Boss RV-200 - Boss's New Inspiration Machine

In today's video, Paul Drew from The Studio Rats is checking out the brand new reverb from Boss, the RV200.
RV-200 SPECS
Class-leading sound quality with 32-bit AD/DA, 32-bit floating point processing, and 96 kHz sampling rate
Twelve distincive reverb types, including newly developed Arp verb and Modulate algorithms.
Fast, easy operation with hands-on controls
127 user-recallable memories, plus a Manual seLng that reflects the current panel setup.
Selectable carryover for maintaining reverb trails when switching presets or bypassing the effect.
Stereo I/O with wet/dry and dry mute output op;ons
Two freely assignable footswitches
Expressive Hold, Warp, and Twist effects available via footswitch control
Deep external control support via footswitches, an expression pedal, and TRS MIDI I/O Connect and control mul;ple 200 series pedals at once via MIDI.
Panel lock function to avoid accidental sound changes.
Powered via three AA batteries or an optional AC adaptor.
The Studio Rats are core band members Paul Drew on guitar/production/mixing, drummer James Ivey and Dan Hawkins on bass. They collaborate with singers and musicians to produce radio-ready songs.

[@michaelcolemanuk]

I rented the RV500 from the Pedal Club, and it sounds fantastic. Don’t need all those options, so this is on my shopping list, even if both my amps have reverb built in…

[@Adventuresingearland]

That hold function in the intro - 🙌🏻🤘

[@uniqdzign2]

Superb selection of reverbs, Paul. Would loved to have heard your Strat through it as well. The hold button really adds a huge set of options for playing, especially if you're an ambient player. Thank you, nice demo, Paul.

[@untartelette7545]

That 335 sounds amazing man

[@BrenQ99]

I have been waiting for this for years now. Ordered.

[@jamesthomas70]

Some beautiful sounds there, Paul. Been waiting on this one to complete my 200 series pedalboard.

[@IamMusicNerd]

Boss’s version of the Big Sky, in a smaller footprint.

[@matteomidas638]

This pedal has nothing in common with the Bigsky. You should wash your ears.

[@BkBk-gy6vr]

It's no big sky stop with the insults.

[@drjay927]

Looks like some people got buyers remorse here... big rip off is more like it

[@Thrash155]

Paul always plays amazing. I think Boss really nailed this one, I had a DOD multi-FX rack mount back in the 80's that kind of did the same thing but this sounds so much beter.

[@randymccoy2527]

Beautiful. Buying one today. The hold feature is fantastic. Everyone needs the pedal. In my humble opinion :)

[@BkBk-gy6vr]

It's mediocre at best. There are much better reverbs at the same price point.

[@randymccoy2527]

You know, I thought that too the first week I owned it, then I spent more time in it. There very well might be better reverbs, Ventris, Strymon Blue Sky, Flint but it's the best reverb I've ever heard or owned. What reverbs would you say sound better? I don't care for the apregiator verbs on it, but the room, plate, and halls are superb,.@@BkBk-gy6vr

[@jezza46]

I was always surprised Boss didn’t release this when they brought the other 200 series pedals out. I wonder what took them so long?

[@TheOligoclonalBand]

That Hold in the beginning is gorgeous. Can you use it as a momentary hold?

[@PuRe_AdDicT]

Momentary was possible on the RV500 when I had it

[@badtweed2087]

Good video. I appreciate the lack of overdone nervous intimidation licks that ruin most reviews these days. Demos are supposed to show off the item not the demonstrators technical skills. Thank you!

[@pacific-midwest]

At 6:08, sounds like a nice rendition of Dinah Washington's 'This Bitter Earth'.

[@AndrewMooreLearningLicks]

I always found Boss Reverb pedals (single units) was always waaaaay to much verb and kinda hard to dial back for a simple breath of verb just to give a tiny tail. But this looks like just the ticket 🎫 look forward to trying it out.

[@teknical100]

Great review thanks.

[@markorfila3832]

Need to do the RV-200 Vs Lexicon 224XL comparison video !

[@jrockofages5413]

Beautiful. My Big Sky's brother is born

[@Place_to_keep_videos]

Such great tones, although the RV500 still has "more is more" thing going for it. They seemed to be judicious in their design with that in mind.

[@denandannie]

where's the acoustic demo?

[@DBroce]

Does anyone ever use Low-Fi, except for that one song in your set list? It seems like they’re capturing the TC pedals in one box.

