Any love out there still for the BOSS BR1600CD?

[Super 8]

I used to own one of these units for a few years about a decade ago (wrote an album on one in fact!) Feeling nostalgic & miss the ease of recording I found with this compared to modern recording methods. I notice one's come up on the secondhand market for what seems (?) like a good price. (Incidentally what is a good price for a used one of these here in the UK?) I'm contemplating pulling the trigger on it but still have some reservations especially having discovered that this model has long been discontinued - that's always a worry when it comes to support, repairs & stuff. Any thoughts/opinions? I've only got 'til tomorrow to decide!

[Blooby]

Still love mine but usually only use it for live tracking these days. I then export the stems into a DAW.  Mine has been a bit wonky lately. I have to replace the CD drive one of these days. Still a fantastic unit.

Good luck.

Blooby

[Super 8]

Thanks for your swift, honest & informative reply Blooby! I'm very hazy about this particular model! Like I say, I owned a BR1600 about a decade ago. Great fun & happy 'daze' (sic.) from what I can remember! I recall it was mega user-friendly & the BIG plus for me was that I got results with it ... FAST (as opposed to my current recording set up with a Mac running Logic! It seems to take me forever to actually finish anything!) OK, tell me more about 'stem exportation' and how you link it with a comp. First off, why would you want to? What's the advantage as oppose to just using it stand alone? To add more tracks? Better editing with a comp? Personally I'm trying to move away from using a computer that much (I spend far too much staring at one all day in work to continue using one into the nights in my so-called 'spare' time!) Share with me in more detail if you will how you go about using yours & convince me I need one in my life (or otherwise!) As you can see, 'the jury' (ie: me) is still out on this one Blooby so any further insights would be very much appreciated. Like I say, I have just tonight to make a decision this end. CHEERS!

[chapperz66]

I have owned and enjoyed a BR1600cd for years and - with a few reservations - love it to bits.  I think you have hit the nail on the head already - it is relatively simple and therefore quick to use.  At the same time it has most of the functionality I could envisage needing.   I have had no reliability issues.  To be honest, I sometimes feel that the track count is a bit limiting although the way I work with hardware synth workstations minimises this issue.  Bear in mind that really the machine is 14 tracks since you have to efffectively reserve tracks 9/10 for bouncing, mastering etc.  But you do get 16 virtual tracks on each recording track.  With a little bit of bouncing, this really isn't a major factor.  Compression on only 8 tracks at a time might be an issue to some people, although I can cope with this.

I'm not totally sure what stem exportation is - it sounds like something the catholic church might get upset about!   

Interestingly I have been contemplating going the "other way" as it were.  The impression I get on Youtube is that DAWs appear to be much simpler for editing.  What stops me (other than the expense/wife) is the learning curve.  How much RAM do I really need, which interface, processor speed, latency, midi master/slave stuff. Mac or PC?  I know where I stand with the BR.   I might try to pick your brains sometime re Logic if I get a bit more serious about defecting.

I'm afraid that I have no idea of second hand values, but I love mine and will probably use it until it dies!

Hope this helps.

Paul

[Super 8]

I'm not totally sure what stem exportation is - it sounds like something the catholic church might get upset about!   

He! He! Thanks Paul! That really is a great help! As for Logic, I'm not knocking it - it's a powerful music making platform for sure but be prepared for a fairly steep learning curve & plenty of head scratching/headaches along the way IMHO. As I say, I miss the ease of recording I had with this unit & nowadays find myself striving for easier methods that don't involve a computer (hence my somewhat retrograde step here of contemplating a used, long discontinued standalone unit ... Why the hell did Roland discontinue this one especially when there's seemingly nothing to supercede it?? There's definitely still a market for these units - we alone are surely living proof of that!)

Another major headache I find with my Mac is the constant fight for more power & speed. I have my machine maxed-out with 8GB of RAM installed yet, when I bring in post-tracking processing (especially 3rd party plug-ins!) my projects just grind to a halt & crash left, right & centre = VERY frustrating! I dunno, maybe there's something wrong with my machine or perhaps I'm just asking too much of it?! Regardless, it's getting in the way of the creative process and, for me, making music (or trying to!) with computers has now become a very noticeable distraction for me. I'm no Mark Ronson when it comes to engineering & producing but I do have the knack for writing a mean tune or three (even though I say so myself!) I need to get back to that & remember what it's like to concentrate purely on the music NOT the technology. For me at least the grass on the other side hasn't been greener in Computerland & all that glitters is not gold (feel free to add your own cliches here ...) Stick with what you know would be my advice in this instance! Computers were designed for Word Processing NOT Rock'n'Roll!   

[bruno]

Worth having a read of https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=11659.30

I would pay around £300 for a used BR1600 i'd say. Its a great machine - but I paid around £550 for mine new, and then the price went to £900 which I never really understood. There are newer machines for under £500 which look very good.

