Product: Digitech RP500
Price Paid: P15, 100.00
Ease of use: 9
In terms of ease of use, the RP500 was pretty easy to use, granted that you do some reading regarding effects types, what they do, and how to use them effectively. On the unit's front panel is a matrix of effects which tell you what the 6 knobs at the bottom do when one of the red lights at the left side are on a specific position.
The effects chain order is more or less set within the unit, which I sometimes see as a weakness of this unit in terms of chain possibilities, but at least there are less chances for messing up your sound. There are 9 stompbox-style switches that feel nice when stepped on, as well as a fairly big expression pedal, which is the biggest I have seen on any multifx unit. You have a lot of buttons dedicated to a specific function, which helps a lot when you need to hear how the dry amp sound will turn out, set how long you want your delays, bypass amp and cabinet simulations, etc.
Aside from these more obvious features on the unit's face, the rear panel features a lot of connectivity options, such as two XLRs for going straight to P.A., stereo 1/4" connections for two amps, and one each for MP3 and headphones for when you need to jam quietly in your room.
There are a lot more options Digitech has included, such as internal LFOs, the ability to assign the expression pedal to almost any parameter on the unit, which are there for when you'd like to get really creative. There's also a built-in tuner, plus the ability to set the wah button sensitivity. While these certainly aren't enough for hardcore effects tweakers, surely some beginners as well as intermediate players would be satisfied. In fact the only thing that keeps me from being completely happy with the unit is the lack of support for 4 cable method connectivity.
It takes time to really get a useable sound with the unit. To start there are practically four main ways for using the RP500. One is to use it like a virtual stompbox without amp and cabinet modeling, sort of like the Line 6 M13 or Boss ME-50. In this mode you can plug the unit straight to the front end of your amp without any worries of preamp cascading. Another is using it with amp and cabinet simulations, where now you need to use it into either the effects return of your fx loop-equipped amp or a P.A. system. Aside from using the unit as a virtual stompbox, you can also use it like a preset switcher, with the switches controlling presets instead of virtual pedals. So we have: STOMP+NO SIM, STOMP+SIM, PRESET+NO SIM, and PRESET+SIM.
Sound Quality: 9
The stomps, as some owners of the unit have stated, are good, but not exactly perfect. I am pretty much satisfied with them all, considering that I have had some experience playing with actual pedals loaned from friends. There are a lot of dirt pedal sims in the unit, including ODs, dists, fuzzes, and even a ring modulator and Hendrix's octavia, which is great for playing "Purple Haze"
) We have great compressors, excellent modulations (you've gotta try the Boss CE, EHX Small Stone, and ADA Flanger sims for yourself! They floor me every single time!) great delays (but you can't preserve the integrity of the sampled signal when turning the time knob ala "Get Out of My Yard" D:) and passable reverbs. I couldn't judge the wahs fairly since I never got to use a real one, but I can say that they're pretty quiet and FWIW they sound great. The noise gate sounds kinda artificial at times but then that's only when you're trying to push the natural sustain of your guitar too much. The semi-parametric EQ should be tweaked sparingly as it tends to sound pretty uncontrollable when overused. Pitch effects are generally good, except the ever-so-sensitive harmonizer and octave which tend to warble a lot when you're not playing in tune. The whammy is really fun to play with.
Let's move on to the most anticipated part of the review: amp and cabinet sims. Do they sound great? Can they emulate my favorite artist's tones? Can they replace my tube rig? Well, yes, yes (to a certain extent), and no. The amp and cabinet sims sound generally good, with good touch sensitivity, pleasing sounds, and a certain degree of accuracy. I have been able to approach the sound of some of my favorite players, namely Yngwie, Gilbert, Vai, and Petrucci, as well as an incomplete Hendrix preset. Notice that I used APPROACH and not DUPLICATE. I can get the overall vibe of the aforementioned players, but no their exact sound, with all the bells and whistles. C'mon, they payed tons of cash to g. et their pedals, guitars, pickups, amps, etc. You shouldn't expect to get exactly the same with a P15k device. I am happy with it though, and with the right equipment they even wow my fellow guitar playing friends saying "sakto yung preset mo for Paul Gilbert ah!" or "Hayop, kuha yung For the Love of God tone!". Just remember to use an amp with at least a 10" speaker for tweaking to get the best results, and turn the volume up when doing so. I run mine either through my cheap 15 watt amp, my Marshall MG100DFX or my tube Laney LC50-II, and not surprisingly it sounds the best through the Laney. However, I've had some success using it through other solid state rigs when playing out.
Reliability: 9
There's only one disappointing thing about the unit when it comes to reliability: the muthaf*ckin' adaptor. It will go bad on you sooner or later, and if it does, you better make sure you have an AC(?!) PSU handy, or else you won't be able to use this unit at all. I got the old one fixed, but we had to gut it out to reconnect the wires. After that though, no more reliability problems for me.
The unit itself is made out of die-cast metal. The switches are metal. The connectors are metal. The only other one that needs to be metal is YOU! On a more serious note, this almost all-metal construction ensures that this unit stands up against any kind of foot abuse (I often stand ON the expression pedal to turn off the wah WHILE pressing one of the other switches! The whole unit can bear my 180 lb. body without breaking!) and the only point of concern are the plastic knobs, but so far they're holding up well.
Overall Rating: 9
I was a first time effects user when I got the RP500. I was even deciding on whether to go analog or not, but then my money wasn't really going to get me more than two or three good stomps. I was also choosing among the RP500, Boss GT-10, or the Line 6 PODX3L and eventually settled on the RP500 since it was the most affordable of the three. I was clueless at first, but I'm glad I learned everything while using the device. It sounds great, it's fairly easy to tweak, it's built extremely well, and frankly it's got most things I'm looking for (except for the 4CM, of course but lately I've never really been needing it). For now, at least, I'm a happy camper. Try it out, and I'm certain you won't be disappointed.
