I’d never hear of those JS products before. Are they still being developed as it seems like the JS-10 came out in 2012. They are also the same cost as decent amp and standalone multi FX until. Is there any upside with these units would you say?
Yes, they are quite old, but the JS-10 is still a current part of the Boss lineup.
And, yes, they are as expensive as a decent amp setup, but the point is they aren't really a substitute for an amp, as I said. They are something else completely.
They are, first and foremost, a practice tool. You can do stuff with them that you can't with a conventional amp setup, with or without a multifx unit.
The main "eBand" functionality is a play-along MP3 phrase trainer that lets you loop, slow down, pitch change, and centre cancel any MP3s you load into it.
They include multifx and amp simulators which are a little dated these days, but which are based on the older Boss multifx units like the well-regarded ME-80. These can be mapped to MP3 tracks so that when you select a track the tone you want for that track is automatically dialled in.
The eBand units also allow you to record whilst playing along to a track, and can act as a computer audio interface with FX. They include pretty much everything you need to practice, including a metronome, tuner and a whole bunch of rhythms and backing tracks to play along to.
The BR-80 is also very portable and has a multi-track recording mode, so you can actually use it for songwriting and recording. Several times in the past I've taken the BR-80 with me away on extended business trips to use in the hotel with headphones.
I will admit that, these days, there's lots of apps around for smartphones and computers which will do many of these functions and, potentially, do it a lot cheaper. However, in my experience most of these are too "faffy" to encourage regular use, involving messing around with interfaces and cables and a mixture of different apps.
The advantage the eBand units have is they have the same plug-and-play convenience of a regular practice amp with everything you need for studied practice at your fingertips.
The eBand units are absolutely NOT the thing you would buy if you are wanting something you can take to jam sessions, etc. But they are ideal for a bedroom practice rig where low-volume and headphone use is important and you never expect to crank it (although you can connect the line-output to a hifi amp if you want more volume).
Cheers,
Keith