Boss RV-5

From The outside this pedal is complete of every knob you need. As simple as any other Boss effects but...

...using it with a Strato, Jagstang or Gibson SG and both Fender Deville/Marshall Valvestate Amps I've found some problems... The big one is that if you raise the time or E-level over the half the sound comes distorted then try to follow the Boss examples on the booklet is utopia.

I play rock. With a lot of delays and reverbs. Boss delay DD-3 sounds good, you can raise the whole knobs to the top and the sound is always perfect but RV-5 is a complete FAILURE. Too much money for a bad sound reverb.

All the expected controls for a reverb unit.

I've used it with old tube amp setups, high volume, low volume, as an outboard device for software etc.

It generally sounds very tinny, lacking any warmth. It sucks much of the lows and low mids out of you signal. It can be viable for certain uses, such as giant cascades of spatial wailing (big post rock hyperbole); but even then it sucks so much life from your tone that it leaves you kind of depressed. The only useful reverb types are the hall and the modulate settings (the modulate oscillitates the tuning the decayed signal slighly, creating depth). The spring sounds ridiculous. The gate effect is novel for ten seconds.

Mine was a little finnicky on occasion. It would sometimes create harsh clicking noises when activated. This might have been a power issue. Also, it eats batteries. You'll need an adapter.

I couldn't use this thing. It's such a tonal sacrifice that I would end up just leaving reverb out of what i was doing, rather than using the one or two palatable sounds this thing could produce.

I tried a "Holy Grail" (Electro Harmonix), and it sounds much nicer, but is obviously much more limited in terms of adjustment. Maybe the "Holier Grail" or the "Holiest Grail" are worth checking out if you have the money. Another option is to use a subtle analog delay to add some space; Maxon's AD series pedals are nice for this.

The list price for this pedal is absurd. You should buy it used if you really want one. Don't pay more than 60 dollars american for an RV-5.

Immediately easy to get a good sound, the only thing I would like to add is a pre-reverb delay, maybe they could use one of those knob within a knob knobs (like the metals zone or super shifter) to do this?

I was looking for an alesis quadraverb in a pedal, you'd think after 20 years they could pull it off, right? The Digitech Digiverb could not for me, colored the original sound (acoustic guitar) too much, too digital. This one does it for me, at least in a performance arena, haven't tried recoding with it yet, but I have built-in or software effects for that. I suspect the BOSS keeps the original analog signal analog while other digitize the whole thing, but that's just what my ears tell me.

Should be fine. I did have a DD-3 die on me a dozen or so years ago, one pedal in a dozen years is ok.

no opinion

Pricey, but the convenience of knobs for performance make it worth it. The sound quality is excellent.

Easy to use, everything is self-explanatory. Wish the knobs were bigger, but that's minor.

Sounds good to me. I run it in the stereo loop of my Engl e580 preamp with chorus and echo. It plays well with the other pedals, and I don't notice any noise.

I gig it without a backup. I have my pedals on a board and none of them give me trouble. Just take care of them, and they'll take care of you.

Never used...

This was about the only choice as I needed stereo ins and outs, but it delivers the verb without noise, so I'm very happy with it. I would buy it again if it were stolen. There's a lot of picky, hair-splitting reviews out there, maybe I'm just easier to please. I think it sounds fine, just as advertised.

Pretty darn easy, choose from presets, Plate, Hall, Spring, Modulate and a way you go. The only thing I wish is if there was an expression pedal for it, that would be cool.

I am using with Boss DD-5, Line 6 MM4, Line 6 DM4 into a Fender Deluxe. Generally I find the reverb fairly thin and trebly, if you are looking for a warm reverb, this aint it. The only reason I got it was, a) it was a pedal and not a rack mount, b) it had stereo ins and outs and c) for the modulate setting which is quite nice, adds a slight wobble to your sound. If you crank this thing and start playing hard it will get that harsh digital ice-pick sound. But then again, aren't all digital pedals like that?

It's Boss, they last and last, no worries there.

Apparently the Dynaverb is better than this thing but I didn't know about that until after buying this. If you are looking for a warm reverb, go for a rack mount I guess.

Very easy.

