The Boss RC 505 is quite a large unit, and because of this, it has a rather clear user interface, which provides a lot of functionality.
The RC 505 has 5 tracks which can be played simultaneously, and each of these tracks has track settings which can be accessed via the ‘EDIT’ button.
Once the ‘EDIT’ button has been pressed, you can use the arrow buttons and the ‘Memory Value’ rotary knob (located directly to the right of the LCD screen) to select and engage different effects (filter, phaser, synth, lo-fi, echo, octave, delay, etc), alongside making volume adjustments, control panning and much more!
Each track has an individual fader control, which makes it easy for the user to build up sections of the performance, by bringing certain tracks in and out of the mix. There are also rhythm effects & sample patterns that can be added through the RC-505. With that being said, you can make adjustments to these rhythm samples, through the use of the ‘Memory Value’ rotary knob.
Now, let’s talk more about the unit’s connectivity
The RC-505 is powered by a DC power cable, and has several inputs and outputs, making it suitable for those musicians who’re looking for a unit which can handle MIDI devices, microphones and instruments. The RC-505 has a MIDI input/output, alongside a stereo instrument input for instruments and an XLR input for microphones (with 48v phantom power).
Finally, the unit has a line control input which is suitable for a footswitch, expression pedal, so if you’re using instruments it makes it more practical to control the RC 505 via this method.
The recent version 2.0 update adds even more features
In our opinion, the Boss RC-505 Looper Station is a fantastic unit for most kinds of performers, from beatboxers, singers to those who want to loop instruments.
The unit has a ton of functionality, including the ability to pay 5 tracks simultaneously and add a wide range of effects to the tracks and overall mix.
However, the true selling point of the unit is that unlike a lot of other loopers (which happen to be a lot smaller), the RC-505 makes handling your loops more straightforward, and this is mainly because it has a clear interface.
One of the other great selling points of the unit is that it has a wide range of inputs/outputs, making sure that instrument integration is readily available for users. Not to mention, the footswitch/expression pedal integration is also a fantastic selling point for those who require this.
Therefore, we have to give the unit a thumbs up!
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