Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor

Not too complicated.

This pedal is useful for taking the noise out of OTHER pedals, not so useful as a noise gate.

Run your noisy distortion or compression pedals through the LOOP of the NS2, NOT the input/output. POOF - pedal buzz gone, Decay and Threshold settings have no effect on this, you can just leave them all the way down.

However, if you're trying to quiet down noisy single-coil pickups, get ready to turn the threshold and decay WAY up. Really kills your attack and sustain. I suppose the only way to do this is find a threshold you can live with, and then add a delay pedal AFTER the NS-2 to get back some of the ambience it clips. I would really not recommend using it for this purpose. Which is too bad, because it seems to be its MAIN purpose.

Seems reliable, i have yet to have a problem w/ a Boss pedal.

Like I said: Useful to quiet down OTHER pedals. Any other application will probably leave you dissatisfied.

If I were rating it at quieting down other pedals: I'd give it a 10, takes the buzz right out and doesn't color tone. Have your distortion pedals cranked full up without a whisper until you hit the strings.

But because it's supposed to be a noise gate too, it gets a 6.

Let me start by telling you that I'm running a les paul loaded with burstbucker pro's through an engl blackmore 100 head to play metal. Drop C bone-crushing metal with as much gain as the amp lets me achieve.

It seems simple enough at first, plug in the guitar at input, amp at output and all set right ? WRONG! So I tried the NS-2 in the amp's effects loop to cut out the distortion hum... still no good at keeping the feedback out no matter how I set the threshold/decay buttons.

The manual actually contains a clue as to what the best setup is, but you have to treat the preamp like it was a noisy distortion pedal. So the way I run it now is:
Guitar->NS-2 input and then NS-2 send->amp input, amp send->NS-2 return, NS-2 output->amp return
It kills all feedback and noise so I can do (extremely loud) choppy riffs without any beeps coming in between chops. Because my amp lacks a fx loop on/off switch, I run the output of the NS-2 into a line selector which has chorus/delay/reverb in its loop to switch the fx on and off. The nice thing is when the NS-2 cuts the sound, the reverb and delay get to finish their chimes naturally without any feedback going on.

Is this easy to use ? On simpler setups you can probably just follow the manual to set fx in the NS-2 loop, but when using heavy preamp distortion like engl's or mesa's you have to work it out a bit and realize the preamp is just a supermegadeluxe metalzone which should go in the NS-2 effects loop.

Sound is awesome when not playing... i.e. it's dead quiet. When playing I don't notice it's there, but you have to turn the pedal off and on when doing slient phrases in songs.

Could just be me cause I have to set threshold to max and decay to minimum to avoid the feedback on my setup. I just turn it off for cleans or when I have to play crunchy through the heavy channel of the amp. The reduction causes a more subtle cutoff so the reverb and delay can fade out naturally.

It's boss. Have about 8 pedals and all are still in perfect health after 12 years.

I thought 80 euro's was a bit much for something that would just cut sound. But after 1 rehearsal I am incredibly happy with it. I can actually use my expensive equipment (Engl head, gibson guitar etc.) for what it was meant (play loud and heavy music) instead of worrying about feedback. On small stages it's just impossible to get away far enough from the amp so this little bugger is truly a must.

If it broke, got stolen or lost I would get one the next day.

With this pedal it is critical that you know what the threshold and decay do. If you do not know how to set this pedal than it will not work well for you. You have to experiment with you settings to get a good functional noise gate for your set up. It is also very important to know how to set this up in your signal path. The best way to run these Boss noise suppresors are by inserting you guitar straight into the input, from there take the effect send and insert into your first pedal in your effects chain that are not timing based effects like mod delays, reverbs, and any long time based delays. ie. wahs, filters, gain based, eq's, boosts, octaves, and the like. After you send it through all of those type of effects pedals, return the signal back into your Ns-2 and it will eliminate all that added noise now before you run to your delays and reverbs so you get a nice clean signal to all those timed based effects. so the last thing is to take that signal out of your ns-2 output and run it to your delays and reverbs and then to your amp. This is by far going to make the difference in your tone.

If you complete the signal chain as I described up top this thing is amazing. Get your settings dialed in and it will keep your entire pedal board SILENT when you are not playing and you can't even tell you are running it when you are playing.

So far this thing has been very reliable.

