I brought this boss unit on Monday and glad you have done a video on it. Really enjoyed it. Can you do video on connecting to Logic Pro or other DAW ?Really interested to see the recording you make on sd card transferred to the DAW with individual tracks that can be mixed. Thank you Rob
Are you from Essex Rob? I only ask, because as I point out to most folk from Essex, the word is 'bought' not 'brought'. It may be just a typo on your behalf and you're not from Essex, but if you are it would add to my research that not only do people from Essex say 'brought', but they actually write it too.
Hi gaz excellent in depth, I recently purchased the headrush prime, will I be able to run it through this unit, not sure if you have tested out the prime, it also has guitar effects and not so good vocals at the moment, could you give me advice please on which outputs from the prime to the inputs on the gig master, thanks, love your work ✌️
Nice to find a review of this device. What should they update? I sm sorry, I did not understand the last two Minutes. Is it worth buying? For me it is rather expensiv. Midi-clock would be fine. Oke could put loops on the pads and trigger them synced to midi…
Hello there! I'm curious about the quality of the stereo audio output from these devices. I'm referring to stereo audio like what you would find on a CD or professionally mastered audio, not from a microphone or instrument. It seems that many podcasting devices perform poorly when it comes to handling stereo audio mixes. Unfortunately, nowadays, most people aren't familiar with what constitutes good audio quality, including dynamics, making it difficult to gather feedback from anyone. It would be fantastic if you could provide a sample audio recording as well. I've noticed that many podcast recorders tend to produce hollow-sounding recordings, with the higher frequencies and midrange sounding muffled. Thank you so much for the excellent video!
Hi, Gaz! Do you have a video explaining in detail (a true step-by-step instruction) how to set up the Gigcaster 8 with the GA-FC EX pedal? If you have not recorded one, could you direct me to someone who has done it? My very specific question is this: how do I assign each switch to perform a given task -- let's say, I want to sing a song that has a part where I will be singing with the double-voice effect; then, I want to sing another part of the song doing vocal harmony (higher & lower). How exactly do I make each switch do that particular effect when I press it? I tried assigning the first switch (on the left) and it worked. I chose double-voice and the effect would go on or off as I pressed the switch. I tried to do the same with the second switch, with a different effect. It did not work, and it was somehow "hooked" to the first switch, meaning it would interfere with the operation of the first switch. I tried the third switch, and the same thing happened. I was not able to choose a different/independent effect for each switch. I am not a technically inclined person, and I feel that I have a Boeing 747 in front of me without clear instructions on how to fly it. At the same time, I've noticed that the documentation that came with both products is very poor, very superficial. I am having a very hard time trying to have fun with the two (Gigcaster 8 & the GA-FC EX pedal), and I am very frustrated. If you can help (or not), please let me know. Thank you for your attention. Claudio Lessa - in Winter Park, FL.
Thanks for this Gaz. I am looking at the unit for guitar teaching remotely and in a quiet environment. I’m thinking the student through the guitar channel and my Headrush unit for another channel. There are different possibilities for a metronome or drum machine. We can communicate through a microphone or the in-built one.
I watched your whole video. Thank you for this deep look, it's quite a complex machine and will do much but I think it is lacking in more than a few areas for my uses. If solving any of the issues it lacks involves getting a laptop then I don't think this is a good deal as I can get a MOTU 828 or similar for the same money and have tons more I/O. I hope I haven't come down too hard on the gigcaster as I can see using it for live recordings, loopers, small bands to simplify and reduce gear. -You never showed the bottom, does it have a drum stand type mount and a place for batteries or is it strictly a table top machine? -The audio output is worse than you describe because the "main out" (balanced?) is also tied to a single output making 5 outputs that are all basically the same. -They call it a Gigcaster but I didn't see anything that allows you to podcast / stream directly from the machine. -It's not a portastudio as there does not seem to be anyway to control multiple tracks or punch in recording. It's just record and stop which means live performances only and it's not even useful for a band jam if you want to use it to work on a song. -You spent a lot of time going over the effect patches and they do sound good but can you change patches while you're playing without the deep menu diving? -When you showed that channel going dark I think I would just avoid stereo inputs to have more instruments especially when the built in reverbs sound so nice. Try using the headphone input on the front if your keyboard has a headphone output, that would save you two mic channels. Needing 4 mic inputs would be a major reason to buy this. -It should have a USB-A connector as well, that's the more common one for audio equipment and cars.
