Boss ES-8 - Looper/Switcher - Demo (3/3) 

hey hp, this video convinced me! Just ordered a ES-8, yesterday. I'll probably watch this video (because it's the best one out there) a few more times and i'm waiting for your upcoming es-8 videos. great work, thank you!

Henning Just wanted to say Thank You for the Boss ES-8 Vids. First off I really like all your demos but as a new Boss ES-8 Owner your Demos for this product are way better than the manual. Ive really learned a lot from your demos on programming my ES-8. Your Videos are gonna help a lot of people use this thing to its full potential. Now I just need to get my last 2 pedals so I can finish my board off. Your Demos are some of the best and most in depth on the web.

Excellent series. Best I've seen on the ES-8. You really opened my eyes to what this thing can do. The parallel mix of two effects with volume, and the ability to change loop order is worth the price of admission alone!

oh man... I'll have to wait until lunch to be able to watch it completely. but I'm really impressed so far!

Ridiculous is right, Henning! Excellent series - Danke. Good balance of humor, I could almost see your brain undulating while you were puzzling out the skull cracking demo.. I'm REALLY enjoying the BOSS ES8 setup for ridiculous looping, mixing, and whatever I can squeeze out of it. Can create some album quality shit in a live show right down at the local club level \m/. Really like the flexibility for different amp configs. And I'm switching my AMPs, plus fender deluxe reverb and tremolo on or off right from the ES8 just with a preset while switching other effects into the same loop with the volume pedal to control the wet mix. ONE toe tap and its done. This is a very good deep dive into the possibilities.. the more you put the effort into learning it and become fluent in BOSS ES8, the greater possibilities are... its an artists palette of colors... as endless as you can imagine. This video was a critical piece in my decision for purchase. I read the manual and watched the vids before I dropped coin.. Chose this over liquid foote, fractal, ground control, and others. Im still working out the final config on the board.

You are the greatest Demo-er on earth. Please never, ever stop!

32:27 to 33:20....Best information you could have staring out on the ES8! It almost made me smash mine day one not knowing this. Very useful for using a Strymon BigSky as the ES8 will send a freeze cc command to it unless you turn it off.

Thanks for your video I had to reference this video several times to get my ES-8 up and running properly.I hope ROLAND/BOSS takes note of this and step there game up on video tech support cheers.

I just bought my es-8 last week and i also bought the dd-500, Mobious and the H9 max. I have a lot of reading to do but these videos are very helpful.

I ordered one of these last week. I can't wait to dive in and play with it. It seems like an amazing toy. I can't wait to actually use all my pedals. Thanks for the informative videos. You've gained a new subscriber. Keep up the good work friend.

Can't wait for your ES8 tutorial series! I have an ES8 on the way and my head is already exploding :D

Great video. You trying to do a lot of different things helped me figure it out. I watched this series 2-3 times and now I feel I can buy one and program the things i need it for and extra stuff thanks to you.

Blimey - That's a Pandora's box! Very informative. Thank you Henning & Boss. There's a lot I don't know about MIDI. I think I'll be watching this video a few times. That's given me even more possibilities to think about...

Hey Red, to make the LED turn on for that loop toggle you create another assign, choose that switch, set Category to LED, set for toggle. I think thats pretty much it. Ta!

Wow.. Waaaayyyyyy too many options for me. I watched all 3 videos in this series because that's what I do. They're all awesome btw. Entertaining, informative as always. In my humble opinion, the best looper/switcher for simplicity/ value for money/ quality, is the Moen GEC9. I may be wrong, but that's my professional opinion. Keep the reviews coming!!!

And thank you, this vid was a big help. Oh, I think you choose LED for the source for that EQ toggle. Thanks again!

The Es-8 is a great peace of gear! And very tough! I was tired and I plugged the speaker output of my amp on the Vol input on the Es-8... So now the Vol-input is burned, but all the other stuff are still working on the Es-8!!! Anyway I need it repaired because I use the vol-in-out for my amp fx-loop...

Great demo(s) mate, I have one of these and was impressed with all the sections you covered. I think the only aspect you did not cover, was the ability to allow trails (reverb/delay etc..) to continue between patches which is a great feature too. Thumbs up!

