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

After I bought it a year ago I'm gonna sell it now! It messed up my gig last saturday night where I felt like 30 years before when I was a absolute beginner!
As already mentioned the biggest problem is the sync. I'm a guitarplayer playing with a drummachine and tried real hard to feel komfortable with rc-50 synchronising it but it's not possible.
How could it be that while you're playing the chances to be in sync are less than let's say 50%?! You just can't kick back and relax with this thing. No way! Somebody here said it makes you play less and I would absolutely agree to that.
The other thing is: it happened very often to me that I steped on the wrong pedal or even on two pedals simultaneously and therefore triggered something I really didn't want ... like stopping the playback! This is because the thing is to small ... there's not enough room between the pedals.
Roland Boss should discontinue this thing and bring out something new:
bigger and with a much better chip. I'll be the first to buy it.

Cd-Qualitiy, nothing to complain

looks solid like most Boss Products

excellent (in Germany) I send the looper back, they checked the item and send it back within one week

This thing is crap - dont even think about synchronizing this peace of shit to any Midi Clock Source, you will hear an untolerable timing gap between the external (in my setup) sequencer-soundmodul and the "guide tone" You dont beleave me (?): try to programm the same beat as one of the "guide tone beats" and let them play together - the result is horrible. I have tried diverent machines (E-mu Command Station, Yamaha RS-7000, even a Roland Fantom-S). I could not believe that Boss is putting something on the market that is NOT WORKING properly. Even a old BOSS DR-550 Drummachine (from 1980) has synced perfectly, but not the RC-50 !!! And be aware: you can not work without the "guide tone" because otherwise the autoquantize of the machine will not work.
Personally I can not see how to use this unit sensefully, livelooping is not possible because of the gap between the "punchout" and the first loop start, and in the studio you cant use this piece of shit because of the unability to sync properly to Midiclock.

Bought new a few months ago. I got the newest 1.01 firmware. I found it quite easy to use but I'm generally good with complicated stuff like programming and configuring, I played with the device as I read the manual and after 2 days I was able to do about everyting. It could be hard to use if you're the kind of person who has a hard time setting his vcr, can't use a computer or is a beginner at playing music..

Sound quality is ok, cd quality which is not the best for recording purposes but better than most loopers.

One problem is that if you play tracks at different tempo than recorded it distorts real bad and makes some features like changing the tempo of a track and when it automatically resizes your track at the same length than the others in single mode useless, very deceiving.

The biggest problem: like a lot of people pointed out there's a soundless gap the first time you replay a loop, and NO IT HAS NOT BEEN CORRECTED IN THE NEWER FIRMWARE and it will never be, the only way to avoid that gap is to play without the included beats (click track/guide), which makes the unit unusable if you plan to use the guide as a metronome to make sure you play in tempo or in live situations if you plan to use beats. Boss uses the good old "it's not a bug it's a feature" excuse for this but it's obvious that it's a flaw in the device, probably because of a badly conceived chip and then they rushed the product in mass production without noticing.

Also, there is not a lot of memory for recorded tracks, you'll run out of space very quickly, you can dump them on a computer via a usb cable, but still, there's not a lot of place in it.

Looks solid, I wouldn't hit too hard on the pedals though, and I would keep it away from dust because it might get into the device through the pedals. And there's a hard disk in the device, if you know computers as much as I do, you know that a hard disk is prone to failing after a lot of use.

Customer support is bad, it took them over a month to answer a very simple question via email and the answer was not satisfactory at all.

I play lots of stuff, Pink Floyd, MetallicA, SRV, Rock/Metal/Alt, about everything guitar-oriented. I've been playing for 16 years and got a few Gibson, Fender and Ibanez guitars and others, Fender and Marshall amps. If it was stolen I would wait to see if they put a new product out where they fix the soundless gap. I still like the device, it's very good when you compose stuff, you can play a track then improvise over it and try new stuff without a recorder or a computer.

I use this site very often to read opinions of others but I never made any review about anything, but I have been deceived with this device mainly because of the soundless gap that will never be fixed and I felt that people should know about this before buying the unit so I decided to make this rating.

It took me a few days to to land on the right bell of the curve, but once the lightbulb came on it became quite easy to use.
The whole midi thing doesn't really affect me as I am purely a live musician, and play all of the instruments, I won't make a decission about that until I have actually tried that feature adinfinitum, to see if there isn't a way round it; as most people here who don't like it kept if for a week or two, and just like their short attention spans, sold it with bad temper and malice.
Starting and stopping in time, takes a we bit o' practive, but give it as long as you need, have patience, as you should know already that this is not a machine (ironically enough) for the super instant world, it is NOT (read: NOT) and effects pedal, YOU DON'T just turn it on and off like distortion or chorus, or squiddilddy pumpkinlater, YOU HAVE TO U S E Y O U R B R A I N.
The manual often takes time explaining why and how someting does what it does, but sometimes it's a bit cryptic as to how it should actually be practally programmed to ennact that example; but it does if you keep reading! One thing you have to remember is the wheel control and the buttons under it are universal, you access which loop you want to edit on the right, and adjust it's parameters with the wheel and buttons on the left. Editing patches is really easy, but as others have said in this forum, it does have its limitations. But as an artist I perceive these just as as challanges in a new working environment. People like Eno have Fripp have said, if it doesn't do quite what it's supposed to then exploit those parts, or find new ways of using this technology to YOUR advantage. And this is a very creative piece of equipment. You know, some people prefer american cars, some people prefer Asian cars, personally I think they all do the same thing, just a bit differently. And besides, I don't even want to drive....I walk. Make sure you update the software, I bought mine 2 weeks ago from a new order, and the new ones don't even ship with the firmupdate, UPDATE, THIS IS A MUST! Lightbulb = Ease of use.

I'm using guitars and amps with tis pedal, I don't care to name drop, we're not looping elephants, I think can all agree; but in my case I have actually made an infinite monkey, which was real fun!
I have a few different electric gits, a few acousitc, a bass; I also like to use Harmoniums (that's a reed organ with belows), strange noises, BURP, drums, percussion...crackle, crackle, crackle, that sort of thing. It's great for creating that pseudo Gregorian choir vibe. IT IS NOT NOISY, reproduces what you put into it well; you can use the tap tempo feature to time in the drum feature really well, but it won't speed up or slow down YOUR recorded loops very well, it get's a bit garbled, but if u want to bring in the drums or percussion later, that's fine. Some people say the rhythm guides are useless, I find with a bit of creativity, isolating the out for the drums, and manipulating them further with delay. With my delay pedals I can go from standard time, to dounle time, or make it lurch, turn make a standard 4/4 quite funky. REMEMBER T O U S E YOUR B R A I N.

The reverse is so cool, can make your guitar sound like strings, or a synth etc, really working hard on getting the decay right for a cello, it is a challange! Fade in and out is the only other real "effect on here", which is really useful.

Can I get the sound of my favorite artists? Well, sometimes I sit there for a while, have a smoke with Four tet cranking, and I think yes, I get his sound, he's a human being creating music in his own special way, I can do that to! If you really want to SOUND like someone else, then good for you.

Um, don't know yet, time will tell, I have a DD3 from the early nineties (made in Taiwan) that looks like it's been thrown out of plane but still works great...

Damn excellent here in New Zealand. The first one I bought through one of them dodgy online retailers who removes all trace of serial numbers to get round import/export tariffs. Thus you don't get no Boss warranty.
So I contacted Roland/Boss New Zealand. They said that if the worst came to the worst I could send it to them for no charge so they could find the internal serial number, then would be able to give me a waranty. I got money money back on the scam, got a "proper deal" and Roland from a terrestrial shop.

Am as happy as a pig in sh.t......heh

I play pop music, I love singer songwriter stuff; I play ambient stuff, metal stuff, classical stuff, jazz and blues stuff, oonst oonst stuff. Guitar stuff, read, guitar stuff.

I have been playing for almost 20 years.

Lost or stolen, I'd buy another.

My favorite feature on it is that it makes my tiny little brain work really hard, that is always a good feature.

I compare to the people playing it and how much patience they have to manipulate its many wonders.

I wish it had raindeer nose and yellow loco pantyhose.

I've had it for 3 weeks, and I'm already a much better musician for it.

This is not something you just turn off and on and use, well at least not intially, it get's that way. If you need a calculator to use your brain, can't appreciate how good knowledge takes a bit of time, and you can only talk/spell in TXT (sms) lingo, then don't bother buying this.

Anything else you'd like to share?
When I was a child I fell over and hurt my knee, I now have a scar. When I get older, I may need a walking stick as old joints tend to get arthritic easlier than younger.

"I am the Anti-Christ, I am the Walrus". Donny Tourettes on "Nevermind the Buzzcocks".

ok here is my third review ,ease of use is a 1, whata turd of a product, I am sorry but they really didnt think this out well,its har as hell to get it to sync to samples and that is just overdubing?!?!!

excellent soudn quality,about all they did right,dosnt sync via midid worth a darn, they should have done stmpte and midi clock,lamers, they dont knwo anything about looping or how to buold a decent unit sadly, they got bad advice, the whole looping principle is lost when using this unit.specifically, the entire midi sync section doesnt work worth a darn, a boomerang would tear it apart as a free stand9ing looper, it hardly syncs to itself and that is in overdubbing on the same track, LAME!!!!

I am returing it, even if I lose $100 in restocking fee, better than wasting more time with this turd or a product. Its such a shame I had such high hopes for it and they cant even copy lexicon's 20-30 year old design for syncing to midi clock which works without a flaw. now that is super lame!! When i tried to sync from acid, the lexicon just kicks butt and syncs perfectly every time!!, the rc-50 was totally non functional, haha, I mean one second it would loop at 120 then next couple of beats 75 then 150 then 80, pathetic!!!!!!!!!!!!! STEAR CLEAR of THIS $500 doorstop,IT GIVES LOOPING a BAD NAME!!! Why couldnt they get someone who knew something about looping help design this?!?! instead of someone immitating and getting it wrong!!! toally dissapointed, no digusted!!

lousy support ,1 update so they could get a few flawed units out the door

ok, after a long time with this turd, I basically have a $500 door stop, usually when I get a new piece of gear ,it makes me play more, this thing makes me play less, I have other looper s that totally rock, I wish they had consulted a real looper like myself when trying to build thi unit, becasue they got an imitation of a decent looper, it syncs to nothing, hardly itself,I mean, that is totally weak, my lexicon jamman looper rackmount, now that unit SYNCS!!!! totally easily with no thought, but the midi jack are for looks,lame

ok, I want to revise my earlier review, ok, the deal is this, it is a gereat stand alone looper, but forget syncing via midi,but I did find that internally it can be a really great looper, I mean the loops snc to each otehr no problem,but for drum samples i use a PC software like acid,ableton,etc...,it jsut wont sync to it, but I have to admit it has some amazingly col sounds if you sync internally,in other words as a stand alone looper.I just did some recordings and am amazed at the sound quality.I was totally less thrilled with recordings where i tried to sync to an external source though,but that aside and it's really a great sounding looper for tangerine dream type stuff or fripp/belew king crimson stuff,but that is the catch, internal sync only,midi sync is sad tempo wise and the guide is ok for practice only, sounds like a $20 crap drum machine (my digitech rp-50 for $39 soudns better).but you could load in some drum samples.