I too bought this to use in conjunction with the DD-6, and they make a very nice couple. Playing clean, you can get some goregous and crystal clear sounds out of this. Playing with distortion is trickier, and you really have to turn the knobs down low if you run this in front of the distortion. Put your distortion in front of this and you will be more happy. It can make your sound absolutely huge, like Beck on "blue wind". The SPRING mode is kinda lame, as it is very accurate in that you get that loud "boing" that sounds like you just dropped your amp on the floor with the reverb unit on. I was hoping it wouldn't have that, as that is the reason I don't use my amp's reverb.

Hell yes-it's a Boss.

Very good-it's a bit pricey, but it is brand new and super reliable. I would definitely have gone with something else were it not for the stereo ins and outs, which is the only reverb I have seen that features this. I need them to place the unit after my DD-6. So if you absolutely need a stereo in and out reverb now, get it; otherwise, wait till they are cheaper new or until they saturate the ebay listings for a lot less.

I bought this and a DD6 to replace my RV-3 and I'm very happy. They made it as easy to use as possible.

With the exception of the warp function, which I find pointless, I think the sounds are all usable and distinct. I actually like the gated reverb for some applications, particularly with other delay based effects, since you don't get the tail of the reverb getting mushed up with all of the other stuff. Its supposedly 24 bit but as I said about the DD6 if you don't dial in excessive amounts of reverb it probably doesn't matter. All I know is that I'm happy with the sound, both on its own and with other effects. Oh yes and I don't hear any hiss.

No problems.

It does what it sets out to do and like the DD6 in a small package - which is important for me as I like to switch things around and don't like massive pedals.

I would easy put a 10 here. But compared with other BOSS boxes it is not as straight forward so I give it a 7.

I picked up my RV-5 two days ago at the post office. I bought it used (mint in its box without manual) for 500 SEK (+ 70 SEK mailing cost) which is $67 (+ $9) My first impression connecting it between the guitar and amp was that the "spring" reverb made a strange attack sound. This went away completly when I put it in the amps effect loop instead. My conclusion is that the spring reverb can't be used without a loop
on the amp. (Same for both channel A and B so it cannot be broken.) However, the rest of the effects (plate, hall, room, gate, modulation) seemed uneffected, so I will not hold this against the RV-5.

The reverb gets a "7" for "sound" from me. I like it, but I havn't compared it with anything else really. "7" means that it is really good and I am satisfied. All effects are different. The modulation reverb adds a little chorus.

I tested the leakage between right (R) and left (L) channel of the RV-5 by connecting a digital delay (Ibanez DL10) as a splitter from "send" of the amp loop. The DL10 have like many other delays(e.g. BOSS DD-2, DD-3, DD-5, DM-3) one "direct out" and one "effect" output. With the DL10 "OFF" the same direct signal is then fed into R and L of the RV-5.

The direct signal is not leaked between the two channels of the RV-5, but by turning the "Effect level"-knob clockwise from "min" to increase the effect level, reverb sound (only) started to leak between the channels as expected.



!!!!!!!!!! NOW TO THE BIG BIG BIG "DONT MISS OUT ON THIS" INFORMATION PART !!!!!!!!!!

It hit me that maybe the delay could with the help of RV-5 be both "high-cut fitered" AND smoooothen out to get a more "muddy" sound. I never really liked the exact regeneration of digital delays(and I havn't tested any analog delays either).

When turning the delay (DL10) "ON", the "direct" sound is fed into RV-5 input-A and the "effect" (delay sound without direct sound) is fed into RV-5 input B. The amp use RV-5 output-A in the "return" of the loop. The result is that the direct sound (with reverb) processed in channel A is mixed with the reverb sound (only) of the delay from channel "B".

Connections looks like this ("nothing" means no cable attached):

nothing <= [OutputB(RV-5)InputB] <= [Effect(DL10) ]
Return: <= [OutputA(RV-5)InputA] <= [Direct(DL10)Input] <= [Send]



To give an example of the resulting sound:
A "TICK" would become "TINGGggg" with ONLY the RV-5.
With normal usage of a delay in front (or after) it would then sound "TINGGggTInggggtingggg.

With my setup is will sound TINGGggWHINGgggwHINGgggwhing.

The sharpness of the delay is gone. Only the reverb part of the delay is used. The sharpness of the delay sound can be further controlled by the "tone"-control.