The buttons at the bottom mimic the functions of a radio station 360 machine, normally you'd put your station ID and bumpers there or "drive time" effects like they have stock.
Hi Gaz and sorry for the rather dumb question ! Can i first record with no effects onto the miCROSD and then play it back and then insert the effects. I don't want to commit myself to printing the effect so would rather try the various effects on the dry recording.Thanks and really appreciate your video. The best i've found :)
Hi There, I have an issue with the outputs as none can send me stereo signal on my headphones. Withe same cables into headphones i have stereo signal from my phone, but not from Gigcaster 8. Moreover, if with any of the outputs from Gigcaster to my external volt soundcard then soundcard is sending me signal to headphones in stereo. Any ideas why this can happen? Many thx in advance!
Good news for me: I just ordered one for a good price! I love the fact that it's basicly just 21 x 27 cm. Width x depth. Whilst the GT-1000Core is 17 x 14. Or 17 x 13. Okay, it's 13.5 cm deep. Having that said, it's basicly a GT-1000core-ish, with mixer, interface and sampler / midipads. Still misses the 'when mics are live, kill the output'-option, but maybe in an update. If not, I won't mind adding a Rodecaster II for more USB-returns. This is basicly for musicians (which I am), but the Rodecaster for presenters on stream and such (which I am). I was in the chat anyhow, but didn't see the entire stream and now that I will get it soon it's nice to see this deep dive on youtube (partly again!
Hey! Good review. Could you please help me understand if I could plug in 4 guitars into this thing and change the channels into instrument in channels instead of vocals? Effects not necessary but just wanted to know if it allowed 4 instruments. Thanks!
There is only one high impedance input which is ideal for passive guitars. That’s the guitar socket on the front. The back four inputs could all be used as mono guitar inputs provided that they were like level (ie out of a DI box). The range of effects is limited to more general types so you only can get amp modelling on one input.
@@GazWilliams Thanks for getting back to me! This sounds like the channel input for 2-4 can be changed to an instrument if needed. I'm thinking of a band set up where everyone has their own pedalboard and they plug into the gigcaster. Sounds like it would work.
Is there a limit (in Mb) that the WAV files can be for loading onto the SOUNDPADS? I'm thinking that this could be a good way of playing back backing tracks if there is no limit to the size of the WAVs? With 'ONE SHOT' selected, it would be a perfect way of triggering backing tracks.
Mine arrived yesterday. I'm pleased to say, there is a whopping 16Gb of built-in memory in which you can place your backing tracks or other music (say background music). You then can select which tracks go on the 8 pads and 8 banks, giving you immediate access to 64 'songs'. I'm currently trying to link the FA-GC footswitch to the unit to control starting the backing tracks, which is easy enough using 'PAD LINK' but then you lose turning the EFX 'ON & OFF'.
Yo bother how are you, so a question here quickly: as an audio interface just, focus on recording live or multitrack sessions to a nice finished results to good quality demos or even to fully properly recording and mixing and mastering jumping to a DAW and all how is this devide would be in your opinion honestly? premium quality results as a high quality audio interface or not quite? Obrigado for the good vibes videos man as others that you did i like it, is very very usefull, cheers!
