Line 6 BackTrack+Mic Instant Recorder User Reviews at zZounds

"Great sound and plenty of recording time" submitted September 18, 2009

By a customer from gmail.com

Overall

Sound

Features

Ease of Use

Quality

The Wow Factor

Musical Background: Active Musician (for the last 45 years!)

Music Style: Americana/AOR

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Sound: Maybe the fact that it's made in China accounts for the negative reviews - the Chinese rep for variable quality control might account for a few bad models slipping through. I must have got one of the good ones as I think the sound quality is virtually studio and, in fact, I am now using it to record all my basic guitar and voice first tracks, transferring them to my DAW and then adding overdubs. So much more convenient than setting up my whole home studio. Feature: It's easy enough to locate and name tracks when you use the USB lead to connect it to the computer but it would be nice to have some sort of visual interface to help select tracks instead of just using the skip buttons - especially if you've done a few takes and have to decide which is which by ear! The 2GB capacity means plenty of good quality recording time and even more if you set it to a lower demo quality. Ease of Use: 5 minutes fiddling with it and I was an expert, very simple and easy to use. I actually got one for my daughter's birthday and was so impressed I bought another for myself - we're both songwriters and find them invaluable. Quality: Pretty sturdy - some kind of plastic but it feels solid enough. Unlike a previous reviewer, I had no problem with the mic grille. It's small, convenient, very portable and the sound, as I said, is surprisingly good. Value: The recommended price - £135 - is way too expensive, but most dealers are selling it for around £100. I got mine in a sale for £89 including postage and that feels like a good price. Manufacturer Support: Haven't had occasion to contact the company so can't comment. The Wow Factor: The small size means the buttons are a little bunched-up but that's a very minor point. I like the feel of it - no sharp edges - the look - sleek black curves - and the size - about two-thirds the size of my Boss compressor pedal and half the weight. It's very practical as an ideas notebook (and is getting a lot of use as that) but is also good enough to integrate its output into a formal recording session. Overall: I'll keep it until an affordable update with a few more inputs and a GUI turns up. If it were stolen, I'd get another if I could get a good price - the recommended price is definitely too high.

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"Overrated, overpriced" submitted November 25, 2008

Overall

Sound

Features

Ease of Use

Quality

Value

The Wow Factor

Musical Background: amateur

Music Style: rock, slide, acoustic, general guitar

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Sound: Sound quality is good Feature: The most useful feature is it's ability to constantly be 'on' and record ready. I wish however it had a delete button. I like that the battery is rechargeable. The amount of recording time/memory is great - lots of it. Ease of Use: It is very easy to use and the quality is not bad. Even the mic records reasonably well. The manual is small because there is not a whole lot to learn. Quality: It is not well made, the mic grill rattles - it is made in China (say no more!)In all fairness, the sound quality is good, but I find it just as much a hassle to use as a regular recorder or loop-station. The product starting making hideous crackling noises during playback, then it died altogether. You are probably thinking that it sounds like it needed recharging, but it was on charge for hours before hand. For a while I could not see the device on the Mac screen and the device would not light up no matter what I twiddled (and there's not much to twiddle). Eventually I managed to revive it by pushing a pin into the tiny hole in the back of the device, which I think reset the device. There is no mention of this in the manual. Keep in mind, I have only had this thing one day. Value: The Line 6 Back Track with Mic is overpriced. There is nothing special about this device - no screen, no real features. It is very basic and does not feel like a quality product to hold. I think the current price is far too steep. Manufacturer Support: I am not even going to call the company. Instead, I'll take it back to the Guitar Center and say I didn't like it and get a refund. The Wow Factor: Actually this product is very unsexy. It has no heft, and inspires no confidences to look at - it reminds me of a cheap 1960's camera. I find it disappointing in many ways. I am trying to see how this device would be useful but honestly I've spent more time screwing around with it due to aforementioned problems. Overall: It records well enough but all the wav. files can only be managed on a computer and they have default names like: BT00045G.WAV. If you have recorded a bunch of 'events', it gets difficult to know which ones you want to keep just by looking at them on a computer screen, so you have to listen to each event which gets to be very time consuming - this is where a delete button may have been useful on the device itself. That way you could delete the takes you knew to be outright turkeys on the spot instead of buggering around on the computer. If this product were lost or stolen, I'd probably not replace it with another - or I'd wait until such gimmicks were considerably cheaper before buying.