Boss is great

Overall this pedal is a must if you like nice quiet pedal boards, it does not color your tone if you set it up right! Great pedal.

Easy as hell. If you read the manual.

Okay, i felt i had to write a review for this cause i nearly didn't buy this after seeing all the bad reviews it's had on here. 'Tone sucking' and 'tone coloring' blah blah. I dont see what everyones crying about, no one obviously knows what there talking about when it comes to this pedal. If it sucks your tone, then its obviously cause you havent set the threshold right, or got the right setting on.
I play through a mesa boogie single rectifer, modern channel with a tube screamer on to give it more bite. Sounds awsome but with the tube screamer on its feed back galoreeee. I set the thresh hold to just past half way, decay to 0, press it on and the noise is gone. Its awsome! Doesnt suck your tone in the slightest, great for solo's , breakdowns and everything. Its probably one of the most useful things in my rig.

Built like a tank, just like all boss pedals.

I cant really comment on this as i've never dealt with Boss customer support.

10/10. This is just an awsome noise gate.

Very easy, especially if you have a basic understanding of noise gates and follow the clear instructions provided in the instruction manual (available online from Boss if you buy used or lose the manual).

Tried in various setups...single coil and humbuckers, placed at end of effects chain using NS-2 input/output, placed with guitar/amp in input/output and effects chain in the NS-2 send/return loop (best results with this setup). My other effects used for testing were the Boss TU-2 (tuner) and AC-2 (acoustic simulator), Blues Balls wah, and a Bigg Muff.

The NS-2 works beautifully with my effects chain placed in the NS-2 effects loop. The decay is natural even with the threshold set high enough to cancel the noise when my Big Muff is on.

The decay is much more natural when using the NS-2 effects loop rather than simply placing the NS-2 at the end of the signal chain. My guess is that the NS-2 passes some of the straight guitar signal to the amp just as the gate closes which helps preserve the decay, but that's just a guess.

I also tried the popular ISP Technologies Decimator. The Decimator had nothing on the NS-2. It sounded like I was using a tremolo effect in the middle of the decay with the Decimator - very unnatural.

It's a Boss pedal. My TU-2 has gone through two floods and still works fine. No amount of gigging should wear down one of these things.

never had to deal with Boss customer support

Great noise gate for guitar effects pedals. Been playing over 12 years, using a fair amount of pedals, and wish I would have bought this pedal much earlier than I did. It is awesome to be able to play single-coil pickups without the 60-Hz hum in the silent spaces and to keep my Big Muff on without terrible hissing between phrases. When used properly - placing the effects in the NS-2 effects loop - all that noise is canceled without affecting the natural sound of the attack and decay.

Considering how well this pedal works and the price compared to other guitar noise gates, I do not know why anyone would buy something else. I directly compared it with the ISP Decimator and the all the Decimator decimated was my dynamics on soft notes. I cannot recommend the NS-2 more highly.

The pedal is pretty straight forward. The controls are easy, you don???t need much experience with pedals to work it out. The inputs may confuse some people but its easy if you know what your doing. The manual that came with it shows you how to set it up properly.

I am using a agile al-2500 (les paul style) with EMG's (81-bridge, 85-neck). From the guitar it goes into my NS-2's input out the send jack into a OD-20 to a DS-1 to a Behringer UC-200 chorus then to NS-2 return jack then to my amp, a Success 50w(piece of ****).THIS PEDAL MAY VERY SLIGHTLY IF ANYTHING EFFECT YOUR TONE. The NS-2 cuts out pretty much all the noise of my pedals. THIS PEDAL IS MADE FOR CUTTING PEDAL NOISE!! it can only cut out a very little noise from an amp. if you a using a pedal to boost your amp(e.g. tube screamer) ant its in the NS-2's effects loop it will cut the majority of the noise but not all. This does not squeak or click or anything when it cuts in or out and even with the decay at minimum it does not cut out unnaturally when you stop playing. Also it does not fade in slowly, the split second you start playing again it cuts back through with full volume. If it is cutting a lot of your volume it is probably set up wrong. It can some times cut a long note short especially if you are using the guitars volume control. Im giving it a 9 because it doesn???t cut amp noise. I would say if you were using a separate pre amp and power amp it would cut the noise if the pre amp was in its effect loop.

It is in a solid metal casing. boss pedals are known for there reliability, but i would still use a back up if gigging because anything could go wrong and this pedal is an essential.

