DigiTech RP350

Interface is pretty straightforward. However it's also a little inefficient; you can only edit one function at a time, really. You could do worse.

I bought this hoping for some good high gain amps. It goes straight to my Tascam 8-track recorder, maybe with EQ or an enhancer between. I play an ESP guitar. For recording purposes only. So I leave the MIX/AMP switch to MIX.

The first awesome thing about this particular modeler is the distortion pedal models. You get a second "layer" of distortion separate from the actual amp models. I haven't used any other modeler that does this. They're not spot-on but they're in the right ballpark. I like the 808 and RODENT pedal sims, combined with the MARK2C and marshall amp sims. TONS of versatility there, and you can narrow it right down to the pick attack. There are also some powerful "chinky" typical Digitech metal distortions in there too, but they suffer from bad compression in the high end as always. Pretty much all the popular Digitech distortion pedals are in here in some form or another, and they sound like the originals, not surprisingly (Death Metal, Metal Master - I've had them).

Unfortunately, most of the high gain speaker sims sounds very buzzy to me. The frequencies they emphasize are just plain annoying. None of them really sound good. Very fake. I have a Red Box Classic speaker sim box and it sounds a million times more natural. So this makes the high gain amps not all that usable and very digital. I'm just looking a clean speaker sim that can lightly shape signals without distorting them totally out of shape. The speaker sims don't even sound like they were aiming even remotely near that. You can't mix and match different amps and sims all that well either; you get even more buzz. Maybe even worse, the amp sims themselves also lack a bit of presence, so if I turn off the speaker sims (and set the AMP/MIX switch to AMP), they sound too harsh going into any of my dedicated speaker sim units (Red Box, Palmer, Behringer). So the RP350 doesn't work very well as a preamp-only unit.

An odd thing about the speaker sim is that even if you select the "DIRECT" sim, which is supposed to bypass the sim, you still get a pseudo-cab simulation if you leave the AMP/MIX switch engaged (beside the guitar input). So this unit kind of has a direct-to-mixer compensation separate from the artificial speaker sims. I don't get it. If the switch is set to "MIX" and you select the "DIRECT" sim, it still sounds like there's a light speaker sim enabled, just very uncolored. It's actually somewhat usable with the more compressed amp sims like the MARK2C one - more usable that the actual speaker simulations, although a little dirty sounding. That's probably the best high gain sound I've gotten out of this, actually. But still not all that great. Very weird.

The reverb in this unit is decent, but not as good as the Behringer VAMP-2's. I don't care for the other effects much. Doesn't have as many effects as the VAMP-2 or POD2.0. The noise gate is decent, thankfully, as it is needed. The EQ on my unit sounds totally wrong though. The "Presence" control is super harsh, in fact it sounds as if the "Treble" and "Presence" were swapped on my unit. I prefer my external EQ.

The single greatest redeeming factor about this unit is the "AC RED" amp model, which is used by one of the presets. It is, hands down, the single best clean amp simulation I have ever heard from a digital or even analog modeler, or any tube amp mic job, even. I'm totally serious. Even if I wasn't expecting to use clean, I do just for that one. Super crisp. I add a Boss Enhancer and a Presonus EQ3B after it and it sounds pristine. I would put it straight into a recording. Some of the other clean amp models are pretty good too.

Seems a little flimsy. The power adapter is easily dislodged. No real issues as of yet, though.

Don't remember talking to them.

I play metal and hard rock. This thing can do tons of metal, but the speaker sims sound all wrong to me, so I can't put that cool distpedal/amp matching potential to any practical use. The amp sims are a little to harsh or somehow wrongly voiced to make this a usable preamp-only unit. Very disappointing on that front.

But the clean amps are amazing. Absolutely beautiful. I've had various Sansamps (GT-2, Tri-AC, Character British), Behringer VAMP-2, Line6 POD2, and none of them even come close for cleans. The speaker sims definitely don't have the negative impact on the clean amps as they do on the distorted amps. If you want a digital modeler for cleans, buy this now.

The Behringer VAMP-2 is definitely a better value than the RP350 overall. But the VAMP-2's high gain models are more muddy, less diverse, and the speaker sims are about as bad, although in different aspects. The VAMP also doesn't have any distortion pedal sims. Not considering price, I would rather keep the RP350. The RP350 does beat the POD2.0 in any case however, whether considering price or not, although the POD2.0's speaker sims sounded a little better to my ears (but still ****ty).

