Topic: Boss BR-800 portable 4-track, announced at Musikmesse

[sunjan]

Giving Tascam some competition?!
http://nexus404.com/Blog/2010/03/25/boss-br800-digital-audio-recorder-revealed-boss-outs-multitrack-recorder-musikmesse-2010/

Boss has released a new hardware digital audio multitrack recorder at Musikmesse 2010 in Frankfurt, Germany.  The Boss BR-800 is a portable 8-track digital audio recorder that can record four tracks simultaneously at a 24-bit resolution.

The new Boss BR-800 digital recorder gives musicians and live audio specialists a portable solution for multi-channel audio recording.  It features four track simultaneous recording, eight tracks in playback and 64 virtual tracks to be narrowed down to eight for the final mixdown.  The BR-800 has an array of audio inputs including a front-side 1/4-inch input for line level guitar and bass recording, four XLR/TRS inputs on the back side, a stereo mini line jack, a foot pedal connection and USB i/o.  These connections allow a musician to wire a range of personal studio gear like guitars, microphones, keyboards and more.

Beyond the standard multitrack and connectivity features of the Boss BR-800 digital recorder, this unit provides additional mixing and effect functionality for musicians.  The BR-800 includes the Boss GT-10/10B effects processors, the VE-20 vocal effects and harmonies and COSM acoustic guitar tone modeling.  These features combine into a decent solution for mobile musicians, a device featuring 5.5 hours of battery life via AA batteries and up to 32GB of storage via SDHC cards.

No specific word on availability for the Boss BR-800, but we expect it to be priced at $525.

[Nick's Picks]

only does 4 chan at once, then you can overdub four more.
just like the Zoom R16, only w/the zoom you can obviously do 2x the amount of channels.

[sunjan]

You're right, OP edited for clarity.
I assume the 5,5 hours runtime is without P48.
What can one expect with phantom power activated on all 4? External power would be pretty much necessary here.

[Ozpeter]

What can one expect with phantom power activated on all 4?

Something that isn't the BR800, which appears from photos only to have phantom on channel 4.

[sunjan]

which appears from photos only to have phantom on channel 4.

You're absolutely right! What a bummer. Confirmed here, only one channel with P48:
http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/boss-br-800-multitrack-digital-recording-studio--72913

This means that if can't really compete with any of the 4x P48 units like Zoom R16, Tascam  DR-680, R-44... Even a 2x P48 recorder like H4n could be more convenient from a taper perspective...

Also, doesn't go above 24-bit/44.1 kHz, which might be a dealbreaker for some:
http://www.roland.co.uk/products/productdetails.aspx?p=1068

Width    289 mm    11-7/16 inches
Depth    184 mm    7-1/4 inches
Height    58 mm    2-5/16 inches
Weight    890 g    2 lbs.

[Ozpeter]

Yup, I think this is not intended for location use, more for home musicians.  But thanks for spotting and posting anyway!  I don't doubt some here have a foot in both of those camps.

[Nick's Picks]

dont get your hopes up for 4+ channels on a recorder with phantom on each channel.
For that, you're looking at the SD 788...and products in that pro-use realm.  These types of decks are much more for the basement musician, which is the hotest market in music hardware like this.

this market uses dynamic mics nearly 100%.  phantom is not even relative to that group.
My band is a prime example  We've got a good studio built up where we practice.  Everything is mic'd.  Nothing requires Phantom w/the exception of the mics I bring in.  In their 10 years prior to my involvement, they never once needed a condenser microphone.

That, and the other aspect of a deck like this is that its meant to take a signal from a larger mixing board.  Where you might have many channels, but only can route 8 or so to a sub group output for mixing on a device like this...(where you could only use 4 at one time, and then maybe two pairs of RCA stereo inputs (as the pictures suggest) as chan 5-6 and 7-8. 

Fwiw, the more I get into studio type recording and multi-tracking..., the less a device like this or any of the others does a damn' thing for me.  One of the larger format recorders from Tascam that will take 24inputs..., simultaneously, that would be worth while.
Otherwise, a computer interface is the way to go.., at least thats the way my use is leaning