Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor

It's fairly easy to use. When I use mine, it really helps with the distortion.

The manual is pretty easy to understand.

I use an old Maya Strat that I've had more or less rebuilt over the last 17 or so years. I've used the NS2 with a Randall half stack and a MT2 Metal Zone. I would consider the NS2 very essential is you use something like an MT2.

Asking if a noise suppresor makes noise seems like an oxymoron, but no, it doesn't make any noise.

Yes it's dependable. Boss puts out some decent effects.

I would gig without a backup because this is the ONLY ONE I got!!

I've heard some horror stories about Boss CS. Even tho I honestly cannot give a rating I'll say one thing, thier website stinks as far as information goes. I've wanted to check out online samples of the GT6 and there never seems to be one.

I've only played it around the house with my Metal Zone pedal. My wife loves the fact that there is something in the universe that seems to be able to control distortion the likes the MT2 puts out. I play mostly in church these days and probably should find a way to use it.

I've been playing for nearly 25 years. My style varies between rock, hard rock, gospel, bluegrass and classic country. No rap, hip-hop, modern metal or modern pop.

I've been thinking about getting rid of all my pedals and going to one unit like a GT. Under different circumstances, yes I would replace it if it were lost or stolen. Even if I go with a GT or VG system, I might still keep it around "just in case".

I bought it because it was Boss and out of nearly a dozen pedals, only 3 of them aren't Boss.

Quite simple to figure out....3 knobs, turn them to the desired gate effect you need. I didn't get a manual with it, but I've used noise gates before. This isn't a 'gate' per-se, cause it's soooo smooth.....more like a noise 'garage-door'

Well....I use a Gibson SG, Les Paul >> Boss NS-2 >> Boss HM-2 >> Korg AX 100-g >> Boss 10 band EQ >> Boss CS-3 >> Roland JC-77 Amplifier.....with an Electro-Harmonix Memory Man in the effects loop of the Noise Surpressor, and it REALLY helps big time. I guess the 'Sound Quality' is really terrible....? Seeing how the NS-2 takes away all the bad noise of the signal. So, that would make it a great pedal. Get it?

As you can probably tell from my rig....I LOVE Boss stuff. Play without a backup? In a heartbeat.

Figments of the imagination, these people.....Who has actually needed them?

I play anything from Pink Floyd to Black Sabbath to Deftones.....and it helps to have the NS-2....really it does. I swear, people, Boss could make Christmas wrapping paper....and I'd buy it. The NS-2 really helps to get rid of the signal hum when not playing....just makes it sound better. No tone differential either...nice 'n' clean, and true. I like the 'Mute' function too....helps for tuning, without annoying everyone in the room. Someone wrote a review on this and said it was more of a tool, than an effect. So true. But what a tool it is.....like a swiss army knife made by Boss.....Hey....That'd be cool, eh?

easy, but read the booklet first...

if you use many pedals (such as me) it will make your sound...better!!! how is it possible? simple, it has an effect loop so you get a lot more of the original tone with less pedals in the way. i not sure way pepole are not talking about it. it's an amazing thing and was a surpise to me. it does a great job suppressing noise and if you dont go crazy with the nobs it wont kill your sustain +it has a mute function you can do silent tuning live...great!i only give it nine couse it's not perfect but damm close!

yea!it's good

dont know?!

a must for me it's:1.noise supressor
2.a'b box for silent tuning
3.kind of a tone bufer thanks to the effect loop brings back your sound!
4. it can power up effects (i dont use it for that..)
does a lot more than you think and yea it kill the noise and doesn't kill the guitar. get it!

Real easy to use. Just plug your guitar into it, and put everything else in the loop (you might want to keep delay pedals out of the loop as when the delay decays, the noise suppressor will cut down on it and mute it), then output to your poweramp.

There's a threshold knob to set signal the level at which the pedal kicks in, and anotehr knob to set how quickly it mutes the signal when the threshold is reached.

