intheblues Cool machine. I still record on a 4 track tape deck. It's easier than the one you demo but the sound is pretty hissy. No cut or paste. I like the old gear. My brother still has a teac reel to reel studio deck from the 70s.
LOL I can't like this video enough! I still have a Tascam Portasound that uses cassettes. How many minutes of 4 track audio were you able to get in 32 MB?
17 years ago I was making demos on a four track Tascam tape Portastudio. This is an area where digital technology has vastly improved the accessibility to recording for musicians. Having recorded analog to 3” tape in a studio years ago I can vouch for how digital has opened up making music for more people. The industry is now aimed at this market, rather than just “professional” users, so the market is flooded with gear and the range has increased exponentially. The elephant in the room is what has happened in the music scene as a result and whether you think we’re in a better place as a result.
😂🤣😂🤣 Great lyrics!!!!! To be honest, the mix sounds pretty good for all the issues you ran into! It’s fascinating how quickly technology can evolve and make cutting edge equipment obsolete. This was really fun watching the process of you recording a song!!! Awesome video!! Cheers!!🎸🎸🎸🎸🤙🏾🤙🏾🤙🏾
I recorded my first song on 2 RCA 4-track reel-to-reels. I played 6 different instrumental parts and sang 3 part harmony. I was 14, and it was 1979. WHAT A BLAST!
I made over 50 songs on this unit, some with as many as 15 tracks. This unit helped me get a major writing contract, and made me tens of thousands of dollars.
I still have a 2001 model 16 track Yamaha with a 20gb hard drive that records great! I hate DAW software for simple recordings. I wish there were still viable Reel to reel TAPE recorder options myself!! All you need is a mixer and mics for those .
I use the Zoom R16 also. Great little recorder. I don't use the internal effects too much as i try to get a good base recording then transfer the files into my Mac to edit. I'm surprised that the BR-532 was a frustrating mess. Boss is usually in depth with global settings-LCD screen should have a visual adjustment, etc. I have a Boss GT-3 multi fx unit from the 90's and it still rocks! A unit ahead of it's time.
Pfffwt!...(sound of amused older person) I remember getting excited about the Porta Studio's. 4 whole channels on a cassette tape. They were only good for working out demos and parts, but it freed up a lot of studio time and money, not to mention 2" tape. The other good thing the old cassette recorders were good for was overdriving the tracks into distortion, and using it as large distortion pedal.
I've had a few 532s, the 600, 800 & 1180cd and the micro br-80-let me tell you they're all gems and all very capable till this day give yourself a pat on the back and find a nice one and buy it ❤
Hmmm. I often use the more recent BR-800 (6 tracks) and find it so refreshing to just use my ears, not be glued to a computer screen. It also works as an interface for recording with my laptop. I do copy the tracks over to computer to mix and edit, though. As a pure recording device, though, I think it's great.
@@thanasios1000 the br-8 8 track version was $845 at launch and was one of the most successful recording tables offering a whole ray of options for vocals- to guitars- drums. And even the ability to create your own sound effects if on e of the 200 pre installed ones didnt make you happy or fit the cause
@@WarrenPostma I mean i actually want to get one of these because of the fact i don't like audio interfaces. From the looks of things they're easy as pie and give you the rawest record possible.
@@Dana21283 In 2020, get a modern version though! Get one the newer TASCAM line of SD-card portastudios. Search this term: TASCAM DP-03sd 8-Track Digital Portastudio
I somehow managed to get a BR8 when I was...like...15 (25 years ago! How time flies...lol) and never really was able to figure it out. Sold that and eventually got Cubase and an interface...couldn't really figure that out, either. It took all the way to 2009 before I was FINALLY able to figure out how to do it all, though with REAPER. Been using it ever since! I might try to find a cheap BR8 on ebay or something...might be fun to mess with. Hahaha Loved the vid! Keep rockin!
Love to see this! I hooked mine up to a mixer then basically used it as a two channel digital recorder, uploading the wav files afterwards to edit in Audacity. It's fine for live demos. Larger memory cards are a must but got a lot cheaper thankfully.
Have and use that exact unit, there is a very steep learning curve with it, not having the manual would be a killer! It's a very handy little portable, smart media to XD card adaptor is handy for more storage on a more modern media.
