Boss RC-50 Loop Station

Pretty easy to use if you've used other loopers. Takes a little bit of patience and practice to get it perfect, but what doesn't these days.

Loses a few points because the manual is typical Rolandese; if you aren't used to that you'll have some issues (though they are MUCH better than they used to be).

Lots of other posters are complaining about how hard it is to use - maybe they just aren't very good with looping. It's _critical_ that you are on-beat with this machine. It'll punish you if you aren't.

Also, it would've been nice to have a "clear all" function, but as it stands my workaround is to switch the unit to select patch mode (by holding down the tempo pedal) and then toggle between patches - it'll clear anything that wasn't saved.

Sound is crisp and clear - especially when compared to my RC20 and RC20XL (which sound muddy by comparison).

My setup has a GT6B and a SP555 both running into the unit (6B via stereo ins and 555 via AUX in). The RC-50's left and right then get DI'ed into my PA. Easy to get a good balance between the input sounds and the looped sounds. There's no noticeable loss of fidelity between the direct sound and the looped sound.

I particularly like the ability to independently pan each of the 3 phrases which gives you a nice wide stereo field to play with.

Haven't tried it yet with a Mic, nor have I recorded with it; though I don't anticipate any issues.

I find the inputs can handle a hotter signal than my RC20s can, though I did notice that digital distortion to be a little more "harsh" than on the RC20s when you peak it out.

Haven't had the opportunity to gig with it yet, and I did get a "busy" error once while trying to control if via midi from the SP555. However, the machine is typically "Boss" in it's build style - lots of metal, strong plastic, etc. It reminds of my GT6B, which means it'll probably last far longer than it needs to.

A note about the delay/mute issue reported by some posters: if you turn off tempo synch on each of the phrases the problem disappears, or you can do what others have suggested and continue playing for the first half second or so over the loop (if you need tempo synch). It would've been nice had Boss actually spelled out this info in the manual (or maybe they did and I missed it), but it only took me 20 minutes of playing around to figure it out.

I feel confident using this in a band situation, hence I'd feel confident using this in a live setting.

Never dealt with Roland/Boss customer support, though their website is decent enough.

I play in a loop-based noise band - all backing tracks are made with this thing and my bass. It's a HUGE upgrade from the RC20/XLs both in terms of usability and sound quality (no more "hold for 2 seconds to undo")!

Since I came from a looper background, I had no problems getting up and running with the RC50. The choice of three independent simultaneous phrases is a godsend (no more trying to manually synchronize two or more stand-alone loopers, no more dealing with routing things into a bunch of line selectors, etc).

It's lacking in a few areas - namely it WILL NOT synch well to MIDI (if it's the slave), no "clear all" button, and so far I haven't found a way to individually set one or more of the phrases to not be loop synched - though perhaps it's buried in a menu somewhere and I just haven't noticed the option yet.

Also, there are a lot of posters who are slamming this thing for not working correctly - I would offer the opinion that it's not the machine's fault but rather their own for not spending enough time learning the intricacies and idiosyncrasies of the device. It's a deceptively complicated piece of kit - perhaps it's just not designed for the "now" generation.

Overall, a solid purchase. Works reliably, sounds great and looks mighty beastly as well. Were it stolen I wouldn't hesitate to grab another one.

I found this unit to be pretty simple to use out of the box... select the patch you want to dub into, hit the record button to start, hit it again to play back, hit it a third time to overdub, hit stop to stop playback. Switching between patches was simple; the undo/redo feature was handy enough.

I found the volume levels quite perplexing: when I first plugged in, I set the Master, Instrument, and Loop volumes all at 50% and nearly blew my eardrums. So I turned them all down to 2% (thanks to the digital display for the precision) and reached a volume level that matched what my setup sounded like without the pedal. I played for a while, recorded some loops, switched between patches and preset stuff, and when I came back to the loops I'd recorded, I had to turn the volume levels back up to where I started to get a normal sound again. I didn't keep this thing long enough to want to try it in a live setting, but that kind of thing would be disastrous in a show.

