Micro BR-80

[cuthbert]

Next came time to power it up. It takes about 10 seconds from the time you press the power button until it's fully booted:



As you can see, firmware is v. 1.02. Not sure if that is the latest - I will check on it later. Powering down takes about 3 seconds.

On first boot, it defaulted to eBand mode. After I set it to MTR (multitrack) mode (you cycle through the three modes with the Power button), and then turned its power off and back on again, it came up in MTR mode, so no worries about it always coming up in eBand mode (which I know nothing about yet). Here's a pic in MTR mode with the demo song loaded:



Here's a nice feature for you vampires out there: when the Play button is pressed, it lights up in green:



The demo is of the usual quality we've come to expect from BOSS. Very professional corporate rock, this time with a girl singer. It sounded very clean. I haven't tried recording yet, but I assume that the record button also lights up a nice, solid red.

More to come....

[cuthbert]

Final bit for tonight...

It has a 1/4" (6.35 mm) jack for Guitar/Microphone In, a 1/8" (3.175 mm) stereo input for Line In, a Record Level dial, and a lanyard space thingy. Pretty much like the Micro BR:



It's also got the 9V power port (hopefully, the same power supply that the MBR uses?), a mini-USB port, a 1/8" (3.175 mm) Headphones/Line Out jack, and the Volume dial. Again, like the MBR:



There's a Menu button, which looks like the place where you select your songs, bounce/master, adjust input sensitivity, and do your track editing. The Jog Dial (which really is a knurled dial, and unfortunately doesn't appear to also have up/down/left/right buttons built into it EDIT: the up/down/left/right buttons are just outside the dial itself - thanks 64G) can be used to go from one task to another, and then use the Enter button to get in, and the Exit button to get out. Sorry, no pics!

I can also tell you that in this first looksie, the overall volume seems much louder than the Micro BR, and the sensitivity also has more range: from 0db, you can go up to +16db and all the way down to -24db.

I have much, much more to learn about the Micro BR-80 - I particularly want to learn more about its Sonar X1 LE integration and USB features. I'll be starting with the manual.  

[64Guitars]

Congratulations on being the second Songcrafters member to get a BR-80!

It's also got the 9V power port (hopefully, the same power supply that the MBR uses?)

Yes, it uses the PSA series adapters. In North America, that means the PSA-120 or PSA-120S. It can also power itself from a USB connection. So, when the BR-80 is connected to your computer, you don't need the PSA adapter or batteries (though you don't have to remove them).

The Jog Dial (which really is a knurled dial, and unfortunately doesn't appear to also have up/down/left/right buttons built into it)

Actually, the up/down/left/right buttons surround the dial.

the sensitivity also has more range: from 0db, you can go up to +16db and all the way down to -24db.

That's good news for people who want to record their band rehearsals or gigs. The extra range should allow them to avoid clipping in loud situations like that.

[cuthbert]

The Jog Dial (which really is a knurled dial, and unfortunately doesn't appear to also have up/down/left/right buttons built into it)

Actually, the up/down/left/right buttons surround the dial.

Right you are, 64G! Glad they are present - I'll be sure to try them out later.

[Speed Demon]

Besides cosmetics, what effects does this model offer that the older Boss effects devices do not have?

[cuthbert]

Besides cosmetics, what effects does this model offer that the older Boss effects devices do not have?

Ooh, not quite sure how to answer that question, Gene. One thing that is different compared to the original Micro BR is the BR-80 groups the different patches into separate categories, each consisting of several patches. You navigate these with the jog dial.

Categories include:

• Blues
• Soul/Funk
• Liverpool
• Hard Rock
• Eighties Metal
• Modern Metal
• West Coast
• Fuzz Rock
• Studio
• Progressive
• Surf Rock
• Country
• Punk Pop
• Acoustic Sim
• Guitar To Bass
• Bass
• Acoustic
• Vocal
• Stereo
• User Patch - patches you save to the BR-80 for use at any time
• Song Patch - patches you save for a specific song

I haven't tried any of the effects yet, but I can give you a list with some examples of what it has for effects that the original Micro BR does not:

Electric Guitar
Modulation:

• Octave
• Rotary
• Uni-vibe

Acoustic Sim
Guitar To Bass
Several distortion types
Several new amp types
Several microphone types

Acoustic Guitar
Several new patches

Vocals
Pitch Correct
Double/Harmony

You can find more detailed documentation of all the effects here.

[Bluesberry]

One thing that is different compared to the original Micro BR is the BR-80 groups the different patches into separate categories, each consisting of several patches. You navigate these with the jog dial.

Categories include:

• Blues
• Soul/Funk
• Liverpool
• Hard Rock
• Eighties Metal
• Modern Metal
• West Coast
• Fuzz Rock
• Studio
• Progressive
• Surf Rock
• Country
• Punk Pop
• Acoustic Sim
• Guitar To Bass
• Bass
• Acoustic
• Vocal
• Stereo
• User Patch - patches you save to the BR-80 for use at any time
• Song Patch - patches you save for a specific song

Ohhhh I like that

[BuleriaChk]

FYI, I just spoke with Jeff at Sam Ash (www.samash.com), and he told me there are 6 of them in stock, so they are starting to trickle in.  I just ordered one....

UPDATE: Sweetwater sent me an email that they are now in stock....

[cuthbert]

Played around a bit more with the BR-80 last night.

I hope I'm wrong about this, but it doesn't look like you can choose the location for the COSM effects in the BR-80 - as far as I can see, they are pinned to the input. Nothing in the manual that I could find mentions locations for effects. This doesn't really affect my usage very much, because I usually record dry or sometimes with effects on the input (and also sometimes add effects to dry tracks in Audition) - but I know that many Micro BR users here rely on being able to add effects to tracks on a bounce, or to have the effects playing on the input but recording dry - doing most if not all of the production in the MBR.

Of course, reverb sends are adjustable in the mixer and are not printed unless you bounce with them on, much like the Micro BR, except more mixer-like (the send is a rotary pot). Additionally, a really nice 3 band EQ is available per-track in a similar mixer style to the reverb send.

When I get some free time, I'm going to call Roland tech support to find out for sure whether COSM effects can be applied to anything but the input.

-cuth

[Tony W]

I picked one up at lunch at Samash, so I really do have one now.