Digitech RP-355

#1 · August 9, 2010, 5:01 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on August 9, 2010, 5:01 pm
Posted by: kls <kls@...>

Thought I would report back on the RP-355. I got the RP for $40 less than they were selling for a just few months ago. At $167 this may actually be about or less than I originally paid for the RP-200A. That really is pretty amazing. Even if it only had one usable amp/cabinet combination, with a decent chorus, delay, & reverb it would be more than worth the price tag. Of course these things have lots of choices allowing hundreds of combinations.

I cant really compare it to the POD as I havent tried one since the first generation stuff. Back then I chose the Johnson J-Station over it. Through the P.A. the sound of the RP-355 is much richer and fuller than the unit it replaced. The mud is gone unless I put it in there. Even when strumming you can almost hear each individual string. Many of the reviews said they used the presets right out of the box. Personally I didnt find any I thought fit our worship music. A couple of them are close but way too bright. If I played lead I might have a different opinion.

I havent tried it through an amp but it would be necessary to first select direct instead of an amp emulation in edit mode. Setting the mixer/amp switch on the back of the unit to amp disables cabinet emulation. At this point the unit would act as an effects chain.

The amp A/B switch is a really cool feature. Pressing one pedal changes between your choice of two amps with their own EQ, gain, and volume settings. They share the same effects chain.

Stomp box mode is entered by tapping two pedals at once. >From there you can turn on/off distortion, effect, and delay. You cannot use the amp A/B switch while in stomp mode and you cannot change patches. When entering this mode if you hold the two pedals down too long it enters learn a lick mode. Without lots of practice using it, I would hesitate going into stomp mode in the middle of a song. It does what it is designed to accomplish but the probability of error is a little high for me.

I have set up one patch that I consider perfection. Based on a 57 Tweed amp, set with moderately low gain. As close to a tube sound as I have heard from one of these type devices. Very warm. I can strum Open The Eyes of My Heart and it stays clean. Putting a little more power behind strumming and it begins to break up. It can go from very mellow to early BTO just by the way I play. Really nice sound. I use a touch of chorus and reverb on this patch.

We practiced The Wonderful Cross in drop D and when we finished the singers were applauding. Not because I am a great player but because it sounded so right. I used the same patch to finger pick Seek Ye First and it stayed clean and pretty all the way through. I will use this one patch 80% of the time.

Using that one patch as a starting point, I made a higher gain patch for a good blues rock tone. One with a shimmering chorus and delay that I use in moderation for finger picking. I also created one with flange for straight ahead rocker songs (wont get to use this often).

One patch is modeled on a jumbo acoustic. It is pretty convincing. Yeah, I can tell it is not the real thing but in a band setting the congregation wont know the difference.

I also set up a U2 type patch based on a Vox AC30 amp. Come Now Is The Time To Worship absolutely rocks with this patch. I play it the first time through with octaves then bar chord the rest of the song. On the RP-200A I tried a boutique amp patch and the sus chords turned to mush and the whole thing just got lost behind the piano. Not any more! Havent decided what else I can use this patch on but it really sounds good.

I had a little trouble at first getting the EQ set correctly. Everything proved too bright sounding. That is my biggest complaint out of the box everything seems on the treble side and can be harsh. The singers use cheap hotspots as part of their monitors, which are very trebly to start with, so they really noticed. Initially I had to turn the piezo off until I learned to edit. I always liked mixing in the piezo with the 200A to achieve a fuller sound. After struggling with the EQ adjustments on the RP-355 the piezo works fine.

A few whines no on/off switch. Power pack is 9v AC which makes it too expensive to excuse the flimsy wiring. No USB cable included. You have to download the USB driver and the X-edit software. While not really necessary the software does make grasping the interface easy. Once you have edited on the computer you can easily edit on the RP itself.

Do the models sound like the real thing? I have no idea, but I always find that to be the wrong question anyway. The right question is does it sound good on its own merits. Yes it does. Amazingly good. In my opinion this is a keeper. Will it make you sound like Eric Clapton? Only if you sounded like him before. What it does do is make me sound way better than I probably deserve in a relatively low volume situation for a ridiculously little amount of money, and I can pack it under one arm in one trip. You got to love that.

