Jack of all trades, master of none.

This is in my opinion, the weakest pedal of Boss’s 500 series, but it’s still a great pedal in case you’re not that much into modulation (except a few ones like choruses, but I’ll get to that later). It’s also a good introductory pedal to modulation in general but I think the smaller MD200 is far better for that since it’s about $100 cheaper.

The positives for this pedal are the fact that you can run two modulations at once and the fact that all modes are incredibly customizable. The choruses were by far the most impressive modulations, the CE-1 mode sounds incredibly close to the one in my CE-2W with cleans.

That being said, everything else ranged from decent to not that great. The decent modulations were the phaser, vibrato, tremolo, rotary and overtones. The worst ones were the filter, ring modulator and the flanger to a lesser degree. Granted, I’m someone who almost always prefers analog modulation because of their organic and warm sound but almost all of the modes had this metallic and shrill quality to them, very digital sounding. This was far worse with dirt, which was borderline unusable with some effects for me.

Overall, not a bad pedal but if you like anything that is not a chorus you might be a little disappointed. I also had this pedal for about 2 years and I always found it pretty uninspiring and insipid, like a brutalist building. I would recommend trying this out in your local music store before buying in case you’re considering it.

Great sounds, great connectivity, bad everything else.

I wanted to love this pedal, I really did. While I loved parts of it, I certainly sold it in the end. This is why:

I was shopping for a new modulation multi effects unit, and these days options are plenty. I ended up choosing the MD-500 for its Slicer effect; I really wanted some kind of sequencer+gate effect and on paper it seemed perfect. Also let's be honest, if you need connectivity, the MD-500 delivers with all its ports and features. Finally, being able to use two effects at once is great. When I opened the box I found an all metal, very sturdy box that reminds you Boss pedals can survive decades of playing.

Now I'm a IT guy, first thing I did was plugging it through USB to my PC, downloaded the latest firmware and installed it. Then I opened the editor. Man, it's pretty incredible to think Boss thought it was fine. You would think for a unit that is top tier with USB, you'd have a nice software to control it but no. No real time editing; you have to save and dump every change you make, and it renders this software basically useless except for saving presets outside of the unit. So I read the manual and started using the physical controls. Once again, it's harder to operate than a 2008 Line 6 M13.

Then, that damn angled footswitch bed. While it certainly looks good, there's a reason NO ONE does this: browsing through banks by holding two of the switches together makes it nearly impossible to hit right. I guess putting it on a riser on the second row of a pedalboard could make it more useable but it's a pretty niche market.

So all in all, it's a unit that has many great and classic sounds plus newer ones, and the only way I would ever use it again would be with a MIDI controller like a Disaster Area or MorningStar FX.

The modern standard. If you want the best stereo modulations without busting the bank for a Fractal or Eventide, GET THIS!

Many of you will know that I've had so much struggles with the vintage rack units thus far - busted MIDI IN jacks, defective input jacks, shorted internal batteries, etc. to the point where I got turned off by the used market for good. And instead of spending 3 grand on a "maybe this is an okay purchase" that is the Fractal Axe-FX III, I figured I'd give the Boss MD-500 a try. And holy shit, were my eyes opened to a whole new world of modulation effects.

The Dimension algorithm is a godsend for clean tones. Combine modes 1, 3 and 5 for a lush, crystal-clear dimension chorus sound and wow, did that ever sound amazing. For high-gain tones, I really love the Prime Chorus algorithm. It's a no-nonsense chorus effect that's unique to the MD-500 that comes with the bell-like sweetness that you don't get from many other rack chorus units.

What's also very unique to the MD-500 is the Overtone algorithm - a mini-octaver with an added detune effect if you need it.

One caveat, however, is that the MD-500 does not have a global kill-dry function, which does require me to set up a dedicated blank preset just to be able to use it with a line mixer. And while that is kind-of a bummer, it's not a deal-breaker, 'cause Boss really nailed it where it counts - reliable stereo modulation effects that don't sacrifice sound quality.

If you want a pleasant surprise that doesn't force you to go through so much stress or financial burden just to achieve the sounds, take a serious look at the Boss MD-500. I did, and so far I've ditched the idea of going Fractal or Helix for effects ever since.

Preferred Settings + Usage:

Perfect

I love all the presets on this pedal. Opened up so many opportunities. Fine tuning the settings is easy and so useful for all the sounds you could want from a modulation station.