Micro BR-80

[Gnasty]

ONE more point of interest. As most of you know, I gave away my MBR, but alas it returned a week ago. I turned it on for the first time in months, and could barely operate it. Navigation was a bitch without the thumb wheel. I couldn't find shit.... including how to change modes.... I love my BR-80!

I totally agree with you on that. To go up and down and using the wheel is much faster and better than the left to right. I probably broke my Mbr button in impatient frustration

[64Guitars]

Line in Testing:

This surprised me
The top is the BR-80
The bottom is the Micro BR

Obviously, the level is dependent on the REC LEVEL control (INPUT LEVEL on the Micro BR) on the side of the BR. How did you ensure that both were set to the same recording level? And what setting did you use for the Micro BR's Input Sensitivity. It should be at 0 (unity gain) for a fair comparison. Anything higher is boosting the Line In signal.

[Gnasty]

One thing you may want to check is if you are recording from the 1/4 inch Guitar Input, that the switch on the back of the recorder is indeed set to Guitar and not Mic - when Mic is selected, all the effects sound screechy with a guitar plugged in - classic level mismatch.

Ok i didn`t realize you said the 1/4 inch for the guitar/mic Cuth. I thought you meant the line in which has nothing to do with that switch.Yes i knew this. My fault sorry.

Actually, looking at the specifications of both recorders, there shouldn't be any difference for the Line In. Both have a Nominal Input Level spec of -10dBu. The original Micro BR has an input impedance of 16 kΩ and the BR-80 has an input impedance of 10 kΩ, but that's insignificant. So I can't understand why people are finding a difference between the Micro BR and BR-80 on Line In. They should be the same according to the specs. Maybe the difference is because the original Micro BR has an input sensitivity adjustment and the BR-80 doesn't. With the input sensitivity turned up, the Micro BR's line input would have more gain than the BR-80's. But, like I said, that just means that you have to turn up the output level on your keyboard or other Line In device. That may be inconvenient but it shouldn't be a deal breaker.

On paper maybe but when i have both in my hand i can say and see different.
Okay i wish i had video to show you what i have done but i don`t. Here it is in detail.

I`ve had some G.A.S over the summer and bought a dr-880. So 5 min ago i tested the line in cause thats how I record it to my Br.  2 Rca jacks to 1/8 cable. On the dr-880 there are 3 volumes for the drums. There is the drum level and master volume which are both knobs on the outside of the machine. And in the machine the drums are set to a volume default of 80. I turned this up to 100. i now have the 2  drum levels at full and have the master very low because the br-80`s line in is different from the mbr. You control the recording level with the output of whatever source you are recording. On the Mbr you can control with the input level dial.

So first i plug it in the br-80. I press play on the dr-880. I start bringing the master volume up slowly and look at my level. Actually i bring it up fast and to max on master. Sound okay. Yes it works but it doesn`t peak at all!

Ok let`s try the Mbr. Now i will control the level with the recording input level. I turn it to 25 and it`s already peeking. I now turn the master volume on the dr-880 to 75% and i bring the input level to 95.Perfect recording level. No peaking. Maybe it is that input sensitivity adjustment. But why doesn`t the Br-80 even peak? It can`t be anything to do with the dr-880 at all.

I would say it`s probably a 30% difference in levels from my test..That is huge!!

[Gnasty]

From judging Tony`s test in DAW. It looks to be 30% as well.

[simont]

So first i plug it in the br-80. I press play on the dr-880. I start bringing the master volume up slowly and look at my level. Actually i bring it up fast and to max on master. Sound okay. Yes it works but it doesn`t peak at all!

When you say "sounds okay" do you mean just ok, or perfect recording level?
Why would you want it to peak.?

Bottom line is one has an input gain and the other doesn't.
Also there's +/- 20db in the EQ for each playback track on top of the channel fader level boost.

I don't have MicroBR so I probably shouldn't be commenting, but as a BR80 user I can say that the input level is as I would expect it.

[Gnasty]

It sounds okay means it`ll record just not at the level i like. I like to bring it up to when it peaks and slowly bring it down until it doesn`t. That`s a pure recording to me. On the mics and guitar input i can do that. But not the line-in.

I am not by any means  a pro-tech but it`s just plain obvious to me. I guess you are right. Its that input gain. I don`t use the feature very often so i`ll just stick with the Mbr for that feature just to be comfortable with my tracks.

I`m just letting everyone know my thoughts. Not telling you what to do.

[64Guitars]

I`ve had some G.A.S over the summer and bought a dr-880. So 5 min ago i tested the line in cause thats how I record it to my Br.  2 Rca jacks to 1/8 cable. On the dr-880 there are 3 volumes for the drums. There is the drum level and master volume which are both knobs on the outside of the machine. And in the machine the drums are set to a volume default of 80. I turned this up to 100. i now have the 2  drum levels at full and have the master very low because the br-80`s line in is different from the mbr. You control the recording level with the output of whatever source you are recording. On the Mbr you can control with the input level dial.

Press the OUTPUT SETTING button on the DR-880 and check the setting of "Output Sel". Make sure it's set to "LINE/PHONES" when connecting the DR-880 to your BR. The GUITAR AMP setting is only for connecting the DR-880 to a guitar amplifier. If you connect the DR-880 to your BR with the GUITAR AMP setting, the signal will be very weak.

[simont]

It sounds okay means it`ll record just not at the level i like. I like to bring it up to when it peaks and slowly bring it down until it doesn`t. That`s a pure recording to me. On the mics and guitar input i can do that. But not the line-in.

I am not by any means  a pro-tech but it`s just plain obvious to me. I guess you are right. Its that input gain. I don`t use the feature very often so i`ll just stick with the Mbr for that feature just to be comfortable with my tracks.

I`m just letting everyone know my thoughts. Not telling you what to do.

All good man. Just trying to help.

I'm guessing you don't have a little mixer to boost the DR-880 output but you could go:
DR-880 output>BR line in( set your level)>BR line out> BR80 line in.

Just needs a little 1/8 stereo to 1/8 stereo cable !

[Gnasty]

Press the OUTPUT SETTING button on the DR-880 and check the setting of "Output Sel". Make sure it's set to "LINE/PHONES" when connecting the DR-880 to your BR. The GUITAR AMP setting is only for connecting the DR-880 to a guitar amplifier. If you connect the DR-880 to your BR with the GUITAR AMP setting, the signal will be very weak.

I had that set to all of what you say. The D output is at 188% and goes to 200%. i don`t know if that will be significant but i will try again later when i get back

Not using guitar setting at all. Thanks 64, I could be doing something wrong  but i checked everything.
It cant be my dr 880 settings when i go from one to the other and the recording level is such a difference between the two.

[Gnasty]

All good man. Just trying to help.

I'm guessing you don't have a little mixer to boost the DR-880 output but you could go:
DR-880 output>BR line in( set your level)>BR line out> BR80 line in.

Just needs a little 1/8 stereo to 1/8 stereo cable !

Hey thanks for that advice Simon. I don`t have a mixer at the moment so can`t do it but that sounds like it would boost it for sure. But my point to Roland would be why do i have to boost it???