Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor

Unless you have down syndrome or something...you can use it. 3 knobs it explains itself.

I use my Epiphone-->Ibanez Chorus-->Boss SD-1--->Boss NS-2---->my good ol practice amp. Let me tell ya. I recently got some new pickups put in and i was getting insane feedback from every amp i tried(the pickups are high output and the nickel covers make em squeel even more). I thought there was no hope but getting the pickup replaced. I thought wrong. This thing is AWESOME. I can hear NOTHING unless im playing. The decay is great too incase i want the end of a note ringing out. I really dont see any tone or sustain being affected (what do i know im a punk kid who listens to metal right, haha). Unless you dips are sustaining for like 30 seconds in a solo bend...it doesnt cut you off. It is great, absolutly fantastic, if your looking for a noise gate buy it NOW! The best feature of this is i can power all my pedals with 1 AC Adaptor thanks to this baby!

Its Boss, yea id gig without a backup.

N/A, i would imagion it sucks cause they are a pretty big company.

I play 80s shred/metal and more modern metal. Alot of songs i do require that stop on a dime silence. This thing is soo great. No hissing buzzing humming squeeling nothing! I didnt really compare it, i compared reviews of all the noise supressors out there and this got rated the best, i see why! If you are looking for a good supressor of these go buy it now! you dont be disappointed!

If you are using a loop of effects, read the instruction and analyze the schematic of a setup carefully, because if you input->output directly, you'll bypass the noise gate. You will get some reduction, but not much. Bought new, no upgrades.

Marshall AVT 50W combo. If it's hooked up right, it works good. But in the amp's effects loop, it does not filter the pre-amp hum effectively. Not concerned with artists or what their sound is.

It is ruggedly built, but I've noticed that when it's on or near peak reduction, it hacks any guitar's sustain. Sometimes, at high volumes, it lets a a squeal through. Isn't that what it's supposed to prevent?It says in the manual that the circuitry can distinguish between noise, hum, and the guitar's signal. Uh...what?

Had to wait for it, ordered it. Two weeks. For the money, how it performs, it's fairly confusing markings, and the routing problem with other effects, it's definitely sub-par.

Their aren't too many noise suppressors out there, so you're pretty much stuck if you're in the market. I had to order it. It's metal housed, which is good, but it could be marked better (FX SEND, or AMP (instead of SEND), GUITAR IN or FX RETURN INPUT, etc. Once you get the darned thing all set, mark your cables. I'm just not impressed with BOSS products. They're overpriced, have limited life, and aren't that effective for the money.

An easy pedal to use, you just need to figure out where to set the suppression threshold.

I use this pedal with a Boss DS-1, Lexicon MXP 100, and a Cry Baby. I play through a Fender Blues Junior. It does a good job of suppressing noise and not affecting your effects. I am very pleased with it.

I have always been able to depend on my Boss pedals. I power it with an ac adaptor so I don't have to worry about batteries.

N/A

I bought this pedal used and have been using it for two years without any problems. I play rock and roll. I have compared this to a couple of other noise suppressing pedals and I like how this pedal doesn't cut out effects or alter them much. I usually have the noise threshold up all the way because I mic my amp through a system and try to have as 0 noise as possible. If I was playing in a club just with an amp for volume, I would set the threshold back a little. It's an expensive pedal, and I would look for one that is used.

I've found that this pedal is very easy to operate and configure.

Setup is a breeze. I have a number of boss pedals (boss v-wah, digital delay, flanger, chorus emsamble and tuner), and found that using these effects works best through the effects loop on the noise suppressor. I play a Les paul standard and my Marshall TSL100 that was making a lot of noise until I bought this pedal.

It's a boss!!!!

Never had to use support

Over all this pedal is a must if your having noise problems. I once had a rocktron hush and was not happy with it. It is not a fancy pedal, but it gets the job done.