Overall this is an absolutely awesome clean amp modeler. But that's not what I bought it for, so I'm going to keep looking for good high gain setup for direct recording. I'm heading toward Sansamp or a good guitar preamp into my Red Box Classic at the moment. Already getting a good analog reverb pedal to get rid of these digital units eventually.

The manual's helpful if you want to get up and running fast, but to learn every inch of this thing you should really just sit down and go through all the parameters this thing has and experiment. I updated the firmware when I got it and did a reset to ensure no errors. Using the computer software is somewhat limiting but useful for me as I am visually impaired, but it's simple enough to name and export presets. Didn't use Cubase; I'm a Cool Edit/Adobe Audition guy.

I am fairly impressed with this unit's sound, especially the distortion and amp modeling. Like others have stated, it does everything from blues to metal to country. Me being mostly a metal and rock guy, it's awesome to be able to blend high-gain amp models with a stomp distortion and make a really sludgy heavy tone with no limits. But, there are some drawbacks. Some cabs/amp models sound buzzy or tinny and you have to know how to do pre and post EQ to get rid of that. But for the most part, the tone is awesome, whether it's through headphones or a tube amp. If you need versitility and budget sound, this is good unless you can find a Zoom G71UT or G92TT laying around for cheap.
I've never been a huge effects guy and really only use delay and a gate, ocasional flanger and what-have-you. Flanger's top notch, and you have several parameters to control for most effects which can hellp finetune your sound. The reverbs are good as well but I don't really use them. The drum machine is a metranome and that's it. You can tweak lots of things with the unit but it's not endless.

It's nice and sturdy but I wish the footswitches were metal and firmer for stomping around on, the expression petal is cool because you can adjust the pressure needed to turn on the Wah or whatever Solitly built, but don't gig without a backup!!

nope.

I baught this pedal because I wanted lots of stuff with a minimalist interface. I hate clutter and pointless buttons and useless stuff, the RP350 gives you a list and knobs and you just go with it. I wish the Learn-a-lick thing didn't exist, they should have focused on just pro not learning. But hey it's good stuff still.

this was my first venture into so called modeling processors.. after a tad bit of homework and a price point that was in my range I picked this unit. Honestly I haven't taken the time to learn the controls from the unit. I strickly adjust from a pc.. thats a breeze to do.. Yes I have a manual but its still in the box.. My biggest gripe is the volume levels from all the canned efx are all over the place and sound way over the top for me, but it does have a volume peddle.. Easy to fix/adj on the User settings!!!!!!!!!

I play this through a '83 Ibanez roadstar II and a PRS se24 into a Fender Frontman 212R and a old crate "gawd only knows what model". As far as noisy its very quiet "major plus" I like a clean sound!!
I do get a occasional "tick" sound from the unit.. annyoing! Some sort of digital reclocking! I do use the compressor and eq and delay and noise gate at times... few of the Over drives are tastefull to me. But the eq has a gain and level adjust that gets me close to what I like.. As far as chorus I have a old Arion sch-1 and a sch-z in my books nothing touches the sch-1! I dont use the wah, its alot quieter than my vox "scratchy pot" but dosent have that sound. One of the biggest reasons for the purchase was the xlr outputs and usb output.. I love the way I can run straight into the fender take the pre-amp out into the rp350 and get a usb feed into my computer recorder software.. since I do work with digital video tape machines with sample rates of 48k I wish the unit provided that as a option.

so far so good... knock on wood!.... Seems well built!

Haven't tryied ,, but I am going to try to get a handle on those "tick" sounds ...

bluzz and r&r on and off for 45 years.. Would i get another if lost.. sure! unless something else grabbed my attention. Its a fun toy that has something for everyone. Price is right, construction is solid, loads of features. Purist may disagree but in my mind to each they'r own!

I already had a Rp-200 before. lost it in a divorce. When I decided to re equip myself I decided to get a higher model. This was it. I already knew what to expect and already knew the basic.

NOTE: To all who said that this is not easy to use I have one thing to say: Get a freaking education and learn how to read !!!

It is like anything.... you read the manual.

