Problem with mastering (and bouncing) on Micro BR

[strummer10]

I came across this message on another forum and it is exactly the problem that I have been having. I'm lazy so i've copied and pasted the guy's previous post (apologies if you are on here!).  Anyway, without further ado:

My problem is that when I bounce or master a song to STEREO, it starts out fine but then inevitably i have TWO tracks (one in each channel) of the same song that are off-time of each other. That is, whenever i try to bounce or master in stereo, the song will start playing with rhythm and my four tracks as they are mixed in normal playback mode, but then about 20-40 seconds into the song, the left channel will split apart from the right and the entire mix will be heard in the left at a slightly different time than the right. Has anyone else encountered this problem and knows what the fix is?? It seems like a BUG to me, but i'm not sure. I've been relegated to mono mixes, which obviously misses much of the composition when using two guitar tracks, bass, vocal, and the onboard rhythm.

I've heard that the player has problems when it shows "DRIVE BUSY" on the front, which this may be related to, but i'm not sure. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Does anyone think there is a fix for this, as i've almost resigned myself to buying the Micro BR 80?

[Burtog]

I think I heard this is something to do with the card not being formatted properly in the first place??

My sister had a similar problem with hers. After formatting seems to work ok BUT wait for other advice here first!!

I dont have the MBR but sure enough someone one here will know!!!

[strummer10]

Thanks for that.

I had wondered if it was something to do with the SD card but I've bought three different cards and it does it on all of them. I shoyld say that unlike the guy who's post I copied, I haven't intentionally recorded in stereo, just turned it on and started recording (it's probably set up to automatically record in stereo?).

It hasn't always done this so it could be the card I suppose?

[Oldrottenhead]

not sure if i can help, but if you get a drive busy when mastering or bouncing and dont cancel the recording it can cause all sorts of problems.
i get drive busy messages when my card is nearly full or batteries are low.

if batteries are ok, i generally optimize the song and try again, if i still get a drive busy error. i then delete older songs after backing them up to my hard drive.

to me it looks like a drive busy problem, so when bouncing and mastering it is best to keep an eye on the screen. if you go away and leave the mbr you might miss the message.

[strummer10]

Thanks oldrottenhead.

I get the drive busy message mostly when recording (less so during mastering) and even on brand new cards (ie not full). Even so, when I play it back it sounds fine. Also, i use the Boss power adaptor so it shouldn't be a power issue. It's usually once I've converted to mp3 that I notice it but that might be because I don't listen back to mastered track before converting.

Thinking about it, I don't remember it happening before I got the drive busy message (12 months ago). Could this be because you can't find 1gb cards anymore? Like I said, I have tried 3 new (2gb) cards but same problem each time.

Whilst I'd love any excuse to buy the new micro BR (assuming its even better than the original) I could do without forking out £200 this close to christmas!

Thanks for the suggestions.

[Speed Demon]

Is it possible to format a new SD card, in the machine, when you first insert it?
I did that when I got a 16 gigabyte SD card for my eBand. Worked fine after the format.

[strummer10]

I think you can format the card in the machine. I can't quite remember but it may be that you have to do that to get the card to work. If I've not done that then that may be the problem!

I'll have a try tonight.

Thanks everyone for their suggestions. Much appreciated.