This thing could have a big label on it saying "Idiot Proof". That is, if you read the manual ofcourse, which gives a very easy and detailed instruction on how to hook this up in your effects loop. Or simple between guitar and amp too ofcourse. It's a remake of the original Boss Noise Suppressor. With two easy buttons called "Threshold" and "Decay", how could one go wrong in finding a nice compromise between noise reduction and eventual tonal loss. Another nice feature is a button that turns the pedal in either a noise reducer, or a muter, which simply cuts all input by stepping on the pedal. I guess it's the easiest pedal I got here. Heck, it's a noise reducer, not a multi effects processor.

I use the noise supressor on a Roland BC-60/310 (May I use this space just to express how fantastic that Amp sounds, especially for its price?), with some other effects in the chain, the Boss MD-2 probably being the noisiest component, since it's a super distortion.

Okay, this is probably the new definition of "Enjoy the Silence". Any medium noise level gets cut out completely, without even noticeably influencing your tonal quality, which even at high levels of gating is mostly just a very small volume loss. Decay allows you to fix that nasty tone cutting that most noise gates have. The pedal knows what you are doing, in terms of which kind of sound it should filter out and which it should leave untouched. Especially those spacey high distorted solo's lose all of their noise, effectively boosting the quality in a very significant way. Also, being able to convert it into a mute pedal is bound to have some good uses.

Backup? Lol. Unless a big crack in the earth would open and swallow up my poor NS-2, no I would never even consider a backup. Heck, even the plastic buttons are attached over metal pins and placed below foot pedal level so there isn't even a change of breaking them off. As for the pedal itself, it's built like other Boss pedals: No breakable parts, and the rotation point of the pedal consists only of easily replaceable screws, no plastic parts and crap. It's built like a tank, no bottom battery compartments, the battery is located under the pedal which can be raised, and lasts very long.

Simply put, if an earthquake destroyed my town, then got hit by some nukes, then flooded (yeah i live in the netherlands) n then cleared out by some bulldozers, this would be one of the things that is still intact.

Never had to deal with customer support.

BUT, IF it got stolen, bashed, beamed up by aliens or vanished, I would buy it again, it's kind of a must. One of those things that you simply WANT in your guitar setup. It's very basic and any setup can use it.

First I hit all the distortions, and get plenty of noise. Then, I hit this, and poof, quiet. Quiet until I start to play, which still sounds exactly the same and uninfluenced. If you dislike noise or even excessive feedback, don't hesitate to get it.

Very easy to use...Manual does a good job of expaining how to do an effects loop with the pedal..other than that it's not really even needed..easy to figure out..

Does a good job of cutting out noise when I'm not playing...My only complaint is finding a happy median of a good threshold, and not cutting my sustained solos off to early..

It's boss....It has never gone out on me..and I don't expect it to..this is the only Noise Suppressor that I run..

I like having all of my hiss and swirls of my pedal cut out when i'm not playing...It also allows for a lot of my pops and clicks to be removed from my playing when accessing certain pedals...The nice thing about this pedal is that it allows you to power other pedals with it if you get the proper adapter...currently I have it powering 8 of my other effects pedal, which has helped me save a great deal of money...
If been playing for 12 years now and this pedal has greatly improved my live sound.

A high IQ is not required to operate this pedal. Simply takes a little trial and error to get the threshold and decay just right. I have both knobs at about 3 or 4 o'clock.

Guitar: American Fender Strat. Effects chain: Line 6 Delay modeler, DOD Juice Box, Boss Tremelo, Boss Octave, MXR Phaser, Vox Wah, Sabine tuner all run through a Marshall JMP 50-watter w/master. The NS-2 has become the most important pedal in the chain. I can't believe I didn't get this pedal sooner. Does exactly what it's supposed to by cutting out unwanted hum and noise during breaks in playing. Also powers other pedals with a daisy chain cable. Has a nice mute feature that, well, mutes everything. Great for tuning without wanting to be heard doing it.

Not sure about the quality of boss pedals now that they are NOT made in Japan, but I haven't had any problems so far. Still the same sturdy looking design.

Never had to deal with them. I guess that's a good sign.

