Boss RC-300 Loop Station  

This thing rocks. Having owned and used most of the other loop stations out there i can say that this thing is the real deal. The best features for me besides the ability to add or take away a track is the choice of line out destination. This feature makes the sound quality almost perfect on playback unlike the others were all signals go to the same place. The rythim tracks are easy to use and sound pretty good. Most all features are very intuitive except the FX application, this will require some head scratching. Bottom line, if you are serious about looping this is the only machine to get.

It is built like a tank, typical boss. The twisty knobs scare me a bit that they may get steped on, i dont think they would survive a good kick, a kick guard would have ben nice around the knobs and lcd display.

It is expensive, but since there is nothing else like it this is hard to judge. How bad do you want it?

Overall, A killer device. Great sound quality, for the most part very easy to use. I gave an 8 because the FX function is hard to use, the high cost, and no SD card built in. Otherwise it is a fantastic device.

It has more features than I'll ever use.

That said, I wish that when I use the "single shot"mode, I could use it on a loop that I create right then and there. I'm using it in a band situation and often create a rythem loop when Im gonna solo. I dont want it to be pre-recorded because it needs to be live. A single shot would give me the option to line the loop back up with the tempo of the rest of the band if it moves a little. As it is you can only use single shot on pre-recorded loops.  I have found a way around it by unsincing the tracks and using 2 loops but it is more time consuming and less convenient.  My only other complaint is the power adapter is very light duty and doesnt look like it would stand up to much abuse.

The RC300 is a huge pedal so make plenty of room on the floor for it.

The features are almost endless on this thing. After putting some hours on it I'm very happy with it.  Extremely veratile.

Built like a tank. The pedal it's self is very rugged. Ive always thought that boss has made a very sturdy pedal.  The expression pedal is really handy and I use it for the overall volume, but you can assign any pedal on the unit to run diffent things.

Is it worth the money?

If your gonna use most or all of the features it offers, then I would say yes it's worth it.

If not? Then buy one of the smaller ones.

Overall Im very happy and will get alot of use out of it

Please see my points in the overall review.

it's built quite well, it's heavy and sturdy.

Personally I think at this point I should spend my money on Ableton and related hardware to do what I want to do, but I was hoping I could procrastinate further with the perfect looper. I still haven't found one... If the boss RC-300 had just one or two more tracks, could work as a midi-slave, and and wouldn't have the awkward silence when switching banks, it would be the perfect looper. Right now I'm still thinking of returning it and learning ableton.

I give this piece of equipment a 10, very easy to use.

The quality is the greatest, very sturdy and built to last a life time.

More than worth its weight in gold.

If you're a songwriter or songwriter/performer this is a must have tool, I don't know how I got along without it. It has save me valueable time and money.

Upsides:

• No glitches or gaps experienced yet at all. None.   Important to point out because the RC50 had a major issue
  
• Very clean sound. Even when changing the tempo, the sound is clean. Yes, there are artifacts created by changing the tempo, but they are much, much nicer than on the RC50... Warmer, not mechanical. If you try to speed up the tempo too much, it tells you "Tempo Too Fast!".... However it always, nobly, tries to deliver.
  
• You can program the EXP pedal (and all pedals except the STOP pedals) to do almost anything you want it to.
  
• The manual is a FRACTION of the size of the RC50's manual - but far more concise as well. I think they really simplified the unit, and it shows. The layout of the front panel is much improved as well, buttons & controls are logically grouped very nicely.
  
• There are 8 ASSIGN settings available per patch (nearly identical in function to the way the ASSIGN works in the VG99 & GR55).
  
• The assign targets in the manual (pg 23, manual dated 2/1/11) are an incomplete list. There are many more assign targets available in the unit as shipped, very important. Many assign targets start with the MEM prefix, which means they are for the 'PRESET MEMORY', e.g,. at the 'patch' level. E.g., MEM LEVEL is the master output level for the whole patch, and this can be assigned to the EXP pedal on the RC300 unit. Works fine. There are also TRK 'track' level assignments, e.g., you can assign pedals to make a phrase play in reverse, or change it's STOP mode (fade out, immediate, play full phrase).
  
• The FX seem nice & subtle, not overblown. Haven't played with them a lot, but what I've heard is actually usable... This is a pleasant surprise, I thought I wouldn't use 'em... I just might...
  
• Lots of flexibility in signal routing - different tracks can have different outputs (either the SUB out or the MAIN out). You can also specify where you want the RHYTHM track to go. Also the USB audio.
  

Downsides:

• It's huge.
  
• It's expensive.
  
• It makes a poor timing slave via MIDI; it's a great MIDI master, though.
  
• They dropped the 'fade in' feature from the RC50.
  
• It cannot change patches seamlessly - it stops whenever you change patches, & you have to startup again, causing a delay.   So those who need more than three phrases pretty much have to buy a 2nd RC300; apparently they sync up nicely according to the documentation (can't afford to try it!).
  

Solid.

Very pricey, though lots of features...

Some corrections/clarifications to other reviews:

• Yes, it supports reverse.
  
• Yes, you can control tempo, almost any way you want to.   First off, each of the 3 stop pedals function as 'tap tempo'.   If you wanted to you could assign the EXP1 pedal to tempo.   I don't know why you'd want EXP1 to be a tempo pedal - tap tempo is so much more accurate. 
  
• A clarification on the MIDI tempo:  The RC300 can send & receive MIDI PC & CC.  It can send MIDI tempo.  But it cannot receive MIDI tempo.  I've tried, but without success & it is documented this way very clearly in the manual.  
  

I do think the inability to receive MIDI tempo is a pretty big gap for some.   It doesn't bother me because I just put it early in my MIDI chain.  As I noted, it's a great MIDI master. 

I know the gap between patches is a problem for many also.   But it's not a problem for me - three phrases in a patch is plenty for how I use this.