[@richarddibb9381]

Loving these HOLD functions that are now being used. My new ME 90 has this function. My old EHX Freeze pedal is redundant these days! Sounds great BTW. 👍

[@vincenzo995]

I recently bought a Boss GT-1000 Core, and it's a great pedal, though a bit limited in reverb options because of the restriction to only one 'advanced' algorithm in the effect chain. I have other Boss pedals too, because I appreciate the variety of options, customization and "DSP power" that Boss typically offers. Unfortunately, with this one, I think Boss is again falling short on reverbs. Several algorithms are great for most users, but in terms of 'ambient' reverbs, I don't see anything particularly outstanding. I don't like that shimmer. There's nothing close to Strymon's 'cloud' algorithms. Personally, I also have a 'freeze' pedal that offers great options and customizations. The interface of the pedal is fantastic, with customization, inputs and outputs, presets, 32 bit rate and so on, but I hoped to see more interesting algorithms in this one. They are just the 'same old.' And, I don't expect to see any significant updates on this pedal because, we know, it's Boss market strategy. As a Boss user, maybe the message could resonate somehow. Thanks for the great videos on your channel.

[@jst601]

"...nothing close to Strymon's cloud algorithms"....wow. I'll never *NOT* be amazed at users that expect every pedal to chase a particular popular sound/effect. So much for individualality, huh? Buy str**** for Str****, BOSS for BOSS. Is the "cloud" algorithm in the top of the line Str**** or one of the more scaled -down units? It's not a "my ambient is more ambient than your ambient" race w/reverbs for every reverb user.Thank God. How utterly limiting that is.

[@psp777]

does this pedal work without the proprietary Boss power supply? I use a voodoo labs 3 plus unit

[@SymptomsofVoidintheBody]

Does it boost the volume when you hold the decay? My old RV-500 did that and i didn't like it

[@stratocumulusnimbostratus328]

Hi what is your signal path pls?

[@fadlyhans82]

If I have the RV-6 and RE-202 do you think I will need this? It’s just that I wanna pissed my wife off for buying more pedals. 😅

[@SomeoneElsesDrink]

I’d think of it as an upgraded RV-6 with presets. If you love a load of the modes on the 6, you can use this to save presets for quick access to them, rather than having to dial it back in every time you change reverb. You get a hold function here, which can be a fair few different things, and you’re getting a couple of new interesting algos too, with multiple additional parameters to adjust. Definitely seems like a worthwhile upgrade to me if you enjoy the sound of your 6. I’ve got a 500, and I just got a 200 for the sake of immediacy.

[@marclewism]

Strymon still wins for me😁

[@orclonn8974]

With these kinds of bloated units you're paying for lots of niche reverbs that are unusable in most day-to-day cases. Heck, even BOSS' own demo movie is mostly crap and does not make me want to buy this unit. Judging from the videos available the only reverbs for me are the usual suspects: hall, plate, (possibly) spring, and the modulated reverb. YMMV. Better demo than BOSS' own though!

[@ryanc7396]

Also paying for presets and midi tho

[@kmichaelp4508]

I would say about 50% of this pedal is useless. But otherwise a good pedal. Not great but useable. But for $270 US ? That’s a hard no.

[@MichaelCoughlanmusic]

Trendy and tired.

[@scatterbrainedidiot]

that little lead line at 10:00, just so good

[@matteomidas638]

You are a great pedal reviewer but that's clearly a paid video so don't take my words too personal please. This Boss reverb sounds poor, dull and metallic especially in the tails. It not an "inspiring machine" by any way. In the 2023 the reverbs must be liquid, lush, deep and sometimes dreamy. This Boss pedal is nothing special. I have (among the others) a Flamma reverb pedal that sounds ten times better than the Boss. For me it's a big NO!!!

[@metricdeep8856]

You should check out the Big Sky...it's the same pedal but sounds better.

[@matteomidas638]

@@metricdeep8856 I have the Bigsky, Eventide Space, Walrus Mako R1 and others. I know really how a good reverb should sound. Boss is not a good reverb. It's a useful reverb. And that's it.

[@metricdeep8856]

@@matteomidas638 Big Sky is the same pedal and sounds great to me. Gilmour used Boss Reverb pedal...it was good enough for him.

[@matteomidas638]

@@metricdeep8856 Sorry but Bigsky is not the same as Boss in any way. It's a complete different reverb.

[@metricdeep8856]

​@@matteomidas638 Apology accepted.