BOSS RV-200 Reverb | Is this the best reverb pedal under $300?! | All Modes [Guitar Demo]

The Boss RV-200 is reminding me why we all loved the RV-5 when it came onto the scene: a compact, straight-forward stereo reverb that just sounded good. The RV-200 carries forward the legacy of ambience with 12 unique reverb modes, stereo ins and outs, MIDI compatibility, onboard and remote preset capabilities, and solid reverb sounds.
After writing one of my ambient guitar favorite tracks with the Boss RV-200, I spent some more time diving into the sounds and functions and had a blast writing this intro track. Building off a sustained ARPVERB pad, the track moves from sparkly ambient melodies to soaring "near 80s rock" thanks to the MODULATE reverb and some gain from a Bondi Del Mar. There's so many great sounding reverbs to explore in RV-200, and the interface makes it really quick and easy to dial in a great sound for whatever application you're needing.
Enjoy the intro track and hear EVERY REVERB in RV-200 in the extended sound samples section. Enjoy!
* Thanks to Boss for sending this unit over for demo. *
More RV-200 Sounds : • [NEW] Boss RV-200 Reve...
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* * Help support the channel by using my Reverb.com affiliate link when shopping for gear * * reverb.com/?utm...
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GEAR
Balaguer Ambient Select Espada
(Buy one here: www.littleboxeffects.com/prod... )
Fender MIM P-Bass
Bondi Squish As
1981 Inventions LVL
Bondi Del Mar mkII
Line6 HX ONE
Strymon Brigadier
Boss RV-200
UA Ruby
BASS
Origin Effects Cali76 Compact Bass
Analog Music Company So High So Low
JHS Color Box v2
. . .
CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro Track
02:07 Welcome Back
03:30 How do you get inspired?
05:04 Thoughts on the RV-200
11:03 Sounds
11:13 ROOM
14:18 HALL
17:10 PLATE
18:24 SPRING
19:55 SHIMMER
21:53 ARPVERB
22:46 HOLD function
23:12 SLOWVERB
24:06 MODULATE
24:50 +DELAY
25:35 LO-FI
26:15 GATE
26:42 REVERSE
. . .
#guitarpedals #ambientguitar #reverbpedal

[@SteveD-zm3bm]

Excellent review! Tasteful playing, good up front info about the pedal, and the best demo of this pedal on the net! Great job of cycling through the modes w/appropriate tweak-age of each one to get highly usable tones. Kudos and keep up the great work good sir!

[@AmbientEndeavors]

Thanks Steve! Glad you found it helpful!!

[@thevaliant_music]

Beautiful!

[@AmbientEndeavors]

❤️

[@MattLawhonMusic]

Intro groove is 🔥🔥

[@AmbientEndeavors]

Thank you 🙏🏼 had fun writing that one :)

[@ZachariahConnor]

Great video! I might snag one of these to replace my RV-500 to save some board space

[@AmbientEndeavors]

thanks for watching ! yeah, if you like the RV-500 I'm sure you'll dig this one , compact and quite easy to navigate. What sounds do you use most on the RV?

[@AAr0nM]

Tones are beautiful and lovely! Nice demonstration!🤟

[@AmbientEndeavors]

thx!

[@cyberspacer]

Vibe for days!

[@AmbientEndeavors]

You know it!

[@michaelmaris7]

I just bought the cloudburst and I love it

[@AmbientEndeavors]

Glad to hear it; lots of incredible verbs on the market these days :)

[@rudolphkeller7283]

Great video thank you for your approach. This seems to be the one to get when you have no reverbs pedal. However is it me or is it a bit cold/ metallic sounding?

[@AmbientEndeavors]

I've heard that critique of Boss reverbs before, there's a "hifi" nature to them that can sometimes lose a bit of the warmth that comes from other verbs in class. I'd say it's a bit subjective and might jive with some folks' rigs or preferences and not others. I tend to like my reverbs a bit brighter to maintain clarity and such I maybe don't mind or notice it as much.

[@malachischarfe3781]

16:36 geez that sounds awesome

[@AmbientEndeavors]

haha thanks! glad you're enjoying it!

[@garrettpierce6757]

Love your intro track! What did you make the drum track with? It's a perfect sound for what I'm looking for and I was really curious. Thank you!