This pedal is a must have if you play anything with high-gain distortion or if you are using a lot of effects. Active pickups usually give a bit more noise because they pick up a broader spectrum. I don???t gig yet because im not in a band atm, but it is a boss so when i start gigging it should still be working fine. i have tried a few different noise gates, a lot of them tend to cut your long notes off more suddenly, and also click when it cuts out the sound. I would advise this to anyone using pedal distortion

There isn't much subjectivity about this type of pedal - they either kill noise without damaging tone or they don't. It's therefore easy to set the pedal to do what it's capable of (you don't have to find a particular sound).

I use a PRS EG4 (has two s/c's, one h/b and 'in between' sounds) into: HT Boost pedal, always on > Boss Compressor, always on > Ibanez TS9DX > Boss Flanger > Boss Chorus > [BOSS NS2 suppressor, always on] > Digitech delay > Digitech Reverb > Blackstar valve amp. With the NS2 placed before the delay and reverb, as suggested in the manual, I can't hear any deterioration in the sound when all pedals are on, or when they're off. With the NS2 pedal off there's a lot of noise, with it on there's none. Job done. Only very slight worry is that the 'threshold' setting seems to need to be all the way up, but that's not been a problem.

Very solid, as usual with Boss,and once set, I won't be fiddling with it much. Don't envisage problems.

Not needed.

I've just joined a band playing a lot of covers and have to use a number of pedals so noise has become a problem for me. I was going to get the ISP Decimator on the strength of Utube recommendations but couldn't find a shop that stocked one (in central London!). As I needed something urgently I got the NS-2, about ??30 cheaper. However, I wasn't disappointed. I've noticed no deterioration of tone and the considerable noise my pedals make is gone. Jst remember not to put the NS2 after delay or reverb FX. Also, personally I don't bother with looping the FX into it, just put it in the chain. All good.

There might be a little trouble for those who are new to the concept of a noise gate. Though it??s pretty simple if you read the instructions and try different setings.

I used it on my Peavey 6505+ with a Mesa rectifier Std 4x12 cab. I play high gain metal. My setings where:

Threshold - 11 o clock
Decay - Minimum
Mode - Mute

The NS2 does colour your sound, no matter what setings you have on it. The best way to describe it is a slight loss of the edge of the tone. Muted chords still sounds great but loose just that little extra touch. I tried it on other rigs and had the same issue.

The NS2 does it??s job though. No more hissing and squeeling, as a noise gate should be. It works great, though it can cut the end of a sustained tone.

I recently got rid of this and bought an ISP Decimator instead, and the decimator is a lot better. Though if you can??t afford the ISP, and if you don??t mind a slight loss in your sound, then the NS2 might be for you.

Seems to be very sturdy.

Haven??t dealt with them.

I would not recommend the NS2 if you have expensive stuff and want the very best out of your rig. The NS2 WILL colour your sound in a bad way.

However, the NS2 still does it??s job and works good as a noise gate. So if you aren not so picky, then you will be very satisfied with this.

There's only three knobs and what the knobs do is pretty obvious. I bought the pedal used so I don't think I got a manual with it, but Boss manuals generally aren't anything special--not fancy, but they get the job done.

Here's my setup:

Guitar(s) > AKG WMS40 Flexx wireless system > Boss CS-3 > Boss PH-3 > Boss OS-2 > Boss EQ-20 > Boss CH-1 > Boss RV-3 > Boss NS-2 > Guitar amp or PA system

"Guitar(s)" refers to any number of the guitars that I play, and since I have three that I normally use with this board, I didn't want to list 'em all. Anyway, this pedal does what it's designed to do--no more, no less. Some of my pedals can get kind of noisy and when I use two or three noisy effects at the same time, there can be quite a bit of line noise, but the NS-2 kills it all.

I'm not sure why people are complaining about the tone-sucking qualities of this pedal, because in my opinion, there aren't any. It's really pretty transparent. With a clean signal, it's impossible to tell the difference between having the noise suppressor on and having it off. Unless I'm running lots of effects at the same time, I have trouble remembering why I bought the thing.

It's a Boss. 'Nuff said. If a nuclear was to occur, the only things left working would be Boss pedals and Timex watches. I've used all of my Boss pedals (don't have the cash to buy two of everything) for years and none of them has ever failed me. Perfect 10.