I installed the driver and connected this thing on my computer and VISTA detected it without a problem. I downloaded the new firmware and ran the update. It went from 1.2 to 1.4. No PROBLEM.

Let me start by saying this..... NOTE: to all the anal retentive who think that a 2000 $ tube amp is the only thing to go I say this:

GET A LIFE or a girlfirend maybe !!!

It's 2009. Digitized sound DOES sound good. We don`t all have 2000 $ to put on a freaking tube amp and we dont all wanna gig.

NOTE - 2: to all who think that the only way to go is a freaking heavy case with every single pedals with a noise gate at the end of the series....Please take a time machine and return to your medieval time. This is 2009 we have computers that do multitasking now....that was a news flash for you.

This RP-350 is the perfect tool for someone on a budget who want's to have versality of sounds. There will be some you dont like and there will be some that you will... It is for you to discover.

The preprogrammed stuff is just there for you to see what is possible to do with it. It wont sound good with every amp because you need to do you own setup. This thing made my old crappy crate gfx 30 sound acceptable. I love cheao guitars that I can mod. Stock pickup are usually crapy. Well this thing will even make them sound less crapy.

Take the time to try everything.

This thing is in metal. The foot switches are in hard plastic.
If you dont plan on make the newest jackass movie with it, it will last.

If I was to gig I would buy 2. Always have back up NO matter what. At the price this thing is you can afford to get 2. On a gig you never know
when a monkey will drop bear on it. Put saranwrap paper on it if you gig with it. That could save it.

The website has everything you need for it.
It download fast. never called them. Never will have to.
I take care of my stuff.

I have been playing for 22 years on and off. I did the college band thing. I did own many cheapo and non cheapo. I am actually angry at gibson fender jackson and all over priced companies that think that their things are the ****nits. I think they are over priced for what they offer. I can get a cheapo to sound almost for the real thing for the fraction of the price and I have fun doing it.

I play classic rock and metal but I am oh so ready to learn new things so now I am expending my horizon and going for blues and jazz. This pedal let me have the option to become a versatile player and learn new style of music. Experimentation s great with it because there is so much you can get out of it.

I did look at other pruduct before. Zoom for example. But decided after reading review and tech spec to go with digitech. It is my second one and I would definatly replace it with the RP-355 if this one was lost or stolen.

Qualifications:

a) I'm an old school old fart, tube amp only. I rarely need a doohickey like this to go direct.

b) The very word "modeling" causes me to growl. Modeling is essentially stupid, unless you are flat broke. Get real stuff that sounds good, or don't. Modeled sounds are cardboard garbage.

c) I'd never rely one any such device for overdrive. Unlike my bros, I do like pedal overdrive, offboard. I've been through a few dozen OD units and settled on, of all things, an inexpensive Digitech Bad Monkey. It sounds 1000% better than any sampled/modeled OD, and I've tried 'em on a few multi-fx boxes.

STEP ONE: TURN CRAP OFF. Pick a patch that is somewhat close to a "normal" sound for you - reasonable delay/verb, no extreme clutter of fx, then start editing things OFF. Stop thinking you're gonna find YOUR sound from someone ELSE'S template. Better yet turn EVERYTHING off. Now balance your VOLUME first, so that your patch sound perfectly matches Bypass. Build from there, and you WILL have success.

Can you program sounds on other MFX units? This will be as easy or easier. Do you refuse to take the time and expect to live on the ridiculously over-effected patches out of the box? Good luck with that.

Gits: Custom Strat-config w/ old EMG's, '61 (not reissue) Strat, '65 Gibby 335 --> Digi Bad Monkey or Boss SD2 --> RP350 --> modded Peavey Classic 30 or Fender Blues Deluxe.

I use this type box instead of my pedal group, sometimes it works better and the volume pedal & EQ are essential for my pedal steel. Why would I care about the quality of each and every effect when I only focus on a few?

I need: Reverb, delay, n-gate, sometimes some chorus...

Built like a tank.

No need.

Blues, New Orleans, jam, reggae, eclectic, jazzy, all over the map. Been playing 40+ years, still going strong.

These reviews blow my mind, from the "best device in the history of the world" to "absolutely awful, useless".... when in fact it's a TOOL. Blame the hammer because your nail went in crooked?

