BOSS Intros MIDI-Controllable RC-202 Loop Station

BOSS-rc-202-angle

At Musikmesse 2016, BOSS has introduced the RC-202 Loop Station, the latest addition to the BOSS lineup of live looping devices.

The RC-202 offers looping and multi-effects in an compact tabletop unit. Four Input FX and four Track FX are available at once, and loops can be saved to memories in real time.

Expanded foot control and MIDI capabilities are also included, ideal for looping musicians who have their hands occupied with guitar, keyboards, and other instruments.

Here’s the official video intro:

Features:

  • Advanced BOSS technology in a compact tabletop looper that can be operated with your hands
  • Two simultaneous stereo phrase tracks with dedicated controls and loop status indicators
  • Four Input FX and four Track FX simultaneously available for processing loops with DJ and sampler-style effects
  • 64 phrase memories (8 memories x 8 banks), each containing two phrase tracks, custom effects/playback settings, and more
  • Expanded external control via optional footswitches or expression pedal and MIDI
  • XLR mic input with phantom power, mono/stereo instrument inputs, and stereo aux input
  • 17 onboard rhythm patterns, including odd-measure beats
  • USB for phrase import/export and DAW integration with computers

Pricing and availability are to be announced. See the BOSS site for details.

26 thoughts on “BOSS Intros MIDI-Controllable RC-202 Loop Station”

  1. I have an RC-505 and this looks like leftover parts. There doesnt seem to be any significant changes to the design whatsoever. Still a great device but man, if the price isnt right, you might as well get 5 independent tracks instead of the two here. Like going grocery shopping, either get the 2 cans of soup or just pay the extra dollar to get 5.

    1. note the RC 505 has just got a firmware update that add in most of what’s new in the rc 202 – note it’s not available yet..but was announced on a facebook post today…can’t locate the link currently sorry!

      1. What exactly are these new features? Don’t really see much new stuff here, except having less tracks that is…
        EDIT: oh I see, you can use the FX simultaneusly now! Neat.

  3. Had the RC 505 for a brief period, and while it has a ton of nice effects, I felt it was too rigid. The Boomerang 3, IMHO is a much better way to go for synth loopers. Might not have all the pretty effects, but it’s a much more solid and flexable looper.

          1. Despite claims by the manufacturer, I found the syncing wasn’t perfect when the RC-505 was in slave mode…tried it with both Maschine (and Ableton if I remember correctly). How did you set it up to have it work flawlessly for you?

        2. In my experience the 505 is so far the device that worked best when synced to other MIDI devices (though I never tried syncing it to a less stable clock, like one coming from a computer). Of course since the 505 will time stretch the loops according to the tempo, if the clock fluctuates a lot, you could get some audio glitches.

  5. Based on experiences with the larger loopstations I should avoid Roland’s/BOSS products. They are usually not finished and Roland drops the firmware upgrade support quite easily.

    I had an RC-50 for many years and few stupid issues they couldn’t get fixed (for example touching the jog wheel you loose everything immediately, MIDI implementation, etc..). I sold my pedal to one guy who already had the next version of RC-50 because he said it was crap and RC-50 was better (he knew about RC-50’s problems).

  6. Flashback X4 competition me thinks. And that’s good. The X4 is in every way exactly what I’m looking for except that it will only save a single loop set.

    That this saves 50 and saves the effects settings with each might make up for how garish it looks. A few ‘get things going’ drum beats are always welcome.

  7. I would love to see a synthesist’s looper. Basically this (or the 5 track version) but it also captured MIDI (if present at capture). Each layer saved to a new track in a GM file which you can load it up in your sequencer to edit and tweak and expand into a song.

    Doesn’t need to send or edit MIDI, just capture. Though something that was a full on audio + MIDI looper where a given track could be assigned to either would be righteous. An MMT-8 plus audio tracks.

  8. Yo guys! Here a specs for 505 v2.0Version 2.0: Newly Added Features

    Up to three effects can be used simultaneously in both the Input FX and Track FX sections
    New effects types, including Ring Modulator, Slow Gear, Pitch Bend, and others
    Extended parameters added to previous effects, including dotted and triplet note values for tempo syncing
    New targets for external foot control, ideal for musicians who play guitar, keyboards, and other instruments
    Assign functions have been increased from 8 to 16, providing expanded performance control via the front panel, external footswitches, expression pedal, and MIDI
    Enhanced Phrase Memory functions such as individual track monitoring via headphones, quantized loop recording, and more
    Added system functions, including loop indicator status settings and more

  10. Does anyone have recommendations for a foot controller to use with the rc-505 and the new firmware update that isn’t exorbitantly expensive?

  11. The Roland FC 200 I Paid 100€ is perfect for that I think.
    You can send 19 control changes, (13 foot switches, 1 expression pedal, plus 6 optionnal sw/exp).

    I had the FCB1010 Behringer, not expansive too, but you have to add an Eprom like EurekaProm, because by default, you can send only 2 or 3 control changes ! The Uno Eprom was not enough for me.

  13. hey there MESA members, how bout this, if you want to talk about the 505…go to a 505 thread! this is a 202 thread, you understand the difference?

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