Love these kind of video’s. Got a Yamaha MT120 4 track cassettedeck - more intuitive than the Boss stuff. Do some tape stuff if you get your hands on it, please.
i bought one of these when they came out back in the day. it was 599 bucks and back then worth every penny for whay you got out of it. u can em for 60-100 bucks on ebay. i tell my friends all the time when there kids are getting serious about learning how to play music. the thing thats so cool about this br 532 is how easy it is to record tracks by pressing just a couple of buttons and it has effects, a drum kit,and mic tone,and a external mic as well. only has one line out and line in but for a new bee thats all you need. this little unit not only made me a way better musican it also helped me understand basic tone effects,and recording tracks in general. i recommend every beginner adults to kids get one of these units on ebay for the cheap price tag!
I used to own this machine. I used it for multiple recordings and had a lot of fun with it. Including recording drums! :) this machine was no joke really, it sounded really good and I had some great results with it.
I have a Roland Boss BR8. Do you know how to convert the fils from the zip disc to my new pc. It worked before on my old pc with Audacity but not anymore. Thank you
Fantastic video! Brings me back! I thought using my first 4 track machine was a project back in the day (Tascam 424 mk2). Goes to show you how far we have come with home recording technology. Like you said in the video, this is how we did our demos, and self produced albums back in the day though. It got the job done, but I wouldn't want to go back to using it! The song sounded great at the end, and the lyrics cracked me up! : ) Fantastic job once again!
I remember buying the BR1180 with the CD drive back in 2002. I used most of my graduation money to get it. I learned so many things with that unit. It definitely paved the way for my future endeavors. Thanks for the memories!
Hey Shane, could you maybe try recording a song on an old 4-track or 8-track tape player? That'd work a whole lot better than being limited to just 32mb. I liked the song by the way, good job on that!
I use the BR-864 and it's great, If i find one cheap, i'll pick up the BR-532 because of how it forces you into thinking about just one track with the limited on-board memory, plus the effects are basic, so it's all about making the most of what little you got.
You experienced similar frustration to what I experience trying to get computer based stuff to work. I usually just give up because it never works as well as it does for the folks in the video tutorials. I'm not a computer programmer, just a musician.
I was born in 1972 ( the year Ziggy Stardust visited planet Earth). Bought a Boss BR532 in 2003, here in Brazil, it was kinda expensive, but I still use its machine drum a lot.
Why would you not be able to record with that? You can still record on cassette tape if you want to. I had the BR8 version of this unit and it was a very useful tool. I produced many good demos with it.
That’s advanced compared to what we used in the early nineties. I remember going over to my friend’s house to record on his 4 track Tascam cassette recorder.
My first band went through about 5 of those portastudios back in the day. Poor things took a beating with all the booze and partying we did in the garage days. But they always sounded pretty good to us! Very warm and analog lol.
I enjoyed this vid. To be fair, with a bit of patience you can get some good results on these things, especially the BR-8 that you mentioned (and I’ve still got). They’re really designed for performance and getting your ideas down rather than making a finished article though. And it’s also true what’s mentioned on other comments that DAWs do make you lazy, as they’re so editable and automated - no doubt they’re a hundred miles forward in terms of quality though. My God, thinking about it, I did battle hard to get some good stuff out of my old BR-8. I take it all back what I said before 😂
So you were expecting speakers on a portable multi tracker? Maybe something by Zoom, Vestax or Sansui had small built in speakers. If I find one that has built in speakers I'll get back to you.
Awesome video! I have seen these for sale and have wondered if they were any good in today’s standard. Wow. Definitely time to retire it but seems like a cool device for back in the day. Rock on!
I still use the BR-900cd version with a bunch of those cards, because for some reason it sounds good. But on the other hand i use a Fostex R8 and occasionally even a Fostex 250 casette porta which i love for its amazing mic preamp.
Hey Shane I've got an only Fostex MR-8 I can send you if you want to to a comparison? :D Sounded pretty good anyway! I'd totally agree that the computing revolution we have been through in the past 25 years has made our lives as musicians better in many ways!
I think you need to get and read the User Manual . The unit will support upto 128MB SM Cards and a 32MB card should allow approx 20-mins recording . And why use a mono jack on the headphones output ? Line Out to your sound card is the best option for monitoring playback if you haven't got a dedicated stereo amp system.