ok, again, forgt using it to sync to anything but itself, it is then that the unit shows its stuff I have fouund. The sereo sound samples sync to them selves great. so, it i unqiue in a way. I wanted to incorporate it into my exisiting looping setup that syncs to middi,software,etc..no way wont work. but by itself it does then work really well and can be used for some really cool looping stuff. so, i wont return it for this very reason.Also, by itself the soudn quality in recordings is great, when i try to use it with my exisiting loopign gear ,it sucks and sounds lousy. when i say alone, i mean run your instrument/effects into it, but dont ty to sync it with a drum machine or software,it jsut dosnt work for that.,interesting.I have to admit I made some really cool recordings that are super clean with jsut this unit (no drums), i could nto do that before becasue th loopers i us are a bit noisy,so this fits the bill.hmmm, I am dumbfounded by this revelation. It's actually cool to have a pure rc-50 track ona looping album ,as most of my recordings are drums,bass,lead guitar,loops etc..., so in a way the rc-50 is quite a simple device and a very cool one if you don;t try to force it to do what it jsut cant do (like syncing to external devices via midi,you casn check this by trying to sync and then hit the tempo button and look and see hwo the tempo fluctuates instead of being steady).

this unit frustrated me to no end until I sat back and jsut tried it as a standalone looper and then the potential of it came out,it is growing on me . so if you jsut bought one of thes and cant work it nto your sstem, dont get rid of it jsut yet, try working with it by itself and you will find that it is vey cool. Man, for movie soundtracks it is just perfect!!! you know ,like brooding pantymelters and so on.....haha

they will never fix the midi sync issue in my opinion and I guess I expected too much in a way, but by itself as the sole looper it does do some awesome things. so, I wont return this unit as I had planned.

ok, just did a track with rc-50 with just loops turned the "guide aka cheap ass drum machine good for practicing" sound off and just loops with no external midi /tempo syncing to other units except within the unit and man, it is totally awesome~~ I was about to return this pup,but I see some uses for it.It doesnt replace my main looping stuff (which does sync),but is a great alternative to it as a stand alone looper, i can live with that as I could never loop with no drums as I would always get a hiss or a mono sound.if your not set in your ways (as I was) ,the rc50 can be a really cool device,but you have to adapt to it and nto the othe way around.

the boomerang completely dogs thsi unit, it is so easy and musical compared to this pedalbaord. Though, its really nto that tough tofigure out, but has alot fo useless bells and wistles

excellent,though i cetianly cant say i heard a difference beteen the mono and stereo options

roland and boss stuff is good

total crap, they only sell the crap, the actual engineers are in japan

the midi implementation is a total disgrace, the thing wont sync to sqwat!!! not even with midi clock. Not only that it varis the midi clock tempo, useless!!! This is why I bought this and then i find out it DOESNT WORK!!! They need to erdo the midi implementation totally. what a bunch of boneheads. I would be happy to loan them my lexicon jamman rackmount looper, now those guys new how to sync to midi!!! Midi sync works great ,but the rc-50 is a turd, the midi jacks are for looks basicly. I was really dissapointed!!! Why didn;t they jsut rip off lexicon and copy their midi implementation,it works great, suprised at how lousy the midi sync was, returning unit because of this, I wish the rackmount jaman was still made, it worked, midi was spot on, so hwo could booss screw this up this badly, LAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! if I wanted a standalone looper I would get another boomerang at least those are simple and sound musical and amazing!! and of course for syncing they only usd midi clock and not MTC!?!?! lame again!! bascially if you want it as a stand alone looper its decent, but any midi syncing ,forget it its crap and doesnt work,also it loses sync and worse you need a start midi message for it to sync, what kind of idiot thought that one up, totally lame,its going back,I wasted days on this turd

I had the Boss RC-50 Loop Station up and running and could use most of the basic functions less than thirty minutes after bringing it home. There are a lot of set-up and playback options, though, which will likely take some time to master, but tossing some sound on it and using it for a loop is pretty easy. Due to the complexity of this beast the manual is pretty intensive, and I would strongly suggest downloading the Workshop booklets from the Boss website. They're much more straight forward about how to jump in and start working this thing, while the owners manual will provide the fine details about the nuances of setting this up to meet your personal preferences.

I see that others on this site stated it's not capable of doing certain things (like change patches while playing), but if you spend enough time digging through the Owner's Manual and Workshop booklets you'll see that it can indeed do these things.

The sound I'm getting after running all my gear through the RC-50 seems to be, for the most part, basically the same as it is without the looper hooked up. My main instruments are a Fender Strat or a Fender acoustic-electric 12-string run though a boatload of Boss and Electro Harmonix pedals, then into the RC-50, then either into a Fender amp (usually an FM212DSP) or directly into a mixing board. I also run my Korg synth and some electronic drum machines through the RC-50 and everything sounds pretty clean. It doesn't eliminate the usual amount of buzzing I get from using so many pedals, but it doesn't add to it either.

While I can agree with thoses that find the variety of drum beats a bit cheesy, I also think they give you a nice variety to work with and many of them are very usable as building blocks from which you can add more complex percussion patterns. I keep a Boss FS-5U remote switch hooked up so I can easily turn the guide pattern on and off, which is a feature that can also be easily re-assigned to one of the on-board foot switches.

It seems pretty tough as do all Boss products, but at the same time it's pretty lightweight and for $500 I'd be pretty nervous about letting it get banged around too much. It'd be nice if they made, or even included, a nice protective carrying case for this thing.

Even though I own at least a dozen Boss pedals I've never really had to deal with issues through their service department. I do know that there are English-speaking people available by phone if I need them, which is more than I can say about many other companies.

I actually went out and bought the Boss RC-20, but after using it for about a week I could already see that I wanted the most deluxe version of this thing that Boss makes! All-in-all I'd say this is the coolest, most creative, most useful effects pedal I've every purchased. It was worth every penny, especially considering that most other decent pedals are still almost half the cost of an RC-50. If you have the desire and ability to be able to layer multiple musical ideas, or if you're generally just a creative person, then don't even think twice about it, just go pick one of these bad boys up.

I found the user manual well made. The Workshop papers they have online is a very good complement. You need also the internet to figure out things that are not documentation, especially limitations of the unit.

No issues.

No problem up to now but I'm just a casual user.

I delt with them through e-mail. Always responded promptly. Although they are very Company oriented. For example they won't say that something is a limitation or makes a feature useless, they will say that "there is a slight delay".... As far as I know, in music, a slight delay is a major problem!

In the first 2 days of owning the unit I discovered 2 limitations that prevent me from using the unit for some of the songs I want to play with it.
1. The minium track duration is 1.5 second. So if you have a bridge that is shorter than that, it will add time to fit 1.5 seconds.
2. There is documentation that shows you how to switch patch while your playing. In reality, there is a delay when it switches, so it's of no use because of that pause. So this unit, by itself, is limited to 3 phrases per patch, can't switch to another patch without delay.

I've never used a pedal of any kind... ever, and I had this thing up and running in about 30 minutes. Granted, it will take many months to figure out how to use the bazillion gadgets that come with it, but right out of the box, I plugged it in, stepped on record, and started jamming with myself.

The sound is incredible. I run everything (electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, mic) into a Mackie mixer, then out to the Loop Station and back to the mixer in stereo. I literally create a whole band all live. You get exactly what you put into it. Drum patterns are good and flexible. Preset back up tracks are great for lead practice, if you're not getting good sound quality, it's not the loop station.

Only had it about 6 months, but anticipate good reliability.

Never dealt with them.

I play multiple styles but mostly classic rock and acoustic mellow stuff. Been a musician since I was 10, about 30 years. If I lost this I would have to replace it, it would be like losing a loved one. If there was one thing I wish it had, it would be more jacks to plug in mulitple instruments, but that's what I use my mixer for.

The little glitch everyone talks about is the one second mute when you first begin playback. I found this to be easily overcome by continuing to play over it. I use this Loop Station live with complete confidence, and highly recommend it.

So yes... it gets complicated after 20 minutes, but that's only because there are a ton of options.

Look people, this is bottom line, the best looper on the market. Do you know how much money KT Tunstill has made off of "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree?" She used an Akai E2 Headrush which is a child compared to this monster...

Taking into account all the problems that everybody mentions here, I would probably give it a 6, BUT, and thats a big but... After learning how to use this machine, you'll know how to use all of Boss's pedals. Thats a pretty worthwhile skill to have, because most people starting out should be useing Boss pedals. There simply is no other option.


And 'whatever' to the manuel being too hard to read. The manual constantly repeats itself and you can't blame the manual for not having the skills to use the equiptment.

I use the reverse function all the time. The reverse starts after you've completed your loop, and normaly I would say 'Lame' but the fact that the audience can see you playing a solo, and the hit the pedal, and walk away from your gear as everything is played in reverse, makes up for this fact. If you don't get laid after playing this out live... you just simply need to stay home and practice more. My girfriend cost me 2 grand a month, while this thing only costs 500 bucks and a few cups of coffee.

Some on board effects would be nice. The guide is the worst guide I've ever heard. The samples are lame, the choices are lame, there are no options, and it took me 1 year to figure out how to get rid of the guide. You have to direct to an output that your not using. So if your playing live using your 2 main outputs, put the guide out to your suboutputs and the stupid thing will go away.

I read the manual everyweek, at least 3 times a week in the sauna before I work out. I kid you not, I just figured this out.

The first show that I had, it crashed. I was tried in vain to get it to work while my cheesy back up singer kept asking me what was going on. The bar owner started yelling at me and the crowd started to yell... 'Boo....'

I collected my gear, ran out through the kitchen, and thought I was going to get beat up. I'm not even kidding.

I'm still gigging with her, but that night was the worst performance night of my life. Total Technical Meldown. Thanks Boss. Thanks Roland.

But... alas.. I love my RC-50, and I would be crushed if she left me for good.

I work next to ROLANDs call center. Their employees eat at the same food court I eat at for lunch. I go to the salad line. They go to the greasy burger line. I order juice. They order chilli-cheese fries.

Customer Support for Roland is fat blonde women who drive Daewoo cars. Do you know who Daewoo is? Thats Korea's car company. They are undoubtably the worst car company in the world. Rolands support center is all fat, dumb blonde women lame enough to purchase the worst cars in the world.

The only reason why they get a three is because they have a lot of phone numbers. I know that the peole on the other end are all air-heads, but the illusion of customer support some how does it for me.

I'm a straight forward acoustic looper. This is the best product on the market for looping. If you want something better, then you have to use Ableton Live. Thats computer based, and I don't swing like that.

I've been playing for 10 years, and I only use Boss Gear, except for my vocals, which I use a Digitech Vocal Live 4. Dont' laugh at me you stupid techy's. If you tweak your Digi-tech gear, its easier on stage than your fancy TC Helicon Corvette vocal processors.

If my RC-50 were lost or stolen I would buy another one that night. I would post flyer around the neighborhood with her picture on it saying 'have you seen me' and I'd offer a reward of 1 thousand dollars.

I bet none of these lamo's who gave her bad reviews even realize that they can make loops on their computer, and then import the beats into her.