Never dealt with Boss directly, and don't plan on it. I've heard mixed reviews about their customer service department, but I can't comment on it myself.

The main reason I bought this pedal was because one of the guitarists I play with thinks it's an absolute necessity. Whenever I play clean, I get mad at him for making me spend money on something that doesn't change my sound at all. Whenever I play with a ton of effects, I'm glad that I bought it. Like I said before, the NS-2 kills noise and doesn't color your sound. If this one were lost or stolen, I'd probably buy another one.

Not too much to understand here, three knobs:
Threshold - Sets the level where noise reduction or mute starts working.

Decay - Sets the time it takes for the reduction to begin decaying the signal.

Mode - Switches between reduction and mute.

This is directly out of the box from Boss, no upgrades and the instructions are pretty clear. As far as getting a good sound out of it, it really depends on your set up and what you're going for but with only three knobs and the option to run your effects through the loop or through the standard input/output you have some options.

I've slowly become more of a purist over the years and don't use effects as much as I once did. My set up is simple: LTD KH203, EH Holy Grail Reverb, Boss NS-2, Peavey 6505+...that's it. I purchased this because after having the preamp circuit board replaced in my Peavey (apparently there were a few things wrong which caused the amp to cut out thus reducing the noise and chance of feedback)I noticed a significant amount of high pitched feedback and a slightly muddier tone in my one band. We play southern metal and hardcore and typically I run my pregain between 6 and 7 on the lead channel with the postgain at the 12 O'clock position. Since I work off of our other guitarist I can't have a large amount of noise and feedback in choppy sections and the NS-2 seemed like the best solution.

After hooking the NS-2 up and turning it on I noticed the following:
Reduced noise
No more high pitched squeal or feedback
A slight amount of compression

I had read of people finding problems with reduced signal strength and even experienced it while demoing this unit for a customer. I, however, didn't experience any loss of signal strength and it actually added definition and reduced the muddy tone I had experienced without it. I think it really depends on your pickups and amplifier...this didn't work well with the Fender Hot Rod Delux and actually made the amp sound a little more like a solid state amp...but it's ok, I'm not fond of Fenders.

I wasn't trying to sound like any particular artist, just trying to clean up my sound while maintaining the "balls" of the 6505+.

I just purchased it but I don't feel I'll have any problems with it. I highly recommend that anyone who does purchase one should pick up a power supply to avoid having to change batteries.

I'm a sales associate at a music store and have a direct contact number for our sales representative for all our Boss products and he's actually very easy to deal with.

I play southern metal through a high gain tube amp and this is a great addition to my set up. Having played for almost 16 years I know what I want as far as tone is concerned and I know this item to actually do a little more than it says it does. I'm speaking of the slight compression effect produced by the NS-2...a nice bonus.
I highly recommend this for anyone dealing with a high gain tube amp that is experiencing lots of noise, feedback and squealing, and muddy tone. I don't recommend this to anyone who is overly critical about dynamic response.

You have to read the manual to use this pedal and experiment. I gave it a 8 because so many people use this pedal incorrectly and give it a lower rating. The ISP decimator is easier to use with only one knob. For every one who gave the ns-2 low rating please read the manual and place noisy pedals in the send and return loop of the ns-2, it works better that way. IF you have a noisy amp the ISP Decimator would be a better choice.

If used correctly for your application than you can cut most of your noise out especailly with single coil pickups. I noticed a very slight tone loss with the effect on. This could also be due to the extra cable length using the send and return. I own the ISP Decimator and the isp is more transparent but both Noise Supp. have their own strengths. The NS-2 works great on noisy pedals When placed in the Ns-2 loop(send/return) and has a more natural gate than the ISP. The ISP did not work as well for noisy pedals but worked much better on noise coming from the amps distortion. The Ns-2 did not work as well with the noisy distortion coming from my mesa boogie.

Used on stage for 6 years with a problem. Boss rules!

This pedal can work wonders if you have noisy pedals and place them in a loop. The pedal also works great for noisy single coil pickups. I also own the ISP Decimator and the isp works better with noisy amps and Humbuckers. The ISP is also more transparent but the Boss Sound is totally acceptable. Try both pedals out to see which works better for you.

Easy to use, only 3 knobs. Manual is fine.

