The legendary guitar effects pedals manufacturer Boss has announced the release of brand-new multi-effects units. Although visually and functionally resembling some of the company’s classic multi-effects units, including their discontinued stuff, the new ME-90 brings a new twist which also makes a massive change for the company’s arsenal of products.

COSM Is Out, AIRD Is In

Instead of the common COSM technology, also known as “Composite Object Sound Modeling,” ME-90 comes with the new “Augmented Impulse Response Dynamics,” simply known as Aird.

So what’s this about? Well, the AIRD is what you also have with Boss’ flagship GT-1000 modeler unit. In short, the AIRD was the new groundbreaking amp modeling technology that made GT-1000 so great and its Amp Models so realistic-sounding. Needless to say, the AIRD technology received mostly positive reactions.

Knobs, Switches, and Features

As far as the ME series goes, Boss reveals that this is the “most advanced” model in the line. According to the official press release, the ME-90 comes with 24-bit resolution analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog processing, as well as 32-bit floating point processing. It’s packed with AIRD amp models and impulse responses, or cab sims.

Accompanying this is also an onboard looper, although we’re yet to get more info on that. There’s the usual expression pedal for parameter controls and the wah effect. Along with that, it’s packed with a total of 8 footswitches, organized in 4-by-2 groups.

Very similar to the old ME models, like the discontinued but still awesome ME-50, the top board has parameter controls and knobs grouped according to effect types. Although we’re yet to see how it all actually works, it’s important to note that there’s a total of 30 knobs on the top control board.

Of course, all of this comes with a very intuitive and user-friendly interface, as well as LED lights. We can see that they’re grouped into Preamp, EQ and FX2, Reverb, Compressor and FX1, Overdrive/Distortion, Modulation, and Delay segments. Four footswitches can toggle the compression, distortion, modulation, and delay effects in the Manual mode. But you can also use ME-90 in the Memory mode with all the usual “bank up” and “bank down” controls, working with a total of 36 user presets.

The ME-90 also comes with your usual input and output, including the stereo option. There’s also the effects loop with the send and return jacks. Along with that is also a headphone connection, all of which makes this your “business as usual” kind of multi-effects unit.

On top of that, there’s also a USB connection and Bluetooth connectivity. Bluetooth is used for connecting with your phone apps for further advanced tone shaping.  

Effects and Amp Sims

The unit comes, according to Boss’ official press release, with a total of 60 effects onboard. There are also 20 more from Boss’ Tone Central service. In short, you can get updated effects and new digital goodies for the ME-90 when you hook it up online.

Along with that, we have the same amp models as the GT-1000. And, according to Boss’ website, GT-1000 comes with a total of 140 simulated amp models. And each of the amps comes with a dedicated cabinet. As with other similar units, these are used when hooked up to a mixing board or a PA, allowing you to get those realistic amp tones. Additionally, it’s also possible to add third-party impulse responses for cabinet sims.

What About the Price?

So let’s cut to the chase — the listed price for the ME-90 is $349.99. Considering the fact that you get a lot of the same features as the GT-1000, which is well over the $1,000 mark, this seems like a pretty great deal so far. In fact, in some cases, it could be more useful, especially if we’re talking about smaller gigs and guitar players who want to keep their setup simpler.

For more info on the ME-90, feel free to visit Boss’ website here. But other than that, it will be available through your usual online and offline retailers. Preorders are already active.

Photo: Boss

The post Boss Has a New Multi-FX ME-90, It Features High-End Specs at a Reasonable Price appeared first on Killer Guitar Rigs.