Boss eBand JS-10 Audio Player and Trainer Reviews

4.7/5.0 based on 9 customer reviews

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Customer Reviews

bob genest
from nashua n.h.
May 3, 2013Music Background:
50 yrs of playing classical jazz blues folk etc

great trainer and player

i love the js10
only one problem is that i would love to see more material in it
i'm a jazz and blues player and it would be great if there was a way to access somehow more songs or like me jazz or blues other than using a computer
clip in the jazz then clip the blues in etc.
i can't stop playing, it's the band that doesn't sleep

Diana P
from Los Angeles CA
November 28, 2012Music Background:
hobbyist guitar and uke player

Another great product from Boss!

The JS-10 is a compact little box that packs a punch with features. At first I was skeptical that this gadget could help me improve my skills but I was wrong. Not only does it have a load of great features that you have come to expect from Boss/Roland (like COSM modeling, and loads of backing tracks) but you can load up your own backing tracks or record into the machine yourself. It's super easy to load tracks with the handy USB port or with an SD card. I keep my USB drive plugged in and then just dial in the track I want to play. The best feature is the AB looping that you can do to perfect difficult to nail passages or guitar solos. This thing has transformed my practice. I don't have to fire up my computer, or put in a CD. My amp sits silent these days. Get one of these. You won't be sorry. My only criticism is that Roland doesn't make a carry bag for it and the dimensions are kind of odd so it's been difficult to find something. Might be more convenient if it ran on batteries (like the Microcube) but that is not a deal breaker.

Bryan Sharpe
from Nashville, TN
November 28, 2012Music Background:
Hobbyist

Great practice tool

This is just the thing for practicing at home. You can play softly (or with headphones) if needed, but it has enough volume to hold it's own as well. The built in effects and backing tracks are great for learning to improvise, and you can download your own songs and have a tireless backing band!

Mario
from Fort Wayne, IN USA
November 21, 2012Music Background:
Bass player, covers and originals

eBand JS-10

I have only had the JS-10 for about a month but so far but I am very happy with it. I used to have the Tascam GTR1 and was happy with that product, but when it broke I decided to go with the JS-10 as a replacement. I use it for bass guitar, the sound quality is superior to the GTR1 and I like that the JS-10 has speakers built in so I don't have to always use headphones. The JS-10 has a lot of small features that I really like, for example I learn a lot of cover music for my bands the JS-10 can pitch the song so you don't have to retune your guitar for different tunings which other products do BUT the JS-10 remembers what key you last played the song in so when you go back to the song later it is still pitched correctly. It's the small features like that I really enjoy. They have made all the controls very intuitive and three inputs with seperate output volume controls are great. The only down side to this product is the initial investment, it's a little more expensive then "similar" products but from what I have experienced the JS-10 is worth it. It has more features, better sound quality and is easier to use. I would recommend this to my friends.

Craig
from Celina, OH
September 27, 2012Music Background:
Hobbyist, own lots of gear

Fun and good jamming tool

I had a bunch of backing tracks on a stick. Inserted the stick, dialed it up and there was the song list. They will repeat or you can stop and start. Picked out an amp, tuned up with the tuner, tweaked the effects and hit play. Instant fun. This thing really sounds good, too. My wife walked in and said, hey you're making music. Practice level volume and then some. There are plenty of free backing tracks on the net. I have even started playing with midi files and getting the stupid digital sounds off and playing with them. Very easy to use, I have only read the instructions once and it is simple to remember the controls. I can't wait to get home and jam along with the eband. Sweetwater had the best price and it shipped fast.

Paul Camillo
from Marblehead,Ma
September 21, 2012Music Background:
Pro Musician

Every tool a guitar player needs in one awsome box

What can I say. The JS-10 is the BOMB!!! - Period!
Every guitar player should own one.

marty
from Philadelphia PA USA
September 18, 2012Music Background:
Hobbyist

Sooo Worth It...

I was intrigued from the moment I saw the JS-8. After much researching and agonizing about going over my annual "toy" budget, I decided to go for the newer, JS-10. Boy am i glad i did. This thing makes practice sooooooo much fun. My playing has improved dramatically in the month i've had it. Imagine having a great sounding backing band that can play in all kinds of styles. And even better they are tireless, dont get bored and could care less if you make mistakes.
You cant help but get better. Add to that the ability to record your soloing with the band and play it back any where you want. Amaze your friends and relatives.. Play along with your favorite artists via mp3 or wav. files... If only i could have had one when i was young.. Oh yes,. its well made, the guitar effects are awesome and so tweekable .. a halfway decent pair of headphones highly recommended .. the built in speakers are good but headphones just transport you into another dimension... buy it. highly recommended.

3rdwaverider
from Portland, OR
September 17, 2012Music Background:
Guitar student, hobbyist

A Core Tool

Since the day it arrived, the JS-10 has become a core tool for practicing and playing. I upload the backing tracks associated with my lessons, slow them down, learn the melodies, speed them up and record. Just as often I record my own rhythm track and lead guitar solos, dialing-in the right amp and effects for both tracks.

I have also imported some of my favorite songs, targeted the difficult spots and looped them, slowed them down, nailed them, then cancelled the lead guitar track and recorded it myself.

