New BR model - the BR-800

[peterp]

I updated my post from long ago to add that
Long&McQuade (Markham store) now has Boss BR-800 in stock at 479$cdn.
Lowest Canadian price I've come across so far.

They also have a couple of pre-owned BR-1600's on their used shelf for 799$

[BuleriaChk]

It wasn't a big deal (at least for me).  I just ran the BR-800 USB device driver installation, fired up Sonar LE, and the BR-800 was available as an audio device.....

Just some information for anyone who has a br 800 , with the recorder comes a dvd with all the software and relavant stuff needed to run cakewalk etc , there is a pdf file which helps you to connect the br800 with your,e laptop or a usable computer , my version on the dvd was in Japanese , i have informed roland uk this morning there is no software download for this file either in the uk or the american site and apparently it was not in a form which was transferable by email, so they are sending me a hard copy via post tommorow .. i hope !!!

The file is named BR 800 to Sonar Le  .

Dunny

[pjd1]

Just an update for those who are interested in this thread , i recieved my revised copy of the br800 software , but they did not send me the correct information only drivers for vista and win 7 stuff , i have again contacted roland uk who again apologised for there error again but did not have the file in english at all !!!!!!! i spent at least one hour with there techy guy to run through the process on the telephone and i have got it going of sorts but still need more infomation , bit frustrating to say the least !!!

Has anyone got the english version and if so can it be posted !!

Dunny

[64Guitars]

Although it's not BR-800 specific, there's a lot of SONAR LE support information on the Cakewalk site:

http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/SONAR/Page.aspx?ID=SRLE

(click the Knowledge Base and Tech Tips tabs)

After you register your copy of SONAR LE, you can contact Cakewalk for tech support. Maybe you'll have better luck with their tech support than with Roland's.

[pjd1]

Thats a great idea 64 !! i will contact them tommorow and see what they can come up with , thanks also for the link to the sonar le page i will have a look at it , why didnt i think of that !!

Cheers Dunny

[BuleriaChk]

I simply cannot BELIEVE that Roland didn't include USB midi out and midi clock with thir BR-880.  Sheesh, at least the ability to save a pattern as a MIDI file from the software editor....

Even the DR-880 has USB MIDI, and by now that is 6 years old.  (I snagged one the other day from Craig's list for $170; at that price, it was worth getting one to see if there is any way of working around its limitations (especially lack of a credible handclap - all theirs sound weird or mushy - and the lack of a global tempo.

"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"

(FTW, I used the BR-880 in live performance at my coffee house gig last night for the first time, and it worked as expected.  The ability to adjust pattern parameters via the "Rhythm" menu is a big improvement.  Now if the can only include Toneload, pattern play asignments, and a dedicated tempo knob in a "DR-2011" unit.....)

[Kevin_12345us]

I just bought the BR-800. Very disappointed that it has no editing capabilities. Even the BR-600 had editing.

[BuleriaChk]

The software editor is MUCH easier to use.  Try it; you'll like it...  well, sort of, anyway.

That said, I certainly agree with you.  I do find the pads handy for real-time pattern editing on the other BR series.  My take is that the editing work was shifted to the PC, since there effective interfaces for creating  MIDI patterns (although not for the Roland editor).  The idea is to create them in Sonar LE, and then save them as MIDI files (you can also export them as Groove Clips).  But the general lack of MIDI capability is pretty frustrating; at least with the BR-900, you can capture your patterns into MIDI.

Makes you really ask "What were they thinking?"  (Maybe they'll tell us, but I doubt it....)

But the pattern mapping is also different between the Boss DR-880; for example the Stick is midi note 31, which doesn't exist on the 880 - you have to map it to midi number 39 (and you can't change the MIDI pad assignments.)  Now that I have a DR-880, I am astonished at the features they omitted, rather than the features they included.

So I'm not going to sell my BR-600 and BR-900CD just yet....  Roland has really scattered features around.  I had high hopes for the Zoom R24, but  that has its serious limitations as well (i.e., no ToneLoad...)

I just bought the BR-800. Very disappointed that it has no editing capabilities. Even the BR-600 had editing.

[Kevin_12345us]

The software editor is MUCH easier to use.  Try it; you'll like it...

I agree, but was hoping to use as a portible device without a computer, and would like to do some tweaks in the field.

[64Guitars]

I just bought the BR-800. Very disappointed that it has no editing capabilities. Even the BR-600 had editing.

It's not entirely accurate to say that the BR-800 has "no editing capabilities". You can copy tracks and erase tracks without the aid of a computer. And, when connected to a computer, the BR-800's editing capabilities are better than any of the stand-alone BRs. I think that most users are not going to want to do complicated editing in the field anyway. That sort of thing can wait until you get home. So, in a practical sense, the BR-800's editing capabilities are more than adequate for most users and superior to any of the previous BRs when you look at the complete hardware/software package.