What do I love about her? Well, I like the way she looks at me across the dinner table. Sure, we fight sometimes, and sometimes she just can't stop repeating herself over and over again. I hate having to turn the power off to cool her down, but I love her.

I don't compare this to any product cause all the other loop products suck. The only thing that is better are computer based products. The industry is going that way, but for pro-audiophiles like myself.... RC-50 is the best.

Dending how familiar you are with gear of this nature (and manuals in general), It is fairly easy. You can miss minute cursory details if you go too quickly. s an example, I always edit loop;s at highest bitrate/sample rate to try and compensate for what I perceive to digital audio deficiencies. The RD50 only accepts 44.1khz/16 bit samples period. That cost me one day of headscratching, swearing, etc etc. Fortunately, the guys at tech support were unbelievably patient and competent in solving my boneheaded mistake. Kudos!!

As goes digital in 44.1khz/16bit, all you could expect.

Been great so far, have used GR33's for years. Reliability should be just as good....

see #1

Nothing out there is as complete a package. There are loopers with more features (The Oberheim/Gibson looper comes to mind as I had 1), but none as compact and powerful in this price range. Had an akai headrush and a jamman before, but this jusyt has too many bells and whistles for them to compete.

PETER'S REVIEW ADDENDUM:

I just returned this thing. it's really tiresome to use when playing with an actual drummer. it seems much happier when utilizing the internal loops. it's just such a pain to create perfect loops in a live setting. (my bassist had less of a problem with it, but he plays extremely repetitive parts that sound kinda like loops anyhow). also, whenever i hook it up to my pc(windows xp), it crashes it when i go to disconnect.

one thing to keep in mind is that your amp will start muddying things up pretty quickly- again, this wasn't an issue at practice volumes, but it quickly became a nightmare when looping various overdriven textures. i'd have the loops go out to second amp if i were seriously considering trying to use it live. again, because his bass tone is pretty clean, this was less of an issue for bass.

again, the issue is, can i rely on this thing to give me a proper loop without being stuck following its metronome?

the boomerang probably makes more sense for a guitar player in a live setting. it's much simpler and you can get at everything with your feet.

btw, i tried the jam-man just now, hoping it would be better. it's noisy and it eats tone. and it's even worse at doing loops in proper time without the metronome.

This thing had me cursing like a truck driver the first 20 minutes. I tried using the quick start section of the manual, but between the Rolandese explanations and my utter impatience, i found myself just kicking the poor thing. I jumped ahead to the meat of the manual, and things started coming together. It's actually really simple to operate and get great results from, once you get the hang of it. i'd love for the record button to record so long as i'm holding it down, and then stop when i lift my foot. it took a bit of time to get used to switching it on and then off, but i guess it'll become second nature. the loops are helpful and sound pretty good, too.

changing tempo on already recorded phrases gets hilarious results- i was hoping it would be useful in live situations, e.g., if the drummer slips off beat. even the minutest changes made everything sound pretty weird. hopefully they'll do a software revision.

it's getting a 6 because it's difficult to operate without the manual.

the sound quality is pristine until you start doing a bunch of overdubs. i started with an old tape echoplex, which provides for stacking. this is way cleaner than an echoplex, and the degeneration sounds pretty cool anyway. the built-in loops are pretty cheesy-sounding, as they should be. forces one to get off one's ass and make some good loops!

i got it to screw up. i was pressing all sorts of stuff just to see if i could crash the thing, and i succeeded. ah, digital.... i crached the line 6 delay during a store demo awhile back, and the damned thing wouldn't pass audio until it was reset- i passed up on it, not stageworthy. the rc-50 was more kindly, and didn't mess with the straight signal- only the loops died.

i'm not entering a reliability rating because i just purchased it. let's see what happens to it on the road- i'm already considering wrapping it in plastic so that an accidentally spilled drink won't fry it.

the fact that it's upgradeable via usb means there's already some decent customer support going on.

I play in a loud 3 piece- our new record's got lots of overdubs, so something like this became a necessity. I was looking at the Boomerang, but I didn't like the fact that it has no stored memory. I'm annoyed that the tempo function is basically useless, unless I want to go Sun Ra on everyone. I'm also disappointed that there's no provision for adding internal memory.

Other than the aforementioned grievances, this thing does what it's supposed to do, and it does it well.

Read the manual and try it many ways. It will prove itself worthy of the stage.

It is cd quality. I run multi instruments through a mixer and rack THEN send the processed and taylored signal, in stereo, to the looper. Sounds fantastic once you match the playback level with the input level. Seemless.

Never failed. Nor has any of my Roland/Boss gear. Some is early 80's and still pumping.

Rock. Good match for a three piece. Helps to know some music theory. at it 20+ years. would replace if lost/stolen.

I use this for a three piece band. I generally loop the simple riffs, add a little percussion...etc. Makes the drummer work harder to stay right in tempo. Watch for phase cancellation when using with a mic.

It takes some time to learn, but, once you learn its concepts and limitations, I found it easy to use.

Sound quality is very good...but bear in mind that all samples will be compressed somewhat...so it won't produce a mirror image of the original sample, but close enough for live performance, and not bad for recording either.

Have had no reliability issues. It seems well-built...mostly metal. I've been banging it around on a huge pedalboard for over a year...no problems.

Have not dealt with Roland tech support

I've read many of the reviews on this site, and felt the need to respond.

I use the Loop Station in a rock duo. I provide all the instrumental backing, using an Ovation acoustic/electric guitar through a Zoom multi-effects acoustic processor, the Loop Station, and a Boss Digital Delay. I use the Loop Station's drum accompaniment on 85% of the songs.

MANY, MANY of the comments here are due to user error...sorry, folks, but you haven't fully learned how this unit operates. Having two or three different samples of different lengths on the three pedals, all synced to the beat of the song? YES...it does that. 1/4 second dropout the first time it plays back the loop you've just recorded? Yes, it does that, but you can make it so it doesn't with the software update available on Roland's Web site. Play Phrase A continuously until you press Phrase B pedal at a random point WITHOUT the machine starting the Phrase B riff right away? Yes, it does that...IN BEAT...you just have to set the pedals correctly.

I do ALL of these things with NO PROBLEMS.

Here's what it does, and does well: you can record and loop up to three samples simultaneously. You can OVERDUB those samples with additional parts. The samples can be DIFFERENT LENGTHS (see below for limitations). It CAN determine the tempo FROM THE SAMPLES and then SYNC the sample to that tempo, so it loops ON BEAT. It will SYNC via MIDI to other devices (but it needs to be the MASTER). You can STOP all samples SIMULTANEOUSLY with the optional footswitch. You can turn the drums on and off (without stopping the samples from playing) with another optional footswitch. You can route the output of the drums to a different jack, so the samples come out of one jack and the drums come out of another. You can upload samples from your computer directly to the Loop Station, and also back up the Loop Station data to computer. You can erase and rerecord ON THE FLY, using your feet.

Here's what it DOESN'T DO:
- you can't record a sample, and then change the tempo and expect the Loop Station to adjust your sample accordingly. The manual says it CAN, but it sounds like ****, so basically it CAN'T.
- it TAKES A SECOND to replay your sample...when you record a sample, then hit the pedal to play it back IMMEDIATELY, there's a MUTE of a few milliseconds (NOT a DELAY, but a MUTE). So play OVER IT for half a beat and it's fine. The software upgrade available on Roland's site can remove this issue...if you play on beat.
- you CANNOT easily and quickly choose a different PATCH during a song...if you want to change drum beats, for instance, you have to hold down a pedal for two seconds, press another pedal to go to the next patch, then press it again. And the drums will stop while you do this. Not something you can do during a song....unless that delay is acceptable. You certainly can't do it on-beat.
- if you want to make samples of DIFFERENT LENGTHS, then you can't play them SIMULTANEOUSLY (actually you CAN, but it won't sound good - trust me). For example, if you record one sample that's 4 bars (like an intro), then a second sample that's 8 bars (like the verse), you'd want to play the intro first and the verse second, right? So that's the best way to use samples of different lengths. And the Loop Station can be configured to do this....you can start the Intro, then press the second pedal (Verse) any time before the Intro ends, and it will seamlessly play the Verse, in beat, when the Intro ends.

This device has REVOLUTIONIZED our live act - we sound like a full band when there's only two of us. We play over 100 gigs a year....

So, in conclusion, this is a VERY GOOD device, but you have to LEARN IT. And it would be REAL NICE if the reviewers took some of that responsibility, instead of blaming everything on Roland. We call that "User Error" in the PC world. LEARN HOW THE THING WORKS BEFORE YOU ASSUME THAT IT DOESN'T.

Wow,at the other reviews that are low for this,sounds like "I wanted a 2000 dollar recording machine for 500 bucks,so it gets a bad review.This machine is so easy to use it's almost just common sense.I haven't had any problems like the other people here.The manual is straight to the point.I have the upgraded version,so maybe that is why I'm not getting the glitches,a Boss tech told me any problems it may have had were adressed.This is a looping dream!

I use a DD3 and an MT2 for soaring leads,there is NO noise,the drum loops are above par compared to many devices with drum machines.The playback quality is just what the manual states,nice clean CD quality!The sound quality through my Mesa Mark III is everything I'd hoped for.

The band is using two of these live in small clubs,basically the band is me and a bass player right now,we loop rhythm/drum patches for each song.This thing is built well and hasn't given us a problem onstage in the small venues we play.

Excellent,every question answered,call back was prompt.

I play anything from blues funk to metal and have been playing for 3 years,I owna Mesa MarkIII,a JCM 800 412 cab loaded with 75's.There isn't much I don't like about it at the price I paid,I could have spent well over 1500 bucks on a recorder,drum machine and interfaces to get the same use from the RC50.I do wish it had a removeable flash card,this machine has made my playing jump to a new level.Don't listen to dire reviews,go try this one out,sit down and go through the manual.

It's tough to learn how to use but a couple of hours should get you going fine.

It has some major bugs. See my additional information.

There is a bug that makes it unusable in a live siutation. See my additional comments

I called Boss got them to confirm the problem but I don't xpect a solution any time soon. The unit is going back to the store.

I purchased this unit a week ago and noticed the same problem many others have discovered. When you first complete the recording of the second and third phrases playback can be warped. The RC-50 seems to be trying to match loop tempos even though tempo sync is turned off. If you stop playback and immediately start again it plays back the loop correctly. If you undo the phrase and re-record it will play back correctly as well. Unfortunately, this makes this thing impossible to perform with. I called Boss and worked with a tech guy for 30 minutes. He was able to re-produce the problem on his end. I was told they would try and find a work around and they will call me back. I don???t expect to hear form them. I've read all the user reviews on the major online store sites and one guy mentioned the same problem. He also confirmed the bug with Boss and was told it's being addressed. That was 3 months ago and the guy I talked with had no idea about it. So it looks like it may not get fixed for a while. There is definitely a bug in the software. Unfortunately I could not find a work around and the problem is unpredictable. There is no way I can do a performance with the RC-50 until the problem is worked out.

Users who are only using the guide beats to record loops against may not have run into this problem yet. With the tempo sync and guide enabled the unit handles loops correctly. If you turn off the guide, disable tempo sync for each phrases and have the phrase change mode set to loop end you will deal with this glitch. If you record ??? undo and re-record you may get to behave for a while. But eventually it will glitch again.

