7 footswitches for intuitive control; realtime control of playback speed. Play up to 3 stereo phrase tracks simultaneously, all synced to an internal or MIDI clock.
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Sound:
This is a strange case. Some people swear this is the mother of all loopers (well, other than the Echoplex). Others, like myself, are incredibly annoyed with this thing! Why? The flaws are not apparent if you are using this stand-alone. What I mean is if you just want to get this, plug it in, and start looping your guitar or whatever, it will work fine. However, if you want to get this thing and integrate it into a more complex MIDI configuration BEWARE!!! It is terribly flawed for this tast. You are practically forced to use this as yoru midi master, and the start/stop buttons on this do not send out CC messages, they send MIDI stop/start, so your DAW is going to start and stop playing if you stop any one loop on the RC-50. This can be fixed with filtering using MIDI-OX or an Motu MTP. What cannot be fixed is how horribly this thing works as a MIDI slave. There is no excuse for a $500 looper to resample the audio so horribly! I am not being an audio snob here, if your tempo changes the least bit the loops are mangled!!! My Kaos pad and Ableton live do this almost perfectly! So basically you are stuck with a single tempo, losts of midi filtering to make it behave in a comprehensive mannor, and you better hope your other hardware/software can operate properly as a slave.
Feature:
Good features, they just don't all work as you expect or with the quality you expect from a $500 looper. Again, examples are sample mangling on tempo change, horrible midi implimentation, etc...
Ease of Use:
Again, if your doing a one man show, or you never have to change your loops tempo (which means anyone your playing with has to keep time with YOU, which will piss off your drummer!) this thing is great. Techie users beware!
Quality:
Seems like good build quality, but why can Roland/Boss not fix the bugs in the firmware!?!?
Value:
For me, the value was poor. I was excited when I got it, but I am putting this thing on Craigslist now.
Manufacturer Support:
I love Roland. You would think they sponsored me if you saw my studio, but the way they have handled the issues with this product is horrible. Problems are discussed all over forums, atleast hundreds of people have complained about these major flaws and roland refuses to fix the firmware! This is very bad Roland, tighten up!
The Wow Factor:
I want to get rid of it!
Overall:
Again, it may work perfect if your going to keep it simple. This review is for anyone expecting to integrate this device with other gear! BEWARE! Read up on Loopers Delight forums.
51 of 52 people
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Sound:
the factory-installed sounds are top-of-the-line. Same as Boss DR-880.... beyond that.. what goes in definitely comes out.. Has lots of punch.
Feature:
When they say feature-laden, they are not kidding.. Trouble is, it'll take me a very long time to figure this baby out. They engineers definitely thought of a lot of "what-if" scenarios.. many of which I'll probably never use.
Ease of Use:
I'm only into my second day with this product. The manual was obviously written by someone who speaks English as a second language. The manual is littered with faux pas. I think they could have done a much better job with the manual, to put it mildly. The manual needs a complete overhaul. While the setup is designed to be used on the floor, there are many "finger-operated" features that would require hanging out on the floor, unless all of thoose features are pre-programmed. Would not be trouble in a studio setting, but could be nightmare for stage work, unless one is barefoot with extremely talented toes.
Quality:
Seems to be very durable. I'll need a roadcase for it. Hope they have one that is designed for this product.
Value:
I think the product has very good value. The unit can be used in a variety of ways, from simple pre-recorded backing tracks to "live-input" (which may require a bit of rehearsal to get it smooth.
Manufacturer Support:
have not dealt with this yet.
The Wow Factor:
Well, I don't think that looks are as important as function. however, it's a smart-looking device.. In a dark room, it looks like a space-ship console with all the blinking lights. I used this unit to "baby-sit" my neighbor's 2 year-old, as he was mezmerized by the look, and he sat and listened to the accompanying c.d., and all of it's sounds without moving. Like I said, this is a multi-purpose device! :)
Overall:
I like most that it is versatile. I can probably grow with this as I get more familiar with it. It's not a one-trick pony.