The manual was large, but for the features you get on the RC-50 it's not unreasonable.

Major letdown: the well-documented gap between recording and initial playback of loops. The software patch is available on the BOSS website and has been for a couple of years; why hasn't BOSS simply integrated that patch into the factory programming? Is there anyone, anywhere, who has ever thought, "Boy, I'd sure love it if I could play a loop into a pedal, and then it would put a half-second hiccup in the first time, and only the first time, I play the loop back!"? I downloaded the patch and followed the instructions to install and activate it, but never got it to work right.

This was my chief complaint with this pedal, and ultimately the reason I returned it. I used it with both of my rigs: a Taylor 810-LTD acoustic/electric thru a Fender Acoustasonic Jr; and my electric setup, a customized 1996 G&L Legacy thru an Orange AD-30, both alone and in my effects chain (Boss TU-2 tuner, Ernie Ball volume, Cry Baby wah, Line-6 DL4). In each case, I found my tone was significantly different with the RC-50 compared to without. Like most guitarists, I'm very precise about my tone: I've worked hard with my Fender to get a perfect reproduction of my acoustic sound, and my electric rig is likewise very specific. I ended up returning the RC-50 after a couple of weeks because I wanted a pedal that I can swap in and out of my setup without having to retune my amp every time. If you're planning to use this pedal every time out, you can work around its tonal deficiencies, but for $500, I expect a totally transparent effect.

Didn't keep it long enough to really say much here... I've always had good experiences with Boss stuff in the past (my beloved TU-2 is a tank), and while this obviously isn't the full-metal construction their single pedals feature, the plastic is heavy-duty and seemed robust enough. I didn't feel the need to step lightly when creating loops, at least.

The software upgrade is readily available on the Boss website, and it comes with a short PDF explaining how to install it. As far as the company itself goes, I've never had any dealings with them.

Ultimately the RC-50 feels to me like a test version of a great product. The features list is incredible, and if it all worked like I feel it should it would be the only viable looper for serious loop players. The problem is, the bugs aren't completely worked out, and for the kind of money you're shelling out, that's simply unacceptable. There's no reason for players to have to go online and download a software patch that's been out for two years before they even start playing. The volume issues should be simple to fix. Though I had no experience with it, the MIDI interface is apparently a nightmare and completely unreliable. And my ultimate complaint, the tone issues: how hard is it to make a simple bypass circuit? If Boss had done their homework and taken the RC-50 out for a series of test-drives, I'd still own it. As it stands, I messed with it for two weeks, then returned it for a DigiTech Jamman that cost half as much.

hello loop-people.
the manual is not complicated and the workshop on the boss website makes things really clear. after no more than half an hour you know the deal. you can make changes pretty fast. i will give an 8 cause i dont really like the knobs and and the hole machine in general..

for all music machines -i dont like this menues in the small displays,
everyting should be makeable with knobs, otherwise i prefer a computer.
the boss is not the worst in that menu display catergory, but still...

i didnt compare, i guess its good

its a solid case. the check in and outs seem in a way cheap to me, the things to step on it ( sorry i dont now the word in english for it) to change patches etc are kind of ..??hhh..not so nice .but i guess it wont break in two parts.

i got one from a store to try out over the weekend,which was very friendly, but has nothing to with boss actually. so i dont know

i have got the latest model and it still doesnt sync to midi and the mute after first record is there too. this mute is just enyoing , specially for a looper which is called the most ultimate looper ever. midi you just cant use that way, after half a minute your loop and the drum-machine will start to go different ways.
this looper offers really a lot of possibities, for me to many. for gigs i guess its dangerous to present your music with this looper, it becomes a lot about the looper, less the music you play, and in the end a loop is a playback. if its not freestyle music and you know what you will loop you might better play to a cd on stage. its easier. but well, its not the place to judge loop machines in general..
for me this machine has no soul( and doesnt work properly) and i got now the lexicon jam man, which has a nice charakter. i added more memory, got the 2. footswitch ( impossible to find the original, but its to easy to built one,, even for me) and i have my ideal looper even with perfect midi sync. it has less but very cool features,and wayyyyyy cooler than the digitech jamman...
well overall, i m very happy i didnt buy the boss. its not total crap, but i just didnt like it at all so ....