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"Nice idea for a market niche, the price is out of whack with what iPODs and other devices can do." submitted October 31, 2008

By a customer from yahoo.com

Overall

Sound

Features

Ease of Use

Quality

Value

The Wow Factor

Musical Background: active musician

Music Style: jazz, pop, rock

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Sound: This is NOT a high fidelity recording device, there is very little you can do to try to adjust recording. Ummm - nothing. 48 bit will introduce big quantization noise if you're not recording live, won't sound as good with CD, Radio, etc. OK if you're not using it as a tool to learn from CDs etc. OK to record yourself. Feature: No screen. This ain't no ipod. You basically need your computer if you are not playing back small sections. Weak section identification. Rechargable battery is the best feature - good for environment and wallet. However, couldn't tell you if their claims of 8 hours are true, or if the battery gets a memory. What? No half speed? Not even half speed with pitch constant? This is supposed to be for musicians? There is even free software on PCs which can do it. You couldn't put one button which plays back at half speed? Ease of Use: easy to use, because it doesn't do much. Quality: Can't tell - they wouldn't let me skip rating number. Doesn't have the solid feel. Value: $150 is steep for really basic electronics. A mic, an AtoD chip, and a memory chip, and some buttons to control it. It would be worth $50 and they could still make a big profit The Wow Factor: My phone can do most of this, so can quite a few iPOD like devices, but this has no scrolling UI - no window. You need your computer to manage anything. Overall: There will be cheaper versions out within months

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"is this a joke?" submitted September 10, 2009

By a customer from hotmail.com

Overall

Sound

Features

Ease of Use

Quality

Value

Manufacturer Support

The Wow Factor

Musical Background: singer, songwriter, session musician, engineer, guitar/bass/drums

Music Style: shao-lin temple style?

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VERIFIED BUYER

zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.

Sound: I was curious about this thing when I saw it in a local music shop and spend about a half hour messing with it. The mic isn't that great, and the line input is just a line input. Considering that you can get a Boss Micro for about 50 bucks more that does so much more, I don't know what they were thinking. Feature: There's nothing really. The mic is not horrible like some kind of radio shack karaoke thing, but just a minor step up. There's nothing other than the Auto-record thing, which is a nifty idea but seriously, just press a record button on another recorder unless you are too lazy to bother, then I guess this thing might be good for you. Ease of Use: Yeah it's damn easy to use. Again, the auto-record trigger is the selling point of this thing, so for what it's meant for, I guess it's quite good Quality: It seemed a little flimsy for a portable thing that might live in a gig bag. Value: I said before, for about 50 bucks more you can get an actual handheld 4track like the Boss Micro-BR, or that new tascam thingy. The mic is sub-par compared to similarly priced Zoom handhelds... the real only thing you are paying for is the auto-record trigger. I'll just expend the energy to press play and record on a tape deck before I start noodling randomly looking for inspiration. Manufacturer Support: I've used Line6 before, they are pretty cool about getting back to you. The Wow Factor: I tried it out, I listened back for the mic quality. Nothing to write home about. Didn't buy it. Too much money to save the trouble of pressing 'record'

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Line 6 BackTrack + Mic Instant Replay Recorder

User Ratings

"Great sound and plenty of recording time" submitted September 18, 2009

"Overrated, overpriced" submitted November 25, 2008

"Nice idea for a market niche, the price is out of whack with what iPODs and other devices can do." submitted October 31, 2008

"is this a joke?" submitted September 10, 2009