It removes noise ok but also results in a significant loss of volume and tone, particularly higher frequencies. More annoying is the hoorible volume swells when you start to play. A slow incremental volume increase - totally unacceptable.

Sturdy enough pedal, will last for ages as you will never use it because is sounds rubbish.

unknown

A terrible useless pedal. Volume swells make this pedal unusable. I dont know how this thing could of passed quality control. Obviouslt BOSS couldnt give a toss any more about quality.

Easy to use, 3 knobs. You need to spend a little time with the threshold control but easy to work out.

Poor. The pedal will suck your tone (particularly higher frequencies) and reduce your volume by 10-30%. The volume bleeds in and out constantly making it useless for fast palm muting, staccato notes - playing with the threshold/decay controls does little to alleviate problem. When used with a distortion pedal on high gain caused a horrific screeking noise when NS-2 turned off. This pedal will remove hum fine but has unacceptable consequences! I wasted my money here bigtime. AVOID.

No issues with reliablilty. Sturdy enough.

unknown

Removes noise but removes tone - volume - quality as well! Volume swells will drive you nuts. Just because it's BOSS doesnt mean it's a good pedal.

Very easy to use. The only issue is placement. Where should you put it in your rig? I plug it in directly after the guitar, and this has it's disadvantages tonally, however; if you put an overdrive pedal before this it works well, but the levels on your overdrive need to be set to match your normal guitar level or you will have to adjust the threshold to compensate for the added gain.

I run this into a A/B Channel select into a Overdrive A, or bypass B(dirty channel) with a Boss chorus and a Nobel digital delay in the FX loop. The reverb in the amp covers up the decay of this pedal(no matter what you do there will be a split second of noise after you stop playing) with the reverb on, it's totally unnoticeable. Might not be perfect in a studio setting but close enough to make a difference.
Even my wife said it cleaned up the sound to make me go from "garage" sounding to "pro" sound.


Many people talk of the "tone sucking" that this pedal does. This is partially due to a "noise cancelling" circuit as well as the gate circuit. It takes out 60 cycle hum before the gate so you don't have to have the threshold as high. There is a slight noticeable drop in gain, mostly on the treble side. I plan on buying a boss GE-7 which should more than make up for the volume drop.

Also, there is an FX loop built in this pedal, works like an AB box. When used it filters before and after the FX loop so you have zero noise in your chain. Of course this does not work for any delay effects, unless you're looking for a gated reverb tone.

Overall, it's freakin great being able to use a high gain setting on a coil-tapped humbucker without any hum. Just remember put it BEFORE your distortion or you lose all dynamics. If you put it after, only loud notes will come through. Besides, in an fx-loop you usually have the master volume or channel volume BEFORE the loop so if you change volume you will have to adjust your threshold. Too loud and you won't be able to gate anything. So just put it before your amp.


Not recommended for blues players. There is not enough dynamics to really get your tone out of a class-a amp with this. Plus the mild tone suckage would just ruin good blues tone.
But for rock or metal this hits the spot.

Boss pedals are solid. I've never seen one fail as long as it was taken care of. No need for a backup
Remember they are CALLED stomp boxes doesn't mean you have to stomp like you're in a UFC match

Use one of these. If you've got money, buy a ISP decimator. If you're on a budget, this will way more than make due. You may need slight adjustment on your setup to get the sound you want(ie the GE-7 i mentioned) but this thing works very well alone.

If you play metal or other nondynamic music style go ahead and buy it.

If you depend on dynamics in your playing, ranging from silent to loud, don't bother.

There's something about not being able to hit those really silent notes. This pedal makes the electric guitar seem like less of a real instrument.

Im going for the Suhr, silent coil system

Crapped out on me after one week of playing.

Whenever i hit a note/chord it starts making loud hiss and fusses.

Good idea, shitty product

After reading the comments here, I bought the NS-2 to kil the buzz on my single coils on my Epiphone Casino. I plugged it in at the end of my pedal chain, plugged into my little Ampeg Jet, and there was my buzz. hit the pedal, cranked the threshhold until the buzz went away. Wow! Ease of use points go down because I can't figure out if the decay knob actually does anything.

Wow. Silence where there was once a severe buzz. Does it affect the tone? probably, but not very noticeable to me. Does exactly what I bought it for. After visiting the Boss site and seeing the manual, I see that I should have run my effects through the loop. I'll try that to see if it makes a difference.