7 years later, FUCK YEAH !!!!!

I have everything together to connect a Boss Sy-200 and a Nova system to loops via a Boss Es-5 and also via Midi..then there are 3-4 effects..Maybe I'll do two loops, each with 2 effects. . Yesterday I had to buy a power supply, midi cable and flat patch cable, now I have everything together and have been gathering concentrated expertise for a week. I have only a Mono System ...but it would be CRAZY Cool to have two Bogner Atmas instead of one ...

Didn’t see all of it but will in the future. Crear some cool patches and play them. To see real live applications. A couple of cleans, some low to mid od’s and some rocking tones. Just to see the real live applications. Heck, play some songs that require the various sounds!

Thank you very much EytschPi42, every video of yours is amazingly detailed and very well explained.

Thanks ! I seriously needed that; even with the computer app this thing is crazy to manage

NOT ONE sip of tea or coffee this whole video. I’m shocked!!!

+EytschPi42 this is the best demo of the ES-8. Great job

THANK YOU, so well explained.

Question: can you link up more than one guitar pedal into the same send and return buffer on a Boss Es-8? E.g send buffer1>distortion>overdrive Return buffer1 and/or then send 2 buffer>chorus>delay>flange> reverb return 2 buffer. Or are you restricted to 1 pedal per send/return (max 8 pedals to the Es-8)? Thanks I always enjoy your videos too! Keep it up! 😊

Yo, I've got a Source Audio Programmable EQ that's MIDI switchable. I can have it in front of dirt pedals or after to really add some variation. Another hint - when I add a pedal to a patch, I always try it before and after the other pedals - to see which sounds better or maybe a new sound I hadn't thought of.

This may be a silly question, but does the ES-8 have a ground lift for ground loop? I want to use a pedal like the Eventide H9 in my amps effect loop and main input simultaneously and of course this creates a ground loop hum. Great video series! Thanks for the amazing effort of building and showing off these great piece of gear!

Man, you are the best!!! I picked up an ES-8 this week and have been trying to get up to speed quickly! I'm having a horrible time linking all my midi devices up and the es-8 sending a signal to them, hopefully with this in depth tutorial I'll get it going tonight. The math we have to do for the strymon products is BS! ha! In midi 1 I have the boss dd-500, are there any certain changes needed to do within that pedal for it to recieve a midi signal?

Awesome demo...thank you very much!!

Thank you very much for doing this, it was incredibly helpful!

i would have prefered a time stamp list to skip things i don't need to watch. for an hour video this is legit i would say

QUESTIONS! Hi. Thanks for all your very useful videos. First: I have a pedalboard with 12 stomp pedals a wah-wah and a Boss ME-80 multi-effects. I operate through a Loop-Master (10 loops). I want to buy a Boss ES-8 unit to replace the Loop-Master for more control possibilities. Then, I would like to know if it is possible to use the ES-8 program settings to control the ME-80 settings and patches. Is it possible to switch from one patch to the other through ES-8 or for ES-8 to remember the patches numbers on the ME-80 and summon them when selecting a loop or a patch on the ES-8? Second: If I daisy chain three or four single pedals and assign the chain to one loop on the ES-8, will I have to turn on and off each of the pedals I wanna use in that specific loop or will the ES-8 remember and turn them on from the memory bank (I think I already know the answer, but I need to hear it)? You probably answered that already in one of your many long videos. Sorry i did not have time to watch them all yet. :) Third question: I read somewhere that the tight disposition of the loops' sends and receives on the back of the ES-8 unit can cause problems with usign right angle patch cables. I use Evidence Audio solderless cables. Does it plug without problems? I can tell you are usign something very similar, but just want to make sure it works fine and does not put pressure on the cables before spending that expansive amout of dollars on that crazy unit. Thanks a lot.

Hi EytschPi42 thanks for the videos - also saw that you had some small Strymons - did you make the favorite Setting on those small Strymons work with the ES-8?

Cool. Now lets go jam some blues.

great tutorial! Loved the explanation of how to hook up the strymon's via midi. I have a silly question, what device do you use to label your presets on the board ( physical labels). Hope that makes sense. Thanks for the hard work you put into this series on the ES-8.

