Boss RC-5 Loop Station Pedal Overview
Boss RC-5 Loop Station Pedal
Overview By GAK
The Boss RC-5 is one of the most powerful Loop Stations on the market. Boss are the industry standard for Loop Stations and the RC-5 has brought them to the future.
The Boss RC-5 is a Single Compact Looper, meaning that you have all the power of a Loop Station, presented in the iconic Boss single pedal format. A Looper can build/stack/layer performances in real-time, allowing you to perform as if you were a 1-man-band.
There is a total of 13 hours of recording time, meaning you can store 13 hours worth of audio across the 99 Memory locations. This includes loops that you have created, audio files that you want to import to the pedal and play along to.
All the onboard buttons can be reassigned to whatever you desire, making your performances as slick as possible and personalised to the user. The settings of the RC-5 are clearly visible on the LED Backlit display, which features different colours to show which mode you are currently on (Red - Record, Amber - Dub, Green - Play) which is perfect for dark stages.
Unlock the full potential of the RC-5 with the use of an external footswitch (sold separately), like the Boss FS-6 or Boss FS-7 or expression pedal such as the Roland EV-5 or Boss Expression Pedal.
The most important part of any instrument, product or recording is the quality of the sound. This may seem obvious, though it’s something that can sometimes be forgotten. The Boss RC-5 Looper Pedal is powered by a 32-Bit Processor, making the audio quality crystal clear and pristine. It’s double the resolution of the previous models, taking the Boss Loop Station to Ultra HDR levels. The recording will be far cleaner, luscious, richer, warmer and the unit runs much more efficiently, so no matter how many layers you add, the RC-5 will not clip/lose quality. To add to the audio quality further, the RC-5 has optimised effects, including LOOP FX (only for loop tracks) Beat Repeat, Beat Shift, Beat Scatter, Vinyl Flick and Reverb (only for rhythm part).
The RC-5 Loop Pedal also includes 50 Rhythm Tracks, meaning that you can choose between the 7 high-quality preset drum kits/percussion sounds, without losing one of your audio tracks to accommodate for it. The BPM of the Rhythm Track is automatically determined by the loop you have already recorded, making your performances less robotic and more human. This is a technology unique to Boss Loop Stations.
The Boss RC-5 Loop Station Pedal seamlessly integrates into your live, home or studio setup due to the wide array of inputs/outputs. The RC-5 is “True-Stereo” In/Out, ensuring your sound is expansive as possible. You can plug into the RC-5 with nearly any instrument you like via traditional pair of jack inputs. The RC-5 also has MIDI In/Out, enabling you to sync with external hardware, effects pedals or DAW. You could sync the tempo of your MIDI Enabled modulation/time-based effects, like the Boss 500 or 200 Series.
No other Looper on the market can have this amount of power, yet run off x1 9V battery.
For users who need more tracks and more buttons to better control their loops, check out the RC-500.
<< Click here to learn more about Boss Loop Stations >>
Here’s What Boss Say:
“The RC-5 is the latest Single Compact Looper in our Loop Station range, which has been given a number or enhancements and optimisations, offering musicians a completely new way to get creative with their music. The previous RC-3 was potentially our most simple to use Looper we ever created. The RC-5 has kept the easy-to-use nature of the RC-3 and brought the single compact Loop Station to the next level. This includes a 32 Bit Processor, brand new optimised effects, a backlit display, assignable controls, MIDI in/out, improved rhythms and even more recording time. The more powerful processor, new effects engine and improved rhythm sounds make the RC-5 the highest quality sounding Looper we have ever made, bringing Boss Loop Stations to the future. There is no other Looper on the market that is able to have this amount of power and run off x1 9V battery. For users that need more tracks and more buttons to have better control of your loops, check out the RC-500. The Boss RC-5 comes a 5-year warranty when registered with Roland Backstage.”
- Advanced BOSS looping features in a compact footprint
- Class-leading sound quality with 32-bit AD/DA and 32-bit floating-point processing
- Stereo looper engine with 13 hours of recording time
- LCD with multi-color backlight for viewing loop status and editing parameters
- Reverse function for infusing loops with interesting textures
- Seven different drum kits and 57 preset rhythms with A/B variations
- Support for expanded control via external footswitches, an expression pedal, or MIDI
- Full MIDI I/O provided with space-saving mini TRS jacks (BMIDI-5-35 adaptor cable available separately)
- Onboard storage for 99 phrase memories
- Back up and load WAV loops via USB
- Sampling Frequency - 44.1 kHz
- AD/DA Conversion - 32 bits
- Processing - 32-bit floating point
- Recording/Playback
- - Number of Track: 1
- - Data Format: WAV (44.1 kHz, 32-bit float, stereo)
- - Maximum Recording Time: Approx. 1.5 hours (1 track), Approx.13 hours (total of All memories)
- Rhythm Type - 57 Patterns x 2 Variations
- Rhythm Kit - 7 types
- Effect - Reverb (only for rhythm part)
- Memory - 99
- Nominal Input Level- INPUT A/MONO, B: -20 dBu
- Input Impedance - INPUT A/MONO, B: 1 M ohm
- Nominal Output Level - OUTPUT A/MONO, B:-20 dBu
- Output Impedance - OUTPUT A/MONO, B: 1 k ohm
- Recommended Load Impedance - OUTPUT A/MONO, B: 10 k ohms or greater
- Bypass - Buffered bypass
- Controls - MEMORY/LOOP LEVEL knob, MEMORY button, SETUP button, RHYTHM ON/OFF button, RHYTHM TEMPO button, Pedal switch
- Display - Graphic LCD (96 x 32 dots, RGB backlit LCD)
- Connectors
- - INPUT A/MONO, B jacks: 1/4-inch phone type
- - OUTPUT A/MONO, B jacks: 1/4-inch phone type
- - STOP/MEMORY jack: 1/4-inch TRS phone type
- - USB port: USB B type
- - MIDI (IN, OUT) jacks: stereo miniature type
- - DC IN jack
- Power Supply
- - Alkaline battery (9 V, 6LR61 or 6LF22)
- - AC adaptor (PSA series: sold separately)
- Current Draw - 170 mA
- Expected battery life under continuous use - Alkaline: Approx. 2 hours
- *These figures will vary depending on the actual conditions of use.
- Accessories
- - Owner's manual
- - Leaflet ("USING THE UNIT SAFELY," "IMPORTANT NOTES," and "Information")
- - Alkaline battery (9 V, 6LR61 or 6LF22)
- Options (sold separately)
- - AC adaptor: PSA-S series
- - Footswitch: FS-5U
- - Dual Footswitch: FS-6, FS-7
- - Expression Pedal: FV-500H, FV-500L, EV-30, Roland EV-5
- - TRS/MIDI connecting cable: BMIDI-5-35
- Size and Weight
- Width
- - 73 mm
- - 2-7/8 inches
- Depth
- - 129 mm
- - 5-1/8 inches
- Height
- - 56 mm
- - 2-1/4 inches
- Weight (including battery)
- - 450 g
- - 1 lb
- * 0 dBu = 0.775 Vrms
- *The specifications are subject to change without notice.