If you have a noisy set up like mine, you need this pedal. I've been playing for about 15 years and like I said before, I can't believe I haven't been using it all along. I always had noise problems at gigs, especially with single coil pick-ups. Not anymore. I would buy a replacement in a heartbeat.

Very Simple. Just hook it up and adjust the threshold until noise is reduced to where you like it. Adjust the decay only if needed, or try to keep it as low as possible.

I use Crate GFX-212 amp and Crate 4x12 cab, with Dunlop Cry Baby and PRS Custom 22. With the amp, I was gettin much noise in between breaks, and was having trouble playing music with a lot of rests. The NS-2 cured it, but I do have to keep the threshold high which seems to reduce wanted feedback.

Never had a problem, works great. The power adaptor also keeps from burning up batteries. I don't gig with a backup.

Never needed it

For my High Gain style, the NS-2 is an invaluable addition to my setup. Unwanted noise during breaks, etc, is not a problem. However, noise is actually more likely to be caused be poor left and right hand technique, and therefore I've learned to control noise through my last 2 years of heavy playing. I'd never gig without it.

Very easy - just three knobs that will probably remain in the same position for the rest of your life.

My setup is: Ibanez JS100 -> NS-2 -> CS-3 -> CryBaby -> NS-2 (use the loop, dude!) -> Laney TF100. The NS-2 solved the problem that I had with the compressor (CS-3) while playing with heavy distortion: too much noise. I was surprised how this pedal filtered the bad stuff - my leads are much cleaner now. The loss of punch or gain is not significative, and the noise gate is also very effective. Now, I don't have to push the compressor off while I'm not playing (before, the noise and feedback were terrible).

It's a BOSS. Made in Taiwan but still a BOSS.

Never needed. But the website is very cool.

This little white box helped me to solve a problem that was a pain in the ass for the last three years: the noise generated when I added compression to distortion. If someone stole it, I will have to buy another, definitely it's an important part of my rig now.

Not a whole lot to figure out here. The knobs are pretty easy. I'd keep the decay as low as possible, and turn the level to around 12 or 1 o'clock.

It's just about perfect. Silence is the key, and you'll get plenty of that. I had a pretty noisy rig, and it took just about all the noise out of it. If it took it all out, I'd give it an 11, but that's not possible theoretically.

I had some really noise stuff (Boss OD-20, Fender Princeton 65 amp), and this thing just about killed the noise. I was amazed. I didn't notice any loss of tone or dynamics. There's an LED that will tell you when it's "reducing" and when it's not. It goes off as soon as you start playing, and I mean as soon. I didn't see any loss of sustain either.

It's a Boss. I don't expect ever see it die. It will live as long as the cock roaches have!

As compared to the other noise reduction products I saw, the NS-2 is pretty cheap. I'm sort of a Boss guy. So, I may be biased a bit. That said, the closest thing to it that might have worked as well was almost twice that much. You'll get a small power supply built-in if you need power for a couple small effects. I'm convinced. This pedal will cure the noise problems.

-looping is a little tricky, especially the tangle it creates on a home-made pedal board but well worth it for the effect.
-3 knobs. if you can't figure this out, you're a moron.

-esp viper, fender tele thru a bd-2, bf-2, and a roktek vibrator(!), looped into the ns-2 then into various delays thru a fender prosonic head and a home made 2x12.
-sounds and functions wonderfully, although there is signal loss in the higher settings as previously mentioned (kind of functions like a compressor on cheap drugs on these settings).

it's a boss. if it breaks you could use it as a weapon.

never had to w/ boss stuff.

-i play really experimental stuff. so i do both things that this pedal was made to alleviate(use a lot of pedals and play really high gain).
-i'd murder anyone who tried to take this from me.
-overall, i'd say this pedal is invaluable to effects freaks (if as a power supply if nothing else).

It did take a little playing around to get the optimum setting for me, but it wasn't difficult even without the manual (which I didn't get when I bought the pedal used). I can see that if you didn't know anything about noise gate use you might get confused, but that's not BOSS's fault. Once you get the hang of it you pretty much set and forget.

The only reason I didn't go with a 10 in this category is the annoyance of having to compare different setup options in terms of whether or not to use the loop.

