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Hi guys,

I own a Boss BR-8 studio-in-a-box unit and for the most part it's been fine for recording demos, but realistically there is nothing really to pro about this unit. I've completed a set of songs and want to record a professional sounding album, but beyond this unit and two preamps, it's really all I have. A while ago I made a thread in regards to a dinosaur of a preamp I had, and noise issues when connecting to my preamp. The preamp itself was not grounded and w/ the aid of Remy and Dave, it became apparently clear that not only could this be a safety issue but could be where my noise was coming from, among other issues. So eighty bucks later my preamp has a new grounded cable, full inspection, and cleaning and I was ready to go...or so I thought. I still received dreadful amounts of noise and although a direct box or short TRS patches seemed to eliminate the some of the problem it still remained. So after about a months worth of research I decided to go with something more modern w/ a vintage vibe and purchased an UA LA-610 from http://www.soniccircus.com, it came to my doorstep a few weeks later, all shiny and new. I was happy, no ground issues, hand-made thoroughly tested, you know the good stuff. After a good read of the manual, I powered up the unit connected it to my br-8 using an XLR to 1/4" TRS, again noise and lots of it. I sat there for about an hour and half troubleshooting every slightest possibility and configuration and alas no luck. So what are the chances I have two faulty preamps? What could be causing this issue, is it because I'm going through a XLR(hot) to 1/4"? I'm such a novice at these things, but I'll spend my days with endless reading on the net and I just can't figure it out! Is this Boss BR-8 some sort of hell spawn w/ 3rd party outboard gear, or am I just unlucky? Should I just look into DAW instead or an external mixer?

You guys have been so helpful in the past, if you could shed any light I would be most obliged.

P.S.

I contacted UA about 15 mins ago, maybe they can help.

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Comments

AudioGaff Wed, 05/30/2007 - 12:20

The problem is way more likely something related to your Boss unit than it is the UA preamp. If you were using an XLR to TRS properly wired balanced cable, and the the Boss can accept a TRS balanced signal, it should be ok. Check your cable or try another. Check that on the Boss unit that it has the correct input level (+4dB if using balanced) setting.

Find a way to test the UA on it's own with something else like an outboard mixer and headphones. A local music store may be able to help if you don't have a acces to a mixer.

If you connected the previous problem preamp in to the Boss unit in the past, you may have blown or damaged your Boss unit inputs.

Halifaxsoundguy Wed, 05/30/2007 - 14:16

talk to Roland support, they still help me out with my BR-8. I get noise in mine all the time. Bit of friendly advice when your finish your tracking use the digital out into something real good for better DA conversion. When I play guitar and listen very carefully while bending a note, I can hear the ol machine converting from analog to digital. I've managed to get some monster guitar sounds of that box though.