Micro BR-80

[cuthbert]

I love all the enhancements, but cannot come up with a logical reason as to why they would drop aspects which have already been in place and stood the test of time. It's not like they had to reinvent the wheel, they just needed to air brush those particular items.

I agree - it seems silly that they didn't carry over some of the things that worked well in the Micro BR...even some things I thought were common to the entire BR line.

Why? My guess from the project point of view is that perhaps there wasn't a strong continuity of designers, software engineers, hardware engineers, and testers between the original Micro BR project and the BR-80 project. New people bring new ideas, and sometimes the old stuff (which can be very good) just gets left out. Or perhaps it was driven more by product marketing (ADD NEW FEATURES!! WE'LL SELL MORE!).

Still, I think the best strategy from our viewpoint as customers is to let Roland know what we don't like, as well as what we do like. If enough customers tell Roland they want a feature back, or a bug fix, or whatever - the better chance it has of happening.

[Tony W]

did you submit the things that bother me yet? I complained about the time sigs... Lets all join arms, maybe skip or prance, who knows?

[cuthbert]

I submitted the things that bothered me - lack of support for other time signatures in SMF, and lack of location for effects. Been too busy lately for much else.

[KKerrick]

The SMF time signature issue does post a hard impasse until they fix it if, you are reliant on the rhythm guide. I  label it a bug as they do not state that the device is purely 4/4 and they have metronome patterns that are different than 4/4.

Alas, even with this, I'm really not that limited due to the fact that my PC based DAW produces better drum tracks than any Roland stand alone device ever did. I've been with Roland DAW's since the BR-8 and through to the VS-2400CD. My opinion was that rhythm guide on all BR and VS series recorders was okay for a fancy metronome but not something I would include in a finished product. As, far as a portable idea taker, both Micro BR versions are more than adequate.

This thing is great in augmenting my studio if I need to capture audio at a remote location. Way more convenient than any laptop or tablet solution and, really low price comparably. The one thing I would like is an internal rechargeable battery. I was surprised to see that they haven't implemented a seemingly ubiquitous feature of portable devices. Disabling auto-off on USB power would be nice as well. Roland needs to open a real user forum and take a few direct hits.

[KKerrick]

lack of location for effects

Cuthbert: What page of this thread is this talked about? I'm curious to recreate and submit a request.

[KKerrick]

Submitted to Roland:

Bugs to Report:
1. Auto shutdown should not be active when running on external power.
2. SMF import does not properly work with the rhythm guide when importing a non 4/4 time signature

Feature Requests:
1. Manual override of the input so you can record from built-in mics while a guitar is attached.
2. A menu toggle to make it so that the the built in monitoring is active without having to arm the track for record (enable/disable mic standby)

[cuthbert]

lack of location for effects

Cuthbert: What page of this thread is this talked about? I'm curious to recreate and submit a request.

Right here:

https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=11749.0;msg=157166

Location for effects is not a feature I use a lot (I tend to either go dry, or add effects in a DAW), but its absence does make the BR-80 less self-contained production-wise than other BR models, including the Micro BR.

[KKerrick]

Agreed, I'll submit a request as well.

lack of location for effects

Cuthbert: What page of this thread is this talked about? I'm curious to recreate and submit a request.

Right here:

https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=11749.0;msg=157166

Location for effects is not a feature I use a lot (I tend to either go dry, or add effects in a DAW), but its absence does make the BR-80 less self-contained production-wise than other BR models, including the Micro BR.

[guitarron]

First off as the BR-80 is clearly meant to be an upgrade to replace the MBR it is not unreasonable to expect all the functionality to be as good as the MBR.......

It sounds like Roland may have rushed this product to the market.

On the whole, I wouldn't say it was rushed to market.

The BR-80 is a different beast than the Micro BR. Both have their strengths and weaknesses.

On a whole, the BR-80 offers a lot more features than the Micro BR. In my opinion, the update the BR-80 needs most from Roland is a fix/enhancement of the SMF time signature bug/feature (everything defaults to 4/4 time, although the BR-80 supports other time signatures in their metronomes).

I do agree it's not unreasonable to want some of the nice features from the Micro BR that are missing from the BR-80 updated via firmware, but in my usage, none of those missing features has been a deal-breaker.

Just my .02 dollar...your mileage may vary.

the eband thing sounds like a little fun- but jeez- the 4/4 issue-not cool
even my br600 can handle the various time values

[The Reverend 48]

Ken I think you have missed the point a bit

it did not impose a real functionality limitation. I agree with Cuthbert that you should let Roland know your dismay with said UI adjustment but, to state that, preference equals bug is far reaching. Those functions work as documented. I personally could work either way, manually selecting input or forcing/auto-switching, with negligible impact to my recording workflow. I could see pluses and minuses to both workflow designs. In the end you still have to arm it to record. 

The SMF time signature issue however does post a hard impasse until they fix it if, you are reliant on the rhythm guide. So, that I would label a bug as they do not state that the device is purely 4/4 and they have metronome patterns that are different than 4/4. Alas, even with this, I'm really not that limited due to the fact that my PC based DAW produces better drum tracks than any Roland stand alone device ever did. I've been with Roland DAW's since the BR-8 and through to the VS-2400CD. My opinion was that rhythm guide on all BR and VS series recorders was okay for a fancy metronome but not something I would include in a finished product. As, far as a portable idea taker, both Micro BR versions are more than adequate.

This thing is great in augmenting my studio if I need to capture audio at a remote location. Way more convenient than any laptop or tablet solution and, really low price comparably. The one thing I would like is an internal rechargeable battery. I was surprised to see that they haven't implemented a seemingly ubiquitous feature of portable devices. Disabling auto-off on USB power would be nice as well. Roland needs to open a real user forum and take a few direct hits.

Honestly, I meant no offense. I was offering a different point of view. I'm just another in the chorus of users out here. Lack of agreement doesn't mean I missed a point.

Just because it isn't important to you doesn't make my issues any less valid.......
We all use our equipment in different ways...If you understand my point Then it is a bit more than my reluctance to press a few extra buttons.......
As I am only just beginning to experiment with vocals it would have helped me enormously if I could scroll through the effects with a live mic whilst the track is playing...hence my frustration with an otherwise excellent product!