I don???t always want to play along with the guide. I want to have complete freedom from any tempo sync and record and playback the loops exactly as I play them. I???m very disappointed in device because of the software problems and I???m going to return it. If there is a fix released at some point then I will purchase it again but for now I???d rather have my $500.00 back while Boss figures out what the problem is.

Aside from the show stopping play back problem I feel this device is the coolest looper available. The guide beats are a nice addition and I can import any stereo loop form my computer to perform with. The output options are top notch. Being able to output the guide separately from the loops I record is an excellent feature.

I caution anyone thinking of buying the RC-50. It???s has some problems right now and it might be best to wait for a fix.

Firmware Version 101 (Latest download from Roland Site)
No issue with the complexity of use.. read the manual and spend some time with it.

Major issue... can't believe that no one has remarked on it thus far in any of the submissions below... I use this unit in a one shot mode (ala Boomerang) and the problem is that if I record in say a four bar guitar rhythm phrase, each time I try to restart that phrase so I can solo over it , it will not restart... to be precise it will restart the first time with the famed 1/4 second drop out described in previous reviews , I dont have a problem with that, however the next time I restart the phrase precisely at the end of the 4th bar(start of the 1st bar again) it wont restart!!... If I hit the rec/Play/overdub button before the phrase ends or after the phrase has finished it starts no problem... only when I want to start it precisely at the end of the last bar does it stall (and lets face it this is the very time you want the loop to start again ).. Roland have noted the bug (I say bug but this is more than a bug.. this is a major functional flaw.. the thing wont loop when I want it to...a bit of a set back for a loop er wouldn't you think!!!???) any way Roland will give no indication when this will be fixed...if ever!!!

No Issues.. sound fine for live work in any case.. SHAME I CAN'T USE IT FOR WHAT ITS MEANT TO DO THOUGH!!!!!

I use it live and although I don't have an issue with it reliability I do have A MAJOR one with it's functionality(bug!!!) ..see above.

Sucks to high heaven.. they admit that the unit has a serious flaw but will make no effort at all to have it prioritised...They plead that they are helpless to effect any prioritisation with their Japanese paretn company...Bulls**t... I am mad angry ...

Nice idea but the supreme functionality flaw means that I have to record slightly more than the required four bars so that I can restart the phrase precisely on the four bar interval.. totally hokey workaround.

I would welcome any comments to my email address above.

WARNING - DO NOT BUY THE RC-50 WITHOUT PERFORMING THE SIMPLE TEST DESCRIBED IN THE SOUND QUALITY SECTION.

There is a major problem with the Boss RC-50. Try this for yourself - before you buy. Record a simple single phrase from an instrument with no added effects - play this back then adjust the patch tempo and play it again at this new speed - just one beat per minute up or down from the original results in a completely unusable phrase with the sound broken up and stuttering. Add to this an intermittent problem which is that even when you return to the original tempo the phrase was recorded at you may find that part of the phrase has been corrupted. There are some reviews that give the unit full marks - all that can be deduced from this is that the reviewers have not used the functions that cause the problem. I have tried three RC-50 units - two of which were Roland/Boss in store demonstration units and they perform in the same way.

I have returned the unit to the shop for a full refund - I no longer have confidence in the product.

Based on the previous reviews, I feel as though my definition of ???ease of use??? differs from others who have posted a review here. Make no mistake, there is a significant learning curve associated with the RC-50. Nonetheless, once you determine how to make this gizmo do what you want it to, accomplishing the desired task is generally quite easy. The user interface is logical and well thought out, and the pedals are firm, responsive, and supply good tactile feedback. Because I???m old and lazy, I purchased an accessory pedal to assist in changing patches and triggering the loop reverse function, thus negating any need to bend over at all.

The fidelity exceeds that required for most live situations.

Chassis is metal and use of plastic is minimal, so one would assume it???d last.

Haven???t used.

I purchased this looking for a looper, plain and simple, and was happy to find a surprisingly complex and versatile performance tool. Most of the negative comments I???ve read here appear to be associated with the frustration of dealing with the admittedly crappy manual. I, like the previous commenter, was also stuck on the verse/chorus/bridge thing, but once I did discover the secret, the solution was quite logical (Ervin, try the following: play mode = ???Single???, loop sync = ???Off???, and phrase change mode set to ???Loop End???). One thing the RC-50 will not do, however, is a traditional echo style loop where the repeated phrase reduces in volume over time. So for those of you looking to get your Fripp on, this is not the tool.

I haven???t experienced any of the timing issues mentioned, although I did need to adjust my playing style to something more loop friendly. The sound can be quite jarring when notes are cutoff mid-decay only to be followed by the first note of the start of your loop. Gain differences at the beginning and end of loops can also be quite ugly sounding, but again, these issues are a function of technique and not technology.

It's not the most intuitive i've tried but it works
the manual is rubbish, translated from mandarine or japanese and it's not pedagogical at all. its explanations are not clear.
i've upgraded the OS but still can't make it do what I want: Play Phrase A continuously untill I press Phrase B pedal at a random point WITHOUT the machine starting the Phrase B riff right away but at the END of the phrase A riff. Seems logical to me. Imagine you have a song with a verse and a chorus and you want to build up the song gradually without worrying about your foot's dexterity to hit the pedal at the exact time! Anyway what is bizarre is that the demo blues/jazz songs do this trick but I can't make it do it. If anyone out there has the answer I'd be very grateful. thx for reading.

Good Sound. No trouble so far.

It seems very solid and Reliable. Could use it for a gig.

I called them and they didn't know how to help me and they said they would call back, which they never did.

I play Jazz, folk and funk. 15 years of guitar playing. I'm not sure to buy this again coz it is not doing exactly what I want it to do.

bad interface not intuitive to use live at all. sorry, you can realy tell boss failed with this i mean if you look at how it is demoed in the video it just is basicaly a wav file player and recorder.
almost impossible to get a clean loop beacause of the horrible latency in the knobs.
not easy to use live and not easy to use period.
i bought this with the hope of being able to use it in the same fashion as someone like delila derbyshire however it just was not meant to be.
i kept it as long as i could and tried to get it to work but it never did properly.

ok how do i phrase this properly.
the sound going in comes out very nicely however it is almost impossible to get a clean loop due to the horrid latency and poor interface.
i am glad i never used this in front of anyone important.
this being said if you dragged loops from your computer you have previously edited it will loop but the way this box is sold is under the ilussion its going to work like the old electrix repeater or even a hardware version of ableton live.
its not either i am afraid.

well this is another major issue. during the week i had it the thing froze up twice. kept garbling the input.
i began to have doubts as to how long it would last anyways as the knobs particularly the main knob seems kinda wobbly and cheap.

dont know

this would have been awesome if it had done what it said it would wich was effortlessly create seemless loops in perfect sync with eachother. i suppose one could find worth in it if they were using it for loading backing tracks into it and playing along with them however whats the point in that. honestly i feel this is one of the worst new boss products to ever be realeased.
i am going to be going to england soon to work on a project based around live loops and i am sure glad i found out this did not work properly before i left.
not a good product nor a good value.
honestly despite the fact its not stereo the digitech jam man burries it.

First of all from some of the other postings I am not sure if we are talking about the same RC-50 This piece of equipment is a Train Wreck. For live use I have no clue how this thing could be used live. I have been using loopers for about 7 years now and there is no way I could use it live. The unit is Not user friendly at all.

The sound was not all that bad, however don't try to change the beat speed after you record, it will not sound like anything human. It will not sync with a drum machine, at least i could not make it work.

It appears built well but for me it was an expensive door stop. I suppose if you were just starting out it would be used for a learning tool. For gigging I think not.

I called customer support and they seemed helpful but we could not get the unit to sync with my Boss drum machine. After several weeks of messing with it I took it back. It just did not fit the bill for me.

Overall rating would be a 5 from 1 -10. Good learning tool but not for live use. I have been playing for over 25 yrs and was hoping this unit would help me out. I was mistaken. There are other loopers out there that are far better for live situation.

Compared to the Boomerang it's more difficult to use but considering the extra features it has, it's worth taking the time to learn how to use it for your looping needs. For example, if you add 2 foot switches and an expression pedal you can control most things this phrase looper does just using your feet: phrase recording, erasing, stopping, overdub undo, tempo setting, as well as shifting into reverse, patch changing, controlling playback levels etc.

Excellent sound quality except when you change the tempo of a phrase after you've recorded it. It loses all resemblance to a musical phrase and starts to sound artificial and gurgly. Also, when you try to return to the original tempo, it still sounds messed up...maybe I'm doing something wrong?

I love the fact that you have to "write" everything to save it to the machine. So accidently erasing a phrase is okay provided you don't save it...return to the patch and that backing track you recorded yesterday and moments ago just stomped over is magically back from digital heaven.

I haven't had any questions to pose to Roland so I cannot comment

It does everything I need it to do and I trust it on my gigs.

personally i find this product very simple and intuitive to use ..

seems fine to me....but maybe less than the source signal but its not obvious.

its a boss and its never revealed anything less than might be expected from the heap of boss products that i have used in the past...that have been rock solid.

they respond quickly on the us site but they admit that this product has some shortcomings that may or may not be corrected in the future.

i hope its in the near future.

ok lets take a rational view on this product. It does all it said it would do bar two things.

it cannot sync as a slave in midi with any accuracy.

it pauses when switching between patches which is frustrating considering it has settings and footpedals that would suggest that it can move between patches without a delay.Dont confuse patches with phrases...the three phrase loops do not have any pauses when played together or end on end.

in fact its obvious that this product was rushed out before these two areas were fully adressed and they are hoping that the public will be happy with the more basic functions that it does well.

the last post confused me...but maybe im using it in a different way...i set the tempo ...the built in drum machine sets the rythm and then i construct a perfect loop each and every time. In fact its just as usefull as my digitech jamman in that respect.

consider this machine as a three phrase looping machine with midi out in stereo plus a varied beat machine and you will not be dissapointed...in fact if thats all it was suposed to do i would still buy it.

hang on a bit longer and maybe the other two issues will be addressed with a system update.

normally i would give this category an 8 until the updates come through ...but given the hormonal responses of some of the previous reviewers i am compelled to give it a 200.....unfortunately it will only let me give a 10.

The manual was difficult to understand.

Sound quality is good though not totally transparent. It slightly colors the sound if you are a tone purist.

I've never called Boss.

Like many past reviews, the thing I hate the most about the RC-50 is the ~500ms delay of the loop audio kicking in when you mark the loop end point. It's not latency, but you have to play through to the first beat of the looped phrase the instant you mark the loop end point in order to compensate for this. So if I want to overdub seamlessly, I have to wait until the loop comes around the second time. As a result, I can't create the impact I'm looking in a live looping setting. I've been playing for 16 years. I'm a Berklee performance graduate, I also teach and play professionally. I haven't even begun with what a senseless waste of the RC-50's output's real estate is, or how you can't get it to do a simple headphone click for the drummer. For this price, it's a waste of money. Don't buy it.

