hi first post i'm a MBR user, love the unit but is the BR80 much better?

[Rob_C]

I have the original MBR - only used to use it very basically but over the last few years I've really got into using it a lot for recording - learned how to do bouncing and all that and feel very comfortable with making lofi indie rock demos with it - Was thinking of getting the BR80 but bit worried that it will take me a while again to learn how to use it? is it much better than the mbr?

Also i'd be very interested to know how you guys use the mbr unit - I tend to record about 7-8 tracks in total - I have the ba cs10 stereo mic that you plug into the line in and I thinks it's really good and I also use an sm58

http://www.bossus.com/gear/productdetails.php?ProductId=1006

I tend to record an acoustic with stereo mic onto 2 tracks and everything else mono onto one track

bass
electric guitar
lead guitar
main vocal (sometimes double tracked)
back vocals (sometimes double tracked)
tambourine

when mastering I tend to prefer the sound of MIX DOWN or Pre Master

Which mic/guitar effects do you guys tend to go for?, what do you find works good? I have used the guitar effect BIG RECTRO 51 but for vocals which gave it a weird kinda heavily harsh distorted/reverby effect which I was going for at the time but probably gonna start using more cleaner sounding vocals for some new stuff i'm recording.

I love the mbr cause with the 4 tracks you have to be a bit more creative and I enjoy mixing it all and doing the bouncing stuff (hey the beatles used to do it!)

Like I say would love to hear how others use the unit to record their songs

[Rob_C]

also panning. how do you guys tend to pan stuff?

[Flash Harry]

Hello Rob,

There are a good number of people here who still use the MBR, some with BR80's BR800's and more, but there is a real core of folk whol love the original shiny silver box.

I used to use the box exclusively, but I have begun to use computers to record more - well I think is have reached the limit of my computer, but that's incidental.

The MBR is great for a single user to build their tracks and produce really great sounding music - check out Greeny's stuff, he does EVERYTHING on the MBR. I'm sure he finds it limiting but listening to his stuff you wouldn't know that.
The BR80 is pretty much still a 1 user box, I've only had brief encounters with it, OsCKilO uses one and again, hsi stuff is fab. Worth a listen  - these are just examples that I can think of while typing, there are many more great musicians making great music with clever little bits of kit. Have a browse.

Panning is important. You need to leave room for your vocal, Bass and drum are usually either straight down the middle or slightly to one side, guitars can be moved to either side - think of a stage and replicate it.

The Beatles were about at the start of stereo recordings and things were a real mess back then.

The best advice I can give is to try stuff for yourself and do what sounds right to your ears.

BTW welcome to the community. Post some music, there are a nunber of boards for this, we particularly like original material here and only offer encouragement.

   

[chip]

Hi there. I had the original and indeed it was very good. I moved on to the BR80 which I find is better. The main benefit for me is 8 tracks, that's 8 tracks of mono recording before a bounce is needed. I don't tend to use the cosm effects as I use other simulators for this, that's not saying the on board effects aren't usable it's just how I do it. The jump from the original was not huge as the two units are very similar, I would say the BR80 is easier to use and has way more capabilities that the original hasn't

 They are both great machines and the original got me back into recording in a new way after the old analogue days, so I am grateful for that.

[Rob_C]

thanks for the replys guys, on the mbr if you can remember which effects did you use for guitars? which mic effects did you use for vocals? also the reverb goes from 0-100 - I tend to set the reverb level at about 10-15 for vocals and guitars - i listened to a song by greeny and some others, they all sound great! soe talented guys on here, i noticed that there demos/music sound a lot louder than mine

[Geir]

Hi Rob, and welcome.

I recorded exclusively on the MBR until it was stolen from me. Then I got another one sendt to me from a dear friend and fellow songcrafter. I've since gotten a BR800 and the BR80.

If you "only" record up to 7-8 tracks, the MBR will do just fine. You've obviously then mastered the bouncing process (pun intended).

When I started recording I used more effects than I do now, and more reverb . But for mastering I still use "live mix" in 90% of my mixes. For vocals I mostly record dry (maybe a tweaked effect with only a moderate noise gate), for guitar I've used almost every patch on the MBR I think. It all depends on the song. I usually tweak the FX a bit tho. Removing any delay or chorus for rhythm guitars.

The MBR is a fabulous recorder. I've passed mine on to my daughter, and tho I've got both the 80 & the 800 I still miss my MBR!

Cheers, looking forward to hear your music!

[Geir]

Oh, the key to getting a loud mix is to watch the levels when mastering, of just do a "normalize" in Audacity (or similar) .

[Rob_C]

Geir I just listened to your song called "in the shade" it's absolutely brilliant

[Greeny (No longer active)]

Hiya. As Flash says, I use the original MBR for 99% of my recordings. The only thing I do with DAW's is to trim songs or add sound fx etc (either in Wavepad or Audacity).

All the music is always recorded on the MBR though: it's so flexible, because it has some great drum patterns, fx patches, and inputs for guitar / bass, and line-in for Garageband / Thumbjam etc. I don't own a microphone, so I use the one built-into the MBR for all my vocals.

I haven't used the BR-80, but I'm so happy with the old MBR that I see no need to change. My only gripe was that I was getting a bit bored with the drum patterns, but I can arrange those (if I want to) in Garageband now, so it's no longer a problem.

There are a few patches I use 90% of the time:

Vocal - Always OnBoard1 for the lead vocal and VocDelay1 for the backing vox. I add or subtract reverb depending on the song / vibe I'm after.

Bass - Either BassClean or BassCrnch depending on how heavy the song is.

And when I master, I always use Mix Down. Always!

For the guitar patches, I have a few faves, but I've used most of them at one time or another. I build the tones I want around the song, so it's fun to choose the best patches. Really love MsDry though, and SqrTrem :-)

No rules to panning, but I tend to put drums, bass and vox straight down the middle. Guitars and other instruments go left or right to separate the layers and add some width. Backing vox can go middle or wide depending on the feel I'm after. Just trust your ears.