Boss NS-2

I bought this pedal to see if I could at least reduce the noise coming from both my amplifier and pedal setup, specially when recording. I'd known Yngwe Malmsteen himself used it live, so what could go wrong?

PROS:
+Reliable (BOSS pedal standard)
+Efficient
+Versatile (send+return loop and three cable method)
+Good looking
+Buffer

CONS: No negatives.

You can sucessfully use it for specific pedals/group of pedals (after them or through the send+return loop), but in my case the noise also involved the amplifer itself and that's where the built-in superpower inside the NS-2 comes in, the "three-cable method":

[Guitar>Send>Output>Return(Amp)>Send(Amp)>Input>Return>Input(Amp)].

With this kind of chaining method, BOSS designed the ultimate noise killer in my opinion. Not only you vanquish the noise of your pedal army, but also the screams of your amplified dungeons of doom. I don't even play metal, but I just had to say that.

Your tone will be preserved (I promise), no sketchy EQ changes at all. If anything because there won't be any noise you'll actually lose some annoying ice-picky high end (swear to god). Just listen patiently to how the decay and threshold affect your sound, put the reverbs, delays and modulation after it (it's in the manual) and rock on!

It's very easy to use: there are only 3 knobs on it, threshold (determines the sound level the signal needs to fall below before the NS-2 silences it), decay (determinies the time before the effect kicks in - the further clockwise you turn it, the more natural it sounds, but it will be less efficient at cutting noise. You can pretty much leave this at minimum, unless it sounds un-natural to your ears) and mode. There are two modes: reduction, which means when the pedal is off, nothing is happening, and when the pedal is on, it cuts noise; and mute, which cuts noise when the pedal is off, and totally mutes your sound (e.g. for tuning) when the pedal is on. There's also a handy led to tell you when it is actually cutting noise. It has a send-return circuit for plugging your other pedals into. The NS-2 completely rids it of any noise that I don't want. When you start playing a note, it's instantaneously there. There's no annoying fade in that leaves the attack sounding like something fluffy and uncertain. When I don't play (even with the distortion on and turned up all the way) it's virtually silent. It has a mute option that allows you to simply cut all sound from the guitar instantly. So if you begin to get feedback, step on it and it will be gone. If you are deciding what noise removing thing to buy, this is it!

I use the NS2 directly in front of my pedal chain and achieved great results by eliminating unwanted noise and feedback when my boost and drive pedals etc. are engaged. Unlike the Noise gate and as the names imply, the NS2 suppresses the noise and not gate it. It is super responsive to playing thus not sacrificing the first note you play. In addition my tone felt warmer tighter and more responsive to my playing.
The NS2 is a versatile pedal and in my opinion is an essential for creating a great tone. Depending on settings, the tone will least be affected with the threshold control at minimum and the decay control at maximum, by gradually controlling the opposite, will start to give a slight thump that feels great whilst playing on both clean and driven tones. It delivers clarity and feels like a very slight compressor which simultaneously reduce unwanted noise.
The Boss NS2 is the next level noise gate that delivers a tight, warm, and responsive tone!

Pros
SEND and RETURN inputs.
Very sturdy Boss quality pedal.
Eliminates any unwanted noises and feedback.
Delivers a tight, warm, and responsive tone.

Cons
Surely not plug and play need time to try different connections and pedal order for maximum results.

In my opinion The Boss NS2 is great! especially for metal players!
Thank you Boss!

I use it as it was intended for noise suppression, and have set it up as it was engineered for, utilizing its send/return.
It is at the start of my pedal chain, sending the signal to everything up to and including my preamp/drive pedal, and then return the signal to NS-2 and plugged output to my time and mod pedals, giving me a clean situation and lots of sonic space for delays, reverbs and mods.
pros: it works as intended, and advertised, with no ifs or buts.
cons: I don't see any.
I think the bulk of negative comments on this pedal come from people who did not set it up as it should be with its send/return, or do not understand how it should work.

If you need to cut feedback or pedal hum (to an extent), this is the pedal you are looking for. I have been using my NS2 for close on 4 years now and it has never let me down.
There are some side effects for cutting feedback, such as tone being lost and sustain on clean settings being cut.
If you are using a high gain amp (I use a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier and a Blackstar HT20H) you can loose some of the tone if you have the pedals threshold setting set to high, the trick is to balance the setting, allowing you to minimise the amount of tone you loose, but chances are you won't have the same power that you have with the pedal bypassed.
When using clean tones you will want to bypass the pedal as it will cut a lot of your sustain, and again, will suck the tone from what you are playing even more drastically than it will on overdriven/distorted settings.

All in all it is a fantastic pedal for the price, it is an integral piece on my pedal board and though the are some downsides, I can't recommend this pedal enough.

The NS-2 is a very useful addition to my pedal board, both in the studio and on the road. It cleans up my signal considerably, without any noticeable degradation of tone. I have a couple of noisy single coil pickup guitars and the improvement when using the NS-2 is dramatic.

The pedal itself is typical of the Boss tradition, in that it's well built with a simple layout.

The inclusion of a 9 volt in and out socket on the rear is very handy. It allows me to run an extra pedal from time to time without the need for another power supply.

It has a couple of features that, to be honest, I just don?t use. There?s a loop feature that allows you to run noisy pedals through the gate circuit while allowing your guitar signal straight through unaffected. There?s also a ?mute? mode that allows you to cut the entire signal. (handy for some on stage situations).

I just run it on my pedal board after my compression and overdrives and before my delay and reverb. It?s a simple setup that works well. I have absolutely no complaints.

The controls are very straightforward. A minute or two playing around with the NS-2 and you?ll have the hang of it.

I demoed several other units, but found that the Boss ticked all the boxes. I can highly recommend the NS-2 to anybody who wants to clean up their guitar signal without compromising their tone. 10/10.