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Stereo outputs are included, as well as a headphone socket

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A couple of years back, a 'looper' pedal was a distinctly left-field concept beloved by solo performers and practising musicians as a way of recording phrases, looping them, and adding parts on top.
With BOSS's RC-20 and the upgraded RC-20XL things went decidedly mainstream and DigiTech also entered the fray with an up-spec'd version: the JamMan. Even Line 6's DL4 also provided basic sound-on-sound looping too while Akai's Headrush has quite a following (including KT Tunstall, and you can't get more mainstream than that). Electro-Harmonix's 16 Second Delay is another option and the company's 2880 is a four-track digital multi-tracker-come-looper. But in 2006 BOSS announced the RC-50 Loop Station - the most sophisticated all-round looper/phrase sampler available. Part multi-tracker, looper and rhythm machine, its potential as a performance instrument is vast, matched only - initially at least - by its complexity.

In basic terms the RC-50 offers three loops (phrases) that can be recorded and stored into one of 99 patches. Each patch can be named and the phrases within can become song specific. Unlike, for example, the DigiTech JamMan's, removable media, the RC-50 has onboard memory that equates to 24 minutes of recording time (stereo) and 49 minutes in mono. This might seem slight but don't forget the RC-20XL only had 16 minutes of mono-only recording time and we're not talking about recording three-minute phrases (although that's perfectly possible). Most loops, by the nature of the concept, are much smaller in length - four or eight bars for example - which are then continuously repeated. Via the USB port you can export your patches/ phrases (as WAV files), edit them, organise them and reload at any point. This is essential for back-up, but also to free up the onboard memory.

The RC-50 is certainly not guitar-specific. We have aux (3.2mm stereo jack for CD etc.), mic (XLR with phantom power) and instrument (6.4mm jack) inputs each with their own level controls and global red LED peak indication. You can record from all three simultaneously but only to one phrase. A 'centre-cancel' function allows you to lose (typically) lead vocal and lead guitar from a prerecorded source, and the flat amp function adjusts the tone of the recorded audio to sound more accurate through your guitar amplifier.

But the RC-50 isn't just intended to send its output to your instrument amp. A very sensible feature, along with the main stereo outputs, is the inclusion of stereo sub outputs. You can configure, if needed, the main outs to your guitar amp or via the sub outs to the PA (or another guitar amp) and you can do this for each phrase within a patch or globally. And because you'll probably be spending a considerable time working with the RC-50 after-hours, a 6.4mm stereo phones jack is supplied.