Big Boss pedal fan. I just bought it (ebay $51, plus another $10 for shipping). I assume it will last for a long time.

I went to the web site to download the manual. It was right there! my real support comes from these Harmony Central posts.

This does the job it claims.

This is the Boss NS-2 and I am not sure of how old it is but it was in good shape. I purchased it used from someone on ebay for $65.00. You can go to the Boss website or read down for the functions. I give it an 8 on ease of use. It definately it is not a plug-n-play set one knob pedal. I experiemented without quite a bit. Pedals in the loop, out of the loop, before the pedal, after the pedal, and of course knob turning.

This is a great pedal. The reason I purchased it was because I had buzz and hum coming from my single coil guitars and even my humbucker equipped guitar at most of the venues we played. I have some noisy effects that it would be just an added bonus if they were cured. I set it up as stated in the manual with everything but delays in the loop. My final setting is reduction mode, threshhold on about 2:00-3:00 and decay at all the way counter clockwise which is minimum. The decay is interesting at first my settings were to have the decay at closer to maximum because I did not want to lose sustain. But then through experiment and maybe I saw a "pro" with this on his board in a magazine I set the decay turned all the way counter clockwise. This is a great setting. What I notice is as the note fades the NS-2 led lights up and it starts to do its job as the note is still there. How awesome is that. A gate only works when the note stops, this actually starts noise reduction even while the note is decaying.

In addition I was getting some funky noises from my Danelectro Dan-Echo delay pedal and my cheap Fender pedal tuner. I moved those units to the front of my chain with the output going in to the the input of the NS-2. All noises are cured. My rig is now dead quiet between songs even when I am using the tuner which was making audible noise when the led's would light even in mute mode.

For everything this pedal has done for me, improve my tone because there is less noise, quieted noisy pedals, kill single coil buzz from lights and other noise sources, and quiet my rig during song breaks I have to give this a 10. It did more than I asked.

I have all tube amps and high end American made guitars this unit is worth every penny and I would have to get a new one right away if it failed. I hear no change in tone at all. In fact I hear improvement because the single coil buzz is gone and my notes ring clear.

This is my first Boss pedal. Seems very reliable. I have Electo Harmonix, MXR, EMMA, Ibanez, Crybaby, Danelectro and Fender pedals. I have had bad luck with the inexpensive pedals.

When I shop for a pedal I usually take note of what the pros have on their boards. This pedal seems to be there quite a bit and I see why. This should asks speak volumes for the reliability.

No dealings with Boss direct.

I gig about 2-3 times a month. I own plenty of gear 1/2 high end stuff and 1/2 normal joe stuff. This pedal is a winner. I would replace it right away if it failed.

Don't mess with line conditioners, hum eliminators, gates or other hocus pocus to cure single coil buzz. This is the answer.

this pedal has a noise reduction circuit AND a noise gate too (which aren't the same thing) . I have never bought a lot of pedals,but this pedal is one of the very best I have bought

this pedal is great. My setup consists of a Boss GE-7 which goes into an Ibanez Tube King (which is great,because that pedal ALSO has a noise reduction + gate circuitry) ;the Tube King,in conjuction with the NS-2, is really effective,however the NS-2 will work great even by itself.
So I patch the pedals into the effects loop of the NS-2,with the Treshold set at about 3 o'clock,and the Decay at minimum; this goes to an old ,awesome Selmer head which is always running flat out with a powerbrake.
WOW! I get the same sound that Malmsteen has in his REH video opening,the part where he's playing 'opening solo' with the golden strat.
If I switch the NS2 off,all hell breaks loose,the noise is almost unbearable. The NS2 is brilliant,highly recommended

really an essential pedal ,if you use a setup similar to mine or if you have noisy preamps,etc

You have to be analytical about where your noise is coming from, and throw the manual in the trash. If hum is from high gain, the hum is originally coming from the guitar, not the overdrive effect or amp. Gate the guitar. The only thing I imagine the loop feature is good for is effects with self noise or an amp which hums with nothing plugged into it (But you could simply gate after those instead). I tried this with an overdrive in the loop, assuming it would not work well, and it sure didn't--unusable sound.

I bought the NS-2 today to test out as I can return it within 48 hours. I may keep it, or decide to try a different model noise gate. I like to alternate between warm clean and very high gain. I only got this for high gain. I use humbuckers and tube amps.