Awesome Shane, laughed my guts out through this, how easy we have it now with the tech available. I’ve got to say it ended up sounding pretty good and man those lyrics just killed me!🤣👍
I had a br-532 in 2006, it was tons of fun. I sold it later on to my Sisters bf, just to get it out of pawn anyway. Years later I bought a br-864 it's nearly identical but better in a few ways. It has COSM effects from BOSS (Not Bose as I had once called it). The cosm effects are really good it has a convincing Marshall sound, there's virtual bass and virtual acoustic. I think the bass is convincing. I got mine for $120 cad. It was discounted because the display has broken characters but I can still see some of it and everything else works as expected. Only problem I'm having is I can't seem to turn off the built in mic when I plug a mic in the 1/4 jack
Thanks for the vid/opinion, but - dude, maybe it's a good idea to read a manual before saying that something is crap? There's a lot of answers to the problems that you had here - the LCD contrast, output jacks, bouncing, etc... I loved this machine when I used it. There's sweet economical lo-fi recording mode there... The only thing I hated is that that f____ng horrible FX processor and reverb were turning on themselves every time when I made the new track - the reason why I let it go in the end. Otherwise - great little thing, and much more fun than the computer!
Oh man, I had one of these. It was the bottom-of-the-line model for that line of Boss digital recorders but I found it great for one-man, bedroom demo type of stuff.
I think those things made a lot of songwriters just give up lol. Cool vid Shane! I recorded band demos on a cassette 4-track, actually pretty easy and sounded good.
i enjoyed this.. i started with Tascam 244 4-track, and worked my way up.. glad that i did, so i could/would understand the consept of downmixin 3tracks to one etc.. more of these please..
I had one of those, but quickly realized that 4 tracks was not enough. I believe that unit has a usb port on it so it is possible to transfer tracks onto the computer by using a piece of software from Boss to convert them to wav files. The 32 mb card was the stock card I think Boss included, but you could buy larger cards which would allow more track time. I sold my BR 532 to my nephew and bought the next gen from Boss, the BR 864. Very similar unit but uses compact flash cards up to 1 GB, and 8 tracks total. Regarding monitoring, use the line outs with some adapters either into powered monitors or into a stereo system such as a receiver or amp. It was a huge leap forward for me over my Fostex X12 4 track cassette studio.
When you say no speaker outputs with Line Out jacks at the back you can just plug into a stereo system . I also have the Boss 864 and still use it and with that bouncing multiple tracks is easy - just select Bounce with Utility and it automatically bounces multiple tracks into a pair of virtual tracks. Mastering effects were good. The built in cosm bass and acoustic amp simulations were good and still usable but the electric gtr amp sims are over processed and sound a bit synthetic. Right now I use the Rec out of a Boss Katana amp to go into the 864 recorder gtr input jack (Katana Rec out speaker simulation is pretty good) - On the downside they were expensive when they came out about 2005 . But they are resilient and never break down or freeze like a computer although sometimes you have to press the buttons multiple times. USB transfer to computer is very slow too . I would still recommend it but for the fact that 864 takes an old style compact flash card with limit of 1gb capacity - more than that and the machine gives error message. 1 gb or less flashcards are no longer made. If something goes wrong with the flashcard in it the unit will be unusable unless you can find old flashcards for sale somewhere.
Yeah the cassette recorders of the day were better.. still to this day best demo I ever recorded was on a tascam cassette.... Through a solid state jc120 for all instruments, becides vocals.. saved my money till better tech was available a few years later...
Been thinking of using this one as a "master 2-track" recorder. I've been mixing OTB and it bugs me to bring another notebook and interface just to record the mix. Any thoughts? Specs on manual seem fine.
Oh man, it's an heroic and epic story that recording on those kind of recordings!!! Imagine if you tried to record without any microphones except the device's mics trying to put them on... the right place, of your mouth, and amps... Plus that mine didn't have any back light, no color, connected in hi fi amp for remote, and many more funny things to finish the job!!! But in your case the final recording was really good, becouse you'd found all the right jacks and guitars, base and your vocal are perfrfect! A professional job through all the steps.. and beyond all that,, patience.. Heroic man..👍 😂
Back in 2002 I recorded a whole album on this machine! Seeing this video it's unbelievable that I managed to finish it! I must say... I exported all recorded tracks to separate tracks and it was mixed in a professional studio. The quality of the recordings wasn't that bad! Just to record and take it with you is unbelievable those days. But, I'm glad it's 2020 and I am recording on a Mac with Logic now!
Roger van Zundert hi, I still have mine unit working fine (bought it in 2001). Back then I used an adapter to export tracks to computer using the boss software (my pc at that time could not handle real time recording). I still have the floppy disc style adapter for the card. I’m also glad to be able to use a nice computer, plugins, virtual instruments, DAW and so on, but it was fun to record with my br 532.
