BOSS e-band

[Bluesmole]

Has anyone used or got an e-bandJS8 ? If so , I'd be grateful to hear how useful it is ? For instance, can recordings be transferred onto computer via a USB ?
Thanks,
Frank

[Strummer07]

Hi Bluesmole

this is an interesting question and perhaps about one of the only "technical" or kit questions I am qualified to answer.

Because I have one !! Ah ha !!

You ask how useful it is .and I guess it all delepnds on what you actually want to use it for/ do with it ???

Can you transfer stuff to a PC .. indeed you can .once transfered you can then play about with your piece using a DAW

I bought one after a good look at other bits of kit ..I started off looking at the Vox Jamvox and there is a thread on here somewhere as I tried to get some feedback.
then looked at DAW's and all that side of things interfaces and the like ( HBL and VB both very helpful ) ....but I was looking for real simplicity and idiotproof kit

My Goal :-
Something really simple to use ......that didn't wrap you up in a multitude of PC programmes and involved lots of bits of kit / interfaces etc ( I find getting bits of kit to talk to each other is often fraught with difficulty..and I have the technical patience of Ghengis Khan ...it either plugs and plays ..........or its off !! )

Boss e-band does all that well ....................So it works for me

Great selection of guitar effects and sounds .. based I seem to recall on the Boss GT10 ... and you can create your own if you wish.
It comes with lots of loaded bt's and its not difficult to get you own bt's loaded into the "Song List Editor" .you do need a pc to do this.but if I can manage it ... anyone can.
the only frustratiion here is that Boss units need MP3 or WAV formats ..so all your i-tunes stuff won't marry up ..( bloody Apple!!)

Its not a particularly large piece of kit .. so its easy to sit on a small table or desk.. and it really is plug and play ... it does not needed to be connected to a pc at all times .which the JamVox Did. .....Jamvox also quite tetchy with compatibility with certain PC's.
As its not especially big .it does mean your playing through quite small speakers........ .so you get good quality sound but its "living Room Level" ... its not going to blow your sox off that is for sure.

Which is good ...if your playing in the evening or in a small apartment or college dorm etc.

Not so good if you want a real blast ..........but ................you can plug in head phones .no problem or I connect mine to a set of half decent monitor speakers and it sounds pretty hot.

Its not a gigging bit of kit mind you.

I've not done a lot of recording yet ....but that is easy
Start the BT
press the record button and off you go .or you can do it all via Boss footpedals ( which I might get) ....plug in a microphone and it'll record vocals too.

It wasn't cheap .....I think I managed to get mine for £279.00 ( advertised at £325.00) and I've upgraded the memory card to a bigger 4gbs ......which means I can have oodles of bt's stored on it

Built in tuner / Metronome/ more effects than you can throw a stick at/ Rhythm and Solo modes where you can have different patches applied- cool / Loop ability .. slow down a phrase to analyse it etc ............

http://cms.rolandus.com/assets/media/pd ... ochure.pdf

take a look

For me it suits my purposes and I'm happy with it's ease of use ( having sold a Boss Digital recorder BR600 which was a nightmare to use and a Boss XL 20 Loop station which again didn't suit me technically ....lining up the start and finish of a loop was Arrggh!! )

Other than the fact that its a relatively small unit and small output ...I can't fault it
Is it worth the money? ....................on balance I think so......it still 'feels' expensive.......However, there's nothing else that is as comprehensive as the E-band on the market that I know of ................so its a market all on its own tbh.
and its Boss .so its solid and well thought through
the web site is now catching up with more new BT's etc

more than happy to answer any further questions.

[Bluesmole]

Hi Strummer,
As I watched my question slip down the list, I thought:Nobody is in a position to answer!. Then, an Englishman not only comes up with the goods, but really goes out of his way to be helpful (sod our overpaid footballers!!!).
Many, many thanks mate, you have practically made up my mind to make a purchase. After about a year of Boss XL20ing, I'm OK with it, and you telling me that the e-band is really straight forward to use, even for the pre-Sinclair generation, makes me think I'll get a lot from it, even 'though my Adam Black Libra UK will have to be sacrificed as I've just retired.

I've got to the stage in my life where home playing is the vast majority of my playing and this appears to be an ideal 'toy'.
Thanks again for a great review.