More rock (bedtrack needs lyrics and vocals)

[64Guitars]

I'm really confused here. Does the MicroBR only convert to mp3?

No. It can export to WAV as well. See pages 114/115 of the Micro BR manual. But most BR users prefer to use the BR Wave Converter software because it does the job faster and it's a bit easier once you know how to use it. Plus, the BR Wave Converter can convert all of your tracks as a single batch job, whereas the Micro BR can only export one track at a time.

So when I finish recording a track.....in order to send it, I must convert it to......mp3 and then use the Boss 2.0 Wave Converter to convert it again to a wave file?

No. The BR Wave Converter software converts your tracks from the BR's proprietary R-DAC format into standard WAV files. So you don't need to export to MP3. Just connect the Micro BR to your computer's USB port, then open the BR Wave Converter software, select the song, and select the tracks that you want to convert

Here's the BR Wave Converter manual for Mac:

https://songcrafters.org/64guitars/BR/Docs/Manuals/BRWC/BR_Wave_Converter_Manual_Mac_E.pdf

And here are a couple of short tutorials:

ftp://ftp.roland.co.uk/ProductSupport/BR-1200CD/BR%20-%20Using%20the%20BR%20Wave%20Converter.pdf

http://www.derangedcoder.net/notes/music/software/brtowav/index.html

What is the difference between mp3 and wave files?

MP3 files are compressed to make them smaller. But they use a type of compression that throws away some of the data, so the resulting sound quality is not as good as the original R-DAC tracks on the Micro BR.

WAV files are uncompressed, so the quality is very good; about the same as the original R-DAC tracks. But because the files are uncompressed, they tend to be quite large. MP3 files are usually about one-tenth the size of the same track in WAV format.

[stoman]

Thanks for helping with explanations, guys!

Cato, exporting an MP3 and re-encoding it as WAV later would not help. Like 64 told you, the encoding process is lossy, so you lose important information that cannot be restored once it's gone. While you may not hear that when you listen to an mp3 track, it get's very clearly noticeable once you start applying dynamic processing (compression) or adding effects (like delay, reverb, etc.). So MP3 is definitely not usable for mixing - not even if encoded at a high bps rate (like 320 kBits/s).

Both WAV and AIFF would be perfect. And, like I said, FLAC and APE are lossless compression formats that can be used to reduce transfer times drastically. I don't know which tools are available for Macs - there are MUCH more free tools for Windows and Linux. But at least FLAC should not be a problem since Audacity, which can encode and decode FLAC, is available for Mac OS too.

And just as important as using a lossless file format is the fact that the recorded tracks must be solo (one track/file per voice) and COMPLETELY dry. No effects at all, or mixing will be more or less impossible.

Regards,
  Steffen