Excellent video. I hope you enjoyed. I have a Boss BR 800 that is a bit more advanced. I still use it and for now I have no intention of getting rid of it, because in the worst case, it serves as an audio interface and as a mixing desk. It has XLR inputs, a phanton power input and a Hi-Z input I never had a problem with the memory capacity (32 Gb). It has eight tracks for simultaneous playback and records to four real tracks or eight virtual tracks. It has built-in the effects of the Boss GT 10 (phaser, flanger, rotary tremolo, vibrato, uni-v, chorus, delay, simulation of amp models, famous guitars and basses, octaver, etc). It also has a drum machine with the possibility of creating, modifying and editing new patterns; and finally, it also has vocal effects for harmonization, chorus, rever, etc. You probably know the Boss BR 800. Thank you for your sympathy.
I would have assumed that the onboard delay would be using the DD-3 algorithm so I'm quite surprised that you say the effects were bad. Although I'm less surprised that amp modelling isn't great.
I had the br-532 in 2006, you could get about 5 or 6 full songs on there before running out of space. If you upgrade to 128 mb, you could fit much more. Maybe like 5 or 6 songs using 2 tracks each with 32mb. It was a long time ago but you can back up to a Windows XP computer the songs you aren't using to save space. It's very cramped. I have a br864 with compact flash 1GB, i have recorded 77 songs some only using 1 or 2 tracks and i have 330 mb left. There's a system setting to optimize each song, this will save a little space. Another thing you can do is user lower quality audio codec and fit more songs that way. But who wants to do that ??? Not me Lol
Love the limits of the memory cards :D My old Korg Workstation has SmartMedia cards too for the samples, 32 MB limit and crazy hard to transfer files to/from.
Its a hit!!! Ive got a Tascam 24 track, because LONG ago i owned a Tascam 8 track that recorded to cassette, and i thought that it would be something i was somewhat familiar with. Also had read somewhere that Bruce Springsteen had recorded a great deal of the Tunnel of Love album with one. Looking back now i dont know how true that could be but i have found recording on the 24 track to be tedious and very slow. I spend more time setting up and screwing around with the recorder than making music. Now im looking at Pro Tools or just forking over the cash to go into a studio. But ive got this $500 paper weight that im really proud of, so theres that.
I hope you enjoy this video! This video took so long trying to use a maximum of 32MB of space! haha.
intheblues Cool machine. I still record on a 4 track tape deck. It's easier than the one you demo but the sound is pretty hissy. No cut or paste. I like the old gear. My brother still has a teac reel to reel studio deck from the 70s.
@@jonathanhandsmusic So do I!
LOL I can't like this video enough! I still have a Tascam Portasound that uses cassettes. How many minutes of 4 track audio were you able to get in 32 MB?
@@MikeKeller Not MUCH obviously! LOL!
@@MikeKeller about 4-5 tracks with no more than 4 minutes each lol
17 years ago I was making demos on a four track Tascam tape Portastudio. This is an area where digital technology has vastly improved the accessibility to recording for musicians. Having recorded analog to 3” tape in a studio years ago I can vouch for how digital has opened up making music for more people. The industry is now aimed at this market, rather than just “professional” users, so the market is flooded with gear and the range has increased exponentially. The elephant in the room is what has happened in the music scene as a result and whether you think we’re in a better place as a result.
Heroic ages.. 😎
A singer song writer could use this to write and rehearse songs. The more talent you have the better the machine is, MATE!
I would rather record on this than a computer. I've had good times on this machine.
I still use my Br 800 because I work on a computer all day,
gives a break to my eyes and wakes up my ears when I record
😂🤣😂🤣 Great lyrics!!!!! To be honest, the mix sounds pretty good for all the issues you ran into! It’s fascinating how quickly technology can evolve and make cutting edge equipment obsolete. This was really fun watching the process of you recording a song!!! Awesome video!! Cheers!!🎸🎸🎸🎸🤙🏾🤙🏾🤙🏾
I recorded my first song on 2 RCA 4-track reel-to-reels. I played 6 different instrumental parts and sang 3 part harmony. I was 14, and it was 1979. WHAT A BLAST!
You're a hero to all modern musicians 🥳👏
Sweet! Necessity is the mother of invention!
Is your name Mike Oldfield? :D
The phono outs were absolutely fine, as is the drum machine. The manual online would have told you this in the first few pages.
I made over 50 songs on this unit, some with as many as 15 tracks.
This unit helped me get a major writing contract, and made me tens of thousands of dollars.
I would love to here something that you recorded on this device! Any links?
Lol wrote a lot of tunes on the br532 when I was a lad.
I still have a 2001 model 16 track Yamaha with a 20gb hard drive that records great! I hate DAW software for simple recordings. I wish there were still viable Reel to reel TAPE recorder options myself!! All you need is a mixer and mics for those .
I use the Zoom R16 also. Great little recorder. I don't use the internal effects too much as i try to get a good base recording then transfer the files into my Mac to edit.