When programming midi can't you just type in the numbers with the loop switches? Seems unnecessary to have to scroll through the digits...

As always, great video Henning! The flexibility of the ES-8 appears to be at the top of the heap. I would say this has more flexibility than Daniel's G2 system as well. Do you know if the individual loops have adjustable gains? Thanks again for the oustanding videos!

Thanks for posting the video. I really appreciate it as I just ordered my es-8. I have a question for you. I have a Mobius, a Timeline and an Eventide h9. Can I use only one expression pedal that would control parameters of the three pedals. For example, can I create a patch where the expression pedal controls the feedback on the timeline and create a diffrent patch where the same expression pedal controls the mix or depth on the chorus of the Mobius?

Thanks for taking us through the Boss-ES8. I am a Luck owner of one, but you inspire me to explore it even more. I have a question about the G-Lab M4L's. Are there other products that will do the jobb? I have the big three from Strymon, and it would be nice to have them outside of the ES-8, in MIDI (because I have too many pedals...). There is noone in Norway that sells G-lab, so therefore my question.Best regards Geir

boss should pay u! your vids have been invaluable, thank u!!!

Thanks for your videos! If I understand well, you can put any number of pedals in the amp FX loop or in the front in 4CM per patch?

Henning, erstmal vorab - wie immer ein Hammer Video!!! Auch schön, wie man das Relais "klick" von den G-Labs hört. :) Aber ich glaube dir ist bei Minute 39 und folgende ein kleiner Fehler unterlaufen. Du änderst in Midi Patch 4 den PC von 21 auf 23 um zusätzlich das BigSky Pedal in den Effektweg zu schalten... ist es aber nicht so, dass du durch die Veränderung des PC-Wertes NUR den BigSky aktivierst und das Mod-Pedal gar nicht mehr aktiv hast? Wenn ich der Logik des ES-8 folge (ich hab die Anleitung noch nicht gelesen -nur anhand Deines Videos wohl gemerkt), dann müsstest Du wohl noch ein weiteres Midi Patch (sagen wir Nr. 5) nehmen, und dieses dann auf dem zusätzlichem PC 23 auf Kanal 4 stellen. Und kann es sein, dass die Loops im G-Lab bei ca. Minute 55 nicht mehr angehen, weil du sowohl den Min als auch den Max Wert unter 60 stehen hast? Ich würde vermuten, wenn du den Max Wert auf 127 stellst, dann gehen die Loops im TGL Mode auch wieder an. Grüße aus Nürnberg :-)

Ive a question for you Mr. Switcher, have you figured out how to use the control function to turn the boost on and off on a Bogner Blue pedal using the Bogners control/insert jack. Also, is there a way to use the ES8 as a switch to toggle the fav setting or tap function on a Strymon El Cap? I dont want to buy the Strymon control switch if I can use the ES8, ya know. Thank you, sir.

You have been very helpful thanks again... Can you help me to where I can connect my Strymon Flint ? Thank you

The ES--8 is doing everything I need on my side. In fact, except the limit of 8 loops, everything can be anything ;)I still have a question. Since we can build complex patches troughout 99 banks, how can I take a backup of the unit ? EytschPi42, you're the man ! Not a simple overview but a deep dive that helped me a lot with my settings !! Wonderful ! Thank you very much for your demo !

Would it be possible to connect the Mobius, Timeline and BigSky in MIDI is i only had the ES8? Like, would I be able to use the three Strymons without occupying any of the loops? Or would they each take up a loop, and then use the MIDI out of the ES8 to control changes?

Not sure if I should get the ES-8 or the GSC-4 from G Lab. Is it worth spending the extra buck for the ES-8? The thing is I can get the GSC-4 for almost half the price of the ES-8 at my local music shop!!! A comparison video would be much appreciated. :) In what aspects is the GSC-4 better than the ES-8? Is the sound quality of the GSC-4 any better?

oh shit ! this dude again .. ....

Im mostly using the distortion in my amplifier, so want to ask you...Is it possible to make the ES-8 send some loops before the of your pre-amp, and at the same time send other loops after the pre-amp using the eff-loop on your amp? Just like the joyo pxl live.