39 of 46 people
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Sound:
RC50 is VERY midi unfriendly, particularly when linking with the DR 880. The drums sounds are good but are (at the end of a night) quite boring so it is a must to use good rhythm programmer like the DR 880. I started out with just the looper and had prerecorded loops, recorded with bass guitar. I got bored with the sameness of the drums. I did a little research prior to buying the DR880 and spoke with sales about the compatibility.
Initially I wanted to slave the drums and access some random fills. After long discussions with some very patient techie he said it could be done using two control pedals and a T cable starting and stopping both units at the same time. This solution was not an ideal one as I experienced tempo errors between the two units. Not good for a live act! I have since deleted some of the loops and slaved the RC50 to the DR880 programming the DR880 rhythms and putting the Units in sync mode. The problem with this is If I start the DR880 with no recorded loop it starts recording when the DR880 sends the start signal. The solution to this I thought was easy - just record rhythms onto the phrases, name and save it. The next problem arises when you attempt to switch songs or patterns on the DR880, suddenly the RC50 also switches randomly, not good for live shows either! I noted too that the RC50 speed alters the sample and makes it unplayable, and unable to return the loop to its original tempo without that degradation. Another most annoying problem is the patch volume intermittently comes up in the display while attempting changes to the patch causing inadvertent alteration of other controls.
Hope Roland take note of these problems and remedy them in the next looper.
Feature:
Good quality finish, hard to clean, power supply quite large, loop pedals nicely spaced. Nice flashing lights.
Ease of Use:
Can be played straight out of its box. Much easier than the newest to the range. Drums are boring, but can be used for a click track. The manuals are good. Midi is maddening. On stage one need to get the input volumes correct and the output volumes for each of the loops right, it is possible to lose the sound in the mix. However one can use a (EV5) volume pedal plugged into expression jack on the back.
Not really a unit for the soloist, unless the midi stuff can be remedied.
Quality:
Like all Roland products it looks like it will last for years If one does not throw it of the balcony.
I wish it was a dependable as the rest of the great products Roland Boss market. It will get you thru a show, however you must take lot lot of care when adjusting controls etc.
Value:
At the time I was a looper addict and I had done a little touring with a bluesman using a Line6 which I think had about 36seconds of available loop on. I then purchased the RC10 and had a lot of fun with it on stage but I wanted the biggest and the beast. I payed a lot of cash for it and have been continually looking for ways to integrate it into my solo act.
Manufacturer Support:
Those at Roland (Aust) were very understanding and worked out solutions for me to the best of their ability. An engineer from Japan seemed understanding at the outset.
The Wow Factor:
Make me an offer on it!
Overall:
I am hoping to replace it with Logic Pro and GiO.Need to thoroughly research other loopers particularly the available drum rhythms and/or the midi implementation.
1 of 1 people
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Sound:
Excellent...
Feature:
More features than I will probably use.
Ease of Use:
Well... It isn't super easy to learn how to use all of the functions, but the more function, the greater the learning curve. That's just the way it is. I suppose that's why Boss also offers simpler looping pedals. Having said all that... The basic functions are very easy to master, right out of the box.
Quality:
What I have come to expect from both Roland and Boss... Sturdy and reliable.
Manufacturer Support:
Not sure what to put here... I have never had any problems over the years with Boss (or Roland) equipment. If this RC-50 is typical, I don't think I will need any support...
