Newbie question

[DuFf]

I bought a Boss BR80 and it came with a sonar le cd but my new laptop has no cd drive.
Do I download the cd on another machine and transfer to an external drive or flash drive to download on my laptop?

Can I then use the BR 80 as an interface and work with Sonar on the laptop.
The BR 80 is difficult for me with small screens and dial to manipulate.
I did say I was a newbie......

Thanks for taking the time

DuFf

[64Guitars]

You could probably copy the CD to a USB flash stick, then install from that. But perhaps the simplest way is to just buy an external DVD/CD drive that you can plug into a USB port on your laptop. Then you can install directly from the CD. They're not very expensive, and you never know if you'll need to access a CD or DVD on your laptop again in the future, so it's good to have. Plus, it will allow you to watch your DVD movies on your laptop.

http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?cPath=3_60&sort=3a

A DAW like SONAR is a pretty complicated piece of software, so it can take a lot of time and effort to learn. If you're struggling with learning the BR-80, I suspect that you'll find SONAR a lot harder. It's still worth installing and having a look at, but be prepared to feel overwhelmed.

I simpler approach which I and many other BR users have adopted is to record the basic audio tracks on the BR, then use the free BR Wave Converter software to transfer the individual tracks to the computer as WAV files. You can then use Audacity (also free) to mix and edit your tracks to produce your final 2-track master and export it to MP3. Audacity has a nice Mixer Board view which you can access from the View menu. It lets you see all of your tracks side by side and easily adjust levels, balance, etc.

[danieldesete]

BR Wave converter has changed my life !

[DuFf]

Thanks 64,...I am going to get the external cd drive.

The BR 80 is great as a portable recorder, I just find the tone wheel and the little screen to be difficult to see and operate.
Having everything up on the screen and being able to manipulate with a mouse just seems easier.
I was at a recording 101 clinic and saw everything operating on Cubase (Steinberg) and it looked so much easier to move things around.
I thought one of the free or pay basic daws would be similar.

I will have a look at the Sonar and see.


Cheers