is BR-800 good for recording keyboards?

[kc2ine]

It's advertised like for guitarist or vocalist only hence my question.

[Flash Harry]

It's fine for keyboards. No midi though so you may need a separate sequencer.

[kc2ine]

thanks, that's what I thought although all demos and ads are for guitarists 

[Geir]

I've recorded keys many times with my BR800. Either throung the line-in or by using 1 or 2 of the 4 inputs (depending on if I really need a stereo-track of the keys, which I usually dont )

[64Guitars]

The BR series are designed with guitarists in mind, so most of the built-in effects are for guitar. But aside from the effects, it's a digital recorder and can record keyboards just as well as any other instrument. It has a Line In jack which is ideal for connecting a keyboard. Although, on the BR-800, this is a stereo mini-jack, so you'll need a suitable adapter cable to connect your keyboard.

If your keyboard has a built-in sequencer or you're planning to use an external sequencer, then the lack of midi on the BR-800 could be a problem since you'd have no way to synchronize the sequencer tracks with the BR-800's audio tracks. My BR-864 has Midi Out and I connect that to my Yamaha PSR-2100 keyboard so that the BR-864's transport controls will start and stop the Yamaha's sequencer. This allows me to record all of my keyboard tracks in the sequencer in sync with my guitar tracks on the BR-864. So the keyboard is never actually recorded on the BR-864 until the final mix.

[kc2ine]

If your keyboard has a built-in sequencer or you're planning to use an external sequencer, then the lack of midi on the BR-800 could be a problem since you'd have no way to synchronize the sequencer tracks with the BR-800's audio tracks.

that midi lack makes me worried, I have and use yamaha motif XS.
Are you guys basically saying that I'd be better off buying BR-1200CD or 1600CD???
I can still cancel and change the order...

[64Guitars]

Are you guys basically saying that I'd be better off buying BR-1200CD or 1600CD???

Not necessarily. The addition of midi would be useful. But the BR-1200 and BR-1600 are hard disk recorders. For reasons I mentioned in your other topic, I prefer recorders that use flash memory for storage instead of a hard disk. Unfortunately, I don't think there are currently any recorders available with midi that use flash memory for storage.

[Oldrottenhead]

does the br800 not sync with daw software? so you could then do your midi stuff on the daw software and import it to the br as a wav file? or am i just being stupid.

having had the privilege of seeing and being in the presence of geir's br800, i would have one in a minute if i had the spare cash, i am actually suprised it still works after me and a few of the guys drooling over it.

[64Guitars]

Unfortunately, I don't think there are currently any recorders available with midi that use flash memory for storage.

I just realized that the Fostex MR-8 Mk2 has Midi Out and uses CompactFlash memory for storage.

http://www.fostexinternational.com/docs/products/MR-8_Mk2.shtml

http://www.pssl.com/Fostex-8-Track-Compact-Flash-Recorder-With-Effects-s

It's not a recorder I'd recommend to a guitarist, but it might be a great recorder for a keyboard player. The only reservation I have is that the memory cards seem to be limited to 2GB. That's more than enough memory but you might have a hard time finding memory cards that small. There's a list of compatible memory cards here.

[64Guitars]

does the br800 not sync with daw software?

As far as I know, it does not sync with DAW software. You'd need midi for that and the BR-800 doesn't have it.

You can export tracks from the BR to the DAW or you can import tracks from the DAW to the BR, but you can't record to the BR and the DAW simultaneously in sync.