The operation of the effects with this setup is as simple as this:
-Delay can be turned on and off as long as the reverb is on.
-When the reverb is turned off both reverb and delay are switched off.


The bad part might be that you miss out of stereo reverb (I run in mono anyway). I guess that you can connect a stereo chorus after the reverb to regain some stereo effect.

With my setup I would give this possibility a 10 as I am thrilled about this. But I guess that I can't put this rating on "Sound quality" as it is not RV-5 making the delay part so I put 10 on "Overall rating". It also needs some tweeking of the effects to sound nice and I found "room" to work best with the delay for both clean and dirty channel (E.level=max, Tone=min, Time= "10 o'clock").


Does this mean that the days of searching for an analog delay, digital delay with or "high-cut mods", are gone? This setup does more to the echo than only cutting the high frequencies. You can control

All BOSS pedals seems to eat batteries if they are left in the box. Other than that it would be a "10".

10 as they were really friendly when I asked for more avanced blueprints of the cirquit boards of other effects.

A friend of mine was however refused to by a 220-9V (?) adapter for a Roland porta studio he bought new for half the price in the US compared with here in Sweden 15 years ago. They didn't like to support imported items.

I give them an 8 for traveling reliability (but I dont know really).

Due to the reverb-delay possibility above I have to give it a 10. It would have been good if there also was a possibility to totally separate the effect-leakage between channel A and B so that two instruments could be feed through it more independently (guitar+microphone), but I can't hold this against it.


I have a Gallien Krueger 250ML feeding a gray 4*12 Marshall cabinet in mono. I always thought that the on-board echo (analog?) was a bit weak (but good). Especially when feeding the "send" signal into the "aux in" instead of the "return" to get more low-end in the sound. Sounds really heavy. I play an 1989 PRS.

The level control is overly sensitive to changes, but besides that it's strait forward and the effects parameters are easily controled. The battery runs out WAY too fast though. It should come with a power adapter.

The RV-5 sounds good, plain and simple. Not great, but better than I expected even after trying it in the store. I use it mainly with my THD BiValve and an assortment of Strats. It sucks a small amount of tone and body in the effects loop, and a little more if in direct line with the guitar. It's not too bad at all, and I've not used a pedal that doesn't. It's certainly not noisey, and the Hall setting is excellent. I think it sounds better than the real spring 'verb in many of my other amps.

Boss, built like a rock.

I play blues, and use this pedal to add a small amount of livelyness to my THD. It seems to be the one of the best available, and does exactly what I want it to without being intrusive on my tone.

As with every Boss pedal in existence, it should only take about 20 minutes to master this pedal.

When using a pedal for the first time, I simply run my Gibson ES-325 straight through the stompbox and into my amp. Simply put: the settings that sound good on this pedal were the one's that sounded good on the RV-3. Plus the RV-3 had delay settings. All additions that Boss has made (Reverse; Gated) are absolutely inapplicable to almost any type of music. Otherwise there is not a difference in sound between the RV-5 and RV-3.

I have never had a Boss pedal break, or even get scuffed for that matter! Super-reliable.

Never dealt with them. See above.

If I were to state it broadly I would say that I play jazz. I needed something add a bit of sustain and life to my guitar, and this does it. But so does the RV-3. I liken it to the DD-6 in comparison to the DD-3. The only settings that sound good on the DD-6 are the only settings that the DD-3 has! Same goes for the RV-5 vs. RV-3. The RV-3 has all the good settings from the RV-5 and nothing more (plus delays). Boss simply added alot of crappy extras to an already excellent box. If you can find a RV-3 (although it is almost impossible to find one new) get that instead. But as I stated in another review, I am almost certain that once Boss stops production of the RV-5, all the disenting voices will then praise it as the best Boss Reverb. The popularity of a pedal is often times directly related to it's scarcity.

Simple. Just use common sense and tweak away, being careful not to go over the top with the level and time settings. I tweak the tone just this side of 12 O'clock to make the reverb sound warmer. Easy to wind time and level up up when you do want to go over the top for some Jeff Beck "Guitar Shop" type emotional sustaining solo moments. Hmmmm nice....

