Cheap SD cards update

[SimonC]

Well, seems the the cheap SD cards from CCL aren't such a good idea. Seemed ok at first but been getting a lot of card errors and it won't initialise - all seems very unstable.

Have tried a few test recordings with the help of the videos on this site but then tracks just seem to disappear, or whole songs vanish. Maybe it's me, I don't know, but I can't trust these cards. Can anyone recommend a make that works well with the BR?

cheers,

[bmaco]

I got my card from Radio Shack. I'm using the 1 gig SanDisk card. I think the 1 gig is on sale for 12.99. No problems at all.
http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=sd%20memory&origkw=sd%20memory&sr=1
Bryant

[guitarron]

Are all the cards bad? or just one?
i've been using generic cheapies that seem to work fine-
Did you format the cards 1st?
you might need that sd card formatter to wipe it clean 1st b4 formatting(i think panasonic makes it-free)
64 GUITARS where are you?
He'd know for sure what to do
Ron

[robsmith]

Hello,

I have been using a SanDisk 2gb SD card (formatted for 1 Gb by the BR). No problems at all ...

Have you checked the batteries?  Also, have you tried looking at the contents of the card on a PC, by connecting via USB? Also, make sure that you are creating new songs and not overwriting the same one.  You should be able to create a new song, record some tracks, turn it off and come back later and resume recording. You could also try formatting the SD card in a PC, then re-initialize via the BR ...

It sounds strange that songs would just disappear without some kind of errror being reported. There may also be some utilities available on the net that you could run to verify the filesystem on the card.

Hope this helps,

Bob

[64Guitars]

See this message for a list of possible explanations for memory card errors:

Msg 1566 - Possible reasons for memory card errors

As for compatible cards, here's a list of the cards recommended by Roland:

http://media.rolandus.com/manuals/MICRO-BR_AP.pdf

You can get a SanDisk Ultra II (SDSDH-1024), which is on Roland's list of recommended cards, for not much more than you paid for your Kingston card:

1GB SanDisk Ultra II at amazon.co.uk for £5.48

I use a SanDisk Ultra II 1GB CompactFlash card in my BR-864 and it works well.

Oh wow!  While I was typing this message, the price dropped from £5.48 to £1.99 at amazon.co.uk.  If that's for real, maybe everyone should stock up!

[64Guitars]

Actually, it appears that they didn't drop the price. It's just that they represent several sellers who offer the SanDisk Ultra II at prices ranging from £1.99 to £5.48 and they cycle through the sellers on the main page. So, when I first checked it out, they were showing the price from TheComponentShop, which is £5.48. When I checked again a minute or two later, they were showing the FindMemory price of £1.99. I twigged when I checked again ten minutes later and the price shown was £2.50 (seller was findprice).

Still, £1.99 is a great bargain. In fact, all of the prices in that range are quite good.

[SimonC]

Thanks for all the help. I think I'll try out one of the Sandisk cards next - I use their CF cards in my DSLR and never had a problem. I've also downloaded the Panasonic formatting software and will give that a go and see what happens.

I've managed to work out why tracks have gone missing - haven't been pressing the right buttons.

One other thing thats bugging me (I'm really at the very beginning of my learning curve as far as recording) - I've been putting a rhythm track on T1 with the inbuilt patterns, then putting a guitar rhythm track and lead track on T2 and T3. When I save the song then go back to it later, the tempo has been reset and everythings out of sync. I can't work out for the life of why this happens? Any advice would be gratefully received.

It's certainly a complex beast the Micro BR.

SimonC

[guitarron]

tempo can only be set by using an arrangement
theres an article here for that
http://microrecorders.org/articles/how_to_change_tempo_bossmicrobr.html

[SimonC]

Thanks for all the help 64guitars and guitarron. I just purchased a Sandisk Ultra II 512Mb for 2.23GBP (didn't have any 1 gig) from www.svp.co.uk The bonus is the companies based only a 15 minute drive from me, and you can collect your goods in person thus saving postage.

Hopefully if this one works ok I'll pick up a few more from them.

SimonC