I'm surprised that the BR-532 was a frustrating mess. Boss is usually in depth with global settings-LCD screen should have a visual adjustment, etc.
I have a Boss GT-3 multi fx unit from the 90's and it still rocks! A unit ahead of it's time.
Pfffwt!...(sound of amused older person)
I remember getting excited about the Porta Studio's. 4 whole channels on a cassette tape. They were only good for working out demos and parts, but it freed up a lot of studio time and money, not to mention 2" tape.
The other good thing the old cassette recorders were good for was overdriving the tracks into distortion, and using it as large distortion pedal.
I've had a few 532s, the 600, 800 & 1180cd and the micro br-80-let me tell you they're all gems and all very capable till this day give yourself a pat on the back and find a nice one and buy it ❤
I used to have a Boss BR-1600. I loved it. Great video! Great song too
I still have mine. :-)
Hmmm. I often use the more recent BR-800 (6 tracks) and find it so refreshing to just use my ears, not be glued to a computer screen. It also works as an interface for recording with my laptop. I do copy the tracks over to computer to mix and edit, though. As a pure recording device, though, I think it's great.
If you got to use pc, it makes it easier. Not reason to use compression of those kind of recorders, except for expensive ones with many options..
@@thanasios1000 the br-8 8 track version was $845 at launch and was one of the most successful recording tables offering a whole ray of options for vocals- to guitars- drums. And even the ability to create your own sound effects if on e of the 200 pre installed ones didnt make you happy or fit the cause
What an effort! I'm yet to dabble in recording, never tried at all before. Fingers crossed my experience will be easier than that.
$99 audio interface, and Cubase and the world is yours. This video is Doing it the Hard Way because Reasons. Which is why I love this channel.
@@WarrenPostma I mean i actually want to get one of these because of the fact i don't like audio interfaces. From the looks of things they're easy as pie and give you the rawest record possible.
@@Dana21283 In 2020, get a modern version though! Get one the newer TASCAM line of SD-card portastudios.
Search this term:
TASCAM DP-03sd 8-Track Digital Portastudio
WORKING UNDER PRESURE ,YOU NAIL IT MAN GREAT DEMO DON'T PUT YOUSELF DOWN. BLESS YOU🙏🏿😇🕊
Shane, the universe is TRYING to tell you something!
That was a good one Shane. Merry Christmas and a Happy Healthy New Year!! Thank you for all that you do. Cheers!!
I somehow managed to get a BR8 when I was...like...15 (25 years ago! How time flies...lol) and never really was able to figure it out. Sold that and eventually got Cubase and an interface...couldn't really figure that out, either. It took all the way to 2009 before I was FINALLY able to figure out how to do it all, though with REAPER. Been using it ever since!
I might try to find a cheap BR8 on ebay or something...might be fun to mess with. Hahaha
Loved the vid! Keep rockin!
Love to see this! I hooked mine up to a mixer then basically used it as a two channel digital recorder, uploading the wav files afterwards to edit in Audacity. It's fine for live demos. Larger memory cards are a must but got a lot cheaper thankfully.
Have and use that exact unit, there is a very steep learning curve with it, not having the manual would be a killer!
It's a very handy little portable, smart media to XD card adaptor is handy for more storage on a more modern media.
That was a pretty good effort mate to keep us listening.
You pulled it off. That was great and sounded great. We got a treat to hear your voice too. Merry Christmas Shane.
Love these kind of video’s. Got a Yamaha MT120 4 track cassettedeck - more intuitive than the Boss stuff. Do some tape stuff if you get your hands on it, please.
i bought one of these when they came out back in the day. it was 599 bucks and back then worth every penny for whay you got out of it. u can em for 60-100 bucks on ebay. i tell my friends all the time when there kids are getting serious about learning how to play music. the thing thats so cool about this br 532 is how easy it is to record tracks by pressing just a couple of buttons and it has effects, a drum kit,and mic tone,and a external mic as well. only has one line out and line in but for a new bee thats all you need. this little unit not only made me a way better musican it also helped me understand basic tone effects,and recording tracks in general. i recommend every beginner adults to kids get one of these units on ebay for the cheap price tag!
I used to own this machine. I used it for multiple recordings and had a lot of fun with it. Including recording drums! :) this machine was no joke really, it sounded really good and I had some great results with it.
dude read the owners manual…
I have a Roland Boss BR8. Do you know how to convert the fils from the zip disc to my new pc. It worked before on my old pc with Audacity but not anymore. Thank you
why didn't you connect the line-outs to your speakers?