American series strat, Ibanez JS100, BOSS V Wah > Tubescreamer > Pete COrnish SS/P2 Duplex > BOSS Equaliser > BOSS Flanger > BOSS CE20 Chorus > BOSS Giga Delay > RV5. Not forgetting BOSS noise suppressor (excluding delay and reverb) and Tuner. All into an Orange AD15 class A 15 watt combo. All pedals mains powered.
Sounds great. Really long if you like it that way. Forget the spring reverb though artificial sounding - no where near as good as the real thing (I remember my Yamaha G100 B212 combo had a fab accutronics spring reverb). Hall and Plate float my boat.

No problems yet.

Never had cause to contact them

If you want quality, easy to use reverb in a tin, go and get one now. The last pedal I bought to complete my ensemble after ditching my GT5 some while back in search of sonic nervana which I've now found. An important piece in the tone jigsaw which works well with my set up. (no reverb on my amp). Individual pedals, though more expensive in combination, sound so much better than one box wonders and they're easier to use too.

a simple layout to tell you what each knob does... too easy!!!

reverbs are lush, but watch that tone knob!!!
otherwise you be getting that metallic, sterile sound all the negative reviewers are getting.

boss pedals are an investment... enough said.

no problems

I play lots of spacerock/shoegazer type stuff. Delays and Reverbs are a must.
I've been playing for 16yrs. I play a mim standard tele>tu2>oc-3>gt-5[ds-1>ge-7 in the loop]>dd-20>rv-5>alesis ra-100>alesis monitor ones or peavey 120W 1x12 combo.
I would replace it if it were stolen or lost.
I wish the modulate mode had a rate setting.
this reverb is very inspiring.

Quite easy to get a good sound, easy to figure out without a manual. The effect level and time controls provide enough flexibility to get a good reverb patch set up. The stereo ins and outs can be a tad confusing for mono operation at first, if you don't notice the little 'MONO' signs on the 'A' jacks. But that's easy to learn.

One point of usability over the RV-3, for me at least, is the LACK of delay programs; that means there are more knobs to control the reverb sound. To me, the RV-3's combined reverb/delay settings were somewhat compromised; you could control the delay time but not the reverb settings, and so on. If I had liked any of the RV-3's combined programs, I would probably still have an RV-3. So to me, the RV-5 is more usable because it provides greater control over the primary effect - reverb. I'll use my DD-3 or DM-2 for the delay chores.

The sounds are all good to my ears. The modulated chorus is not something I'd use much but it's pretty cool for ambient aounds.

I'm primarily using a Les Paul or Strat into the RV-5, set on spring reverb, then into a tweed 5E3 Deluxe kit amp or a brown Fender Princeton. It's not quite a Fender combo style reverb, but when I play I get that reverb sound that I was missing with just the amp alone. And when the effect is off, the buffered bypass is good enough so that I don't feel like there's a tone suck.

The effect is not noisy in terms of hiss, but the spring reverb sim is somewhat of sensitive to the input level. I guess the `boing' is intentionally put there so you know it's a spring reverb simulator! I'd like a dwell control or input/output level controls to avoid the splatter when I don't want to go surfing.

It's a Boss, I bought it used without hesitation and expect it to work without flaws for as long as I have it. There's always a first time, but I think I've owned over 20 Boss pedals at this point and I have never had reason to worry about their dependability.

I have had no reason to contact Boss customer support directly. I will say that I find the Roland/Boss 'groovy' visually overstated Web sites hard to navigate. And I'd really like to see ALL the varied pedal manuals on line in PDF format, which I have not found yet.

I play blues and some rock and some country and some all mixed together. This pedal provides a good variety of reverbs to match just about any situation. I've been playing for over 25 years, not that it shows, and I've owned an RV-3, various analog and digital delays, and a Kendrick tube reverb unit, among other things. For compactness, flexibility, stereo capability and overall sound, the RV-5 is a great package. If it were lost or stolen, I'd try to find another one used.

As stated above, I wish it had either a dwell or input/output controls so I could control the spring reverb `splatter', but when I use it front of my reverb-less amps I don't really think at all about how it's a digital pedal.

Very easy to use and sounds great straight out of the box.
Four control knobs - effect level, tone, time and effect type. Can't get much easier than this.
The manual is very straightforward but the pedal is very self-explanatory.
Software? I don't think so!

