New Roland gear

[dave1z]

It still say that they have a great box in the BR-1600, they just need to upgrade the hardware a bit, memory card rather than hard disk, some tweaks here and there, cut the price - and that would be killer

I fear the current crop of BRs will be the last. At least as we know them. Everything is either going DAW or iPod/Pad/Phone. A shame really. Don't get me wrong, I have been using computers for music composition and recording since the 80's, but there is just something in the tactile nature of a standalone recording device that helps in the spontaneity and inspiration I need in order to create new things. I may be a bit old school, (hell I baulked when the old 4 track tape units went out of style in favor of digital options), but current trends are different. I guess I feel more inclined to pay for a companies goods and services, if they actually hand me a device rather than a piece of software that requires constant revisioning, adding of plugins etc etc.  just my $0.02.

[Auroran]

I fear the current crop of BRs will be the last. At least as we know them. Everything is either going DAW or iPod/Pad/Phone. A shame really. Don't get me wrong, I have been using computers for music composition and recording since the 80's, but there is just something in the tactile nature of a standalone recording device that helps in the spontaneity and inspiration I need in order to create new things.

I'm really enjoying recording with my BR-800. I find myself focused on my performance more than with a computer. There's also a nice "nostalgia" feel for those of us who are old enough to remember portastudios and tapes (I'm 48).

I agree that this might be the end of the BR series, and indeed it's a shame. There's something about keeping music recording aural only: the computer is too visual. The ability to solely concentrate on the performance is something I really haven't thought about in the past 15 years of DAW recording, it's nice to have 100% of the focus on playing.