| Jind from Ashford, CT USA |
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| Subject: | A great Amp Alternative or a great Stomp Box Alternative? BOTH! |
| Quality:
| Having upgraded from a previous Digitech product, the quality of the finish, and the overall build have come quite some ways in the positive. this unit feels solid, and has heft to it and an all metal chassis. The vacuum switches feel solid and much more reliable than the plastic foot pedals you will find on previous units and other manufacturers products. |
| Reliability:
| I've only had it a few days so far, but I don't suspect I'll be having any issues with it given the dependability of my previous Digitech products. |
| Overall:
| As mentioned in my title, this unit can be used as either a great sounding alternative to lugging your amp/rig from home to stage - having all your tone here in one place, the modeling capabilities have gotten tighter, things sound so much more natural, all with several connection options for either mixers or other PA systems; or this unit can simply be an awesome collection of stomp boxes with easy to adjust parameters and the ability to turn each on and off just as you would your individual stomp boxes making up your pedal-board. But together they make a great team - wonderful sounding amp/cabinet models and stellar effects building your tone is as easy as it gets. |
| Playability and Feel:
| The controls are the same easy matrix knob and LED system Digitech has been using for a long time now. You have a large 10 character LCD display that gives you the name of the device you are altering, and the LED lights in the matrix show you which devices are in your effects chain. You have several knobs to control the individual items that make up each component such as GAIN, BAS, MID, TREBLE, ... for amps, and DECAY, TIME, MIX, ... for effects. It's just like working the real thing, just from the same console each time. If you want really deep editing capabilities, simply load the included X-EDIT2 software and you can see a virtual version of your entire device that you can make patches with and see what makes up the included presets. Speaking of which, the RP500 comes with 100 factory presets and room for another 100 user presets. Overall control and connections are a simple as it gets but it gets the job done and quickly. |
| Tone:
| The tone from this unit is great. Digitech has come a long way with their modeling capabilities and it shows with the new AudioDNA processor chip. The amps sound tighter and more lively, the cabinets make a greater difference as you play around with combinations. The same goes for the distortion models - many of them are spot on for the originals. I encourage all to not just settle for the premade presets or others patches - go nuts and find your own tone or the tones of your favorites, but learn to do it yourself. This unit will get you there or at least as close as you can get with modeling. |
| Finish:
| The finish on this product is great, a nice black and silver coat with the bright LCD display and the red LEDs of the matrix control panel. It looks like a switching rig should. |
| Action:
| It's an FX unit - not a guitar. |
| Skill Level:
| Intermediate |
| Do you own this product?:
| Yes |
| Date submitted:
| 03/23/2009 |
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| Eek from Brooklyn NY |
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| Subject: | I'd actually give it a 3.5 |
| Quality:
| Seems to be very well made, just like other Digitech gear I owned back in the 80s/90s. |
| Sound:
| Sound is excellent. I use two main sounds: Distortion and clean/just starting to break up if I pick hard enough. This does 'em both just the way I want with minimal knob twisting. I'd say after a good 45 minutes of playing around with it I had my sounds and needed to tweak no more. The editing software is a godsend. |
| Reliability:
| I've only had it for two months but have used it at countless band practices and 2 gigs. Seems sturdy enough - although the matrix display/knobs seem a little flimsy. For $300 though, there's really not much to complain about.
The only reliability issue I have is the dropout when switching patches.. I didn't really notice it until I was playing a gig and it was in my face - it was pretty noticeable and since then I've been a little hypersensitive and annoyed by it. I won't give up without a good fight though. |
| Overall:
| Having been a dedicated Boss GT user for years and disappointed with the high gains in the GT10, I recently switched over to the dark side and bought an RP500.
It sounds fantastic to me (I have it plugged into the front of a Bogner Alchemist), especially for the price, however I have one major complaint that I wish other reviews would have mentioned (which is mainly why I'm writing this): I posted something on the Digitech board and other users have acknowledged it so I'm not alone on this: there's a lag/dropout when switching between patches. This stinks for me because I switch from high gain to clean several times in songs and although I'm starting to get the timing down to press the switch early, it's still sort of a deal breaker for me.