I use this pedal with guitars, keyboards, pretty much anything and it sounds really cool. My favourite effect is probably the modulated hall. This sounds really good on clean, arpeggio passages on the guitar. My guitar set up is a Yamaha PAC 112 into a Marshall MG10CD (I'm a newbie to guitars!) but I've had great results from passing a Yamaha DX7 synthesizer through this into a Peavey KB-100 combo.
The room, hall, plate and modulated hall effects are probably the best - the modulated reverb certainly yielding the most interesting effect for synths without reverb. The spring reverb, as someone else mentioned does have a habit of popping a little too often so I don't use it too much. I find that the gated reverb sounds very artificial and too metallic for most things.
The tone control can introduce noise and create very harsh sounds so the best setting is usually somewhere between 10 o clock and 2 o clock

In a word you can make things sound really 80s with this pedal and there'scertainly nothing bad about that!

This is Boss - built like a rock and would survive a nuclear bomb blast. I've noticed with some of my other Boss pedals that the paint can get chipped quite easily but electronically this will last forever. The battery wire is prone to breakage after many years of use but nothing a soldering iron can't put to rights.

Never contacted Boss / Roland so I can't comment I'm afraid

This is a great pedal for the money. I didn't compare it to anything else and just thought it was a compact, low cost way of getting a reverb effect for my older synths which don't have built-in effects. Expecting it simply to be just a reverb, the addition of six different programs was certainly a bonus.

I produce electronic music which, at the moment is totally electronic from synthesizers. I am new to guitar and so have yet to record with the guitar.

If it was lost or stolen, yes I would replace it.
This certainly does bring an entirely new life to my older synths and sounds great on my Yamaha PAC 112 and Ibanez GSR 200 guitars.

I thought that the RV-5 was a step down from the RV-3. The Reverbs sound good but the reverse and spring settings sound like gimmick settings. Roland loaded this pedal with stuff that you wouldn't really use. For the money you could buy an Alesis Rack unit with a remote foot pedal and have a real reverb. The reverse setting is silly. Why did they add useless patches. The RV-3 has 11 usable REVERBS and DELAYS; things that you can apply.

See above, perhaps I said too much in the intro.
I have a Les Paul Special, A plain American Strat and a Mexi Tele.
I use a Marshal 50 watt combo anfd a Carvin SX-200 combo amp.
The few reverbs sound great, the other modes are useless unless you want to make goofy sounds to amuse yourself.

I'm sure it's as reliable as any Boss Unit

I've never used Boss support but I've NEVER heard a complaint from a musician buddy.

I play fusion, classic rock and Jazz. I may sell this unit on E-bay and just bail on it. I may look for a back-up RV-3 to my aging RV-3.
Thw RV-3 is loaded with traditional quality reverbs and delays, (things a player can use.) I would rather have a serious reverb delay unit than a souped up gimmick box.

easy becouse the knobs are simple and no special wierd buttens.
not easy becouse adjustment should be controlled carfully.

my setup is epiphone lp--->535q cry baby-->maxon od9-->rocktron rampage-->big muff pi usa-->boss bf3 flanger-->marshall vt1-->boss ce20-->BOSS RV5-->akai headrush-->fender frontman (extended costum speaker)

sound is great not noisy
if tone is too high than its harsh so dont do it.
i think that hall and modulate is the best.
room mode sounds like a real room (so if you need it its good).
the rest i dont care

buy it

boss is very strong

no need for back up - im sure

i play create electronic music but i play kinds of rock also (rock is very boring stupid music) i love it.

Simple enough to use, I already had the RV3 (which was not very good)& this is basically the same set-up. Effect Level, tone, reverb time (decay), & type of reverb. Manual had some settings but blah, don't need em.

I have an Ibanez RG570 & a Gibson Les Paul Custom. Amps vary, I own a VHT Pittbull UL but I am using this pedal for an upcoming European tour so it will be used through whatever amp i'm borrowing at the moment ;) I like the reverb sounds this pedal offers much more than the RV3. Definitely a step in the right direction. I use hall only, but just fooling around with the other settings I did notice they all sounded well above average. The Spring setting I don't mess with so I can't comment on it. The Hall is very lush on my clean channel, organic sounding for a stompbox. With the time up 3/4 the decay is extremely long & natural with a wide open sound that decays very naturally. Tone knob can make this noisy if it's too high but I keep it around 10-12 o'clock. There is a modulation sound on this pedal too which adds a bit of chorus to the Hall; I like to use this setting too on occasion. Overall a very clean, natural, and HUGE sounding reverb that even on more extreme settings does not get muddy or flubby. Does eat batteries as any Reverb or Delay pedal would, but highly recommended.