Thanks Gaz. Great in-depth tour. I am particularly interested in the harmony effects, and I'm praying you might have some insight into some questions I have bouncing around in my noggin. My bandmate and I both currently old TC Helicon VoiceLive GTX units to give the two us a vey wide array of harmony on our two vocals. I'm hoping the GC8 can perform the same function. on two of the mic channels. Everything I've seen on it slips right past the harmony effects. Everyone say the effect is there and a couple of folks even give a 3 or 4 second demo of the sound. I don't know if you have played with them. Here's my biggest questions I want to find before dropping the $$ for it... 1) Can the harmony processing use an audio or guitar input for key selection, or do you have to manually set the key for each song. 2) Can harmony be controlled by midi (ie the harmony type and toggling it on and off) If those two dreams can become reality, then this would be the perfect mixer for us and any help you can provide would be GREATLY appreciated. :) Thanks again.
Looking through the "Parameter Guide" pdf: 1) No. You can only select Chromatic or Scale plus a fixed key in the menu. 2) No. The only MIDI stuff that is transmitted or received: When the pad is pressed, Footswitch operations, Expression pedal. For all the stuff that you can change using the pads, Footswitch and Expression controller: look it up in the "Parameter Guide".
I have the exact same question as you. Did you ever get a reply to your 2 questions? If so, what are the answers? Did you buy the GC8 in the end? Many thanks.
@@reveller - No reply. Didn't expect one either. I'm sure he's super busy and my question was a bit in depth. It was worth a shot though. :D. I did get the GC8 and have used it on 4 or 5 gigs now. Just couldn't get the harmonies to work very well and gave up sticking with our TV Helicons. I did get a bunch of the midi sysex's mapped out for it including much the harmony settings for channels 1 and 2 and guitar FX. While it would be nice to use the mixer for harmonies and loose some complexity (and weight) in the setup, It's just too much of a pain to deal with when the GTX's are SOOO much simpler.
@@aeonaero thanks for the reply. I also use TC helicon. A VL3 and also Play Acoustic. I haven’t found anything to beat them yet for harmony except the Boss VE 500 was close. I love the idea of the GC8 but the harmonies would have to be tracked from the guitar for it to be worth it for me.as a solo player. What was the problem with the harmony?
@@reveller You nailed it. The key sensing. I played with sending the keys via midi in the song, and had limited success. Sometimes it sounded acceptable, and other times if I didn't nail the key settings in the midi, it was horrible. I wouldn't mind going through the hassle of recoding the midi changes for the keys if were easier. I'm not a music-theory kinda guy, so trying to figure out all the major and minor key settings in each song is just not worth it to me. It's a shame. I had such high hopes. It's still a good compact(ish) mixer though.
Did anyone notice if you can loop it using an iPad and loopy pro. If the inputs show up and you route the output this CD would be ideal. This plus iPad is all you need.
I am having a few issues with the gigcaster 8 , mainly recording it dosent always record well lets be more precise, it records but when i try and play the track it says unsupported format. not every time but intermittently .ive tried different cards different sizes etc . cant seem to think of anything im doing wrong .
@@fredflintstone1428 Its a strange one not sure about the sampling rate, if i record and pause record and pause its flawless just seems to be when i restart recording from scratch . running up in cubase now runs like a dream .
Anyone know why Windows would see this but no audio input is coming in? The mixer sees my voice but windows will not. Driving me nuts. Drivers are up to date. Settings are right...
Found a amazing deal $253 for Gigcaster 5. I was looking for a $250 interface. Just bought it directly. Looking up on YT now what the hell I bought 😂. I have been eyeballing the rodecaster so I got an idea what it is.
Has anybody found a PowerBank that can power the Gigcaster 8 from the USB-C port as claimed by Boss? All the ones I've tried instigate the machine to come up with a 'power insufficient, please use the supplied power adaptor'.
Early days, but I've just tried a power bank using a USB-C to USB-C lead and it works! The power bank is rated at 3A output out of the USB-C port and it seems to work. The power bank is around 26000mAh in size . I'm going to run it for a few hours and see what kind of power draw the Gigcaster takes.
I think for online people it’s probably great . For live performance I think it’s going to be another product that’s nearly a solution. To use this effectively in a live situation as a solo performer I want to pass guitar and vox out to a loop pedal and back thru mixer into pa . Despite a great video I,m not seeing it as viable and using 2 mixers in my use case won’t work. Crying shame, I was genuinely excited and would sell a lot of unnecessary gear off in favour of this if I could see it working
Why do you need to go back into the mixer then go to PA? Can’t you go directly to the PA from the looper? I’m asking sincerely, not being a wise guy. I want to learn what the advantage is. Thanks.