"The amp/cab models sound awful through a tube amp." You are correct, Sherlock. Now explain why you wouldn't TURN THEM OFF grrr.... amazing

Purchased this in August 2007. It uses the same matrix style setup as the past RP processors. I am giving it a 9 instead of a 10 because if you have never used an RP model there is a SMALL learning curve. One of the reasons I picked this unit is I don't want to spend half my time learning and programing a processor. I want to spend that time playing. My only complaint is that it did not come with any drivers or software. I had to download the drivers and supply my own recording software.

It has some good sounds out of the box however you can get great sounds with a little tweaking. It is easy to setup and use. I have played the 350 through the 6 different amps I own both tube and solid state and with over a dozen guitars it sounds REALLY good with all of them. It sounds the best to me with an ESP I put EMGs in through a Blackheart amp. 1 thing I really like is that you can crank your amp turn down the master volume on the 350 and you get a cranked tube amp sound at LOW volume. Great for 3am when everyone else is sleeping.

No problems yet and I use it almost every day for a year and a half. Never gig without backup equipment. Remember Murphy's law!

Great. I have a RP6 I bought new years ago. After several years of use and long after the warranty had expired, 2 of the rubber stoppers under the pedal were cut through from wear. I e-mailed their support to buy 2 replacements and they sent me a dozen new ones free!

I checked out a lot of processors before buying this one. A year and a half later I am still happy with it and would buy the same one again. It came with a gig bag but still would really have liked recording software instead of having to make a seperate purchase.

Small, affordable modeling pedal. Fairly simple to use once you've read manual, which can be a bit confusing--I had to read it over a couple times because it is worded poorly. The single best way to learn how to use this thing is to load the accompanying disc on your laptop. It's all gravy from there. My unit is new.

I'm using a variety of guitars--Dean, Wolfgang, Les Paul, Tele, 335--through a Marshall MG head with my Toshiba laptop connected to the pedal via USB. My iPod is connected to the pedal's aux in input (more on that later). Overall, it is a much simpler, cleaner floor than I am used to, with a zillion cords constantly tripping and wrapping around me. This, I like. On the sound front, I'd say the strongest part of this baby is the echo. It is very diverse and, at times, sounds frighteningly like units costing many times more. It really is amazing. The phaser is also good, given price, and it will get you close to that slow EVH first album sweep if you're into that, though not as well as an old MXR. I am not a fan of the chorus, which sounds totally un-subtle and too damn wobbly to be of any use to me. And I LOVE chorus. The flanger is a bit better, but not much. I really dislike the wah, having been a CryBaby guy forever--it's just no comparison, though it could be fun if you've never had the best. Reverb is pretty decent. Distortion, on the other hand, can be very, very good. Tho I'm using solid state while my Fargen is being built, I am a tube guy at heart. And the patches for Plexi, British, the Fender Tweeds, the HiWatts--all of these are damn good. There are so many amp options that it is dizzying. It's amazing to be playing through solid state gear and hear moments where it really sounds like an old Plexi head. Way cool. That said, the best thing about this device is the myriad ways you can connect up all these different effects, pretty much any way you want, and create custom presets that are there for you when you want them. I cannot emphasize enough the need to do this on your computer rather than trying to use the pedal knobs and controls directly. They are small, difficult to read if you are over forty, and the layout is totally inferior to the layout on your secreen. If you take some time to learn how to do this right, you can get sounds that are a fair bit like your favorite rock God. No idea how it would work for jazz, but effects seem less of an issue for that genre. Given the cost, I'd give it a nine on sound. But that leaves out the single coolest, most awesomely helpful feature of this thing: Learn a Lick. In this mode, with your MP3 player (can also use cd's)connceted to the aux in of the RP, one can record ten-second bits of tunes for repeated playback, so I can figure out how Eddie/Steve Vai/Holdsworth played that last bit. "But I can already do that on my disc player, what's the big deal?" Good question, and this is where the RP350 earns its money. There are controls (the edit buttons) that allow this recorded set of measures to be played back at a series of ever decreasing speeds, all the way down to one-eighth (or close to that), allowing people like me who just cannot decipher the notes when they become so ridiculously fast that I'm just making it up (a situation I believe many others have also found themselves in, if watching YouTube is any indication...). I would have probably paid five hundred dollars for this function alone, because I practice the stuff I can't yet play in order to push myself. Now, you can hear it all. And if you can hear it, and you work hard, you can play it, too. Learn a Lick is the single biggest advance in gear that I have seen in a long time (too bad no one listens to reel to reel anymore...).