If there were no dropouts, I would definitely give this a firm 4.5. It's too bad. |
| Playability and Feel:
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| Tone:
| The tones this thing cranks out are wonderful. Great crunch/high gains, great cleans. |
| Finish:
| I dig the black/silver.. but that could be the 1970s KISS fan in me. Display is nice and easy to read in almost any condition. |
| Action:
| Foot switches are nice and sturdy. Expression pedal feels a little loose but I'm sure that can be fixed pretty easily. |
| Skill Level:
| Semi-Pro |
| Do you own this product?:
| Yes |
| Date submitted:
| 02/16/2010 |
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| Chris from Athens, NY, USA |
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| Subject: | This unit will save you from Back Injury |
| Quality:
| Top notch quality. |
| Sound:
| Excellent sounds come from the RP500. I find that if you make the amp volumes loud and adjust your master volume accordingly, you will have better tone. I love this thing and it sounds awesome when you record USB w/ it. People always comment on how brutal it sounds. |
| Reliability:
| Totally solid device. Metal box, the switches are sturdy |
| Overall:
| I love this DigiTech! You don't need amps and cabs anymore, use this live and go right into the board. Tons of sounds for any music styles. X-Edit software is easy to use and you can get what you want as long as you play around and have some patience. |
| Playability and Feel:
| It is easier to make your patches in X-edit, but if you must edit on the fly, it is not terribly difficult. |
| Tone:
| The key to good tone on this thing is to not max everything out. There is some tinkering involved to get a good tone but the time is well worth it. I no longer need an amp and cab anymore. |
| Finish:
| The LED is bright Red so you can see it well in the dark. |
| Action:
| n/a |
| Skill Level:
| Semi-Pro |
| Do you own this product?:
| yes |
| Date submitted:
| Sept. 10, 2009 |
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| Paul from Essex CT |
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| Subject: | Great FX Pedal! |
| Quality:
| This thing is built like a tank! WOOOHOO! |
| Sound:
| The tones of this pedal are extremely tight! Haven't found one I didn't like yet as I see the possibilities in them all! |
| Reliability:
| I just got this thing s only time will tell! :) |
| Overall:
| I Love this thing! Did plenty of research before the purchase and decided this was the way to go! So many awesome tones possible I took it out of the box and within minutes I was finding sounds I had been searching years for! |
| Playability and Feel:
| very easy to access all controls! |
| Tone:
| Wonderful tones! |
| Finish:
| The finish is fantastic! |
| Action:
| N/A |
| Skill Level:
| Intermediate |
| Do you own this product?:
| Yes I do! |
| Date submitted:
| 7/11/2009 |
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| Chris from Stockton,Ca,USA |
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| Subject: | Very Nice unit |
| Quality:
| Love the construction of this unit. All metal. I was kinda iffy on the foot pedal untill I recived the unit. It' sturdy. |
| Reliability:
| Only had it a couple weeks but I really don't see any issues in the future. |
| Overall:
| I wanted this unit for one reason really, The stomp box's. If you are anything like I am, you will never use everything in here. The Wah has pretty good feel to it and reacts well. I can't tell any differance from the Tube screamer pedal and the one thats in this unit they sound the same.
The MXR flanger, well it was easy enough for me to get thet Eddie Van Halen sound from it. The twin verb sounds pretty close to the older fender amps.
I haven't used much in the way of the internal amps/cabnets. From what little I have done they do sound pretty good. Really just depends on how good your amp is.
I use a Marshall so my amp has great sound already. But if your amp dosen't have great dirty tone, then this unit will be an upgrade for sure. I have found at least 3 or 4 amp/cabnet combos that sound pretty good. |
| Playability and Feel:
| fast respones from the switching. easy to use right out of the box. Read the book though just makes it a little less confusing at first. |
| Tone:
| not a guitar but I like what I hear from the rp500 so far. way more here then I will ever use. |
| Finish:
| Nice finish, looks like it won't scratch easy. |
| Action:
| none |
| Skill Level:
| Intermediate |
| Do you own this product?:
| Own it, and dig it! |
| Date submitted:
| 4/15/09 |