price, just wondering some opinions
 
IS it a boss BR1180? if so that price is pretty decent as i bought mine around a year ago for £750!! You cant actually record two tracks at once. You can record two inputs at once onto the same track but i have never been able to record onto two seperate tracks with two sources.
Virtual tracks or v-tracks are like layers. you have your initial 8 tracks on your machine which go across the machine. Then you have 7 more lines of 8 tracks below the initial tracks. So if you were recording say a 14 track mix you would have to first record 8 tracks as that is all the tracks you can use at one time, then bounce them onto the stereo track 9/10. [record all 8 tracks (once you have adjusted faders for levels and used effects etc.) onto the 9/10 track.] Once you have done this you can copy the track 9/10 onto the second layer of tracks, which is a fresh new set of 8 tracks. (copy to tracks 1/2 or 3/4 etc. as its stereo). Now you have all 8 tracks mixed to just two tracks on the new layer of tracks so that means you have six blank tracks to record more stuff onto. Once thats done you can mix the all the tracks onto the second track 9/10. This can be repeated many times until you reach the eighth set of tracks.
 
I've got a BR-8. I got a couple of years ago, for a lot more than $245 let me just say. As for whether it's worth the money, that really depends on what you intend to do with it. If you have any previous recording experience, you won't have much trouble with it. If you're brand new, it's a good peice to start on. I made the jump from an old four track cassette to the BR8. It served me for a while. However, now that I'm recording on PC, the thing mostly just collects dust. Every once in a while I'll run a bass or guitar through it. Once you get away from the presets you can dial in some decent amp models that don't sound half bad. handy for recording when micing an amp cranked to 11 isn't an option.
The editing abilities are limited, but when compared to the four track it was like magic. Compared to most good recording apps it's like pre-school. If you intend to do any kind of live band tracking, don't bother with the BR8. If you just want a good way to quickly and easily throw down some ideas, go for it. If you have intentions of turning out anything "PRO", you'll probably be disapointed. It does have a lot of features packed in there, though. If you've got a drum machine, you can use the BR8 as the master to control the drum machine via MIDI.
I keep mine around because I travel for work fairly often, and it's a good way to mess with ideas in a hotel room without waking the neighbors.
If you think you're really going to get into recording, I'd suggest investing in a peice of software you can grow into,and a decent soundcard instead. Actually, if you're new to PC recording, Spend the cash on a good interface, then get N-track studio. 16 bit version is only like $45 and 24 bit is I think $70. This is a CHEAP way to get into PC recording, and affords a lot more flexibility and expandability than the BR8.
 
well, i've decided against the br-8 and went with the br-1600 cd. Might as well get something nice instead of something cheap. My computer is getting slow..and i decided to get something more dedicated
 
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