Boss MD-200

The Boss MD-200 is a digital modulation pedal from Boss that puts twelve modulation modes in one compact enclosure. Announced in June 2019 as part of Boss's 200 series, it takes its modes from the flagship MD-500 and trims them down into a smaller box: chorus, flanger, phaser, vibrato, tremolo, rotary, auto wah, slicer and overtone sounds are all selectable from the panel¹². It is a 32-bit, 96kHz digital pedal³.

For a player, that means one pedal can cover most of the modulation territory a pedalboard would normally need several boxes for, with 128 stored setups, stereo input and output, MIDI control, and tap tempo. Guitar World calls it "the smaller sibling of the BOSS MD-500"⁴¹.

Twelve modulation modes from the MD-500

The MD-200's twelve modes are drawn from the Boss MD-500, the company's larger triple-footswitch modulation pedal⁵. The MD-500 carries 12 modes with 28 different modulation effect algorithms⁶; the MD-200 keeps the mode selection but moves the editing to a simpler panel. MusicRadar described the 200 series at launch as "trimming down the company's existing triple-footswitched DD-500 and MD-500 into smaller enclosures"².

The two chorus modes are the ones most chorus shoppers will care about. The MD-200's twelve modulation modes were taken from the Boss MD-500, and its algorithms come from that flagship pedal⁵⁷². The MD-500 itself carries 12 distinct modulation modes with 28 modulation types, all with deep editing parameters¹⁶.

The controls

Boss gives the MD-200 dedicated rate, depth and level knobs that work for any selected mode, plus three additional parameter knobs that dynamically change functions with each mode¹. Delicious Audio describes the same layout: "Dedicated rate, depth, and level controls, plus three parameter knobs that change function with the selected mode"⁷.

What those three knobs do depends entirely on the mode. On That Pedal Show, the hosts noted that in the rotary mode "the depth knob in this case happens to be overdrive", and that across modes "the three parameter knobs might affect anything from tone to the speed of the horn the upper horn"⁸.

Other panel and control features:

• Tap tempo: rate can be tapped in with a footswitch while playing, with note subdivisions set from the panel¹
• Footswitches: multi-function switches control bypass, memory scrolling and tap tempo by default, and can be reassigned¹
• Memories: any range of consecutive memories and the panel setting can be assigned for scrolling access from a footswitch¹
• External control: footswitches or an expression pedal; auto wah becomes a foot wah with an expression pedal connected¹
• MIDI: setups can be recalled directly via program change messages from an external MIDI device, with MIDI I/O on mini TRS jacks¹

The MD-200 stores 127 user memories plus a real-time panel setting, for 128 total setups¹. That capacity came from firmware: version 1.10, in January 2020, increased the number of storable memories from 5 to 128⁹.

Firmware updates

Boss supports the MD-200 with system program updates delivered over USB. The latest version is 1.15, from September 2025, which fixes a bug where the CC IN parameter could not be set from on to off⁹.

To check the firmware version, hold down the Memory button and insert a plug into the Input A jack; the version is shown on the display⁹. To update:

1. Hold down the Rate knob and insert a plug into the Input A jack; the display shows "UPd"⁹
2. Send the update file to the pedal from a computer running UpdSMF (SMF Player for Windows and macOS) over a USB cable⁹
3. Wait for the update to finish before disconnecting anything⁹

The update needs the MD-200, a USB cable, and a computer with a USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 port⁹.

What reviewers said

Guitar World's tremolo pedal buying guide, which covers the MD-200, found a lot to like about its engineering: "Technically, the audio quality is tremendous, thanks to top-notch tech under the hood", noting an incredibly low noise floor and an ultra-smooth tremolo sound⁴. The same guide points out that the MD-200 is fully stereo, so it can emulate the Boss PN-2 Tremolo Pan as well as deliver standard tremolo effects⁴.

On That Pedal Show in November 2019, the hosts put the MD-200 through its modes. Daniel liked the rotary sound: "I did like the rotary sound I thought that sounded quite good"⁸. Their broader verdict on digital multi-modulation pedals was more reserved, though: they judged the digital modulation hard to dial in and never quite as good as analog versions of each effect⁸.

They also gave a sense of the pedal's size on a board: it is about the width of two compact series pedals and about two thirds of the size of the 500 series⁸.

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Delicious Audio reviewed the MD-200 and added it to its list of Best Multi Modulation Pedals, describing it as "outfitted with algorithms from the flagship MD-500" and delivering "an array of world-class effects"⁷.

Videos

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