@@GodsMan500it’s for the simple loopers that have zero or limited internal mixing capabilities like the Boomerang III. In that case you put the looper into an fx bus on the mixer and choose on the fly which input to be routed to be looped or not. Actually a pretty convoluted solution. The Boss RC-600 offers some internal routing which eliminates the need for a mixer in some cases. Software is the most flexible which is one reason I’ve switched Loopy Pro.
One thing this (and all other podcast mixers) lack is support more than one sample rate at a hardware level. It’s fixed at 48k. Most popular audio interfaces do and automatically switch clock (sample) rate as your DAW or editing software does.
I've got a Gigcaster 8 and it's brilliant for what I want...namely something that can run from a battery, play backing tracks, have great mic pres and great EFX and combines what took three pieces of equipment and combines it into something so small and handy. I'm moving all my stuff to 48kHz these days to marry in more with video software as the need to run at 44.1k was more a CD thing of the past.
Was turning the Gas on for this , but then realised I have a zoom R16 gathering dust 8 true mono inputs 16 track recording . Audio interface capable . Runs on AA batteries or usb power . Inbuilt effects menetrome and tuner. Cost zero dollars The gig caster 8 approx $1000 AUD. Mmm 😂 GAS
You need to get more familiar with the GigCaster. Plus your comments on the mono/stereo inputs are incorrect, a stereo inputs does require linking two channels. You press the channel button above the channel to get a full screen view of the channel. Clicking the tiny icon is just a secondary mode of reaching. There are 8 memory banks… Learn it than try again
I think for live gigs you really need a "channel strip" of physical knobs, so you can quickly select a channel, and dial in EQ, monitor & FX sends, input gain, HPF etc. Touch screens are a pretty awful interface for for those primary controls.
I agree however during streaming having a very basic fader, mute and solo is about as much as your head can handle! I’d imagine most users would pre set what they need before hand this making the changes super simple during the stream
It’s like a podcaster for guitarists is how this comes across, but not all musicians are guitarists; multi-instrumentalist here, and thinking digital piano features??? Are the pads able to be exploited polyphonically by a keyboard?
Yep they are simplified mixers for a very basic workflow. I think they are trying to avoid going down the mixer path and pushing the live streaming purpose fully. Bit of a shame as a few small extra bits would massively increase the functionality
Bought one GC8 today, Nov 19, 2023 for 299 eur from Thomann's cyber sale. Got it 54% off from 630+ price tag. GC5 sale price is 229, so it was no brainer to pickup GC8. 🤘🏻🔥
This video clearly shows why professionals should review a piece of gear like this. Stumbling around doesn‘t do anyone justice and doesn‘t really help anyone. If the video is to be a „deep dive“ there has to be a lot more preparation. If I was someone having to make a decision of buying a Gigcaster or not, I would need some information on different use cases and the limitations. And there are clearly a lot of limitations. If I wanted to record a live demo to be processed in my DAW for my four piece band, I‘d be out of luck with the Gigcaster. If I‘d only use 3 mics for the drums, and 1 for every instrument, I‘d run out of inputs fast. If I wanted to connect my setup to a software looper, there would be a lot of channels I could use. But I don‘t need that many channels, and I couldn‘t really control them anyway by using the hardware of the Gigcaster or footswitches for that matter. And as a guitar player I will find that I can‘t use the effects in connection with the digital outputs. 😮 But even if I was „only“ trying to do a live broadcast together with a second guitar player, I would find that there are not enough input channels or routing possibilities to accomodate both of us. 😢 And don‘t get me started with the limited MIDI capabilities. 😜 I don‘t want to say the Gigcaster is a piece of garbage, or that this presentation is useless. But I do hope you can up your game somewhat and really do deeper dives in the future.