The rc50 loopstation meets all the expectations but one: it doesn't sync as a slave with other midi devices. I stopped my trials after receiving confirmation from customer support that "At this time, it\'s not possible to have the RC-50 sync to an external device. It works best as the \"Master\" device"
It works fine as a master, and if you can do with that you will enjoy your loops.
To set up the device properly it's better if you read all the 90 pages of the manual, even if it's easy to start immedately with a simple loop.
My device has been updated to version 1.1

The sound of the loops is good. You can choose between mono and stereo recording. Don't try to change the tempo of a recorded loop, the sound will be metallic and distorted.

It seems solid enough to work around the world, but I will surely buy a beckup if my work depends on it.

I've soon received an answer from the email support about the midi sync problem mentioned above. I'm afraid they won't be able to address the issue, since I think it has no solution (at least with the current generation of microprocessors)

I use the station to loop with house music bands performing live, with sequencers. I play bass and upright. I wish they will improve the midi capabilities (why does the phrase start only in recording mode when I start the drum guide?).
This thing helps a lot in situations where the only harmonic/rhythmic/melodic instrument is your bass!

I currently use the RC- 50 as the brain of my band by sending a click to the drummer and timecode to every musician, my keys, and an Electribe pattern sequencer. Sometimes I use it in single mode with backing tracks extracted from protools, and sometimes I use it as a straight ahead 3 phrase looper. The RC- 50 is fairly easy to use if you know about loopers in general. The modes take some experimentation to get used to them. It's very important to know which mode you need to use in order to get your desired loop. Since this device is complicated you might have to stay sober in order to not mess up your whole show. As for the gripes of some of the previous reviewers, I think they don't know all the ins and outs of the pedal and are misusing it. Some more practice might suffice but this does display the fact that the RC-50 is not easy for everyone to use

I run all my instruments, including a vocal mic (I cannot give an opinion of the built in mic pre since I do not use it) into a mixer and route the signals accordingly to the RC 50 via an Aux send. The output of the looper is then fed back into the mixer. Used this way, the looper sounds great. In the future I plan to change this setup adding to it 2 more loopers in sync with the RC- 50.

Very reliable. It does what you ask it to do. If it isn't responding to you the way you want, forget the manual. Do some serious experimentation and learn what this thing does.

I'd say this is a great box. I would only compare it to other "MIDI" loopers since it's intended to use with a fixed tempo in mind. It sends a very stable clock and slaves very well to other devices. I want to note that if you send it a bad time code you will experience problems such as a few other reviewers have noticed. for example, My KORG Electribe has a very unreliable clock and I know to never use it as the master, but the electribe slaves to the RC-50 perfectly.

There is one thing this device lacks though, and that is the ability to sync different length loops in the multi mode. BOSS should have designed it so that the audio quantizes to the nearest beat but so hat it will create a loop of any number of beats not corresponding to the other two loops in the program. Such as, one loop of 8 beats, one of 16, and one of 6. Currently all the loops will record to the length of the first recorded loop. To me, this is a very limiting factor since I cannot load up a backing track, record a rhythm track , and then loop an instrument a whatever # of beats I choose in the heat of the live performance.

Maybe the upgrade will fix this problem (if anyone knows email me).
To do what I need to do, I will continue to use the RC-50, but only for my backing tracks and loops. I will sync 2 Lexicon jam Man's for my other instruments.

One last thing for the wishlist. I wish the undo button would allow one undo from each phrase so I could break my loops back down in a more complex fashion. This though, is splitting hairs compared to my previous gripe.

All in all, I hope this is the first of a long line of MIDI loopers from BOSS. I hope this is the beginning towards the creation of a looper that more easily fits into a band situation where tempo sync, monitoring and flexibility are all of the utmost importance.

Many people complained about some uneasyness of use. I don't confirm that. I think the unit has got a quite clever concept combining a lot of useful features in one sturdy floor pedal. Once you've understand the basic procedures this thing is a breeze to use. There are three system levels: system itself to tweak global settings, patch (i.e. kind of project) settings and finally phrase settings (while three phrases are a patch). You can set up things either globally or individually, even combining both. This way it's a very flexible system. Menues aren't too deep and all the main functions are available by knobs on the front panel. I have to admit, that I don't use guide and tempo features, which are a bit confusing here (also the manual), since there are some different ways to keep tracks (phrases) in sync. I try to use my internal clock or some external drums instead as often as possible...
One more thing: the glitch and hiccup issue is gone, there's a new OS out and available on the Roland site.

Sound quality is excellent, CD-like and stereo, which makes it even usable for hifiesqe synth stuff. That's where the fun is, I can record the looping stuff to my straight forward multitrack projects on the laptop and/or digital recorder, thus getting together two totally different approaches of creating tunes AND keeping the high quality level. By the way, a pair of sub outs provide some further possibilities like external effects or also loop feedback control (leading the sound via y-cable from the sub outs to the stereo AUX-in, then using Replace mode), which can be an important feature in the looping context.

Sturdy as all BOSS gear. Never had any serious problems with my BOSS units.

Several years ago I had damaged my SE-70 multieffect. Dealt with the service and things went easy and fast.

This is a piece of music equipment which definitely gives that kick I'm always looking for when getting some new gear. Partly it's that specific kind of making music using a looping device which really is a kind of magic and a lot of fun, and partly it's the RC-50 Loopstation itself providing the features and the reliabillity. It's fun and that's what it's all about. There are only two minor complaints: 1. I would prefer a unit as a combination of foot and hand control, since I don't like too much bending over to the floor for tweaking things. 2. The whole tempo and guide thing is somewhat confusing, there could be more/better explanation in the manual - I'm using external drum timing if needed.
Apart from that the RC-50 is a great looping device, providing excellent sound and some unique features in a sturdy case.

Ease of use is a bit hard to critique. There aren't alot of pedals out there that have as many features as this. The more features, the more "use". But I will say, that this unit for me was alot easier to navigate than the Electro-Harmonix 2880.

The only thing that I don't like about the RC-50 is the type of pedal that it is. I'm much more accustomed to the switch-button type footpedal on the Akai Headrush and EH2880 Foot Controller. The RC-50 pedal screws up my timing a little bit, but I'm hoping this is just something I need to get used to.

Great!
I've been an Akai Headrush user for a while now, and with that unit, there is a loss of sound and volume as you keep layering loops. With this unit, the sound is clean, and the mic preamp, which the akai headrush does not have, is quite usable.

I've been accustomed to Boss products in the past, but mainly their stomp boxes, which as everyone knows, are built quite tough. The casing on the RC-50 is quite rugged, but given how much I paid for it, I treat it as a fragile item.

On the other hand, I'm looking at the EH2880 right now, and the built quality on this unit is quite poor. I understand about the vintage/analog look that EH is known for but my EH Big Muff is even built a little better than the 2880.

I haven't needed to call them yet. But I will say, that when this pedal first came out, there was, what everyone seemed to call a "latency" issue; its more like a little hiccup issue when recording the first loop, and Roland/Boss has fixed that issue by providing a patch on their website. And yes, the patch does work. I downloaded it the day I bought the unit and updated the software.

I do have something to say about the software update and hiccup. The hiccup on the first recorded loop is there because the unit is making the rhythm of the phrase the priority vs the sound of the phrase. So the new software patch basically allows you to set on the RC50 whether you want to prioritize rhythm or sound. I set mine to sound, because I've been working with live loops for a while that I'm comfortable with my timing, but the rhythm priority is not really a glitch, its more of a setting that Boss thought would be helpful for the RC-50.

I gave a 10 in this catagory. The pedal is very simple to use (of course, I've owned a gt-8 processor for some time now, so I am used to the menus etc.). Some people say the manual is confusing, I just find they repeat themselves a lot in it. There are a set number of functions (single/multi, forward/reverse, etc). Once you know these basic functions, what they do and what function you want-it is pretty straightforward.

Pristine says it all! What you put in is what you get out-even after multiple overdubs on one phrase. Yes, as other people have written-if you change the tempo of a loop-it sounds a little choppy, so if you're doing something pre-set and tapping tempo along w/the band-the choppiness will come out. For rhythm guitar parts, etc it would be hard to detect, but for say drums-the cymbal hits etc would stick out a bit more.

Yes..........very dependable. It's sort like a lighter, smaller version of the gt-8 in design, and I've banged the gt-8 all to hell, and it keeps on keepin' on!

Haven't had to deal w/them yet...no rating here.

I play rock/funk/jazz/blues or whatever else I'm hired to play. On my own, I'm exploring the more avante-guarde side of things, and this machine helps me realize whatever it is I'm trying to do. If I want reverse-I got it, or say to hear only the direct signal, while the other two loops are playing, I can build a harmonized loop on say #3, and nobody would know it was being built until I turned it up. Some people have complained about stuttering or something like that-basically, for the first loop in multi-mode you need to have perfect timing. After that it's cake. I don't really use it too much in single mode, except for more on starightforward recordings, where I build up multi guitar layers, then usb it into my project on my DAW.

The RC-50 is my first loopstation, so I have nothing to compare with (except my trusty old powerbook installed with Ableton Live), I am a keyboardist by trade but used to handling other gadgets and instruments too (indian pump organ, kaoss pad, moogerfooger, kalimba etc.). I plugged the RC-50 straight in and it worked very quickly, no fuss at all. Editing patches was dead easy, and overdubbing too - no glitches or hitches.

I am using a little Mackie 1202 VLZ mixer and feeding the Loopstation from one or both AUX outputs. As long as I have some idea about the source level, my recordings sound great - I have had no artifacts or noise (although with a pump organ or miked up Kalimba, theres bound to be some..)

I am using it gigging and in a theatre where I am sampling the actors, while layering sounds from the Kalimba. Tried with computer first, but I much prefer the Loopstation, although it requires my shoes off! (So no dirty feet any more at gigs :))

Bought it at my local store, they are pretty supportive and I know they will help me out should something happen. But Boss/Roland C.S., really haven't got a clue!

The loopstation solved a problem I've been having for years - namely recording my keyboards etc. live while layering and mixing. Now I have left my powerbook to do the studio and office work, while the Loopstation from now on will follow me on every gig. Solid, great fun. And I did read the complaints about the manual before I bought the machine, so was prepared for the worst but it actually worked for me (maybe because I am not a native english speaker..?) For me only thumbs up!

It's a Boss.

The few times I've called they've been very helpful.

OTHER GRIPES:

Boss doesn't offer a carrying case for it. As far as a solution goes, I would try a hardshell paintball gun case. They start at around $22 (Brass Eagle) and go up to about $50 (Rufus Dawg-with removable shelf) and look like they are made for it. I ended up buying the Gator mixer case 1224 ($60) which allows me to use the original foam packing inserts on the ends and have enough room to put cables underneath, music folder on top, some space for a few other items, and a handy large pouch on the outside. My only problem with it is that is has a big GATOR logo on the side in UF colors (I'm an FSU seminole).

I am a classical guitarist by trade, but also have played in a bossa nova guitar, a flute and guitar duo, in addition to being an electric guitarist who plays and teaches. I bought this thing to relive my bossa duo days and be my own duo partner, in addition to recording other duo parts that would enable me to play more corporate upscale gigs.

There's no way the memory alloted to this internal hard drive will allow me to do all of those pieces, let alone put any kind of percussion of my own due to the lacking quality of the mic input. I generally put about a 20-60 second loop for each phrase (three phrases for each patch/tune). I have put about 14 tunes into it and it only has enough memory for about 7-10 more, which is probably enough for most people, but I feel that I probably have a bit bit more repertory than the average gigging guitarist.