The manual is a train wreck;

It takes me ours of EQing to get any decent sound out of it (see next section);

Editing? I'm a computer scientist/software engineer... I'd rather look at the firmware source code than try to figure out by poking/prodding;

Sent the unit back to Roland for repair - "Instrument break up"; The unit was returned "no problem found"; Did they turn it on? Did they plug in a guitar? Do they have ears?

An analogy -- any sound source you plug in to the "instrument in" (and likely the aux-in and mic, but especially a guitar plugged in to the instrument input) sounds as if the signal is devalued to the lowest resolution mp3 compressed to "mud";

Do not plug a guitar directly in to this unit... the dynamics are lost and/or you will experience "break up" at any level;

You must run your guitar signal chain through a mixer and EQ for several hours before you can send the resulting signal to the RC-50;

The sound is as poor as poor can be;

Speaking of reliability -- Keep in mind, this was an Xmas present from Musicians Friend, in box -- there was a malicious spyware on the unit; When I connected USB to my computer, my computer was infected; I had to run a virus removal program on my computer AND the RC-50; So, the so called QA/test facility is infected and so are the units; Somebody in the vendor facility is visiting bad web site when they're supposed to be working;

The firmware has major problems with keeping synch and with midi control; I have my doubts if this unit could be relied on in a live environment and that's the only environment it's useful for, as in the studio I can do looping with other computing devices;

What a joke... they return the unit without even bothering to make an effort to diagnose the problem -- it's a cheap product workmanship / craftsmanship at an extreme price point;

I was ripped off, and a Christmas present at that; I'll have to use a laptop to loop on stage, using a mouse or something; This is going to the junk pile;

I will never ever purchase a product from Boss/Roland ever again, and I plan on being a professional gigging musician for the next 20 years;

Fooled me once, never again;

It is fairly easy to get sound out of it, but understanding exactly how it works so you can determine how to use it takes a lot more time. It's very straight forward but be prepared to spend some time learning where and how to access all the features. You'll have to read the manual - probably more than once. I did. I give it a 3 because idiots or the impatient need not apply.

The sound quality is excellent. The number of inputs and outputs are extreemly versitile. But again, be prepared to spend some time learning the operation. At first, every step of building a looping event had to be rehearsed - but after several months of working with it, the RC-50 is becoming a much more organic tool for building live performances. It's all a matter of knowing the looper. At first, playing and singing have to secondary to operating the pedal. But now that the pedal is becoming reflex and I'm able to improvise more with my singing and playing - within some structure of course.

I haven't had any trouble with it. I don't midi it to any thing. I do use the multiple outputs to give me seperate control and remix everything through a small mixer. As for the small gap of silence when ending a loop record that everyone complains about, yes- it bothered me at first, but then I realized that it is the quantize that is causing it as it recalculates the phrase length to match the midi rhythem length. If there is a silent gap, your late with your loop end point. Your forcing the pedal to play back something that has not been calculated yet. even though it is very fast at calculating the phrase length and starting playback. If you don't believe me - try cheating your loop end points to being slightly early and see what happens to the gap of silence. I also like the usb interface. haven't used it that much but I can see a lot of potential with a good editing program like Audition.

Haven't had to deal with them. Website seems to have everything that's available for download.

I think the RC-50 is very good at what is is designed to do. Someone else said "it's hard to call it an effect. you don't just step on it to turn it on or off like a chorus or distortion." As a looper it is loaded with features, which is good for some application and over complicated for others. I also have owned and gigged with a Boomerang for over 5 years and love it. The 2 loopers are very different beasts. The Boomerang is simple to operate, easy to learn, but can't sync to a rhythem track. The RC-50 has storage, rhythem, and multiple mode of playback. I will say that any looper will make you a better player. You immediatly hear every detail of you playing back in your face. Good and bad.

There is a learning curve thats for sure. But with the amount of features crammed into this thing you cant expect to just plug in and play.

The sound quality is good enough for me. it doesnt color or change my tone what goes in is what goes out. If you change the tempo of a loop after you recorded it it does get warped and scrambled. the reverse sounds nice but I never use it.

I shred face into this thing and make crazy sounding layers of lead guitar. I sync it to my korg electribe and it works great. you do have to use the looper as the master but I am ok with that because I am only using the electribe with it. I have read a lot of bad reviews about this looper and it makes me sad. First of all this is a cutting edge piece of technology priced for a working musician. there are some minor flaws sure but the fact is that it is more capable than any other looper besides a gibson echoplex or some other thing that costs thousands of dollars. Its kinda like ableton live in a box. This is the most amazing tool I have ever owned besides my guitar and my amp. You could record a full length album on this thing. This looper has made things possible that I never thought could be possible. I can play a show all by myself and it feels so good to be able to do that. when people see me play they stand in aww of what is going on and struggle to get there heads around how I am performing the music. If you actually take the time to learn and appreciate this device I honestly believe you can take over the world. it makes dreams come true.

As other posters have stated: you have to read the manual. There have been some bad reviews where it is obvious that the owner didn't take the time to read first and try second. I received mine from Sweetwater and as it was being shipped I read the downloaded manual...twice. I read through it once BEFORE buying. I was able to pull it out of the box, plug it in and start doing meaningful loops immediately.

The manual is typical Roland ... I'm getting used to their format and I can make it work. They have several downloadable help files that make it better.

Looping is a really deep concept and the things that the RC-50 do are REALLY deep looping concepts. Not to sound arrogant, but it not a suprise that some people have difficulty grasping what this pedal ( I hesitate to even call it an 'effect') does.

Sound quality is very good. Just watch your levels both on input and cumulative output. If you are performing live with it rehearse alot including starting with a zerod out rig at load-in.

I use the RC-50 in conjunction with a VG-99...very workable live rig.

I've owned GT-6's, GT-8's VG-88 and the VG-99. The RC-50, I would say is the most rugged built of them all (Ok the VG-88 was a tank too). It is truely built like a Boss compact pedal

Roland never seems to get a complex product out without muffing up the marketing of it and not coming up with documentation for every level of musician. A RC-50, VG-99 or a synth is just not the same as a compact pedal and pre sales and post sales support should be stepped up for complex products. Satisfied buyers know what they are getting and how to work it BEFORE it comes home.
I'm grading them down to a 8, just because they leave so many people confused and with buyer's remorse for no other reason than not understanding what is in their hands, what it does and how it works.
All that being said I've had good support over the years the few, very few times I've called Roland.

It does exactly what I want. It sounds great and has a good compromise between flexability and ease of use. The inputs and outputs are unparalled in loopers. I can use it live or to tool around with at home to practice. I'm working up live arrangements for it this week. It is great for the solo-coffee-bar performer and way cool for practice. I play in solo and in a Worship Team and it the Worship Team environment (get music in the week, perform that Sunday), the RC-50 will be invaluable working up solos and the such.

I'll call it another great Boss product, knowing that there are others that will not like it, because it is too complex.

Hi, I work at a store where we carry a crap ton of effects and I really love looping and sampling and I was super excited when I saw the RC-50 was coming out, but, I've got to say, Boss, this is a big disappointment. It's not about the hardware or the build quality, It's all about the software, it really really sucks, and isn't really set up for easy loop making. When you make music with loops and improvisational stuff it should be quick and easy. There are way to many menus that you have to wade through. Another thing is that all the samples automatically record in stereo, which is lame, because most people I know who buy the RC-50 are doing guitar stuff and want it for it's multi loop syncing and Midi syncing. I've been selling Boss for around ten years and I thing most of their stuff is good, but all the menu stuff that you have to get through is tough to deal with. I had practice with some people a couple of months back and I couldn't figure out how to sample in mono, and almost all of my memory was up. That was lame because I had to erase a bunch of stuff to get more memory. It come with 49 min 30 sec of internal time, but if you're like me and you can't figure out how to not record in stereo then you're stuck with half that amount of time.
I've been able to make it work with a Korg Electribe drummachine, but I had an older Yamaha and Sequential Circuits that I was super excited about making it work and it didn't work at all. That could have been because they were older and their midi wasn't the same as the newer midi.

Sound quality seems fine. I have friends that are hard core about different qualities of sampling, but it doesn't really bother me as long as there isn't any weird noise or thinness. I think that sound quality is fine.

Boss stuff is solid. I'm not worried about breaking it at all. They are good with their returns if it does brake, so I wouldn't sweat it.

I've had a couple of issues with them over the years, but Boss Customer support is generally pretty good.

So, it all comes down to the software and how things are laid out. If I was able to jump on it and make things happen really easily I'd give it a way better rating. But the fact that really important stuff isn't very easy to get to is not a good sign. Here's a couple of examples: Reverse is really tough to get to, you have to have an external FS-5U or FS-6 (I forget 100% which footswitch it is, the two button, grey one) and then you have a menu that you have to go through and get it all set up. That is totally going to take away from the spontaneity of looping. You can go through and make patches that have every thing set up the way that you want, but that takes a long time to figure out, like weeks, for real! I mean, I love looping, It's totally my thing, I sell them to people and tell them what's wrong and right with it before I sell it to people, and I am giving every one a warning with the Boss RC-50, It's going to be a big pain in the *** to figure out. Now if Boss let some one else come out with an operating system for it, I'm sure that it would be more usable. Although I really think it's going to come down to Boss coming out with a new unit before there is something that does this much cool looping stuff that is easy to use.
I snagged an Eventide Timefactor and it's actually really fun to do loops with, but it doesn't have near as many cool features like the RC-50, hmmm... Maybe Eventide should come out with a looper... I know that Line 6 came out with a new looper, and it sounds kind of cool, but Line 6 stuff is built really poorly. I've been dozens of bands tha tour with 2 or 3 Line 6 Delays just in case one fails on them.
Another option for people is just sticking with the RC-20xl, I think that's what most people who buy the RC-50 are coming from. The RC-20LX is pretty good for the money and it's fun. No midi, USB or multi looping, but it's easy to figure out and fun with a band!
Over all that's why I don't recommend the RC-50 unless you are very very patient and you have money that you don't mind toughing around. The features are Rad, but the usability is lame.

Ok so this thing is pretty easy to use, I'm just wishing I would have gotten on here before purchasing it. The idea that it was possible to play licks back at a slower or faster tempo was the main selling point for me and I waited a good spell to get one.

The quality of the loops is good once they are laid down, just dont try playing them with tap tempo. ANY difference in the original tempo will cause a warble in the loop that is unbearable. Maybe it's just not possible in digital technology yet but I'm surprised that Boss/Roland say that you can perform this operation.

I'm sure this thing smokes if you're just planning on using loops straight up without any tempo variation. It seems road-sturdy and after messing with the usb capabilities I was pretty impressed. A lot of folks have complained about latency when stopping/starting loops and recording but to be honest I didn't mess around with it long enough to notice that stuff. I was plain pissed, back in the box with no return option form Boss.

