br-8 vs br-532

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bouche

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Looking at getting one of these.

32 meg smart media card doesn't sound like it'll hold much.

Anyway...

I play guitar and bass and my friend plays keyboard.

We want to mess around and be able to easily port recordings onto a pc to use with cakewalk.

Connectivity is important. I don't see any USB interface or anything on either. How do you connect an optical output to a PC?

IS the br532 fine to start with, or is does the br-8 blow it out of the water.
 
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Well, depends what you neeeeeed. The 532 is not much cheaper than a used BR-8, so right there... money isn't much diff. However, you will need to buy a 128 MB SmartMedia to make any use of the 532--32 MB is nothing.

4 tracks versus 8. More effects on the 8. More mic inputs, I think... (2). The downside of the 8 is the Zip drive, 100 MB. Which isn't much different from the 532, but a little smaller. But you can put a 250 MB Zip into the 8.

Porting recorders: No matter what (except for the one case of audio line out from the recorder to line in of a sound card), you will need to have an extra piece of equipment. Either a Zip drive for the 8 or a SmartMedia reader for the 532, or a S/PDIF in for the computer for either machine.

Both the 8 and the 532 have WAV conversion software for PC, so you can take tracks from the machine and turn them into WAV files on your PC.

So getting either one to PC isn't that complex. You just need a media reader.

The 532's SmartMedia is nice in that there are no moving parts, thus no mechanical glitches possible and no noise. The 8's Zip drive inevitably has a little noise (not in the recordings, but in the studio) because it's mechanical.

I guess the drums on the 532 are better than the beat box sounds on the 8.

The display on the 8 is way better--and very good, actually.

The decision will come down to what you feel you need, and number of tracks may be the prime decision factor---after all, you will be bouncing after 4 on one machine, after 8 on the other, in principle.

Also, watch for the new BOSS BR-1180, coming out in April. It has 10 tracks (8 mono, one stereo pair), plus a real drum machine, and a 20 GB hard disk. You can also get it with a CD burner, or get a CD burner later from Roland. (Maybe from others.) Cost: $675.

If a BR-8 interests you, I have one with a 250 MB Zip disk installed that I will sell. You can even get an external Zip in the deal. And disks.
 
Right on with the BR8 info, dstewart! I'm glad you clarified about installing a 250MB Zip drive into the BR8- they only come with 100MB drives, & you can't just jam a 250 into the thing & have it work... I've had my BR8 about a year now, & have recently started to get pretty deep into what it will & won't do as far as recording. I like the track bounce feature, it's VERY handy. I hope the BR1180 has portability/compatability with the BR8, since I will be acquiring as soon as they hit the market. The BR8 blows the 532 out of the water... ***Glub*Glub***
 
Yes you can...

Groovejivey, yes, you CAN just jam a 250MB Iomega Zip drive into the BR-8 and have it work. It's very easy, in fact. I can do it in 10 minutes, start to finish.

Requirements: a 250 MB internal ATAPI (IDE, same thing) Zip drive. A jumper. A couple Phillips head screwdrivers. A towel.

Unplug everything, and lay out the towel on your work surface. Put the machine upside down on the towel. Take the bigger screws out from the perimeter of the bottom plate, then the smaller screws, then the four inside screws (they hold the Zip drive to the bottom plate).

Remove bottom plate and put safely aside.

Unplug the Zip drive's power cable--that's the small four-plug thingy in the corner.

Look at the two retaining screws on the sides of the Zip drive, and notice the retaining posts right next to these two screws. Remember what's what. Unscrew the retaining screws, which hold the drive brackets.

Take the drive up and work the IDE ribbon cable out of its place on the back of the drive. This is the hardest thing you'll have to do; it takes a bit of working, and you must work carefully and apply just enough force to remove it without doing any damage. Great.

Okay, you've got the drive in your mitts, and it's out of the BR-8. Now, remove the brackets on its sides. Make sure you're keeping track of where exactly the brackets go on the drive, and what side is up (the label side will face into the machine as you place it in), because you're going to have to put them back there on the 250 drive. Take the protective foil off with the racks. (I kept them in one place, relatively located, so I could drop the 250 right in and attack the foil and brackets correctly.)

Get your 250 MB drive, and make sure that the jumper is set for the Master setting. (It's shown on the label on the drive.) If you don't have a jumper, hey--take the one from the 100 drive.

Now put the protective foil on (it covers the label side of the drive), and secure it by screwing on the brackets in the places they held on the 100 drive.

Ready to put it in! Now, place the drive back into the machine (slot out, right? foil facing into the machine, right?), placing the bracket retaining holes onto the posts. Screw it back in---note, don't screw it into the bracket posts, but the screw holes that you mentally noted, right?

Attach the cables--IDE ribbon cable and power cable. They can only go on one way, so if one won't push on you need to turn it over. Secure it all.

Put the bottom of the machine back on. Attach the four Zip drive screws first, securing the drive.

Now, screw in the wider screws around the perimiter, then the smaller. You're done.

Flip it over. Plug it in. Turn it on. Stick a 250 MB disk into it. Wonder at the over 2 hours of recording time in Standard mode, compared to the mere 49 minutes of a 100 MB disk, and over 3 hours in LV2 mode! Zowie!

Note that, of course, you have to use 250 MB disks to get more time. The drive will allow you to use your old 100 MB disks, yes, but you only get more time with more disk capacity. It's a 250 MB drive, it's not a miracle worker.

DS
 
Hey DS-
I should have been more clear, I meant that you couldn't put the 250MB disk in the standard 100 drive & get the desired results... Right on for the detailed info on replacing the Zip drive, tho'!!! That'll come in damn handy, as I'm currently gearing up to start laying down some scratch tracks to rough-in some song ideas for my band's 1st album of all original material! Now, if I can just find a 250... ;D
GROOVE.
 
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