Boss designing a machine that has complex menus, a very poor manual, sound quality that isn't any better than the RC-20XL, a phantom powered mic input that makes a quality mic sound like ass, and a need for at least twice as much memory if you're going fill up all 99 patches. But the unit does allow for a gigging guitarist (especially a duo

It's a Boss.

I've called them a few times and had no problems getting thru. They gladly asnwered all of my questions.

Boss designing a machine that has complex menus, a very poor manual, sound quality that isn't any better than the RC-20XL, a phantom powered mic input that makes a quality mic sound like ass, and a need for at least twice as much memory if you're going fill up all 99 patches. But the unit does allow for a gigging guitarist (especially a duo style guitarist) to have the flexibility to play out with your virtual self.

I wish Boss would create the RC-20XL with three small pedals across the front, 50 patches, an LED screen, a phantom powered mic input that sounded good, with at least 70 minutes worth of memory. That would be the ultimate looper in my humble opinion.

If you're into doing loops live, stick with the RC-20XL, unless you really find a need to have more memory and like to deal with user menus. If you're trying to create a song index that you can improvise over, I would suggest buying an MBox or even save your money and get a Digi002 Rack, and create loops via Protools and record them to disc and gig with a CD player. You'll be gigging with better sound quality, while learning a software interface that's much more useful for other things, and be allowing your feet to do less during a performance, especially since the chances of having the same amount of sections looped each time is fairly high. Plus you'll be using a CD player instead of this thing on the floor (and not have some jack-hole step/spill a drink on it).

Although the bulk of this review is negative, I will say that I have had some true fun with it on a gigging and teaching level. For the pieces I'm playing (one layer of bossa nova or rumba) I'm finding the general sound quality and varieties of the beats to be quite adequate for my needs. I'll keep it for now, but as soon as I complete the same amount of tunes on my Protools rig, I'll be dumping it on Ebay.

This is my second review for this same product. The RC-50 WAS like a dream for me, for about the first month of use. Then I started experiencing intermittent out-of-sync issues. The unit has become very unreliable and I never know if my phrases are going to sync up or not. This has caused extreme embarrassment in live situations, which is where I use my unit about 99% of the time. Also, the STOP feature does not always work immediately when the pedal is depressed.. Sometimes it does and sometimes it does not. It has established a mind of it's own. This has become devastating for me,as I have designed my entire show around this device.... Roland.. are you listening? This issue HAS to be fixed. Does anyone know of an upgrade?

sound quality is EXCELLENT, when it works.. but it does not matter how it sounds if it is unreliable. THe audience remembers what is BAD about the performance more than they recall what is good.

can NOT depend on this unit.

I am calling support tomorrow.. Will come back with my answer on this.

I perform a variety of jazz, blues, R&B, pop soft rock. I use the Bose PAS, Taylor T5 and mackie 12 mixer.

This thing is way easy to use if you figure out what mode you want to play in, but figuring out what all the modes do is the most difficult part of this gear. The manual is typical Boss, half translated and sometimes frusteratingly redundant in its descriptions of what buttons and fuctions do.

this records at near CD quality, and i cant hear any tone degredation after recording a phrase. The pitch correction on the tap tempo could use a lot of work, its decent if youre in a noisy band and you need to match tempos, but i would never use it recording it sounds like the processor is really struggling to keep up (it sounds like an old record that skips). it dosent add any noise that i can tell. I give it an 8 because of the tap tempo pitch correction.

havent gigged with it yet, but its a Boss. Its built like a tank.

I play midi guitar in an experimental indie rock band. This is perfect for our improv bits as we all love hearing a wall of sound with a drum beat. I play the Boss GT-8 and the Roland GR-33 stereo into a BBE 362 and then the looper stereo into my Roland Jazz Chorus 120. my main axe is a custom strat with a mexico neck. I got this pedal because its the only one available in stereo, and currently is the end all of all loopers under $2000. I wish you could assign the outputs individually instead of paired like they have it. and i also wish it had knobs above the phrase level knobs that were for real time panning for those of us who dont want to go get another expression pedal. and i also wish you could turn reverse on with your feet without an additional footswitch. Other than that, this thing is perfect for practice at home or in a live band or as a one man band.

OK...to clear up some baloney. After reading these reviews, I went to Guitar Center and tested an RC-50. My only reason for testing and not just running home with it was the pause, the "LATENCY" issue I saw in a few reviews. If the machine hesitated before starting a loop, that would make it a very expensive paper weight. So I sat down and tried it....there it was, a full second or more of dead silence before the loop played. WHAT!! How could they let this slip. But then as the loop came around, there it was again...hmmm. That's not latency, thats the tempo count waiting until beat four to end the loop. If you set the loop for 120 bpm, and you don't play a full measure at 120 bpm, it stops recording a signal when you press the pedal, but ends the loop after beat 4. This has to be because of the multi phrase recording, if the different phrases don't line up exactly, it would be a mess. So when you record, you must first set the beat, and stick to it. I bought it anyway, the sound quality really is better than any other harware looper out there (I also own a Boomerang and JamMan, tried others). So, just to be clear, this is not a software issue...someone wrote they actually called Boss about this and brought the "latency" issue to thier attention...um, there is no latency issue...duh.

So, knowing what I know, I can offer this advice: the Boomerang is the best for straight up, single looping when sound quality isn't an issue, the RC-50 for muli track, pre recorded looping and full performance features with the highest quality audio signal, and the Jamman falls somewhere in between with better sound thean the 'rang and easier push on/push off looping than the RC-50 but with far less capability.

a ten, for what it does, and was MEANT to do...(again, duh).

it?s all very easy to understand, but there are still too many things to press to get ready to loop.( sync etc)

fine

the main reason that made me buy this new toy was that it could be synced with a computer or groovebox but this function stinks! when you sync it up and then press tempo on your loop board, you will notice that the tempo changes all the time, not that much, but enough so that the sound quality on your loop sounds pretty bad. I can?t understand how boss could put this machine out there it syncs as bad as a tape recorder. this is the year 2006 gentlemen! Hello? Another really anoying thing about this machine is if you have both your microphone and guitar connected. Imagine a beat going 120 bpm. you know your sync dosen?t really work, but you could still set your tempo manually ( no sync) and record an empty loop and then record over that, then you would be in sync cause the tempo wouldn?t change. but the volume of the drum machine has to be on while recording to keep the tempo locked. you can send drum beat out of the sub output and your guitar f.ex out of the main output, but if you are also using a microphone out of the sub output, you are forced to listen to the annoying drum beat..... now you?ve been warned! apart from these (pretty vital) mistakes, the rc-50 is a really cool toy, and is an exellent way write new songs and zone out for hours!

This unit has very many features, which is a blessing and a curse. For example, there is Loop Sync, Loop quantize, Tempo quantize, MIDI sync... just trying to figure out which does what can be confusing.
The unit has two primary modes: Single mode and Multi mode. Single mode treats each phrase as a loop, switches between loops. Multi mode treats each phrase as a track within a single loop. For me, Single mode is the only function of interest. I use my computer for multi-track recording, and I find the RC-50 to be a poor substitute for that.
Ableton Live on a notebook computer with a MIDI controller would be a much more powerful live multi-track tool than the RC-50. Check out Kid Beyond's website to see how powerful Ableton software is. Though this is so, even Ableton can't seem to get single mode loop recording and playback in a live band situation right. If you want to create your loops live, on the fly, it seems that the best tool to use is the Boomerang.
If you want to record a bunch of loops at home, and play them back during a gig, why not just use a Minidisc player or one of Roland's samplers, such as the SP-808?

Excellent. 24 bit stereo looping... this sounds better than any other looper I have heard.

Too new to tell, but Boss usually lasts forever even after being abused.

Excellent. I called, they answered.

Right now this pedal is useless to me. When recording a single loop, the unit cuts off the first second of playback, causing the loop to be off beat. My drummer hates this thing. It seems that Roland was so busy trying to pack every crazy feature they could into this unit that they overlooked the simple function of recording a verse of rhythm guitar with a band, and playing it back at the end of the verse.
The RC-50 also cuts off the beginning of the loop when switching the recording of one phrase to another. In Single Mode, When Phrase 1 is recording, pressing the Phrase 2 pedal ends the recording of phrase 1 and begins the recording of Phrase 2. If the RC-50 patch phrase change is set to "LOOP END", it shouldn't matter when the Phrase 2 pedal is depressed during the recording process, as the RC-50 should switch seemlessly from Phrase 1 to Phrase 2 during playback. In reality, the RC-50 cuts off the beginning of Phrase 2, causing the playback become off beat during playback.
Another issue is that if the unit is not playing back any audio, and you want to trigger a loop that is already recorded, you have to select which of the three phrases you want to trigger by pressing the phrase pedal, and then hit the play pedal at the other end of the pedal board. It would be much better if it was possible to simply hit the phrase pedal you want and it would play back. Even if the phrases are set to be "one Shot" playback, you still have to tap dance around on the unit to get it to trigger phrases.
As a result, I have gone back to using my Boomerang. The Boomerang plays back the loops in perfect sync after recording them, and the button pressing is minimal. The Boomerang only has two loops instead of three, and it's mono, but it easier to use. Until Roland comes out with a software upgrade for the RC-50 that fixes the off-beat playback problem, there is no way for me to use the RC-50 live.

If you know the Loop Station Line, it's not terribly difficult, but as someone who has owned a couple different Loop Stations, an Electrix Repeater and worked within Reason, it was even a bit more daunting than I thought it would be. That said, I had all my archived loops (from my old Loop Station which I sold to buy this one) loaded and ready to play within minutes of the first time I used it. (It was AFTER a solid readthrough of the manual which is a bit confusing).

One of the best features in this new unit are independant volume settings for each patch and loop within the patch...that was such an important feature, especially with the option of a submix out etc...
however- I would definitely say that I was frustrated with the output routing features...I had really hoped to choose Headphone, Sub-out AND Mains rather than the lumped together configurations that you are given.
case in point: rhythm guide...you should be able to route the rhythm track to the Headphones only in case you want to just use the Rhythm Guide for your drummer as a click, as it is now, you have to send it through either the mains or the sub mix, kind of a bummer because I REALLY can not see who would seriously use the rhythm guide as an accompaniment. I was hoping to be able to loop my guitar live, while also using the submix for keyboard or samples, and running the click through the headphones to my drummer when neccesary.
Also- there should be a solid CLICK as opposed to a bunch of drumbeats...the closest is a high hat sound that just isn't loud or high enough to really be heard well over a band...as it stands, we're running the midi out to a separate unit and slaving that to get a decent click. But I suppose it's a someone nitpicky complaint, though I reallly was hoping to do something like that without an external unit.

Aside from that, it's EVERYTHING I hoped it would be and more...

What you put in is what you get out....way better than the RC20 or RC20XL

Boss.

never have....

Overall, it is totally rad...I think what small things they need to fix could be done with a software update, so it should be rather flexible, though, more independent audio routing is more likely a hardware issue (DAMN!)

This unit is not terribly difficult but, because it does a multitude of things, there is some required manual reading involved. That said, the manual is marginally effective and not very user-friendly. This pedal would certainly benefit from a "RC-50 for Dummies" book due to the amount of features and options.

