New BR model - the BR-800

[64Guitars]

What would be considered good placement of the unit for recording acoustic and vocals?  I imagine there are general guidelines for distance to the internal mics and height vs. the guitar?  At the moment the BR is on a table that is a little higher than my guitar in my chair.

Page 2 of this document from Roland has some suggestions on that very topic. It's for the BR-600 but the BR-800 should be about the same. They both have dual mics.

I'm not a singer so I can't really help much with recording vocals. But there are lots of singers here who can.

[NateFreezy]

That's great, thanks!

[s.w.goatlips]

you will also find that a lot depends on which patches (if any) you are using.
You'll need to play around with them to find a preference.
Eventually I got sick of all the extra noise/background crap that gets picked up through the on board mics and bought a proper mic. I found that doing this also completely changed the way I approach vocals (in a good way).
Oh, and don't forget to play around with the patches (delay etc etc).

[Geir]

Recording vocals with a stereo-mic can be challenging. What I usually do when recording vocals with the built in mics is to focus on just one of the mics. I get as close as I can without peaking on the input level (depending on the type of song). The first recordings I made I used the preset patches, but now I've tweaked some patches and redused or turned of the compression and turned off the noisegate (for songs with much dynamic). when done recording I delete the track of the mic I didn't use.

[64Guitars]

Recording vocals with a stereo-mic can be challenging. What I usually do when recording vocals with the built in mics is to focus on just one of the mics.

when done recording I delete the track of the mic I didn't use.

Couldn't you just record to one track? According to page 37 of the BR-800 manual, you can set the "MODE" to "MONO REC" and it will just record to one track.

[Geir]

Recording vocals with a stereo-mic can be challenging. What I usually do when recording vocals with the built in mics is to focus on just one of the mics.

when done recording I delete the track of the mic I didn't use.

Couldn't you just record to one track? According to page 37 of the BR-800 manual, you can set the "MODE" to "MONO REC" and it will just record to one track.

Yes I could, but the reason I don't is to avoid any phase-cancellation from the other mic

[64Guitars]

Yes I could, but the reason I don't is to avoid any phase-cancellation from the other mic

That makes sense if both mics are on and mixed together as a mono signal. Have you verifed that that's the case? I had hoped that only one mic would be on in MONO REC mode.

What if you record in STEREO REC mode, but unarm one of the tracks? Then you'd be recording from just one mic (left mic goes to odd-numbered track and right mic goes to even-numbered track). I'm not sure if the BR-800 will let you unarm a single track of a stereo pair but the other BRs will. They arm two tracks by default whenever the input is stereo, but if you press the track button a second time, it switches to a single track.

[Geir]

That makes sense if both mics are on and mixed together as a mono signal. Have you verifed that that's the case? I had hoped that only one mic would be on in MONO REC mode.

Yes I have, that is the case. And I just re-checked it.

What if you record in STEREO REC mode, but unarm one of the tracks? Then you'd be recording from just one mic (left mic goes to odd-numbered track and right mic goes to even-numbered track). I'm not sure if the BR-800 will let you unarm a single track of a stereo pair but the other BRs will.

Alas, that's not possible on the 800.

They arm two tracks by default whenever the input is stereo, but if you press the track button a second time, it switches to a single track.

That will invoke the loop mode on the 800

[BuleriaChk]

My mistake for double posting; I'll try to delete the other thread.....

That said, I'm re-considering the BR-800 (as opposed to the R8), even though I dislike the touch controls (I'll probably try to make raised sections out of film to provide a tactile sensation for the buttons, but what a PITA), and do my MIDI editing in a DAW.  Anyone have any experience with that?)

My main use will be to use it as a DAW controller/audio interface for Live, running on a laptop.  Are the faders assignable to other functions via MIDI learn (like the A/B mix button in Live, or to an effect control)?  I need to use a couple of faders for that purpose, and assign the others to appropriate track volumes.

Thanks,

Chuck

[64Guitars]

My main use will be to use it as a DAW controller/audio interface for Live, running on a laptop.

Wouldn't you be better off getting a dedicated control surface and an audio interface if that's your main use?

For example:

Behringer BCF2000 B-Control Fader   $207.99

Cakewalk UA-4FX USB Audio Interface/MIDI Interface
with 14 Onboard COSM Effects - 24-bit/96kHz   $99.00

Total price: $306.99           BR-800: $449.00

You'd save $142.67 and get better control surface / audio interface capabilities, including motorized faders and a lot more assignable controls (and no touch sensors).

The manufacturer's pages for these products are here:        Behringer BCF2000      Cakewalk UA-4FX



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmDYyznZBUI