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.