Can you set a button on the Es-8 to trigger the Infinite hold of the Bigsky?

Hey man! I really enjoy your vids- so helpful! I was wondering if u could help with this one. ok so I got a Boss ES-5 and via midi I can change channels on the Flashback x4 delay pedal and my amp as well. I set the 3 presets on delay pedal for each (clean, rhythm, solo). Now, I'm trying to figure out how I can set up the "trails" feature on the delay pedal. And yes, I set the lil switches on the buffer mode, and yes when I turn off a preset (physically with my foot) I can hear the delay feedback ringing out. All good so far. The problem is that I want the trails when I change channels (meaning from one preset to another) so im trying to find a workaround and I was wondering: 1) if or how I could set up a preset on one of the 3 switches on the Flashback x4 with no effect on (meaning that the pedal will be bypassed). At least temporary, then I could turn the delay on if I want. 2) Is there any way I could do via midi? to bypass the pedal so no effect will be on and in that way I could hear the trails As you know, the ES-5 has also the trail feature but it's useless since when I switch presets on delay the trails wont work anyway. it'd only work if I could turn off the delay (physically). But then how could I "store" a preset on the delay pedal with no effect on? hmm. As a solution for the carryover thing you could say, to turn off the Loop 5 which has the delay but I really cant do that since I have some other pedals on (noise gate, mimic doubler) and must be on for all patches. Just a notice- I use the 4CM and I have the Loop 5 (which has the delay, noice gate, mimiq doubler) in my amp's fx loop. Im also looking to see if there is some kind of a footswitch out there in the market that can bypass the delay and I can program it for specific channels/loops. Or can i do that with the ES-5?? If so, do u know how?? You da man!! thx Jess

On channel 7 I have my eventide Time factor and on channel 8 my big sky, I watched the video 3 Times but I can’t access to my big sky, I did turn off what’s supposed to be off and when I try to program Chanel 2 Chanel 1 stops working. Please help. Channel 1 would be eventide, and 2 big sky. Please!! HELP!!

Do you know if this could replace the Analogman Amaze0 controller for their ARDX20 analog delay? Thinking about getting the delay but the controller is discontinued and hard to find. Excellent demo!

You got me at 26:07 :)

Hi bro, I really love your videos. Very informative. I have a question though. I have 2 strymon pedals the Mobius and the Timeline. How do I connect both to the Boss ES-8 and control both through midi? I see that there is only one midi in and one midi out/thru on the ES-8 so how to connect both pedals to this? I running everything on mono.

How long did you have to fool around with it to get all the functions and the way they work down like that

Is it possible to use this divide with the t-rex replica delay(through MIDI)? I've tried it, but it doesn't seem to respond… any thoughts?

Hi +EytschPi42 can this switcher be set up so that u can have a stereo setup using two mono amps, and control the channel and the pedals to go in front of the amp and/or fx loop via the 4 cable method? I'd want the wah, drive, compressor and volume pedals to go in front of the amp, and the the modulation pedals can go into the fx loop (left effect goes into fx loop of one amp, right effect goes into the fx loop of the other amp).

Great Review!

Can you do a session on syncing a ES-8 and an ES-5?

Hey man ! amazing reviews congrats! I really need your help in a thing, i've been trying to put some effect in my send and return of the amp... i just can't get it right ! how can i assign some pedal to be as if they are in the loop of the amp in the chain programmed in the es8? cheers brother

How would I power the ES-8 on a Friedman power grid?

let's say you have a pedal that allows you to save presets like a memory man or something of that sort that isn't midi control. can you switch those presets with the es8?

Mr Henning, I can't make this unit fly! Is it worth the keep? Or should I start looking for an easier to use switcher. Any suggestions, on any other switchers that are plug n play friendly or should I conquer this beast. (ES-8) Thanks.

i think that the gigrig g2 is easier and clever then the boss, but is only a personal opinion

ES-8 and OCTASWITCH LOOPER,which has better sound??