I'm trying to get store credit where I got it, if I have to keep it then hopefully there will be some kind of software upgrade for it. Anyone want a quality used?

I would recommend that guitar players get something else with their $500

ease of use, yeah its pretty to use as a door stop, jsut put it against your door and it will keep the door form closing!! This thing is the biggest waste of money on the planet, i got tootally scammed for $500 fo this piece of ****. Hell i see them in pawn shops now for $299.00 and no one buys them. i guess the word is out its a peice of **** that is so flawed,it doesnt sync to midi, doesnt even sync the loops too itself?! What a turd fest, most expensive toilet paper I ever bought, roland are pathetic crooks, stay away from this unit at all costs!! its just what a looper should not be

sound quality is good I will give it that, but what good is the sound quality if it cant sync up the loops and the way it does only an idiot would of thought up, hell, I cant even get rid of this peice of crap on ebay, I was shocked to find out that the loops dont even sync to themselves let alone any kind of outboard gear, and when it does it loses sync. I pray daily for at elast one more update to fix the midi and sync issues. I had to go back to my old rackmount lexicon jamman becasue the rc-50 was such a piece of ****.

who cares about reliability when the damn thing doesnt work worht a damn in the first place.Save your money and buy a tube amp or soemthing. They jsut totallty blew it, no9 wonder that roland guy looked so embareesed when he was demoing it at namm, I would too knowing how bad it was. It's a $500 dor stop, we will never see another update from these bastards and until they fix the sync and midi issues, it sits in my closet gathering dust becasue its so sad no one ev3n wants it. I couldnt sell it at a yard sale for $.25. I got caught u0p in the hype and thinking roland always delivers, well , they delivered a big turd right in my face and pocket book.

crap, they put out one lousy up0date to fix at elat the most obvious flaw which made it unsuable, but thats it, still as a looper its hopeless,.What the hel;l kind of looper doesnt sync to middi and ahardly sncs to itelf. that was the whole reason I bought this turd, come to discover how screwed up the software was, those midi jacks are for show only, they dont do ****, supposedly it sendds midi clock, but hell my external midi wont even sync to it. The drum guide is a disgrace, my rp-50 $50 pedal has better drum sounds than this $500.00 joke, I mean most everything syncs to midid these days yuo wopudl think that one of the msot important aspects of a looper ina $500 unit would not be ignored, roland borders on fraud with this unit!! I would never have bought this if I had known what kind of flaws it has and any roland *** kissin cheerleader on here who tells you that this thing syncs to middi is full of it!! It jsut doesnt, I tried to even have a drum machine follow the sync and it was no go,yeah it says it wasnts to be the master,totally lame, it doesnt work as anythinjg but!!! and even then,then to fidn it hardly syncs to itself, I mean from one loop to another loop on the same patch, It's totally embarrasing...I am nto a midi or looping newbie, but this is a turd made by an idiot who dont know sqwat about looping. totaly pathetic piece of ****!!!

I swear i had to go back to using the lexicon jamaman that does sync to midi clock and it doesnt have to be the damn master frist of all and it syncs to midi clock, the jerks at roland are too stupid to figure it out, its simple, give a loop a predefined time based on tempo and memory of unit and then have it sync to midi clock master or slave, instead it gots this idiots delight of a scheme which in the ends doesnt work worth ****, all I know , dont buy this unit as it might make you not only think roland sucks but it might make you quit playing alltogether, if there was an award for worst product of the year, worst product of the decade and in fact worst product ever, the roland rc-50 should get that award, I can wait 20 years and I will never see another update for this piece of ****; roland wont support it and cant have the unit sync or doo midi like a $100 ,20 year old lexicon jamman, nwo that is totally SAD!!! Save your money, this is the dark side of the music gear industry , putting out stuff that they know sucks!! LAME!!!! don;t buy the hype of this turd, man i kick my self, why didnt I order that tube amp instead of this piece of dung,dammn