I still use a Boss BR1600 for studio capture and mixing, and a Micro BR for triggering drums and synth samples live. No complaints here.
I've still got mine too.
Great vid .Im still using my br600 great fun .Wayne
Wow! This just saved me a $25 headache… I was about to buy one used…! Tysm for the eye opener!
Fantastic video! Brings me back! I thought using my first 4 track machine was a project back in the day (Tascam 424 mk2). Goes to show you how far we have come with home recording technology. Like you said in the video, this is how we did our demos, and self produced albums back in the day though. It got the job done, but I wouldn't want to go back to using it! The song sounded great at the end, and the lyrics cracked me up! : ) Fantastic job once again!
I still have my br9000cd (i think its 9k). Still works. Still fun.
After all that, the recording sounded good! Just too cumbersome & fiddly!
I remember buying the BR1180 with the CD drive back in 2002. I used most of my graduation money to get it. I learned so many things with that unit. It definitely paved the way for my future endeavors. Thanks for the memories!
Hey Shane, could you maybe try recording a song on an old 4-track or 8-track tape player? That'd work a whole lot better than being limited to just 32mb. I liked the song by the way, good job on that!
Psychidelic furs used ALL the tracks they could 😜 mustve been brutal
Love the singing. Solid rhymes 🤘🏽
This is a great random video man..
Thanks a lot, Jay! :)
I use the BR-864 and it's great, If i find one cheap, i'll pick up the BR-532 because of how it forces you into thinking about just one track with the limited on-board memory, plus the effects are basic, so it's all about making the most of what little you got.
You experienced similar frustration to what I experience trying to get computer based stuff to work. I usually just give up because it never works as well as it does for the folks in the video tutorials. I'm not a computer programmer, just a musician.
I was born in 1972 ( the year Ziggy Stardust visited planet Earth). Bought a Boss BR532 in 2003, here in Brazil, it was kinda expensive, but I still use its machine drum a lot.
Why would you not be able to record with that? You can still record on cassette tape if you want to. I had the BR8 version of this unit and it was a very useful tool. I produced many good demos with it.
I have one of those. Still use it to fool around. It’s fun.
Certainly glad to see this video. I about went crazy trying to figure this thing out but it does work, eventually.
That’s advanced compared to what we used in the early nineties. I remember going over to my friend’s house to record on his 4 track Tascam cassette recorder.
Great bit of gear. I wish I still had my Tascam Portastudio. The song is pure gold. Would buy on itunes if released.
haha thanks mate!
My first band went through about 5 of those portastudios back in the day. Poor things took a beating with all the booze and partying we did in the garage days. But they always sounded pretty good to us! Very warm and analog lol.
I enjoyed this vid.
To be fair, with a bit of patience you can get some good results on these things, especially the BR-8 that you mentioned (and I’ve still got). They’re really designed for performance and getting your ideas down rather than making a finished article though.
And it’s also true what’s mentioned on other comments that DAWs do make you lazy, as they’re so editable and automated - no doubt they’re a hundred miles forward in terms of quality though.
My God, thinking about it, I did battle hard to get some good stuff out of my old BR-8. I take it all back what I said before 😂
lol loved those lyrics man! Great video, thanks for sharing
I still listen to cassettes...love em..lol
So you were expecting speakers on a portable multi tracker? Maybe something by Zoom, Vestax or Sansui had small built in speakers. If I find one that has built in speakers I'll get back to you.
I love the lyrics Shane. ❤ Blues On.... 💙
Awesome video! I have seen these for sale and have wondered if they were any good in today’s standard. Wow. Definitely time to retire it but seems like a cool device for back in the day. Rock on!
lol I have a BR1180. I must've had it for over 15 years. I love it. I wish Boss would reissue the BR1600, and maybe a 24 track too.
I still have my BR1600.
I still use the BR-900cd version with a bunch of those cards, because for some reason it sounds good. But on the other hand i use a Fostex R8 and occasionally even a Fostex 250 casette porta which i love for its amazing mic preamp.
Hey Shane I've got an only Fostex MR-8 I can send you if you want to to a comparison? :D Sounded pretty good anyway! I'd totally agree that the computing revolution we have been through in the past 25 years has made our lives as musicians better in many ways!
I think you need to get and read the User Manual .
The unit will support upto 128MB SM Cards and a 32MB card should allow approx 20-mins recording .
And why use a mono jack on the headphones output ? Line Out to your sound card is the best option for monitoring playback if you haven't got a dedicated stereo amp system.
If that's the 32MB card that came with it you maybe still have a few Demo Tracks on it ?