Great video and good start for me to get around this loop switcher. I have just spent a good amount of time studying the owners manual to find out how to divide effects between output 1 & 2 and send return. Lets say that I want my delay (loop 8), reverb (loop 7) and chorus (loop 6) in the send/return and my bb preamp (loop 1) in output 1 & 2) I don´t know how to do that. How do you rout for that. PLEASE make video specific how to rout loops for send/return and output 1 & 2.

Question I have an AC30 and a Twin Reverb and I want to use one at a time. As you know, unlike the TR, the AC30 has an FX loop. So my question is, will I encounter any issues if I connect the AC30 through the Volume loop and use output one, and then deacticate the Volume loop and send the signal through output 2 to the TR? Another thing, do I really have to use the Volume loop to connect the FX loop of the AC30? In other words, can I put it through loop 4 for instance?

1st. LOL (Lots of Love) 2nd. given that you can set any footswitch to be anything.. as our shared think is SHOWMEWHATLOOPSAREENGAGED: display button it's supa cool, BUT a bit difficult to reach: can I assign a footswitch to be my display button? 3rd: thanks for showing that edit process of a preset is quicker with your feet. would love the pc/smartablet editor. 4: oh i see why you swear when u discovered the parallel † mixing † volume 5: magic footswiches.. can I make an Assign to be a boost on the out? all question are just in chase you know.. if not, i'll ask Roland!

how are you powering all those pedals?

thank you for this fantastic video. I have one question: I would like to set up my number 8 switch to tap tempo for all the presets so the tempo remains the same when I change the preset. is it possible?

I really want a switcher on my board, but listening to people talk about switchers... it just goes over my head. Any one know of a "Switchers 101" or "Switchers for dummies" style video?

Ok check this out. Is it possible to set up a control switch to simultaneously turn on the fog machine, ignite the fireworks on either side of the stage and make the cage with the sexy naked lady come down from the rafters, or up from beneath the stage (havent decided which yet)? Yes? No?

can I use the loop 7 and 8 as mono?

Vid pause ~ Your "right angle" guitar input cable prob can be solved w a mini patch bay right next to your Mesa Eq. I had the same problem. One Control makes a 2 in/2out box that is very small and perfect for this. I think I paid $30 for mine. Or you can easily build one. ok back to the show.

i am having problems finding the right jacks for the plugs on the ES-8. i see everybody using these george L's solderless cables but i don't want to use anything without solder. but angled jacks aren't fitting there in a row (unless you have no bar of the pedaltrain at this point and can turn the lower row down) and straight jacks use to much space above the ES-8. is just anybody using these shitty george L's?

Just my opinion. I think you will be playing with your pedals instead of playing music at your gigs lol. Way too complicated for my Liking.

Hi, the demo of the Boss ES-8 was very useful! I've got a question about midi programming. I'm using a G-Lab Midi Mac 4.4 controller for mesa boogie. This unit connects to the amp with 4 mono jacks outputs, so I can plug to CH2-CH3-SOLO-EQ. The aim is to change amp channels and/or amp controls (EQ/Solo) with midi. On the Glab manual, they say that Program Change changes the amp's channel + amp's controller. But I want to program a switch to activate the solo control and an other to activate the EQ even if I'm on the first, second or third amp's channel. Program change is easy to understand but I don't understand Control Change. Could you help me please? Here's the link of the manual of Glab Mac Midi Controller: www.glab.com.pl/img/um_mac_14062011.pdf

hi please tell me witch one it better after all ES-8 or G2 by Gigrig? please answer me and thank you for your awsome videos

Why is Boss so lousy at interface?

As always, extremely good video, thanks a million! May I ask your opionion about some things, as I'm ready to order a controller? - I'm between the Glab GSC-4 and Boss ES-8. Except the price and the very nice feature of the 6 DC outs of the GLab, is there any other reason not to prefer the Boss? - Are the switches true bypass? I haven't found a source that claims that and the truth is that matrix routing is be difficult to achieve with TB - I have tons of these: www.thomann.de/de/sommer_cable_spirit_xs_highflex_02.htm (in all available lengths). Do you think they would fit in the loops (perhaps with angled placement)? Thanks and keep it up!

This is crazy shit

Is someone snoring in the background? Or is it just my imagination?