As others have mentioned, finding a good setting is a compromise between how much noise you can accept versus a possible loss of sustain. That made it kind of hard to choose a rating, but in the end I'm happy with the sound I get with my preferred settings - I'm able to cut out at least some noise without degrading my tone, hence the high rating.

I find with medium settings (Threshold somewhere between 11 and 2 o'clock and Decay between about 10 and 1 o'clock) I'm not noticing a lack of sustain or degredation in tone, and noise is reduced to an acceptable level. 'Semi-extreme' settings were O.K. for rhythm playing, but reduced sustain in leads. Really extreme settings killed the tone and the sustain for rhythm or lead.

I use it between guitar and Yamaha DG-Stomp (which goes direct to PA), or between guitar and Rivera combo. Both Stomp and Rivera are nice and quiet on clean tones; I just wanted a noise suppressor to get rid of that high-gain hum that can be really annoying in bits of songs where the guitar is quiet.

Putting the DG-Stomp in the NS-2's loop was definitely quieter than running the NS-2 inline before the Stomp, but that seemed to have too much effect on the reverb and delay results. Things sounded more natural with the NS-2 inline (not using the loop), though the loop based hookup is an emergency standby for venues with really noisy wiring (lots of light dimmers or whatever).

No problems so far. Bought used it has happily survived whatever treatment the previous owner(s) gave it, and it wasn't kept in its box. Of course (all together now) it's a BOSS.

Low rating here solely because they don't have manuals available online. The Roland/BOSS website is O.K. apart from this. Never needed to deal with them for a repair, for this or several other BOSS pedals.

It does everything I expect of it. The whole sustain versus noise reduction problem is an issue for this effect type regardless of brand or model, so I wouldn't penalise BOSS for it.

Simple pedal with 3 function knobs however it has the best features a giging musician would want.Not only is this pedal a noise reducer it is also a power supply for 6 other pedals , has a mute function and its own "effects loop"

I use 2 of these pedals in my rig,one before the amps input and another in the effects loop.I set both pedals differently.The pedal going to the amps input is used for noise reduction/power supply for my pedals that sound best in this configuration-that is not in the effects loop- and any noise extraneous noise coming through my guitars circuit.The second pedal I run through my effects loop and has the mute function enabled so I can toggle between noise reduction and mute.This way you dont have to put your amplifier on stand-by or "off" as the case may be (My rig is tube)My rig is dead silent when muted none of the amps hiss or any other noise is heard (this is not the case if I only muted the input pedal)it also powers any pedals I'm using through the loop.

HIGH GAIN USERS take note; like most noise reduction devices if you set the threshold too high (settings above 3 o'clock) it does start reducing signal gain (as a few have noted/complained about)I play rock and "metal" music and use a VHT pitbull to do all the chores.I also use a treble boost with virtually all my guitars and as you can imagine the VHT is capable of very high gain.The pedal manages my sound very well and I dont expect it to work over its design limitations.

I would recommend a "gate"(instead) if you are constantly playing super high gain or extermely high volume heavy music and require immediate shunting of signal.Also keep in mind good left and right hand technique is paramount to keep noise minimal when using high gain and high volume for riffing.You have to be tighter than your own equipment.

As most Boss pedals it's been very reliable

Dont know never had to contact them.

There isnt anything else available that offers these features for a typical stomp box price.

I can't say anything that hasn't been said before.

Apart from the drop in volume wheen it's turned on and the click you hear sounds great I just turn the threshold allthe way up and the decay about halfway sorted. I plug my Ibanez RG550 into the NS-2 which then goes to my Marshall AVT150 Head into my Laney TF412A Cab I drive my amp pretty hard so when take my hands off my guitar instant feedback which I don't want with this switched on I get NO feedback. I give it a 9 cos of the click and volume drop but nothings perfect right

It's a Boss indestructable (Nearly).

Never dealt with them and probably wont have to.