1 of 2 people
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Sound:
With a careful setup (instructions are included in the manual for the order of which you should make volume settings in your equipment chain) the audio sounds great. However, there are two big issues, in my opinion, with this product. As a previous reviewer mentioned, the resampling ability of the RC-50 is deplorable. Here's a scenario to demonstrate that I dealt with: I use a lot of old analogue keyboards and such when building loops with this thing. In one case, I had recorded a guitar part at 130 BPM. I then decided I wanted to lay a "beat" from an old analogue keyboard over this. The keyboard had preset tempo settings that did not list actual BPM, so in order to match it, I had to tap the tempo pedal on the RC-50 and find the tempo of the beat. The tempo ended up at 133 BPM. A very minor difference when resampling in ANY other setting. I would not expect to even hear the manipulation of the guitar part. However, at the new tempo, the RC-50 resampled my guitar loop so badly that it sounded as if I had taken it down 3/4 of it's original speed (choppy, gappy playback). So, the thought I had was "oh, well, it sounds bad, but I'll record the beat and then return the loop to it's original tempo and the guitar should sound fine again." Right? Right?? WRONG. For some unknown reason, once the overdub was completed, the RC-50 apparently adjusts that tempo destructively, so returning to the original tempo did nothing for the original, now horrible, guitar loop. But, of course, the beat laid over top sounded fine. Go figure. Like the previous reviewer said, from a $500 looper, I would never expect such poor implementation of resampling capability.
The second issue with the sound is thus: If you manage to clip the audio at input, the RC-50 handles the surge pathetically. A loud pass will cause the audio on the unit to drop out completely for a good 1-2 seconds, before it recovers (slowly) by fading back in gradually. You need to be very careful with levels on this device, something I always do, but in a spirited moment of playing, what was a good overall volume for most passages can become way too loud for the unit with a little emphasis, and lead to the dropout I mentioned previously.
Finally, a huge issue for me (and what is likely going to lead to me selling it if I can't find a suitable workaround) doesn't necessarily fall into the sound category, depending on your point of view, but I don't know where else to put it, so here it is:
Each bank has three patches or loops. I write music with a lot of changes, so for a 5 minute song, I can easily require 5 or 6 patches if I want to record each phrase separately without tying them together (the most efficient use of memory in the unit). However, when playing live and switching between banks, there is a noticeable pause before the next loop begins, throwing everything out of time. It's impossible to adjust for when playing live, and the amount of time the unit pauses varies. I use it in stereo mode (guitar running to one channel with the output to a guitar amp, bass running to the other channel with that output running to a bass amp) and this may be less of an issue when working with mono files, so if you only plan to use a single instrument in mono, test one out and see if you have problems, but it's definitely a problem for me, and renders the RC-50 nearly useless. The only workaround is to record whole sections of a song as segments and string them together. This takes up much more memory and is a ridiculous way to have to use a looper, since it is essentially no longer a looper, just a sampler tagging phrases together.
Feature:
There are many great features on this pedal, but I have to give it an 8 due to the usability of many of them. A feature that doesn't work as you would expect (tempo shifts, as noted above, for instance) is hardly a feature worth having.
Ease of Use:
If you're just sitting down with this and a guitar, it's a cinch to use (I figured it out in 5 minutes when demoing it at a local Sam Ash). And since this is how I expect most users are working with it, I have given it an 8. However, as the previous reviewer stated, don't expect it to play nice with your MIDI gear. MIDI is very poorly implemented.
Quality:
This unit is very well built, and I would give it a ten if I were referencing that aspect alone. However, I don't trust it yet for live gigs due to the firmware/operational issues I described earlier. I want a piece of gear to improve my sound, not make me sound like a novice or like I don't have my material down, and any experimentation in a live setting can lead to that pretty quickly when using it as stated earlier.
Value:
I should not have bought it. I would have been better off with Abelton Live and a MIDI footswitch of some variety, which was the other setup I was contemplating.
Manufacturer Support:
I have not dealt with technical support on this product yet. I just discovered some of these bugs tonight, and will be calling tech support to see if they at least have any recommendations or can explain why some of the issues are what they are. But for the very fact that these issues exist, I am giving support a 5, since this device has been around long enough to have had these issues corrected by now.
The Wow Factor:
Before I actually owned one, the unit had incredible sex appeal. But now it's kindof like one of those situations where you're incredibly attracted to someone, and then get involved only to find they're not nearly as great as you were expecting (in bed or otherwise).
Overall:
I'm likely to sell mine, and I've only owned it for a month. I'm incredibly disappointed. I think for some people this is probably a great product, but if you need a high-precision device, this ISN'T it.
28 of 28 people
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