I've read that others have had trouble with the RP300. I have not had issues with this one, but I admit, I don't use the pedal controls--I do everything from my laptop. It is not a sturdy design, for sure, and I'd be careful pounding on the little, cheap-looking and -feeling pedals. Again, the way just to avoid all this is to plug in your computer, then it's a non-issue. If properly cared for, I have no issue having it onstage.

I'm a classic rock, bluesy jazz guy, and this machine is great fun, with all the different amp sounds you can get from it. Been playing over thiry years and own a bunch of classic rock and sort of blues to somewhat jazzy instruments, all of which sound a bit different. As I said, I live for single-ended tubes. However, getting a terrific tube amplifier at an affordable price that isn't going to freak your wife out is difficult to do. Space can be an issue, as can volume levels needed to achieve a decently balanced sound. If you are in any of these situations, I recommend this little pedal very highly--it's just a lot of fun for practicing and playing around with, and you don't have to crank it to get good sounds out of it. I've created presets that are fairly close to Angus Young, Eddie, Pat Travers, Larry Carlton, Barry Gudreau/Tom Scholz, early Alex Lifeson, Mathias Jabs, etc. Not a metal person, but there is definitely space on this pedal's chips to do a Metallica/Dimebag thing. If lost, I'd get another the same day, even though I have a killer custom tube amp coming in a few weeks, and that is mostly because it is fun. Plus, I just wouldn't live withut Learn a Lick--I use it every morning. I wish the chorus was better, and there are a few limitations in the way you can combine effects, but what do you expect for three hundred bucks? I have had many pedals over the years, and I do like the small footprint of the RP and its small number of cords. They need to improve the wah. Overall, though, it is just so helpful for practicing that I won't go without it.

I am using it with firmware 1.3 und the new X-Edit (PC). It is great and easy to edit from the PC, not so very great via knobs. Some functions can be accessed from the PC way better. It is still a very accessible unit without the PC. It could be TEN, but I take one point off for some missing knobs on the unit which would make it even better.

Great are the double outputs with independant switching for mixer/amp.

I use an Ibanez SZ with a split modification. It does anything from rockmonster to superfunky strat. The unit is very quiet, even without the gate. The distortion sound needs careful tweaking. The clean sounds are really clean and very good, warm or crisp, just as you like it. Expecially with slight corus and LEXICON Reverb (great, really) you can get great jazz and funk tones. For jazz I miss a gated reverb. The just-about-to-break-up crunch tones are not so good. Metal distortion galore. I like the filter/auto wah very very much (better than the boxes imo), also chorusses and phasers. The Echoplex and the Pingpong Delay is great, especially if you assign delay time to the foot pedal. The effects alone are worth the price. Plus: The reverb quality is truely amazing. I don't care about artist sounds. If you just want to clone XY I pity you.

It never failed yet. I take good care of it. I have some pedals for emergencies.

The web support is fine. Download of firmware etc is easy. I a pissed of, because my unit came without Cubase LE.

I compared it to the Zoom 9.2 (which I did not like). I own different amps. I tried to use ist with the JazzChorus Roland JC-120. I could get fine results but tweaking takes time and adjusting the sounds to each other vene more so. The problem is, that the sound differs if the amp is low volume or high volume, somehow the emphasised frequencies change as the amp gets louder. With the loud amp I prefer to put treble and some high mids down a bit.
I strongly recommend it for home users who want to record (great) and need a fine headphone amp. If you go direct to the mixer (XLR-outputs), for a jazz player who travels light this would be very cool probably, I never tried it solo myself. You can always have a little monitor amp for yourself (two sets of outputs). For rock, well, I think that air must be pushed properly. Recording is fine but for playing personally, I think nothing compares to the old 4X12" Cabinet putting the rock tone out, preferably a Marshall & Celestion unit. I just feel that with that kind of "push" in the air, the guitar strings somehow swing different.