The good news is that it is a Boss and follows the basic Roland/Boss methodology for getting the basics out of it which might suffice a number of users. For that, I rate it accordingly.

Excellent sound as compared with any other looper product. The key is that you're not having to stack loops over each other which deteriorates the original passes. Instead, having 3 discrete loops allows users to stack minimally thus retaining sonic clarity.

I've owned a Boomerang, JamMan and, of course, the RC-20XL. The RC50 blows them all away. And, it's stereo!

It's a Boss...built to last! Definitely can be used without a backup but I would always have my loops stored on a flash drive in case of a surge or sudden loss of power.

Great support...no long wait times. I've called a few times already regarding future OS upgrades and the support team is very helpful.

As a long-time looper, the RC-50 satisfies most of the items on my wish list for improvements and features. It certainly can be improved by including a removeable media device, a larger internal drive and perhaps more control via the pedals like the Boomerang...namely the master volume knob which is finger-controlled.
My biggest peeve is that the unit has a cumbersome naming convention for imported WAV files. Although I can undersatnd the reasoning for this, Boss needs to come up with a small application that will allow loops to be stored in their original names so that it is easier to identify where they are placed on the unit. Korg has done this with their portable recorders so it's not beyond the technology. This can be fixed with a simple OS update.

There has been some mention as to the latency but I don't find it bothersome or obstructive. If it were stolen from me I would probably seek to replace it but hope for a price reduction as the price is somewhat steep.

Overall, I think loopers in general are great learning tools for any level musician. They are very addictive and I find that I use it on almost every practice session. Good job Boss!

To me a well designed effects unit allows you to do most of the basics without consulting a manual, and with the RC-50 I was able to create loops easily without even cracking its manual. I did have to consult it for some complicated things, but it is well layed out and easy to follow. At first it looks daunting but you then realise how well it is designed and how everything you need is at your fingertips.

Very good, much better than the RC20XL. Drum guides MUCH better and the volume is adjusted so anything beyond "2" doesn't split your ear drums.

Hmm, just got it, but like everybody says, it's a boss, nuff said.

I waited quite a long time for this puppy, it was originally supposed to come out in February of 2006, and here I am in July, but it was well worth the wait, it is one amazing looping pedal, in fact it's probably the greatest out there, and certainly the best one I've tried. It has every feature you could ever want, stereo connections, a monitor seperate output, assignable bpm tempos for you loops, lcd display for easy editing, usb connection, midi. If you are thinking about getting the RC20XL, consider what you are trying to do. It you just want to do really simple looping, then this might be overkill and the RC20 will probably suit your needs, but if you are a looping junky like me who creates huge stacks of contrapuntal goodness, this is the pedal for you.

My only complaint is that in order for you to send just the loop to a monitor amp, for instance to your drummer, you have to assign it to its own phrase, which seems like a bit of a waste. It would have been much smarter if in each phrase you could split the loop, i.e. MAIN+SUB means ONLY the loop goes to the sub and everything else that gets put on top gets bypassed on the sub channel but goes through to your amps. Thankfully they included loop synch among phrases so at least you can accomplish this, if in a convoluate manner.

This is of course relative. I have had a GT-6, and so editing menus in this way was not new. It is definitely not self-explanatory. When I demo-ed it at the store I was frustrated. But upon purchase, a quick read through the manual, and spending some time it all came together fairly easily. Plan on spending a few good hours before you feel comfy with this one.

What you put in is what you get out. No coloration of the tone, just an exact, high quality replica. I am running it through my effects loop in a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, after a Boss DD20 and Line 6 Tone Core Reverb (two other excellent pedals imo). I do notice that it can ad a slight bump in overall noise to the signal. I think that if you tweak the master volume and the line in volume (two great features by the way) you can get it to the managable level. I owned the RC20XL, and the sound quality on this is by far superior. You can hear each new loop very distinctly. Some folks actually like less sonic quality, you know, the lo-fi junkie types, but I think this is just right. I am not into mangeling the sound. This will not improve your sound at all, so you should like your basic tone to begin with. If you do, then you'll like this as well.

Have you ever had a Boss product quit? Nuf said.

Haven't had to use it, so I cannot say. This is actually a big plus. I mean, seriously, who wants to call some phone center in India, where its 3 in the morning to them, and tell some 19 year old recent college graduate you can't get your mojo going?

I can't imagine a looper doing more or doing it better than this. In order to top this they are going to have to 1) have a direct interface to your PC and allow you to tweak parameters and drag-and-drop new loops on the fly, like Abelton Live; 2) allow ten prhases instead of just 3 - but that pedalboard would get a bit long; 3) teach it to make coffee. I use this primarily as a jamming and inspiration tool at home, in the privacy of my own home. Everytime I have used it I simply lose track of time and must force myself to turn off my amp and leave, often in tears. It will provide countless hours of sonic bliss for anyone who loves to play their guitar, and yes, play with themselves. No flakey drummer, no amateur bass player, and my favorite rhythm guitar player backing me up ; ) An introverts playground indeed. And as an added bonus, you could actully do a one man band thing with it, though that is not my thing at this time. I do not want my self-indulgance to seep out beyond my house and scare people.

A powerhouse of features that can be tricky. Patiently read the manual carefully & spend the time getting acquainted with the unit.

Compared to it's predecessors, it's not as easy as RC-20 or RC-20XL but it does a hundred more things than either of them so it is a fair tradeoff. It is a very feature rich pedal & it will require some time invested. Not Plug & play!

Editing patches requires a basic knowledge of working with sub menus but not too complicated. It is fairly intuitive in the edit mode.

The manual explains things fully but not concisely. It doesn't give the easiest real world examples to demonstrate it's features but that is so subjective that I can't say how everyone will react to it. I personally found myself frustrated with the manual being too spread out constantly having to cross reference previous sections. I read it cover to cover but with some confusion due to an overwhelming amount of info to process.

Suggested uses could be given a dedicated section of the manual (ie: quickstart) for chapter skipping types of people who don't have the patience to read 200 plus pages on how to create cool basic or 3 channel loops.

Ease of use for connecting to computer: A USB connection ensures connectivity & software updates & storing saved loops on computer, usb drive, etc. Good choice by Boss.

I use only live loops on stage to promote a "live only" enviroment. This unit is not geared towards or setup solely for this, it is more geared towards the pre-recorded saved loop type of artist looking to economize without giving up lush sound. RC-50 is feature rich for this type of application. Live only loopers will wish for some small improvements.

Default settings on patches all include guide tracks regardless of guide track volume knob position, quite annoying hearing drum tracks with guide track volume set to zero. (FYI; From factory this is default though you can select knob postion to be the default instead of factory settings) I adjusted this setting because it's much easier for me to view actual knob positions or settings prior to recording instead of being surpised by factory default guide tracks popping up unexpectedly. Another example of strange defaults, there is no all erase for three loop channels...one must manually erase all three channels one at a time. (tedious) An ALL ERASE function could help a live user tremendously. An ALL STOP(all 3 tracks) function is only avail by adding another add on pedal or pressing two buttons at same time. Kinda tricky but not impossible.

I used a mono setup (right output is mono instead of typical left-unusal but no foul)with an acoustic guitar into a Mackie 808S in mono mode.
The RC-50 noise floor is very quiet which gives it high marks for quietness. I can easily dial up a very good sound! Stereo must sound really great.

The prerecorded backing/guide tracks sound great & are a fun way to rehearse or jam & explore the features of this unit.

Overall sound quality is excellent.

I would trust this unit (if Boss provides a software update correcting the latency problem) on any gig as it is a Boss & I've never had problems with any of their products failing on gigs & I do nearly 300 a year.

Boss products are road durable & deserve our trust. My RC20 is three years old & still works well though status lights have burned out but will be covered under the 5 year warranty, I will only pay labor, sweet. Nice warranty. I bought an RC20XL until the RC-50 is improved.

The RC-50 has a one year warranty so who knows if it will take the same beating & still hold up...history dictates Boss will hold up.

For now, I returned the RC-50 until they fix the latency issue. I hope they do because this unit has potential but needs some tweaking or a competitive product in the marketplace to mandate some one upsmanship which we can all (including Boss) benefit from.

Excellent Customer Support-Polite & very helpful.
No long hold times at Boss-thank you!
A good company to deal with & I will continue to buy their products with confidence.

Much potential but one BIG ISSUE: Latency problems!
This has very very bad latency (a delayed response when actuating a feature or switch) when switching from record mode to playback mode when performing live....I estimate nearly a half second or the equivenlent of an entire eighth note (at approx 120BPM) elapses unheard before sound plays back or another way of saying it is the phrase very beginning is inaudible until the second playback pass or loop turnaround when in the multi-mode. There is slightly less latency when in single mode but still extremely noticable unless the musician is overlapping "the 1 beat" with your playing completely masking the problem. In all fairness to Boss, the RC-20 & RC20XL don't have this problem or have no noticeable latency problems when switching from record to play on the fly...the audio is there nearly immediately. (I bought another RC20XL because it works better) I contacted BOSS regarding this issue with the RC-50 & they were unaware of it until my phone call in early June 2006. I demo'd the problem over the phone & the tech support (FYI-extremely helpful & no long hold times! Kudos)called me back after replicating the problem on site which they did after second returned call. They advised that they would let Roland/Boss/headquarters know about the issue. I asked if a software update was available to correct the issue but none is available as of June 2006.

OVERALL CONCLUSION: THE RC-50 has a great deal of potential but one serious latency issue which needs addressing from it's designers & it's pedals are very close together requiring add on pedals (user assignable) for the serious live only looping musician. It will demand very accurate footwork to use live regardless of any user with the best timingkeeping skills. The pedals are very close together but if you are careful you can use it well. There is a great deal of bang for buck here to be found & I feel the average user will find this pedal very exciting to explore their musical ideas & will enjoy good luck creating & saving lush hifi sounding loops. The serious professional musician may be dissapointed unless Boss fixes the latency problem.

Ease of use depends on the user. It is well thought out for the most part, and the manual is pretty infomative. The pedal/button/knob layout is fairly intuitive, but this unit is not without its quirks (see below).

While the sampling quality is better than a lot of other loopers out there, don't expect to put this between a good guitar and a good amp and not hear a significant difference in your tone, even when the unit is off. There is also an omnipresent (although slight) latency, which leads me to believe that the signal is always going through the A/D and D/A converters, not just on recording/playback. This is a BIG bummer to me - parallel processing would have been much prefered (as in 99% of Boss's other digital pedals). If you have a stereo effects loop, you can put the RC-50 into it and bypass the "through" sound in the setup - this is a good feature, but doesn't apply to me. I will need to build a stereo bypass box to get this thing out of my signal path when I'm not using it.

Don't know, haven't had it for long. I've had good luck with Boss products, but this is a brand new design - who knows. Looks well built.

N/A

Overall this is a well thought-out and intuitive unit. However, there are two BIG issues for me that I don't know if I will be able to work around:

#1 - There is a slight delay upon retriggering a loop after recording it - ie, if you record a loop, then hit play to play it back, there is a 50ms or so pause before it plays the loop back. It does play back in sync, but there is a gap when it is being retriggered. Very awkward in live performance.