This pedal does what I need it to I play melodic hardcore and all I wanted was to get rid of unwanted feedback which it does I was gonna by a Rocktron Hush rack unit and a Korg rack tuner but now I've got this I'll probably buy a Boss pedal tuner instead(you can get a NS-2 and a TU-2 for the same price as a Korg DTR-2) I stick this pedal on top of my amp cos I have it on all the time so I don't need it cluttering up the stage. If you want a well made, reasonably priced noise suppressor buy the NS-2.

Very simple to use. You can use it to mute all sound or to supress unwanted noise. Choose one. One control for time befor supressing sound has a recommended setting of minimum.

Even buzzy multiple effects are silent when the note stops sounding. The sound basically cuts off.

Seems very rugged.

Don't know.

This pedal makes a tremendous difference if you need to eliminate noise. Essential if you want to play in a quiet setting where people can hear the buzz. If the audience is drunken and rowdy maybe you do't need it. This is a pedal that does exactly what is supposed to do.

Three knobs: 1.- cutting, cut, cutter; 2.- Tring to fix; 3.- working/shut up. There is in the manual a important note: keep the delay/reverb out and far. It can feed really long chains.

Silence. Just silence...

Hard shell. NYPD has it as offensive non-firing weapon.

Don't know those guys. Hope never know them.

Nothing would be better than a good shielding, well-shielded cables, and well-grounded gear, but this little box its helpful when the above can't be met.

Just three knobs, Decay, Threshold, and the two modes - Reduction and Mute. Decay controls how fast the noise is reduced after a signal is passed through the pedal. Threshold controls how much of the overall noise is reduced. Neither of these knobs is functional when the mode is on Mute. Of course, Mute doesn't allow the signal to pass through the pedal and out of the amplifier.

It doesn't eliminate entirely all of the noise, but it is a very significant reduction. I'm not sure how this compares with other noise gates, this is the first and only noise gate i've owned or used, but i haven't had a reason to try another one or change. It satisfies my desires.

BOSS... if you can break one. Well... damn, good for you.

They've helped me out with a few operational questions of pedals that i don't yet have, and just wondering about the specs of it. I've heard from many many people that they are pretty crappy with other stuff, if i built pedals as reliable as BOSS does though, i logically wouldn't put too too much of my concern with fixing the three that were ever broken. But as far as i've been with them, they aren't too bad.

Like i said, the only thing i can complain about with this pedal is that it doesn't eliminate all of the noise, but i can't complain much, it reduces it A LOT. another small complaint is that it slightly reduces the overall volume of my guitar when it's turned on, but i leave it on all of the time, so if i just turn my amp's volume up a little, it's not really noticeable to anyone else. I'm very satisfied with this pedal, but the point of this thing is to criticize it, so there you have it. I recommend it.

Very easy to use....

As, far as sound quality goes, the NS-2 doesn't mess with your sound until you have the gate knobs cranked...after that, it's just a little 'rise' effect when you start to play clean guitar. other then that, it doesn't really effect Distortion settings (unless its surpressing feedback or string noise)

Boss = the Boss

haven't dealt, probably never will...

I use the NS-2 to not only surpress feedback, but I also use it to power all my other pedals using a daisy-chain. This makes it very convenient for me because then I dont have to mess with batteries or worry about power running low during gigs. If you use lots of pedals and like to control unwanted feedback or fret noise... Go to buy an NS-2 noise suppressor.

Very easy to use with a handy information pamphlet.

There are two basic ways to hook this pedal up when using a simple setup which consists of Guitar, Overdrive Pedal, NS2 and an amp.
The booklet shows the Overdrive being put in the effects loop of the NS2.
This effectively sets the gate to be triggered by the signal from the guitar pickups.
Less threshold is needed this way, but I notice a slight thinning of the tone. This would get a 7 rating.

On the other hand, if yoy simply hook it up inline without the effects loop..(ie.. simply guitar >> Overdrive >> NS2>> Amp) then the tone is not effected and the feel of the guitar is maintained as though you were playing with no NS2 at all.
A 10 this way !!

I have never had a Boss or DOD pedal go bad.