[@AmbientEndeavors]

Thanks! The percussion and other production elements are all from Output’s Arcade sampler

[@garrettpierce6757]

@@AmbientEndeavors thank you so much! Cheers

[@funkyfoe12]

Nice review. Can multiple parameters be controlled at the same time with an expression pedal?

[@compucorder64]

Nice video. I'm not sure about a general absolute best. Under $300 there's some great reverbs, but there's compromises. Depends what you want. A Surfybear is going to beat out any spring emulation. That said, I love the spring emulation of my UA FX ... but because it's stereo - and I have seen them just under $300 in the sales, if that counts? Still, even though it's limited, the 3 algorithms sound great. They sound better than the equivalent in the RV-200. So, for me personally, I'd take the UA FX. Granted, that's very borderline on the price. And the RV-200 kicks it's ass in flexibility, MIDI, user presets, programmability. Then again, if ambient and character reverb is your thing, and especially if the UA FX is counted, then my favourite would be the Walrus Sloer. Then closely following there's the original Meris Mercury. But I'd find it hard to buy that and not just save up for the Mercury X and get the CXM modes. Again, I think beats this on sheer quality. But only two algos. Then Strymon Cloudburst for me, which is kind of only one thing - but it's a glorious thing. Similarly, I'd take a GFI Skylar over the Boss, because again, doesn't do everything ... but it does a few things really well. So, I'd happily loose all the features and take a 1. UA FX, 2. Walrus Sloer, 3/4. Mercury/Cloudburst tie 5. Skylar 6. Surfybear over the RV-200 Because ... Because, firstly, I just don't think it basically sounds especially first rate at any one thing compared to those. And secondly it's lacking character. If I wasn't running a stereo rig, there's Earthquaker Devices pedals like Afterneath V3, and other mono reverbs I'd take over this, after the Surfybear too.

[@AmbientEndeavors]

Totally. So many good options. Depends what you’re craving, what and how many sounds you need, etc. The RV200 covers a lot of bases for $269

[@compucorder64]

​@@AmbientEndeavorsYip, and one I can think of where this would might shine is where the midi is required. With a midi pedal rig/modeller rig. Or as an outboard midi controlled reverb for great synths that don't have a very good on-board reverb. So I'm thinking of are DSI Prophet'08, Prophet 6, OB-6 and the Tasty Chips GR-1. As well as things that completely lack effects. Like the Behringer analogue synths such as the Pro-800 (wash my mouth out with soap). Or the mono reverb only synths, like those by Dreadbox. Or after a character mono reverb like the Surfybear, Walrus Slo, or Earthquaker; for a great mono into stereo dual-reverb rig. Since Walrus Slo can be picked up quite cheap now.

[@OliverEvergreen]

let's not forget about Ventris.

[@lapk78]

Yes, what does everyone here think about the Ventris and/or Collider?

[@OliverEvergreen]

@@lapk78 they can be as simple and as complex as you want. if you don't need a delay, choose Ventris to get more under-the-hood options and community presets.

[@eddy67]

This is a fine demo and all but why do you spend such a short time on gate/reverse/slowverb when you spend such a long time on Room and Hall? I mean you can get a good sounding Room/Hall pedal anywhere, while few reverbs have a gated setting. What does reverse sound like full wet? What does gate sound like when you change the threshold or the predelay? Nice playing tho

[@AmbientEndeavors]

Maybe I’ll have to do a follow-up and touch on those more in-depth. Didn’t want to do a 45 min video but I hear your critique as those stops were brief on the three you mentioned

[@13aphomet]

I have the hardest time finding the 'right' reverb for whatever reason. I keep flopping btwn the Mercury7 and Specular Tempus.. Love the options on this one but I feel the sounds could be better.

[@AmbientEndeavors]

Those are both great choices. I hear you, the RV-200 isn't my all-time favorite sounds, but the interface is simplified and approachable and the variety of sounds fit a lot of needs. I honestly lean most often on room/hall/plate and those tones in RV-200 are solid in my mind. I wish a little that they made the ambient/experimental sounds a bit more interesting, c'est la vie.

[@mongchacha]

First, I just wanna say that this pedal was very well utilized in the intro track. Awesome. With that said, I’m with most people here in saying that it sounds very digital and metallic. It’s inherent in lots of digital reverbs. Strymon does really well in avoiding this sound.