I love my 1600, however the Kemper has changed the way I record, and so need less of the 1600 functionality these days. If my 1600 broke, I probably buy a new machine rather than a DAW, they always lead me to frustration, where as I switch the 1600 on and play.

B

[Super 8]

Thanks BRUNO! Looks like I'm gonna go with my gut & bag this one. I really hope it's a clean machine & doesn't hide any nasty surprises as, like I say, it's a worry this model has been discontinued so I'm guessing Roland's after-sales support for this model (especially not being the original owner) is going to be practically non-existent! "YIKES!" WHAT DO I DO IF IT BREAKS DOWN?

[Blooby]

"YIKES!" WHAT DO I DO IF IT BREAKS DOWN?

I know swapping the hard drive and/or CD drive are relatively easy tasks, but beyond that, I wouldn't even know where to send it.

By exporting stems, I just mean if I track a band with up to 8 simultaneous inputs from the 1600, I can move those individual wav files to my DAW to futz about with.

I'm about a year into the world of DAW's and as much as I love the 1600, I wouldn't want to go back.  I haven't experienced a crash yet and have had track counts in the teens with plenty of 3rd party plug-ins. The editing is actually fun, and Addictive Drums has completely changed my workflow for the better (for now). I can fire up the computer and DAW quicker than the 1600 powers up, so I'm loving that as well.

I wish you luck.  Always fun to get new gear. As a matter of fact, too many of us here live vicariously through the acquisitions of others (sideways glance to Bruno).

Blooby

[bruno]

Thanks BRUNO! Looks like I'm gonna go with my gut & bag this one. I really hope it's a clean machine & doesn't hide any nasty surprises as, like I say, it's a worry this model has been discontinued so I'm guessing Roland's after-sales support for this model (especially not being the original owner) is going to be practically non-existent! "YIKES!" WHAT DO I DO IF IT BREAKS DOWN?

It may be worth pinging BOSS and asking before you buy - ask them if they support repairs or not. The last thing you want to do is spend money and have problems or worse still, breaks down completely. I would look at other newer models and compare prices, as you always have a guarantee with a new purchase. Some of the prices of machines have come down significantly. I've seen 1600's sell for £250 to £300 on eBay, but depends on condition. Its a great all in one machine, but is quite old and slow now. I think I'd pay top money because I know the machine, and confident that I could change the HD if it broke (assuming that you can still get IDE drives) - however, if mine broke, I would seriously consider the TASCAM, as well as seeing if I could find a 1600 - as I don't really need the COSM stuff anymore. Remember buyer beware, you will have little comeback if there are problems, but generally its a reliable machine in my experience.

Note that I do pretty much all of my recordings on the 1600 (apart from 1 or 2 that I've done on GarageBand), and use the 1600 from start to finish (including the mastering, which is great). I've not had any problems to date, and have had my machine for 6 or so years (touch wood). Am always nervous about a hard drive crash, and the USB is USB1 and really slow - but I'm happy with it.

See 32 track Tascam for £400, it has more tracks - I've no idea if it is a better machine or not though.

http://www.google.co.uk/shopping/product/14959468420629706877?q=32+track+tascam&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=ivns&prds=paur:ClkAsKraX40ZAE9eD5y21w5k1ltccPKRwR8jqbjD5_8Xt1ss8wFbEz7CBESnqnrypxePkShLHyJghQ_kOvlcF44QlvRBsI9_MOiuSVOvq4O3XRvM98yZIOU4jBIZAFPVH72TYz6xn-xgeBx6mWhJ_hmFuRHlqA&sa=X&ei=WXfBVIOINcj6UNrOgqgO&ved=0CCQQ8wIwAQ

Note that the BOSS is only 16 bit machine - although many would argue that is good enough for CD's, its good enough for recording.

NB a couple on eBay selling for around $500 - so £300 is not far off the mark. But I would say £300 max for one in perfect condition. My 10c worth anyway.

Hope that helps.
B

[Super 8]

Thanks again Bruno/Blooby! I really appreciate the input. I realise there's potentially 'better', far more modern machines out there with more tracks, better specs, etc. but what's driving me here (for want of a better phrase) is the fact that I used to own a BR1600 & I have v. fond memories of it (plus I recorded a stack of music on it - it was a very creative recording platform for me!) I like the idea of the Tascam in the above link (thanks!) but I'm not remotely familiar with it so there's the whole learning curve to contend with. That said, buying a discontinued, 'out of date', secondhand 16 tracker (well, technically less tracks when you consider that tracks 9 to 16 are stereo plus you need to keep 9/10 free for Mastering if my memory serves me well??) yes, it's a big gamble for all the reasons you have mentioned above. Weighing up the pros & cons here there's trepidation on my part for sure yet I still can't help get excited about this potential purchase when I think about how much fun I had with the last BR1600 model I owned (that was a while ago now mind!) The seller's asking £250 unboxed w/o manuals by the way!