I am using all of the features of this remarkable little tool. The stereo sound is great - I often use it to play music on the patio - it is that good - and from what I gather this is a substantial improvement over the JS-8.

My only disappointment is that the slow-downer effect is not as clean as a dedicated, PC-based software tool. The songs begin to break-up below 80% of normal speed. And, the "center cancel" feature isn't bullet proof; it works well on older recordings (which is OK for me as I like to work with old jazz recordings), but on modern, multi-track recordings I find the lead spread out over far too many tracks to be able to cancel it. I hope that Boss will consider an upgrade version with a more robust Dual Core processor - that's what it would take, and I'd be a customer.

Despite these two drawbacks the device is far and away one of the coolest tools on the planet for a student, or the guitar player responsible for vetting new material for the band.

Clay
from New Bern NC
September 7, 2012Music Background:
Has Been, Old School Rocker, aka "The Vanquished"

Just What I Needed / Wanted

The JS-10 is a nice little unit. It does most of what it claims to do, very well. It’s worth the bucks to me to have so many features all in such a small, portable “all-in-one” unit. Would I buy it again? Would I recommend it to my guitar buddies? Absolutely! Is it perfect? No it‘s not. (is anything?)
Pros:
Recording is ridiculously simple. The 16GB SD card I bought seems to work well for recording and gives me plenty of recording time, too. Easy to erase as well.
Hooking it up to the computer was idiot proof and works well with my old Windows Vista.
The backing tracks are 70% usable by MY TASTES (I’m not much into Jazz or Country) and are of great quality (WAV files). The user friendliness is what you’d expect from Boss units (I miss my finger-holed “jog” wheel, though) and the learning curve (if you’re familiar with Boss systems) is intuitive.
Startup for a newbie is simple and you should be jamming within in a few minutes after hookup. The navigation through the system is foolproof and in many cases, is as simple as “press any key” or “just hit exit” to get back to where you were or to the next parameter you want to change. Very intuitive.
Sound quality of the COSM is what you’d expect. They can keep updating it all they want (so they claim) but it’s still the same engine. To me, it’s no better or worse than the other engines out there (Line 6, Korg, Vox, Digitech, Zoom, etc) and for my tastes, the Boss COSM is good enough. (A few Germanium diode sniffing snobs might argue that Zoom or Line 6 is better, but most average Joe’s can’t tell the difference)
You don’t have to do a lot of programming to have fun with this unit. Out of the box, I could see someone using it for months without changing or adjusting anything other than guitar tones. Fun factor is 9 stars! :
The stereo speaker system sounds really good at low/medium volumes. With the volume knob at 3 o’clock (pretty darn loud), the rumble & shaking of the box gets bad (physical limitations of the box) esp. with heavy bass lines. It gets loud enough for my needs with the volume set at 12 o‘clock. I think the sub-woofer update was a definite improvement on this newer unit. The headphones defeat the speakers and when plugged in, you can crank your head off if you want, without disturbing anyone.
Cons:

The song editing/naming is a bit slow (no keyboard...lol) so what cha gonna do?
I went to the trouble of picking all the backing tracks from the JS-10 that I liked the best (109 of them), and transferred them to a USB flash drive that also has all my other favorite backing tracks, giving me a combined selection of 266 backing tracks that I ENJOY jamming with (Pu-lenty of tracks!) ...I did this to free up the SD card for dedicated recording. But as someone pointed out in a related JS-8 review, the arrangement/sorting of files seems to have no rhyme or reason. I even put a “Z” in front of some of the pattern’s names to try to separate certain files, but it made no difference. I wish I knew why. Oh well...that’s one big negative strike.
Also, when scrolling thru my USB flash drive’s song list while simultaneously playing back tracks from the USB drive, the unit suddenly stopped playing and gave me an error message (couldn’t handle the load I was giving it). I quickly got back to playing & scrolling, but it shows that the USB flash drive has limitations that the SD card obviously does NOT.
The speaker system on the older JS-8 unit has gotten poor reviews, thus the JS-10 received a new sub-woofer update to help with the load. The sub helps a lot and gives depth to the sound that it lacked before (they upped the power some, too). But keep in mind, this is not a 20/50 watt tube amp and it doesn’t have a 12” speaker. It can’t move that much air, nor is it designed to do so. For playback of jam tracks & pre-recorded music, it has an even sound (like a home stereo) and you can adjust you guitar to a quite pleasing tone if you work at it. Just don’t expect to hear a combo amp response coming from a little plastic box with 2” speakers. You want more volume/clarity? Buy some nice headphones, plug it into a PA or some decent powered monitors.
The pitch change of the songs (as some reviews on the JS-8 have said) works OK on some songs, but awful on others. It’s like some songs have a serious “wow & flutter” problem. It’s irritating and displeasing enough to where I’m apprehensive when I go to use the pitch change. But I’m glad it’s there to use. Better than NOT having it.
I hope one day that Boss decides to make another SD card filled with another 300+ backing tracks to jam with, but how many styles of music are there? How many times can you reinvent a song? lol ...I guess that’s what the internet is for.