BOSS RC-50

Information

(1/25/2013)
BOSS Loop Station World Championship 3
Held at the House of Blues® in Anaheim, California, the event coincided with the NAMM Show 2013.
(9/15/2011)
Please check the latest RC-300 Loop Station featuring up to three hours of internal recording, 16 onboard effects, XLR Microphone input with phantom power, and more!

The Ultimate Looper Has Arrived

For those awaiting the arrival of a new industry-leading looper, the wait is finally over. Introducing the RC-50 — the most feature-laden Loop Station BOSS has ever built. It’s the best live looping tool ever built for that matter. Housed in a spacious seven-footswitch floor unit, the RC-50 lets you manipulate three stereo phrase tracks simultaneously, with each track supporting multiple overdubs. In other words, you can record phrase upon phrase, one by one, on each track, resulting in a monstrous stack!

- The new industry-leading looping tool for live performance!
- 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
- Ultra-long recording time (up to 49 min., mono), 99 patches (3 master loops per patch)
- Undo/Redo function for recording and overdubbing
- Center-cancellation feature, "flat" amplifier simulation feature
- Stereo input, dual stereo output, XLR phantom-powered mic input, stereo mini-jack Aux input (for recording from an MP3 players, etc.)
- USB port for data/audio backup, import/export of loops as WAV files

BOSS proudly announces the redesign of its Official Global website and new url: www.boss.info.

Loop, Layer, Rock!

Ready to blow your audience away? With a single RC-50, a guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, or vocalist can create a perfectly synced wall of sound live onstage. There are three simultaneous stereo phrase tracks on the RC-50, each with a dedicated footswitch. Each track can contain dozens of loops/phrases that you stack one by one, so you can imagine how massive your arrangements or solos can become!

In Sync

Whether used as a master or slave, the RC-50 can be connected and synced to a MIDI network. For bands that incorporate digital audio tracks, sequences, and/or video elements into their live gigs, sync is not a luxury — it’s a necessity. For scenarios such as these, the RC-50 can be locked to a master sequencer or clock source, ensuring that your loop performances are absolutely locked. Internally, the RC-50 offers Loop Quantize for easy loop recording, Loop Sync (which enables all phrases to start in sync), and Tempo Sync (which matches the tempo of multiple phrases during playback).

Rhythm Guide

To make recording as fun and inspiring as possible, the RC-50 provides a total of 379 play-along Rhythm Guide Patterns in a wide variety of time signatures. Why record to a stale click track when you can jam with rockin’ grooves instead?

Impressive I/O

The RC-50’s rear panel is well stocked with connectors, offering a true stereo input and output path, but that’s only the beginning. There are four ways to get audio into the RC-50: 1/4” Inst input (L, R/mono), XLR input with 48V phantom power (great for vocal mics), mini-jack aux input, and USB for importing WAV files from computers. Audio can be output via 1/4” main stereo outs (L, R/mono), plus 1/4” sub stereo outs (L, R/mono), headphone out, and USB for data/audio backup. MIDI in and out jacks are provided. Two 1/4” TRS inputs are also provided to accommodate an optional Expression pedal and footswitches; up to four footswitches can be used simultaneously.

Bonus Features

The RC-50 has plenty of other noteworthy features on offer, for example: Phrases can be played forward or backward. Phrases can be retriggered in “free time” or on a time-aligned grid. Errors can be corrected on the fly with the Undo/Redo switch.

AD Conversion: 24 bit
DA Conversion: 24 bit
Sampling Frequency: 44.1kHz
Program Memories: 99
Nominal Input Level: INST: -10 dBu
MIC: -50 dBu
AUX: -16 dBu
Input Impedance: INST: 1 M Ω
MIC: 1 kΩ
AUX: 100 kΩ
Nominal Output Level: MAIN OUTPUT: -10 dBu
SUB OUTPUT: -10 dBu
Output Impedance: MAIN OUTPUT: 2 kΩ
SUB OUTPUT: 2 kΩ
PHONES: 47 Ω
Available Recording Time*: STEREO: Approx. 24 minutes
MONO: Approx. 49 minutes

Control

Front Panel: REC/PLAY/OVERDUB pedal
STOP pedal
TEMPO pedal
UNDO/REDO pedal
PHRASE 1 pedal
PHRASE 2 pedal
PHRASE 3 pedal
PATCH/VALUE dial
PARAMETER buttons
TAP TEMPO button
NAME/PATCH button
CTL/EXP PEDAL button
SYSTEM/USB button
EXIT button
WRITE button
PLAY MODE button
LOOP SYNC button
AUTO REC button
INPUT MODE button
OVERDUB MODE button
LOOP QUANTIZE indicator
OVERDUB MODE indicators
(OVERDUB, REPLACE, MOMENTARY PUNCH-IN)
PHRASE EDIT: PHRASE LEVEL knobs (PHRASE 1, 2, 3)
PHRASE buttons (PHRASE 1, 2, 3)
REVERSE indicators (PHRASE 1, 2, 3)
ONE SHOT indicators (PHRASE 1, 2, 3)
GUIDE: LEVEL knob
SELECT button
START/STOP button
INPUT LEVEL: AUX knob
MIC knob
INST knob
PEAK indicator
MASTER: LEVEL knob
Rear Panel: PHANTOM switch
POWER switch

Other

Display: 16 characters, 2 lines (backlit LCD)
2 characters, 7 segment LED
Connectors: INST jacks R (MONO)/L (1/4 inch phone type)
MIC connector (XLR type; supports use of phantom power)
AUX jack (Stereo miniature phone type)
MAIN OUTPUT jacks R (MONO)/L (1/4 inch phone type)
PHONES jack (Stereo 1/4 inch phone type)
SUB OUTPUT jacks R (MONO)/L (1/4 inch phone type)
EXP/CTL 3, 4 PEDAL jack (TRS 1/4 inch phone type)
CTL 1, 2 PEDAL jack (TRS 1/4 inch phone type)
USB connector
MIDI connectors (IN/OUT)
DC IN (AC adaptor) jack
Power Supply: DC 9 V: Supply AC adaptor (Roland ACI or ACB series)
Current Draw: 450 mA
Accessories: AC adaptor (Roland ACI or ACB series)
USB cable
Owner's Manual
Roland Service (information sheet)
Sound Library for RC-50 (Sample Phrase CD)
Options: Foot Switch: FS-5U
Dual Foot SwitcH: FS-6
Expression Pedal: EV-5 (Roland), FV-500L/H
Foot Switch Cable: PCS-31 (Roland)
(Stereo 1/4 inch phone plug-1/4 inch phone plug x 2)

System Requirements

Windows: OS: Microsoft® Windows® Me, Microsoft® Windows® 2000, Microsoft® Windows® XP, Microsoft® Windows® 7
Others: USB Port
Macintosh: OS: Mac OS 9.1.x, Mac OS 9.2.x, Mac OS X
Others: USB Port

Size and Weight

Width (W): 472 mm18-5/8 inches
Depth (D): 198 mm7-13/16 inches
Height (H): 64 mm2-9/16 inches
Weight: 2.9 kg6 lbs. 7 oz.

excluding AC adaptor

* The times listed above take into account the amount of memory needed for the actual recording combined with the memory required for the RC-50's operations (e.g., Undo/Redo).

* 0 dBu = 0.775 Vrms

All specifications and appearances are subject to change.