Headphone output to a line level input often doesn't sound great either, presumably due to the impedance mismatch.
Nice shot of Lake Moraine on the monitor! Was just recently there myself. Great video. 👍🏼
Awesome Shane, laughed my guts out through this, how easy we have it now with the tech available. I’ve got to say it ended up sounding pretty good and man those lyrics just killed me!🤣👍
haha! Thanks a lot :-)
Please make a video with the boss BR 864.Thanks!
Please!!!!!!!
Complains about the stock tones on the recorder, proceeds to record using a wireless system.
Someone get a bucket of water this cats on fire!! Smoking!!
Yeah was a ball buster recording this, but the end result was a great raw track with lyrics from the heart.
I still have this unit and it works great. I got pretty creative back in the day.
Still using BR800 awesome piece of kit
Lol, I still record using my old Boss BR-1180! Just used it yesterday, Still works great bro!
I had a br-532 in 2006, it was tons of fun. I sold it later on to my Sisters bf, just to get it out of pawn anyway.
Years later I bought a br-864 it's nearly identical but better in a few ways. It has COSM effects from BOSS (Not Bose as I had once called it). The cosm effects are really good it has a convincing Marshall sound, there's virtual bass and virtual acoustic. I think the bass is convincing. I got mine for $120 cad. It was discounted because the display has broken characters but I can still see some of it and everything else works as expected.
Only problem I'm having is I can't seem to turn off the built in mic when I plug a mic in the 1/4 jack
I still have my Korg D1600. I think I bought it back in 2000. It's great for recording band practice and preserving ideas.
Thanks for the vid/opinion, but - dude, maybe it's a good idea to read a manual before saying that something is crap? There's a lot of answers to the problems that you had here - the LCD contrast, output jacks, bouncing, etc... I loved this machine when I used it. There's sweet economical lo-fi recording mode there... The only thing I hated is that that f____ng horrible FX processor and reverb were turning on themselves every time when I made the new track - the reason why I let it go in the end. Otherwise - great little thing, and much more fun than the computer!
Oh man, I had one of these. It was the bottom-of-the-line model for that line of Boss digital recorders but I found it great for one-man, bedroom demo type of stuff.
Sounds great! I have a Fostex 4 track that I never learned how to use it, my ex used it for the last time it was used in 1998!!
I think those things made a lot of songwriters just give up lol. Cool vid Shane! I recorded band demos on a cassette 4-track, actually pretty easy and sounded good.
i enjoyed this.. i started with Tascam 244 4-track, and worked my way up.. glad that i did, so i could/would understand the consept of downmixin 3tracks to one etc.. more of these please..
I had one of those, but quickly realized that 4 tracks was not enough. I believe that unit has a usb port on it so it is possible to transfer tracks onto the computer by using a piece of software from Boss to convert them to wav files. The 32 mb card was the stock card I think Boss included, but you could buy larger cards which would allow more track time. I sold my BR 532 to my nephew and bought the next gen from Boss, the BR 864. Very similar unit but uses compact flash cards up to 1 GB, and 8 tracks total. Regarding monitoring, use the line outs with some adapters either into powered monitors or into a stereo system such as a receiver or amp. It was a huge leap forward for me over my Fostex X12 4 track cassette studio.
thanks man! Ive got one of those and was not so what to do with that, now I gonna get rid of it, no regrets....
Hi Still Use a ZOOM HD 16 for my song Writting Demos .
When you say no speaker outputs with Line Out jacks at the back you can just plug into a stereo system . I also have the Boss 864 and still use it and with that bouncing multiple tracks is easy - just select Bounce with Utility and it automatically bounces multiple tracks into a pair of virtual tracks. Mastering effects were good. The built in cosm bass and acoustic amp simulations were good and still usable but the electric gtr amp sims are over processed and sound a bit synthetic. Right now I use the Rec out of a Boss Katana amp to go into the 864 recorder gtr input jack (Katana Rec out speaker simulation is pretty good) - On the downside they were expensive when they came out about 2005 . But they are resilient and never break down or freeze like a computer although sometimes you have to press the buttons multiple times. USB transfer to computer is very slow too . I would still recommend it but for the fact that 864 takes an old style compact flash card with limit of 1gb capacity - more than that and the machine gives error message. 1 gb or less flashcards are no longer made. If something goes wrong with the flashcard in it the unit will be unusable unless you can find old flashcards for sale somewhere.
Can we connect this to our DAWs?
Adjusting the Contrast in system settings allows you to see it better from whatever angle you are viewing it from.
