Boss RC-202 Desktop Loop Station

Boss RC-202 Desktop Loop Station Overview

The RC-202 is the most affordable hand-operated Looper in the Boss RC Series. With its ultra-lightweight and compact design, it’s the ideal companion for a touring or gigging performer. Armed with a microphone input, a stereo jack input and an AUX-in, this little box can easily power even the most advanced of looper setups.

The Mic In is compatible with phantom power, meaning you can use your favourite condenser microphone. Alternatively, keep this turned off and you can use a normal Dynamic Mic.

The stereo input is a pair of 1/4 inch jacks, where you can plug in a synth, drum machine, sampler or output from an audio interface from a laptop. If you are using a mono sound source, you can plug 2 use the Left and Right inputs for two separate devices. To expand your input options even further, you can use the 3.5mm TRS input found on the bottom left of the front panel as an additional stereo input.

The Boss RC-202 is a two-track looper, with a total recording time of 3 hours and 64 memory locations (8 memories x 8 banks). Each phrase memory contains two audio tracks, custom effects/playback settings and more.

By having the memories organised in banks, you can build/line up different parts of an arrangement and perform a full song seamlessly. For example, you may have an 8 song set, with each song having 8 different sections. The banks could be the song and the phrase memories within the banks could be the different parts (Verse, Chorus, Middle 8, etc).

The layout of the RC-202 Loop Station is extremely user-friendly and easy to navigate. You will find large Rec/Play/Overdub buttons, as well as a separate Stop button within each track. There are fader buttons to quickly control the volumes of your tracks, as we all as clearly labelled buttons to carry out all the necessary settings.

To make your performances stand out from the crowd, the RC-202 has an exceptionally powerful effects section. You’ll find over 40 effects, ranging from delays, reverbs, distortions and numerous sound FX like Beat Repeat, Beat Shift, Beat Scatter, Vinyl Flick and many others.

With four Input FX and four Track FX, which can be used simultaneously, users can process loops with DJ and sampler-style effects in real-time. Each is controlled by two easy to grab knobs and have four-panel buttons to quickly enable/disable effects. Whatever effects you have assigned within the Track FX or Input FX sections will save to the memory you are currently working in.

Input FX - The effect(s) will be assigned to the input and record to the loop.
Track FX - The effect(s) will be assigned after the loop.

The RC-202 can seamlessly integrate within your studio/live setup, with both the addition of MIDI I/O and a built-in USB Audio Interface. You can sync tempo and patch change information with other MIDI-compatible devices, meaning you can clock arpeggiators, drum machines and much more.

With the addition of a USB cable (sold separately), you can use the RC-202 as an Audio Interface and integrate it with your favourite recording software/DAW. Furthermore, you can send a click track to just the headphone output, making the RC-202 capable of running backing tracks and keeping you in time when playing live.

Finally, to help support your performances even further, the RC-202 has 17 internal rhythm patterns. These Drum Kit/Percussion patterns cover numerous musical genres and can even play in either standard or odd time signatures.

For users that need access to more tracks, more memories and a wider selection of internal rhythms, check out the RC-505.

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