It doesn't take too long to get good sounds out of this, just a little tinkering can create infinite combinations of sounds. There is a bit of a learning curve with this unit, there is just so much it can do, once you've figured out one thing you discover 20 other things it can do.

I play a Fender Cyclone through a generic Peavey 100w head through one 12" Celestion. It sounds good to me, although I would like to hear it side by side with a tube amp and then through a tube amp to hear the difference. I'm sure it would probably keep a little of that "digital" sound, even through a tube amp, but I can say that without a doubt you can find at least one setting that is to your liking. There are just so many combinations of amp and cab models that the possibilities are seemingly endless. One thing I should point out is that when I initially plugged in I went straight through the clean channel but I had all of my EQs set to 5, this caused everything to sound harsh and digitized. Then I read in the manual that you should keep all EQ to 0, which gets rid of any color that the amp might give it so all of the effects sound like they should. I've played this through headphones also and it sounds good through those too. All of the effects sound good to me, and the expression pedal can be set to adjust virtually any parameter, which is one thing that I can spend hours using. Setting it to control delay time and things of that sort yeild really interesting results. As far as overall sound quality, it obviously depends on which setting you're using, but I think it would be hard to not get a good sound out of this with enough tweaking.

I haven't gigged with it, but I don't see where there could be many problems with it.

I was in a band for the last 7 or so years but quit a few months ago. This unit has filled a bit of the void left from not playing out and with other people. The drum machine is great for jamming along with, next best thing to a real drummer I suppose. I play in a cover band every now and then, and I plan on incorporating this into my setup in the near future. If there is one thing that it seems like this unit is built for, it is cover/variety bands. Having so many different sounds and effects at your feet at all times is priceless, as long as you take the time to find the right sound for each song. If it were stolen, I would definitely buy another one, it is just a great tool, especially for those who play alone a lot. And for the price, you can't go wrong, I got my refurbished off Zzounds for $150, which is how much the RP250 is normally.

This pedal takes has a long learning curve but really it has so many options that its worth it. Its not easy to use at all. it has many usable presets but if you buy this pedal for the presets your wasting your money. so many options its not funny. The manual tells you alot about the different tones you can dial with it but not much on how to do it. i was left very confused for a while but then i hit a few forums and found out all the stuff i was confused about. one feature i haven't been able to use is the connecting it up to the computer via usb. I'm not even sure what i can achieve by doing this but when i tried to do it and find out... it never worked, even once i downloaded all the necessary software. this didn't bother me at all but im still curious.

i run my ibanez sz prestige with emg 81/85 though this pedal generally into my cheap axl half stack. so due to my amp i haven't heard this pedals full potential but if your buying this pedal im guessing your looking for a cheap way to get a half decent tone without buying a tube amp. I cherish this pedal, not because of its tone though. It basically has every effect youll need. if you dial up your tone right you can have a high gain distortion with absolutly no backround noise and this is what i love about the pedal. sound wise it is reliable. You have a variety of diffrent amp simulaters and cab simulaters. Honestly none of them sound anything like the real thing but they provide a very usably tone. I wont explain it all because it would take me forever. It has reverbs, delays, chorus's, flange's, tremlo's, pitch shifters, harmonisers... everything anyone could want. this is whats great about it...so small but it has everything. So the great thing and the thing i love about it is it has everything.

now the down side

The tones arnt fantastic. you go out and buy a half decent half stack and it would proably sound slighlty better then this.

this pedal does sound very digital but for its price its the best. The amount of diffrent things it can do... totally worth it

i have recorded with this, pluging straight from the output into my mbox mini and it sounds good... not great, but not bad. It makes recording soooooooo easy, well for me anyway

Well ive had mine for about 7 months and just realised that the input jack has broken, not visually but its not picking anything up. i do however think this was from my rough handling. You can depend on it, its pretty darn solid like most digitech stuff. if your gigging id bring a back up though

Never delt with digitech and never will. cant imagine them being very helpful

i play stuff from soft rock to heavy metal but i know for a fact this pedal does it ill respectaby

If it was stolen i wouldnt replace it for the fact that i have no money and if i had money id be buying other more important stuff. if i had enough money to buy what ever i wanted id defently get another one. purley because everything i ever need is in the pedal its simply great.

If you dont have much cash and need a reliable and good sound, GET THIS. im gonna get mine fixed because im already missing it