#2 - I was delighted to see that there is an option to go directly from record to overdub mode by pressing the record pedal (instead of record, then playback, and then overdub). This is something that only the Line 6 DM-4 does to my knowledge, and it's VERY usefull for creating pad-like textures. Hit record, swell a chord in with the volume knob, then hit record again and you seemlessly go back into overdubbing, so you end up with one continuous sound. This is probably 80% of what I do in live looping. Now unfortunately, on the RC-50, the jump to overdub mode is NOT SEEMLESS. There is a full 1-2 second gap when you go from record to overdub mode (and keep in mind this is with one pedal press and is designed to do just this). This is a HORRIBLY implemented feature, and I am very likely to return the RC-50 just because of that.

I know I am not exactly in Boss's "target audience" for this pedal, but I'm sure there are others like me who need to see these features implemented properly in order to consider using the RC-50. This pedal has a lot of potential, and the issues I pointed out here MAY be addressed in a future software update, but who knows if/when that will happen? They may also be a physical limitation of the processing power and/or memory speed of the unit.

Not that easy to use, but certainly manageable. I've had a number of loopers before (e.g. Boomerang, Line 6 green thing, Boss RC20 and lately the Digitech Jamman). There are a ton of different settings to tailor this thing to the way you want to use it. I'll trade a steep learning curve for the ability for all of the extra features any day. The manual is pretty straight-forward, albeit long.

No problems. Very clear. I am using it with the Bose PAS, a Taylor T5 and my acoustic (Olson SJ).

I think it looks very reliable. I have no real way of knowing, however. Boss/Roland gear has never failed on me yet, though.

Never needed them. Their website is pretty good.

I play folk/rock. I've been playing for a long time. I think this looper is great. I love being able to control the volume of the loops without affecting my guitar's signal. I also like the different ways to synch the phrases. Very cool. Bring in a bass part. Stop it. Bring it in later and it is still in synch with the main phrase rhythm.

This is a complex piece of gear. Well worth the money, IMO. Thanks Boss/Roland for listening to the community and giving us the features we requested.

My only complaint: why only 49 minutes in mono and 24 minutes in stereo? C'mon. I don't want to conserve time. Memory is cheap.

Rating this depends. If you just use it like it's a couple of RC-20s it's very easy to navigate. It's not so easy to get around it though if you want to use it to do everything else it does beyond the basic Loop Station. The manual is so so: too long, not specific where it nees to be, poorly organized. It can be a useable tool, it just has a steeper learning curve than a basic looper. I've only had it about a week and a half so I'm not an expert. I have or have had the RC-20, the RC-20XL, the original JamMan by Lexicon, a Boomerang, and a Headrush (in fact I'm having one now (@:) so I'm pretty experienced with looping.

This is as good a sounding looping device as I have used. Better than the original RC-20 (although I'm not dissatisfied with it) and easily as good as the Lexicon JamMan I used to own. Infinitely better than the Boomerang or Headrush. Being able to use it as 3 independent loopers or being able to stack your loops on 3 separate phrases probably helps with the improved sound quality, as does the 44.1 sampling rate. I use it with acoustic and electric set ups with various pedalboards and it reproduces whatever I put into it pristinely. I run it into the 2 effects loops of my Fishman Performer acoustic amp I can loop my guitars and my vocals! Very cool. The only complaint I have so far is that jumping from phrase to phrase when the loop sync feature is off tends to mess up the timing of the loops I have already made. I'll most likely stick with my RC-20 when playing live since the RC-50 is so complicated, but so far, the RC-50 is awesome for the studio.

It's a Boss as they say. I've had so many Boss and Roland things over the years and have never had a problem so I feel confident in the RC-50.

Never have I dealt with them. I thinks that's pretty good customer support.

I'm mainly an acoustic folkadelic player (traditional, bluegrass, Dead, Dylan, Beatles, classic 60s stuff) and the RC-50, while on the complicated side to learn, is definitely going to make me take my music to a higher place. I haven't delved too far into the "drum" machine, but I don't really need it. I happy that Boss finally made a loop station that can be used in stereo (my biggest complaint on the earlier versions). It's expensive but it's like having 3 loop stations in one box. Peace.

Firstly, I've never used any loop station before. I ordered this unit based on a video demo I saw, and then waited about 4 months for it to arrive. I believe the manual was written by someone who probably does not speak English as a first language, (but that's another story). After I got past the manual, (which took about 2 days) I must admit, it was worth the patience to deconstruct the already-installed patches, which is what I used as my learning tool to figure the machine out. I agree with the first post here, in that in order to use features, such as determining how the phrases change (i.e., loop end, or IMMEDIATE), should be easier to access, instead of inside the (paramater) button. Also, it would be nice if that feature did not have to apply to ALL of the phrases for that patch, and could, for example be set to (phrase 1 -- loop end) (phrase 2 -- immediate), etc. However, I also like that it does not take up too much space, and I can't see how they could cram more buttons onto it. I like the additional CD samples that come with the unit. Some of the features that I'd like to be able to use in a "live" situation are "buttons" and not "pedals", (although there may be a way for an aux. pedal for those features), but for now, making changes in some ways (such as going from (multi) to (single), would be challenging (until my toes become a little more talented).
Each day, I'm becoming more comfortable with it. Hope to add it to my live performance within another week.

I'm running the my guitar through some slight effects first, then into the unit, then into a p.a. So far it sounds terrific. I will add though, that when overdubbing (after several overdubs), the phrases become "louder" from the layering and I have to compensate for that when singing over the layers.

so far, so good.. It needs a roadcase for sure. Is there one?

n/a/

I perform, blues, r&b, jazz standards, etc. It's perfect for me because I can't stand cheesy pre-recording backing tracks. It's a great tool for me. I can get lots of use out of this.

It's fairly easy to get going on this thing. I'd give it a 10 if you didn't have to play with a click track. It forces you to play to a tempo. I can't get it to record the moment I press record. It forces you to play with a "tap tempo" (even if you silence it). I'm wondering if I may be missing something.

It's great for if you're interested in playing with a drum track. Otherwise I can't figure it out!

It sure ISN'T true bypass but the sound is fine. I'm thankful they didn't try to cram a bunch of amp models in. Drum machine is pretty colorful and it has a setting for playing the drums through a guitar amp which I'd imagine could be useful.

I haven't dropped it down a flight of stairs. But I'd bet this thing is pretty road worthy. (I'm being especially careful because I'm planning on returning it if I can't figure out this click track thing.)

I've dealt with Boss with other products and they been quite good.

I thought this would replace my Echoplex. I was wrong. It kind of reminds me of a sophisticated karaoke machine. I'm just not for what I do. Though I'm sure it will serve many well.

Anyone familiar with the older RC-20 and RC-20XL loop station should be forewarned that the RC-50 is a much more complicated tool.

I would like to correct one inaccurracy from a previous review, resulting no doubt from someone being unaware of all the many intricacies of the RC-50. You actually can switch to a new loop without first turning off the three phrases. Just edit the Patch parameters so that SimulStart is set to ON for all three phrases.

But, see, this illustrates a problem. It is the manual. It is over 100 pages long ... 100 large pages. Musicians are not all techno-geeks. People have to plan on investing some serious manual study time to get the most out of the RC-50. Roland-Boss, if you read this, with all the stuff you can now do with the RC-50, you REALLY need to come out with a video manual.

The RC-50 now allows you to do stereo loops. The total loop time is now up to 49 minutes monaural or 24 minutes stereo. And, there is now a USB interface so you can save all those minutes of loops to your computer.

A pet peeve of mine with the RC-20 was its lack of any accurate way to sync up timing with the outside world. The RC-50 fixes this by now having MIDI IN and MIDI OUT so it can either sync to some other device's MIDI clock or be a MIDI master clock itself.

And, Boss has effectively fixed the RC-20's biggest problem, which was sound quality. Actually, sound quality is a problem with any overdubbing device, even much more expensive digital recorders. After the first overdub, older parts invariably start dropping into the dirt. One way Boss fixed this was to split up a loop (Boss calls them patches) into three phrases. So, if you want to create a loop with six parts, for instance, you can now accomplish that with no more than one overdub per phrase. Hence, sound quality is much, much, much cleaner than with the RC-20. Also, there is now a separate volume control for each of the three phrases, to allow you to go back and increase or decrease the level of previousy recorded phrases.

The RC-50 also now has all sorts of choices, other than the RC-20's boring 4/4 click track for a guide tone. In truth, the Guide Tone is now more of a built-in rhythm machine with all sorts of time signatures and various sounds (kick, h-hat, congas, etc.).

It is too soon to tell from experience how well the RC-50 holds up over time. But, physically, it is made of the same materials as the RC-20. My RC-20 is a few years old now and I never had any problems with it.

I hoped I have conveyed how much I am impressed with the RC-50. It is a quantum leap ahead of my older RC-20.

Ok, it took me a little while to get used to the way you're supposed to record and play back and over dub every thing. I already have an RC-20 and I've used the RC-20XL. One thing right off of the bat that trips me up is that use of those multi color LEDs for to tell you when you're recording or playing or overdubbing. Record is Red, that's really easy to see, but playing is green and overdubbing is yellow, and at first I couldn't really see the differnce between the two. Setting the whole thing up is kind of a pain in the ass. You get tons of options, which is good, except that it's kinda hard to make changes on the fly really quickly. Each setting, like the guide beat or each track, has a bunch of options to choose from that you have to edit through using the parameter buttons and the patch/value knob. I like things to be easy. Ideally I would have put a bunch more knobs on it with little on and off lights, instead of having to change parameters on a display screan.

I don't like that way that the patch select is set up. You have to turn off all of the samples before it lets you jump to another patch. To go into patch select you have to hold down the tempo button for 2 seconds. I kept on messing that all up.

This is a bit trickier then the RC-20XL, but it does a whole lot more then that thing. In fact it totally kicks the RC-20XL's ass!

I used an old tube amp and a guitar with single coils. When I had a ton of loops going the noise from the single coils was a little anoying, I guess I just have to find out how to stand the right way so that there isn't as much noise.

The Sample quality was totally fine for me. I know that some people didn't dig on the sample quality of the RC-20's, but for me it's all about what I can do with it, this thing does pretty much every thing I've been wanting a sample pedal to do, so I'm totally fine with how it sounds.

Boss is one of the best companies of quality. I've had a bunch of their stuff and it has never broken down on me. This thing has a five-year warranty and that's good enough for me! Opps! Wait a sec, I just looked at the warranty thing. It says that this thing only has a one-year warranty! Actually that kind of sucks! Hey, Boss, Change it to a 5 year warranty! You'll sell even more of these things if you do!

I've talked to Boss tech people in the past and they've always been helpful and not snooty! So I'm guessing that they'll always be easy to deal with if you have problems with it.

Ok, it's the best sampler pedal out there. The Electro Harmonix 2280 is a real pain in the ass to use and it's crazy expensive. The Boss RC-50 does almost every thing I would want! The only thing I wish it did was to have a control panel like an SP-202 on the front. But, it's all MIDI compatible so I'm sure you can use a MIDI controller to do what I want. It's a pain to work with for the first 24 Hours, but this thing does it all. You can down load all of your sample on to your computer via USB! It's stereo! I sinked it up to my Korg Electribe, it was totally easy! It was way cooler then the guide beats. This thing is awesome!