Yeah the cassette recorders of the day were better.. still to this day best demo I ever recorded was on a tascam cassette.... Through a solid state jc120 for all instruments, becides vocals.. saved my money till better tech was available a few years later...
Been thinking of using this one as a "master 2-track" recorder. I've been mixing OTB and it bugs me to bring another notebook and interface just to record the mix. Any thoughts? Specs on manual seem fine.
Love the lyrics 😂 LOL. No doubt that was a pain but you got some killer sounds
You should be able to change the contrast of the screen to compensate for the angle of the screen
Oh man, it's an heroic and epic story that recording on those kind of recordings!!!
Imagine if you tried to record without any microphones except the device's mics trying to put them on... the right place, of your mouth, and amps...
Plus that mine didn't have any back light, no color, connected in hi fi amp for remote, and many more funny things to finish the job!!!
But in your case the final recording was really good, becouse you'd found all the right jacks and guitars, base and your vocal are perfrfect!
A professional job through all the steps.. and beyond all that,, patience..
Heroic man..👍
😂
Back in 2002 I recorded a whole album on this machine! Seeing this video it's unbelievable that I managed to finish it! I must say... I exported all recorded tracks to separate tracks and it was mixed in a professional studio. The quality of the recordings wasn't that bad! Just to record and take it with you is unbelievable those days. But, I'm glad it's 2020 and I am recording on a Mac with Logic now!
Roger van Zundert hi, I still have mine unit working fine (bought it in 2001). Back then I used an adapter to export tracks to computer using the boss software (my pc at that time could not handle real time recording). I still have the floppy disc style adapter for the card. I’m also glad to be able to use a nice computer, plugins, virtual instruments, DAW and so on, but it was fun to record with my br 532.
Excellent video.
I hope you enjoyed.
I have a Boss BR 800 that is a bit more advanced.
I still use it and for now I have no intention of getting rid of it, because in the worst case, it serves as an audio interface and as a mixing desk.
It has XLR inputs, a phanton power input and a Hi-Z input
I never had a problem with the memory capacity (32 Gb).
It has eight tracks for simultaneous playback and records to four real tracks or eight virtual tracks.
It has built-in the effects of the Boss GT 10 (phaser, flanger, rotary tremolo, vibrato, uni-v, chorus, delay, simulation of amp models, famous guitars and basses, octaver, etc).
It also has a drum machine with the possibility of creating, modifying and editing new patterns; and finally, it also has vocal effects for harmonization, chorus, rever, etc.
You probably know the Boss BR 800.
Thank you for your sympathy.
Very cool to see you recording with obsolete gear. Have you done a review in another video for the Maxon TOD-9?
I would have assumed that the onboard delay would be using the DD-3 algorithm so I'm quite surprised that you say the effects were bad. Although I'm less surprised that amp modelling isn't great.
Love this. Thank you.
I have a Roland VS-2480........Still running strong and sounds perfect
it has got built in drums?
You can definitely bounce the tracks on that
I had the boss br1180 and man ill tell ya what it worked for hank hill it worked for me!
I still have a Boss BR-1600CD which isn't bad and I have used it so much in the past.
I had the br-532 in 2006, you could get about 5 or 6 full songs on there before running out of space. If you upgrade to 128 mb, you could fit much more. Maybe like 5 or 6 songs using 2 tracks each with 32mb. It was a long time ago but you can back up to a Windows XP computer the songs you aren't using to save space. It's very cramped. I have a br864 with compact flash 1GB, i have recorded 77 songs some only using 1 or 2 tracks and i have 330 mb left. There's a system setting to optimize each song, this will save a little space. Another thing you can do is user lower quality audio codec and fit more songs that way. But who wants to do that ??? Not me Lol
You just explained why I need this piece of equipment to make Lo-Fi Chiptune 8-Bit video game music. It's like a time capsule!
Love the limits of the memory cards :D
My old Korg Workstation has SmartMedia cards too for the samples, 32 MB limit and crazy hard to transfer files to/from.
Its a hit!!! Ive got a Tascam 24 track, because LONG ago i owned a Tascam 8 track that recorded to cassette, and i thought that it would be something i was somewhat familiar with. Also had read somewhere that Bruce Springsteen had recorded a great deal of the Tunnel of Love album with one. Looking back now i dont know how true that could be but i have found recording on the 24 track to be tedious and very slow. I spend more time setting up and screwing around with the recorder than making music. Now im looking at Pro Tools or just forking over the cash to go into a studio. But ive got this $500 paper weight that im really proud of, so theres that.
I've never seen a pair of flip flops rocked so hard! DAMN! ;)
interesting toy makes for a great paper weight these days tho