Peace

Kevin

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Posted by: kls <kls@...>

Thought I would report back on the RP-355. I got the RP for $40 less than they were selling for a just few months ago. At $167 this may actually be about or less than I originally paid for the RP-200A. That really is pretty amazing. Even if it only had one usable amp/cabinet combination, with a decent chorus, delay, & reverb it would be more than worth the price tag. Of course these things have lots of choices allowing hundreds of combinations.

I cant really compare it to the POD as I havent tried one since the first generation stuff. Back then I chose the Johnson J-Station over it. Through the P.A. the sound of the RP-355 is much richer and fuller than the unit it replaced. The mud is gone unless I put it in there. Even when strumming you can almost hear each individual string. Many of the reviews said they used the presets right out of the box. Personally I didnt find any I thought fit our worship music. A couple of them are close but way too bright. If I played lead I might have a different opinion.

I havent tried it through an amp but it would be necessary to first select direct instead of an amp emulation in edit mode. Setting the mixer/amp switch on the back of the unit to amp disables cabinet emulation. At this point the unit would act as an effects chain.

The amp A/B switch is a really cool feature. Pressing one pedal changes between your choice of two amps with their own EQ, gain, and volume settings. They share the same effects chain.

Stomp box mode is entered by tapping two pedals at once. >From there you can turn on/off distortion, effect, and delay. You cannot use the amp A/B switch while in stomp mode and you cannot change patches. When entering this mode if you hold the two pedals down too long it enters learn a lick mode. Without lots of practice using it, I would hesitate going into stomp mode in the middle of a song. It does what it is designed to accomplish but the probability of error is a little high for me.

I have set up one patch that I consider perfection. Based on a 57 Tweed amp, set with moderately low gain. As close to a tube sound as I have heard from one of these type devices. Very warm. I can strum Open The Eyes of My Heart and it stays clean. Putting a little more power behind strumming and it begins to break up. It can go from very mellow to early BTO just by the way I play. Really nice sound. I use a touch of chorus and reverb on this patch.

We practiced The Wonderful Cross in drop D and when we finished the singers were applauding. Not because I am a great player but because it sounded so right. I used the same patch to finger pick Seek Ye First and it stayed clean and pretty all the way through. I will use this one patch 80% of the time.

Using that one patch as a starting point, I made a higher gain patch for a good blues rock tone. One with a shimmering chorus and delay that I use in moderation for finger picking. I also created one with flange for straight ahead rocker songs (wont get to use this often).

One patch is modeled on a jumbo acoustic. It is pretty convincing. Yeah, I can tell it is not the real thing but in a band setting the congregation wont know the difference.

I also set up a U2 type patch based on a Vox AC30 amp. Come Now Is The Time To Worship absolutely rocks with this patch. I play it the first time through with octaves then bar chord the rest of the song. On the RP-200A I tried a boutique amp patch and the sus chords turned to mush and the whole thing just got lost behind the piano. Not any more! Havent decided what else I can use this patch on but it really sounds good.

I had a little trouble at first getting the EQ set correctly. Everything proved too bright sounding. That is my biggest complaint out of the box everything seems on the treble side and can be harsh. The singers use cheap hotspots as part of their monitors, which are very trebly to start with, so they really noticed. Initially I had to turn the piezo off until I learned to edit. I always liked mixing in the piezo with the 200A to achieve a fuller sound. After struggling with the EQ adjustments on the RP-355 the piezo works fine.

A few whines no on/off switch. Power pack is 9v AC which makes it too expensive to excuse the flimsy wiring. No USB cable included. You have to download the USB driver and the X-edit software. While not really necessary the software does make grasping the interface easy. Once you have edited on the computer you can easily edit on the RP itself.

Do the models sound like the real thing? I have no idea, but I always find that to be the wrong question anyway. The right question is does it sound good on its own merits. Yes it does. Amazingly good. In my opinion this is a keeper. Will it make you sound like Eric Clapton? Only if you sounded like him before. What it does do is make me sound way better than I probably deserve in a relatively low volume situation for a ridiculously little amount of money, and I can pack it under one arm in one trip. You got to love that.

Peace

Kevin

--
To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: christianguitar-unsubscribe@associate.com