I've had my share of Boss pedals in the past and have absolutely no worries that this thing would ever break down. Solid.

Never dealt with them, and probably wouldn't if it broke anyway. Too much of a hassle dealing with these huge corporations.

Overall, this pedal was worth the money. I did compare it to the Digitech X Series reverb and this was definitely better to my ears. This is highly recommended for those who want that deep, haunting reverb on their clean channel without lugging around a processor & tweaking parameters for 15 damn hours.

Easy.

The folks saying this sounds bad must be using the incorrect output in Mono mode. If operating in mono, one must use input A and output A. A very good sounding pedal. Spring verb is very nice and realistic.

I play rock. This works very well for me when I need it. Been playing 12 years, and have owned old Blackfaces - I'm not gonna say this reverb is up to Blackface reverb caliber but it is very good. I'm playing an old Tweed with no reverb now. I love this pedal. I'd buy another if it were lost or stolen.

Fairly easy to use straight out of the box. Shouldn't take anyone with a 100+ IQ more than a minute to coax out the reverb sound one's looking for. Manual has a couple of settings to try.

This is mainly used with Telecaster and Stratocaster guitars and Fender amps with a TS9 Tube Screamer. Contrary to what some of the other users are saying here, I find the Spring reverb setting to be very useful. According to the manual the RV5 "[m]odels the sound of the spring reverb from Accutronics, a name synonymous with spring reverb. The emulation on modeling is so realistic that even the sound of the oscillations resulting from the mutual interference between dual springs is reproduced."

Indeed, the subtle modulation of more than one spring can be heard on the Spring setting. It's as accurate a digital sound of a Spring reverb as I have heard. Very nice.

The other settings are quite nice too. Haven't explored them as much as I really like the Spring setting and have been using that almost exclusively since purchasing the pedal.

Should be as reliable as we've all come to expect from Boss products.

Haven't contacted Boss nor Roland, nor had a reason to, so I have no comment.

For the Country, Blues and Metal that I play, it sounds great. The convenience of having a rack-quality reverb in a pedal size is well worth the price for me. The Limp-Bizkit-wannabe kiddies that complain the price is too high, I say go back to your Crate amps and Zoom pedals. Obviously there is no sense of perspective from someone that isn't even old enough to remember that the first production digital reverbs were something like a three-or-four space rack device that cost $20,000. That's right, I have the correct number of zeroes. I also remember the first so-called "price break" concerning this early digital reverb, when the price dropped to a "mere" $12,000. We've certainly come a long way when spoiled kids fret about if they'll still have enough allowance money left over for "Bonestorm XIII" for their Xbox after buying the RV-5. $130.00 for a digital reverb that sounds THIS good for THIS cheap??? No way I'd ever complain about the price... Things have come a long way. Back then I would never have thought I'd see the day that that's all one would have to pay for a digital reverb. I can just about guarantee that this sounds far better than those first digital reverbs. In fact, I do have to say that as someone that has a rack full of serious rack gear, it DOES sound as good as or better than some of the devices I have. Comparing it to the late-80s Ibanez SDR-1000 digital reverb in my rack, I'd say the RV-5 has a far more natural sound than the SDR-1000 - there is a certain grainy quality to the reverbs from the SDR-1000. Nice job Boss!

very easy to use... the manuel gives some good example settings, but not necessary.

i play this with a lot of effects through a telecaster and a roland jc120 amp, the spring reverb does the pop effect way too much, so a I almost never use the spring reverb setting.

Very Strong quality... i ALWAYS do a jump test for my pedals where I get on top of my bed and Jump down as hard as i can on the pedal and if everything is fine then i'll keep it.

Never called them....never cared to....screw the fat cats who sell us products for WAY too much money....

I play low-key ambience drone-like rock music and it's very good for a deep resonating reverb tone.

Simple and self-explanatory. Controls for effect level, tone, reverb time, and reverb type. Feedback? Does it have a feedback control. I don't have it here with me, but I think it does.