Jackson RR3 - Tu2 - NS2 - Compressor - Wah - Mesa Dual Rectifier, then out of the Rectifiers FX loop into Chorus, Flange, back into the NS and out of that into a delay pedal and into the FX retun on the amp. This way the Pre-amp stage of the Mesa is in the NS's loop and everything gets muted (they can be fairly noisy amps with the gain cranked up).

I've put the tuner before the NS. When it was in the loop, the NS still registered that you were playing while tuning, and turned itself off. This meant the tuner was on and muting the guitar signal, so I got all the amp buzz back when I tuned. With it infront of the NS, this problem goes away.
When the signal level is above the set threshold, it's completely uneffected (as far as I can tell, and I'm usually quite anal about these things). I have teh attack set very high, so that when it turns on, it turns on almost instantly, so I don't know if it does a nice job of gating the signal slowly or not.

Read the other reviews.

Ditto.

Never had to deal with them.

Play heavy drop tuned metal, with lots of sharp stop-start riffs (hence the high attack level on the pedal, and teh main reason for buying it). It makes those sections really tight (well, as tight as my playing at any rate) :)

It's the most indespensible pedal I own. I wouldn't want to use the Boss compressor in my rig in a live situation without it. It does a nice job of keeping the noise down between songs.

Very simple to use. Just two knobs.

Original tonalitiy stays pretty well intact. I run it at the end of my chain, before my amp. I am using a PRS custom22 into a Mesa Dual Rec. I have the threshold pretty cranked and the decay as little as possible. Sustain and original decay of notes is very impressive for a noise suppression unit. You will notice a slight difference, but nothing terribly bad. Plus in a footpedal you can just turn it off when you need notes to sustain or feedback.

Boss makes great products that last and last. Its built like a tank. Had mine for almost 3 years.

Never needed it.

As far as noise gates go, it kicks ass. Especially for the price.

This unit is extremely easy to use. I bought mine new and it came with a manual but I didn't have to read it; just turn the knobs until you get the right settings and go.

I use this with a Les Paul Custom through the NS-2 and a bunch of other pedals into a Fender Bassman 135. I use the Boss DS-1 distortion which tends to be pretty noisy. This unit stops all the extra noise without changing the tone. I had an old Boss NF-1 Noise Gate but it would cut off the signal once it dropped below a certain range. The NS-2 slowly suppresses the sound, bringing it down quietly without any sudden stops. However, when the settings are tight on this thing (set for silence immediately after muting the strings) it reduces sustain dramatically. You can change the settings to clip later but it introduces more noise after you stop playing. I give it a 9 only because of the sustain loss. I know this might be by design but it's still a small problem. You can, however, easily turn the unit off via the footswitch if you know you do not need to mute the strings and your normal tone and sustain are back.

We've heard it all before; "It's a tank", "You could drop a bomb on it", "It'll survive a nuclear war". Well, it is a Boss so I don't worry about it crapping out on me. I would play out without a back up.

Never had to deal with customer support for any Boss product.

I play heavy, drop D rock. Often I use quick stops or choppy rhythms and this unit eliminates all noise between the stops. If you dial it in tight there is NO delay after you stop playing. Your rig immediately quiets and you have a tight, solid stop. This is why I bought it. I would immediately buy another one if it were lost or stolen. It also powers up to 8 other pedals so I use it along with a TU-2 to power my never-ending line of pedals. Great buy.

It was easy to understand how it works. Only 3 knobs. And for the send/return, I used the manuel. But before using it, read the manuel to be sure your using it well.

Setup: Vantage guitar -> Ibanez Ds7 -> Bf-3 Flanger ->(the 2 in the loop) -> Ns-2 -> DD-3 Digital delay-> Peavey rage 158. Before I got my noise suppressor, my setup had make a lot of noise with my flanger and with my amp . But, now all noise is gone. My effects sound better in the loop except the DD-3. But if you put your threshold to the max or close to it, your volume will drop a little. But for the noise it suppress, it is not too significant.