[@AmbientEndeavors]

thanks for the kind words! I had fun composing this one. yeah, I can definitely hear that critique. I guess it still is a preferential thing; sometimes it bothers me, sometimes I kind of appreciate the "hi-fi" sheen to it.

[@mongchacha]

@@AmbientEndeavors yesterday, I was pretty set on putting it up on reverb, but your video is making me reconsider. I was coming from a BlueSky, so this one critique that I had sorta bothered me. I know it’s got lots of other redeeming qualities about it and I know there are ways to dial it so that the buzzy sound is minimized. I’ll give it more time. In the meantime, I do have a mercury7 on the way 🤓

[@AmbientEndeavors]

@@mongchacha sounds like you'll be swimming in reverb soon! That's a nice trio to compare. M7 is near top of my list for reverbs. Just ran down my full pedalboard if you didn't see that video, with lots of M7 throughout it :)

[@mongchacha]

@@AmbientEndeavors oh, I’m new to your channel, so I haven’t seen it yet. But def will now!

[@Gibson1976uk]

I bought the Cloudburst because of its size :) and sound of course

[@AmbientEndeavors]

A great option, especially if you’re focusing in on the ambient sounds

[@Gibson1976uk]

I found the Cloudburst can do a good room-hall type reverb! and I am happy with it! its just a bit of fine tuning thats needed @@AmbientEndeavors

[@Dani-El.]

There is only one test you need to do when checking out a reverb pedal like this. Question: Does the spring setting sound like a spring? Answer: NOO00oo.

[@AmbientEndeavors]

Totally fair critique, and I’ll say it’s hard to get that spring feel right. I personally rarely use spring, so to each his own I guess - but I hear your point. What’s your fav spring sound from a pedal?

[@Dani-El.]

@@AmbientEndeavors I was a little harsh actually, and I'm sorry. The other settings sounded really good. I don't actually own a really good spring pedal. I have a Build Your Own Clone spring reverb, which is definitely decent, but it's not convincing enough. I really like the sound of the spring on the UA Dream, but I don't own one (yet).

[@19silas89]

Really a nice one. Only the shimmer isn‘t what I expect from a shimmer…But all Other modes make me feel like I have to replace my 3 reverb pedals 😅

[@AmbientEndeavors]

It definitely can cover a lot of ground!

[@TeleCS]

MXR300 is pretty good too.

[@AmbientEndeavors]

Yeah that's nice little verb, a bit of a different category in terms of sounds/features though.

[@RishPanjeetJr]

Boss really needs to move from “level” to MIX

[@AmbientEndeavors]

It’s certainly a debate. I tend to like the level control on delays and reverbs, but to each their own. If you’re needing kill dry, you can run it in Direct Mute output mode.

[@moronsmorons8913]

It's like every type of reverb comes with an additional Shimmer effect. Boy, I hate shimmer. The Spring is downright awful.

[@AmbientEndeavors]

Sounds like this one ain’t for you.

[@moronsmorons8913]

@@AmbientEndeavors I like my Wazas, but the digital stuff of Boss is a waste of resources. I still own (and somtimes use) a GS-10 and it's like the didn't make any progress at all. 20 years ago it was "COSM", now it's "AIRD" and it still sounds artificial and thin.

[@krokus5714]

Cualquier pedal de walrus suena mejor. Tiene su público el rv200, pero a nivel sonoro.....hay opciones mejores.

[@AmbientEndeavors]

Hmm. The R1 would be the natural comparison; I'd take the RV200 by a slight edge I think because you get more sounds and a bit easier of an interface to navigate. And it's cheaper :-) ...if you're an ambient fan though, definitely worth looking into SLOER - one of my favorite ambient leaning stereo verbs and I think those sounds clips the RV200 in the ambient / washy territory.

[@mrblablablabla]

Benn Jordan just said it wasn’t, so…..

[@AmbientEndeavors]

…but what do YOU think?

[@ajcajc5429]

Stop, just save a little more & buy the UAFX Golden!

[@AmbientEndeavors]

Love the golden, don’t thing it’s that simple tho. I haven’t found bigger washy sounds I’ve liked in Golden. You get so many MORE optional with RV200, it’s kind of almost an apples oranges situation.

[@billmint8122]

Too digital sounding

[@AmbientEndeavors]

The Boss stuff definitely has a “sound”

[@MoreThan_Bob1776]

Ina studio? Or live setting?

[@filtermat]

I really like all the features but I agree with you as for the sound