My situation: When I gig, I'm playing a start-plus through a bassman head with no reverb. I needed some ambience. I wasn't after super lush, super-effected sounds, just a little blur around the edges lest I sound like an electroshocked banjo. A year ago I sold my Alesis Quadraverb GT because, which I had hated for years before that.

The RV-5, after the first couple of gigs, seems to handle the job nicely. I haven't been able to coax a compelling sound out of the spring reverb setting yet, but everything else sounds pretty darned decent. Even though I'm not looking for heavily-effected sounds, the modulation reverb has a lovely lush sound. The controls, esp. the tone control, are effective, very adequate for the kind of sound shaping I need to do.

It is also notably quiet.

If you are an fx-dependent player, this box will be of very limited use compared to a rackmount multi-effects unit. For me, it serves nicely. My one qualm, I'd say, is with the price. A little high for a limited stomp box.

Too early to tell. So far so good.

I play in a mostly original band that also does a motley array of covers rangning from Zappa to Billy Joel to Los Straitjackets and Tom Waits. The other guitarist is the effects meister, with his line 6 modelers and tube boosters and you name it--effects are integral to his sound. I'm the plinky, dry, "organic" counterpart. As a result of playing very dry next to this very wet other player, I began to develop ambience envy. Still, I thought it in the best interest of the group to keep my sound more plain jane than his. Thus a modest reverb stomp box as opposed to a multi-effects unit.

So far, it's doing the trick. As I said above, I find the price a little high when you consider what much more elaborate units and rackmounts are going for these days. I mean the Line 6 delay modeler pedal--a very cool toy IMO--was sitting right next to in the display and was only 50 bucks more. Oh well. I needed reverb and I got a satisfactory one.

10 pretty much self explanitory as all boss pedals are

very dissappointed with effect. not much improvment since the rv3.
you would think after 7-8 years boss might be able to develop something
new and beyond. I use an alesis quad reverb gt for plate revs. thought
this pedal might do the trick for live purposes. sorry

what ever

never had to

be sure to play with it awhile before you fork it over

Choose the reverb type you want, set the reverb delay time, eq the tone to taste, mix the effect sound and dry signal

The best reverb around without using rackmount gear. Reverb is very clear and transparent. Tone control is very wide ranging from very bassy to very trebly. The amount of reverb can be altered in the mix from just a bit to all you could ever want. Very powerful controls.Some noise but all pedals have that.

It's a Boss.

Never had to deal with them due to the superb quality of Boss products.

If you want a dedicated reverb pedal with great sound quality this is it. Has loads of possibilities and very easy to dial them in. The noise level is not an issue either. Even if your amp already has reverb a pedal like this can give you many additional sounds. Boss's best reverb pedal yet.

The unit is easy to use. There is a effect level, tone, length of delay, and a selector of reverb type. The advertisements say it is 24 bit. The manual did not confirm it. I do wish the unit could store settings so that you could stomp between presets. For this price, who cares?

I am using the unit with a Taylor 714CE acoustic into a Carl Martin chorus and into the Boss RV-5 unit, then to the house in stereo. I was using a TC electronics M One reverb [which sounds great!] but the Boss unit is so small and clean that I bought one. It is very transparent. It doesnt have the sonic detail that the M One has, but it does give a pretty decent reverb affect for the money. I like the hall effect up high in level with tone at 10 o'clock and a shorter time setting. I like the modulated reverb sound, too. It isnt quite a rack unit in quality of sound but it is getting close. Much, Much better than a RV-3

Seems ok so far. You don't want to rely on batteries, you must use the AC adapter. The battery light goes out after a while [the battery sags] then comes back if you shut it off for a while [while trying to use batteries] I wont use it that way again.

I have called them before for parts to repair other units and they seem to be very organized. Got the right parts the first time and they didnt gouge me for them

I play Christian contemporary and would probably buy another rv-5 until someone else comes out with a reverb pedal with M One sonic detail.

Very easy to use. You don't need the manual.

All sounds are very good exept the spring reverb. I think there is no use for it. The RV-5 is a litte bit noisy when turn the tone more than 3/4.

I hope it is like the other BOSS pedals

???

It is much better than every other reverb pedal I have tried (RV-3, Holy Grail, Nanoverb). It don't beat my favorite the LXP-1. But this you cannot compare.