Never needed

Better than HUSH units and other fancy stuff for quieting a noisy gain boosted Tube Amp.

Very easy, even if you have to refer to manual because you're unfamiliar with noise gates.

Not really a "sound" effect. But it really does its job. No popping or cracking as the gate opens and shuts as with some noise gates.

BOSS! I have owned it for nearly 10 YEARS! It stayed in a drawer for 4 years as I didn't have a need for it for awhile. I let friends borrow and they did who knows what to it. I use it in my current bass setup and have never even had to resolder the battery connector as I have only used batteries and most pedals break here. BOSS!!!!

BOSS!

I love this thing. I have it as long as I have had my wife. I would replace the pedal and my wife if someone stole them.

2 knobs.. not very difficult, the only thing semi, difficult is setting this suka up to a multieffects unit, with the send/return loops... the manual explains how to do it though...

i play mostly metal and with emg-81 pickups, the pedal eats at sustain, and since the emgs are based on high volume and tons of sustain, my tone and some of my dynamics are covered up. this pedal also depends on the transparency of ur amplifier and cables... i have moster cables, and a mesa tube amp, and my sound is noticeably altered... however... its the best nosie suppressor i have used.

boss pedals never break... ever

n/a

definately the best noise suppressor i have used

It dosn't get any easier than this...
Plug 'n Play...

I use it to kill the noise that's coming from my Metal Zone and
also to suppress the hiss from the pickups.
It's a killer!!!

Can you depend on it?

Hahaha... hell yes !!!!
I would NOT preform a gig without it.
I can realy clean up your sound.

Ok... here we go again.
Ok, everybody, 1 , 2 , 3 IT'S A BOSS !!!!!!!

One of the best box ever made by boss.

Very easy to use.
Decent manual.
Read the other reviews for more details. Does require about 15-20 minutes of tweeking to get it right. Using this unit is like a trade off between noise silencing and sustain. The more your turn up the noise reduction the less sustain youll get on your single notes. Once you set it, its set for good though.

Just run my guitars through the NS-2 and into my cranked Peavey Supreme 100W head. This peavey is a very high gain unit, Like a Soldano, much more gain than my carvin X100B. So it picks up all kinds of hum and buzz when you stop playing.

Ths NS-2 kills all that noise. GREAT
Great sound quality, does exactly what its supposed to without altering my guitars tone.

Seems reliable. but I have only used it for band practice once. We'll see how long the battery lasts.

Havent had to contact Roland yet.

Great unit.
Kills hum and buzz through high gain amps, at high volumes.
Does not noticeably alter guitar tone.
It is a little expensive like all BOSS effects. But in this case you get what you pay for. Try and get one used on E-bay before buying it new. I'd give it a 10 if it were less than $85.

Very easy to use...took a couple of seconds to find the setting that kills the nasty, unwanted feedback I was getting when playing loud and with lots of distortion.

This thing has been a life saver...I play loud and with LOTS of gain. The only drawback that I run into is having less sustain on notes, most noticeable while playing lead...all you gotta do is tweak the adjustments for less decay...resulting in a little more feedback.

I beat the crap out of this pedal and it still works perfectly.

Never had a problem with any of my Boss pedals.

This pedal is a MUST have for anyone playing loud and with lots of gain. I use Les Pauls through a Vox wah into a Marshall Valvestate. Before I had this pedal I got crazy feedback anytime I took my hands off the strings...the NS-2 almost entirely eliminated the unwanted feedback.

The easiest Boss pedal I've ever used. I only used it with distortion. My EQ-7 was alright without it.

Works immediately to clean up sound. Very cool.

Seems the studiest of the Boss Pedals I own simply because it has the fewest nobs/adjustments. I would still be careful with it.

Haven't talked with them. Went to American Music for it and got a great price with free shipping (save your pennies and elegibility is easy)

A must if you color your sound with distortion (The digital distortion on my SX200D is good enough without it, but my MT-2 requires it). I play Rock, Blues, and some harder stuff on my 7-string. I only bought it because I bought an MT-2. Otherwise I'd pass on it--very limited window of use.