Boss BR-900

[mavsbball]

Just wanted to get feedback on this unit from anyone who has used it? And what recorder you prefer between the boss and fostek?

[Meshuggahnans]

never used it but it doesnt look like something i would trust.  how much processing power can that really have compared to a real desktop?

[Maukio]

I don't have first hand experience with the 900, but I bought a BR-600 a few months ago and I absolutely love it.  It is the only piece of gear I bought and have had zero second thoughts about (besides my beloved Jazzmaster of course).  It is the handiest little dude and works so well at everything it does.  The manual was very comprehensive and helpful, but really the menu itself is pretty self-intuitive and I could work my way through it without any hitches within 30 minutes or so.  Now it's just habit and I don't even have to think about it.  My unit has two built-in condensor mics, which I figured were going to be a joke, but they are surprisingly good.  I've used it for everything from low level speech or acoustic guitar recording to blaring loud band practices in a small room with a heavy-handed drummer and me with my Ampeg VT-40 loaded w/ four Weber Michigans.  All my friends that I've shown the recordings to were surprised as well about how well the built-in mics record.  I also love the portability.  If you can't tell already, I love mine.  It's so small, simple, and straight-forward.  It just works.

Another thing I love about mine is that it runs off of flash memory so it boots up in about 2 seconds.  I got three 1GB compact flash cards from Bestbuy for like $25 a piece a while back, and I believe (depending on the quality level recording I choose) I can get on average of around 6 hours of recording on em?  I believe that's right.  I also liked that flash memory just because I repair computers and networks for a living and hard-drives have the tendency to be the first thing to go (since they are one of the few moving parts in a PC), so I tried to stay away from them, especially in a mobile unit around not-so-gentle band members.  If you plan to use it in a studio though or just in your home, I wouldn't worry about the hard drive though.

Anyway, if you have any specific questions about my unit or my experience with it I'd be more than happy to answer them. 

[jasonwalston]

i was going to buy a br-1600 for 500 but i spent that money on a jazzmaster...so win-win-win i guess.