The noise reduction itself is really good. I have it between a Les Paul (mini-humbuckers) and Boss MT-2 (maximum gain). Loud hum normally. Set the NS-2 threshold just over the hum, and the silence between played parts is enough to give you an uneasy feeling. The gate timing works rather well, about as un-noticeable as you could hope for. Reduces some noise (and a little tone) even when the gate is open.

The high gain sounds fairly uncolored, but it seems the NS-2 soaks a bit of overall signal and results in very slightly lower gain. Considering the reduction in noise though, the overall results when using high gain are immeasurably better.

If used between guitar and amp for clean tones, you lose some character. It doesn't sound "bad," just slightly worse. I don't have a noise problem with clean, so I'd prefer it off, but in a song with both clean and dirty it sounds ok enough to leave on for simplicity.

I'd rate the clean sound quality about 7, but 10 for use with high gain, which causes the only noise I really worry about. Other hiss/hum isn't worrysome in my gear.

Boss is usually very reliable.

After trying this I don't want to be without some type of noise gate. I don't know if this is the best one. I know I don't want something with just a filter/supressor and no gate, as I'm sure it would rob way too much tone in relation to the noise it would remove.

Remember to put the unit right after the noise source, before that noise is amplified by gain.

I've had this now for a couple of weeks. It will take a little time to set up properly if you've never used a noise gate/suppressor before. I found I had to manipulate the volume knob on my guitar as well as the master volume and gain on my distortion pedal to achieve the desired effect. Once I did, I was very happy.

I've read other reviews from users who said they noticed a change in their sound once the NS-2 was activated. I can honestly and happily say I noticed no such change in my guitar's sound. I sound tested it by activating and bypassing the NS-2 while playing. All it did was clean up the noise. Nice.

I've been a Boss customer for years and their products have always been solid. I don't anticipate any problems. I'll rate it based on my other Boss pedals have had for years.

Never had to deal with customer support for reasons listed above.

I play mostly heavy rock and metal. I've been playing almost thirty years. The main culprit in my signal chain is a Krank Maximus Distortus distortion pedal. I also have a Seymour Duncan Pick Up Booster, Boss SD-1, MXR Phase 90, Boss DD3 and BBE Sonic Maximizer all fed into a Marshall JCM900 Dual Reverb half stack.

If my NS-2 were ever lost or stolen, I would replace it with a new one immediately. What I love about it is how it eliminates all the hiss and noise from my rig and yet it still preserves the tonal integrity of my sound. It does what I need it to do and there is nothing about it that I'm not happy with. I can't believe I went this long without one.

Not easy as a Wah pedal... but if you have bought a Noise Suppresor, it means you are smart, so you can learn how to use it prety easy.

It does the job.
I can use for what I needed it.
It removes the noise from your guitar sound w/o taking away the guitar tone....something rocktron should learn how to do.

It??s a Boss!!!
It is my only new Boss.
All the others are vintage japanese and are still working as they did on day 1, so I??m pretty sure it will be use 3 generations after me.

Go get one... It will help you improve your overall tone.

The settings are very straight foward. Threshold = how much noise do you want to get rid of. Decay = how quickly do you want the reduction to take effect. mute = pretty self explanatory

When I first got this I loved it. I play an epiphone les paul custom through a Marshall TSL602.It cuts all the hiss and muck right out of my Marshall (with tubescreamer which is the main noise culprit). However after closer inspection I realised that it was suck the highs out of my tone. I just can't get the same "bite" out of my marshall with this on. If you like mellow tones this may not be much of a problem. Secondly it does add some compression which doesn't concern me but may bother blues players etc.

It's Quite sturdy, have not had any troubles with it so far. The only critiscism is the poor battery access on this thing. Instead of being on the back the battery sits underneath the switch. Not a major problem but if you were in a hurry.....

N/A

Lives up to its name, it does cut out all unwanted noise. But if you want that searing presence in your solos and/or rhythm playing you would have to turn this off which could mean alot of tap dancing on your pedal board. If it were lost or stolen I probably would try another brand.

Easy! Put it on and it will be readdy to clean the mess. there are diferent configurations explain all of them. I didn't experiment all, becouse i really liked the first one i tryied! I put it in the end off the effects chain, before the amp input.

