Boss Micro Rack series
The Micro Rack half-width 1U series of effects was made by Boss in the 1980s.
As you might expect from products branded with the name of their guitar pedal division, they're cheap and simple compared to the fully fledged Roland-branded effects. Personally, I like them, because of their straightforward interface with one knob per parameter, and their charming, slightly lo-fi sound. They're more than good enough to do the job, and add bags of character. They also look pretty cute.
Although MIDI was well established by the time this range of effects came out, they were budget devices, so didn't implement anything so fancy. Instead, they often have a plethora of audio inputs and outputs, along with gate inputs that were presumably intended to be used with foot pedals, but which make them ideally suited as auxiliary modules for a modular synthesiser such as Roland's own System-100M.
Components
| Model | Type | Released | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| RBF-10 | Module | 1985 | Flanger |
| RCL-10 | Module | 1985 | Compressor, limiter, expander, gate |
| RDD-10 | Module | 1985 | Digital delay |
| RGE-10 | Module | 1985 | Graphic equaliser |
| RPH-10 | Module | 1985 | Phaser |
| BMR-5 | Rack | 1985 | Half-width micro rack (houses 5 modules) |
| RAD-10 | Rack | 1985 | 19" subrack (houses 2 modules) |
| RPQ-10 | Module | 1986 | Pre-amp / parametric equaliser |
| RPS-10 | Module | 1986 | Pitch shifter / delay |
| RSD-10 | Module | 1986 | Sampler / digital delay |
| RCE-10 | Module | 1987 | Digital chorus ensemble |
| RDD-20 | Module | 1987 | Digital delay |
| ROD-10 | Module | 1987 | Overdrive / distortion |
| RRV-10 | Module | 1987 | Digital reverb |
| RPW-7 | Module | 1987 | Power supply for micro rack |
| RCB-4 | Rack | 1987 | Carry box (houses 4 modules) |
External links
Reviews
RBF-10 / RCL-10 / RDD-10 / RGE-10 / RPH-10
- On The Rack Electronic Soundmaker & Computer Music, Aug 1985
- Boss Micro Rack Series Home & Studio Recording, Aug 1985
RPQ-10 / RSD-10
- Boss Micro Rack Additions International Musician & Recording World, Mar 1986
RSD-10
- Boss RSD10 Sampling Delay Electronics & Music Maker, Mar 1986
- Play It Again, Sample Home & Studio Recording, May 1986
RPS-10
- Boss Pitch Shifter/Delay Sound On Sound, Aug 1986
- Boss RPS-10 Pitch Shifter/Delay International Musician & Recording World, Sep 1986
- Roland RPS-10 pitch shifter Making Music, Feb 1987
Effects: Alesis QuadraVerb | Boss Micro Rack series