BR1600 etc discontinued???

[64Guitars]

Yeah. If I was buying a new recorder today, it would most likely be the TASCAM DP-24. It looks like a fantastic recorder for the money. I love Boss recorders, but the current selection is too limited (only two models). Pocket-size recorders like the BR-80 don't interest me. The BR-800 is nice but it would be a step down from my BR-864 in some ways as it lacks MIDI and has short faders and touch sensors instead of real buttons. The TASCAM DP-24 has MIDI In and Out (my BR-864 only has MIDI Out), USB 2.0 (both my BR-864 and the BR-800 have the much slower USB 1.1), faders that are at least as long as my BR-864's, 192 record tracks / 24 playback tracks, an awesome colour display with dedicated controls, and much more. So it would be a big step up from my BR-864 in almost every way. The only desirable feature I can think of that the DP-24 seems to lack is Control Surface and Audio Interface capabilities, but then my BR-864 doesn't have those capabilities either. It also has no drum machine but that wouldn't bother me as I usually do my drum tracks on the computer nowadays.

I think Roland needs a 16-track or 24-track recorder with advanced features if they want to stay in the multitrack recorder business. I sometimes wonder if that's in their plans. In recent years, they've seemed to put their efforts into audio interfaces and software DAWs rather than standalone multitrack recorders. But maybe that will change now that they've dumped Cakewalk. I hope so. I'd love to see some more-advanced recorders from Roland.

Actually, I'm pretty happy with my BR-864 and I don't feel the need to upgrade now or in the foreseeable future unless it dies on me. There was a time when I would have liked a recorder with more playback tracks to make mixing easier. But nowadays, I prefer to mix on the computer anyway, so the BR-864 is quite adequate for my needs. I only use it for recording my audio tracks (guitar and bass, mainly). I used to record keyboard tracks on it too but now I do that on the computer with my AKAI MPK25, Ardour DAW, and various soft synths. I create my drum tracks on the computer too. So getting more tracks is no longer much of an incentive for me to buy a new recorder. I'll probably stick with my BR-864 till it dies.

[Speed Demon]

If you're happy with the recording hardware you already have, stick with it. Being the old dinosaur I am, I'm still using an eBand for recording work. Only one input for everything. Works fine for me. I do the editing and mixing on a computer so I don't feel the need for a multiple-input device, although I did use a BR1600CD when I recorded a session for a friend's band. Made a demo disk for them.

[Speed Demon]

64Guitars, is Ardour capable of using VSTi plugins? Audition still does not have that capability.

Not too big a deal, I have other software that will use them but it would be nice to be able to input a guitar track into the DAW and have it transformed using VSTi plugins.

[64Guitars]

64Guitars, is Ardour capable of using VSTi plugins?

VST is a Windows thing and, as such, is not well-supported in the Linux and Mac worlds which have their own plugin formats. Actually, Ardour does have limited support for VSTs but I suspect that it's not worth the effort. There are plenty of good plugins available in the Linux LV2 and LADSPA formats. There are also lots of good soft synths available for Linux that run on their own rather than as plugins. These can easily be used in Ardour.

http://manual.ardour.org/working-with-plugins/

[Burtog]

Got to admit, that Tascam looks superb, that is the sort of thing I would love to upgrade to, good value too. Imagine not having to constantly bounce tracks.

[alfstone]

64Guitars, is Ardour capable of using VSTi plugins? Audition still does not have that capability.

Not too big a deal, I have other software that will use them but it would be nice to be able to input a guitar track into the DAW and have it transformed using VSTi plugins.

Strange, with Audition (CS6 version) it's what I do with almost every guitar track without any problem...both Amplitube and Guitar Rig work great as VST plugins inside Audition... 

Alfredo

[Speed Demon]

Alfstone, yes VST plugins work fine with Audition. Its VSTi plugins that are not supported. They are instrument plugins.

[T.C. Elliott]

I bought a used 1600 and haven't really liked it much. The WAV conversion is slow and it's just... maybe the learning curve is slightly larger than I wanted to deal with. I still have my 900, but the memory card is full and I haven't backed up and cleared it out yet... mainly because I want to force myself to record on the 1600. But I've just put off any real recording and used a little hand held recorder for all my demo needs. In other words, If I were to do a decent recording I could better see if I liked the 1600 or not. I was gonna sell the 900, but I think i'll see if it works as an interface to record into Reaper (I tried once and it worked with a very high dose of latency which I've discovered how to reduce a bit just recently, but not tried again with the 900.) Honestly, unless I get a read drummer to record, the 1600 is overkill for me. Although I have a few friends that want me to record some stuff for them, which might be interesting. And the idea of being able to record off the board AND a couple of live mics would be cool at live shows if I were to get the opportunity.