BOSS BR-1600CD 16-Track Recording Workstation

Roland has pulled out all the stops for the BOSS BR-1600CD 16-track recorder. When it comes to FX and signal processing, it's hard to beat its combination of amp modeling and overdrive/distortion right out of the acclaimed BOSS GT-6, and the Vocal Tool Box that doesn't stop with Auto Pitch Correction; it also includes Harmony Sequence so you can generate a full accompaniment of background singers without having to hire the local chorus! Of course you'll also find Roland's usual supply of first-rate reverb, delay and modulation effects as well. Finally, when it's time to mix punch up the Mastering Tool Kit and max out your punch with multi-band compression. And check out how your mix sounds on different speaker systems with COSM Speaker Modeling!

Another nice feature of the BR-1600CD is the presence of eight XLR microphone inputs with phantom power. Each of these inputs also has a 1/4" input jack for line level inputs (nominal level -10dBu,) and channel one also has a Guitar/Bass input jack with variable sensitivity that handles any instrument. So many of the current units are designed for use by one or two people at the most; the BR-1600CD can record a whole band at once or a church performance thanks not only to all the mic and line inputs, but also to Multi-Track Recording Mode, which accommodates up to eight tracks at once and provides channel effects all around. These include three-band EQ, compression and a bass cut filter (very useful for getting rid of rumble and bass leakage into microphones.) The 40GB hard drive gives you up to 120 track hours of recording, so even if you filled every last second of the disk up with 16 tracks of material you would still walk away with about 7.5 hours worth of material.

The BR-1600CD is configured for eight mono and four stereo tracks. Each track supports 16 V-Tracks, for a total of 256 that you can select all or part of before mixdown. The final three tracks let you build your own backing tracks, thanks to Drum, Bass and Loop Phrase tracks. The Loop Phrase track can either be loaded with material included on the hard disk from the factory, or with user samples (the USB interface lets you load .WAV/AIFF files in, or dump audio out for editing on a computer; this can also be done via the CD drive.) Drum and Bass tracks can be composed using the built-in PCM sounds (the track select buttons double as drum and bass programming keys.) The integral CD-R/RW burner provides an inexpensive means to back up your material as well as a mastering medium. V-Link offers a connection to Roland's Edirol video equipment for multimedia and VJ performances; you can integrate video changes with your compositions.