As others have said, it is a BOSS and last longer than you.

I never dealt with them.

I play most of the time alternative music. With my setting, my ns-2 is now essential. It suppress all the noise that disturbs me. And what I like the most of it, it's that the ns-2 can to power my others Boss pedals. But if it were lost or stolen, I would replace it without hesitation.


If you have a setting that make a lot of noise, buy it, especially if you have a lot of Boss pedals.

Strange at first because you don't know what it is doing! (2nd Hand - no manual!)

It's best to think of it as a Tool rather than an effect. Plug your guitar in, crank your amp up full, then don't play a thing and you'll probably hear humming/cracking noises. You get rid of this with the pedal and when you have other pedals in gear it reduces noise that they create to. Once I got my head around this I realised that this was a pretty useful pedal.

It should take just a few knob turns to take away that unwanted noise.

I use 72 reissue Telecaster > Boss NS2 > Boss CS2 > Marshall DSL100.

The Marshall and CS2 create a bit of noise and using the NS2 helps to get rid of a lot of it. It doesn't seem to detract from the sound in any way so I am going to giver it a 10 as it serves it's purpose really well.

GOOD TIP - If you play real heavy hardcore/metal stuff with stabby, stops and starts the pedal has a "mute" setting. When you press your sound will stop making those sections of your songs sound tight as you like!

It seems to eat batteries but other than that no problems.

Never used them

I would recommend this to anyone who wants to be a bit more professional with their sound. I bought it because Steve Albini uses one and I haven't been let down. It just cleans your sound up nicely letting you hear what you want to hear.

I must confess for the money I paid (delivery from US to UK etc) it is probably a bit of a luxury but hey! it was only money right??

We don't need no stinkin' manuals! Just turn it on and play with it.

UPDATE:4/29/01
If you play electric music and use high gain pedals or noisey classics(MXR chorus,Small Stone,Rampage).You'll need this pedal!!The sensitivity and subtle decay rate alone makes this gadget worth every penny.I use the NS-2 all the time.INDISPENSIBLE!! Someone said it changed his tone...hmmm...never bothered me.
In my opinion,if Boss built a rack-mount stereo version,with the SAME components,I'd buy it in a flash!But really,they should just keep making these and don't change a damn thing.
I'd had an NS-50 and "JEEZ",it totally sucked!

Had it almost 4yrs. without a glitch.Just gigged it last night.

???

Some guys/girls are loyal to one pedal company.For me,it depends on the product be it Boss,Ibanez,E.H.,Rocktron(yada,yada).This is Roland/Boss's MOST USEFUL PEDAL ever!

Just use it as written in the Manual.

Jesus Christ – I wish I´d came across this Pedal much earlier… This little Thing is really doing WONDERS! Just like another Guy mentioned before run your NS-2 first, put your distortions in the loop and then go to your effects or amp. I run my Zoom 5000 Driver Pedal in the Loop (powered by the NS-2!), then into the Korg AX100G (Woooouuuuuwwwww – it sounds like a Wall of Marshall Stacks!) and it´s unbelevible, how all Hum and Buzzing disappears. I´m using the following Settings on the NS-2: Threshold 12 o´clock, Decay at Minimum. I´m playing a Fender Stratocaster Special Edition with Texas Special PU´s and Fender Vintage Telecaster and always had large Noise and Feedback Problems playing heavy Distortion or Overdrive Sounds with the Bridge and Neck Pickups. Now that belongs to the Past…

Solid as a Rock, no need for a Backup.

Never needed.

I´ve tried several other devices before (like Rocktron´s AGX and Hush Crap) and was thinking, that there is no effective unit to solve my Problems. But now I know better.
When you have such Problems with Single-Coils too and you are looking for a really good Device for Noise and Hum cancelling – THIS IS A MUST! Go and buy it immediately and you will thank God for it!!!