The sound, what sound? This not produce sound, this protect your sound. It don't change my tone, and that is perfect! I put all my pedals on and you can??t ear any noise.

My Setup: Gibson SG 61 Reissue (EMG 81b)-> Whammy XP-100 -> American Big Muff -> Ibanez PH7 -> BOSS NS-2 -> Amp Laney VH100R (with Marshal 8412 & VS412 Cabinets)

Some artists that use or used NS-2
Wes Borland
Glenny Telford (SkinLab)
Wayne Static (Static-X)- doesn't use any pedal effects!
Josh Rand (stone Sour)
Ace (ex Skunk Anansie)
Tony Rombola (Godsmack)
etc.

I didn't play live with it yet, but I trust him.

I play alternative Rock/Metal, but, in my opinion, the style is not important to a NS-2 review... I play guitar for 11 years and this is one of my best buys.

I would buy another one if it was stolen or lost.

if you're setup is all crap, it will not do miracles...

Very good buy. Good quality, nice price!

ps: sorry, i know my english sucks!

First thing is read the 5 sentence long instructions on the manual. If you don't have a manual its fairly simple to use. Turn the threshold up until it cancels out the noise(it won't cancel out all the noise, but 90% of it, which is a big difference). The decay sets the time for the noise to stop. So the higher the decay the longer it takes to cancel out the noise.

I thought the boss ns2 canceled out all the noise. It cancels out the majority of the noise, but only when your not playing. The second you start hitting the strings the noise returns, but its much quieter. When you stop playing the noise cancels out. I own a fender pro junior and its a noisy little bugger. When I use my epiphone with humbuckers it cancels out the majority of the buzz and hiss. Its only slightly present. When I use my single coil strat it cancels out the majority of the 60 cycle hum, but there is a little hiss/buzz present, more than the epiphone. It doesn't kill my tone at all. It makes chord changes sound smoother. The second you turn the pedal on "boom" all the noise is gone. Its leaves ya a warm feeling inside.

I have not had it for a long period of time, but from what I can tell it seems sturdy. I've heard good things about boss pedals. Musicians friend offers a 1 year warranty so I bought that for 8 bucks in case something happens.

Everything is fine and dandy so far, no need to call them.

I think it is well worth the $90. My set up was so freakin hissy and buzzy it was driving me absolutely crazy. The boss doesn't get rid of all the noise, but 90% of it is gone. It even quiets down my 60 cycle hum/buzz quite a bit. Its a good pedal. I mainly play alt/country rock. I'm mainly a strummer and this cleans up chord changes quite well. I've been playing for about 4-5 years. I own a fender strat, a epiphone dot studio, a fender pro junior amp, a holy grail reverb, and now the boss. I have a very simple set up. I don't even use the reverb that often. So I mainly plug the guitar into my amp. The boss quiets everything down. If it were lost or stolen I would buy another one. The thing I don't like about this pedal is it doesn't get rid of all the noise, just the majority of it. The second you turn the pedal on you can hear the noise vanish like that. I could have purchased the Isp decimator, but it cost 30 dollars more, from what I've heard it works very well. If you have any questions about any of my gear feel free to email me at postalsock@hotmail.com

Probably the easiest pedal in the world to use. I just got home with it and plugged it in. With the threshold and decay at their minimums, it works perfectly. I hear absolutely nothing other than normal amp hiss when i am not playing. The manual could use some work, considering its mostly comprised of pictures and does not fully explain what the mute option does.

Sound is perfect. Could not ask for more, period.

It's a Boss, I'm pretty sure it will stand the test of time. I would most certainly gig with this pedal, considering it worked perfectly directly out of the box.

N/A

I play thrash/death metal, and this pedal is an absolute must have for my gear setup. The amp I currently use is the 5150 combo amp, which, if you know anything about the 5150, has a very high gain output. In addition, I play the LTD DV8-R with the Dave Mustaine Livewire active Duncans. These pickups have an extremely high output, and in conjuction with the 5150, a lot of noise is created. The Boss NS-2 simply eliminates all noise that comes from having this extremely hot rig. If it can completely cut the noise out of my setup, It can definitely do wonders for you. The only reason why I give it a 9 overall is because of the sub par manual (in my opinion) and the high price. If you want a quality noise gate, though, spend the extra cash, you won't be disappointed.