For example one oddity is that often times you when you want to “exit” a mode, you don’t use the “exit” button… instead you just switch to a different mode and switch back again.

For example, say you hit SHIFT-PTN so you are in pattern mode… then you hit use the arrow keys (or whatever) to go into the submenus… now at some point you want to go back to the first screen you saw when you entered pattern mode…. You’d naturally want to hit the Exit button to go back…but it won’t do anything… what you need to do is hit SHIFT-SONG (which takes you to song mode) and then SHIFT-PTN again to go to the first screen of pattern mode.

I know, it’s odd…but it isn’t complicated once you’re used to it.

Additionally , anyone using this for the first time should DEFINITELY just look at the 2-page quick start guide…it covers (step by step) most of the common uses… from creating patterns to creating songs to recording live guitar (with or without effects). The manual is very useful, but does appear to be daunting at first look… On the other hand, the quick start guide is concise, simple and very clear. (Also, both the manual and the quick start guide are downloadable at Boss’s site).

Anyone considering buying one should read the reviews over at HarmonyCentral as well. 99% of them rave about this unit. Even after all these years, people often say that if theirs broke, they would immediately buy another on Ebay (or elsewhere).

Even with some slightly dated sounds, this unit provides a truly portable band-in-a-box, and at the price it goes for now, you can get it for less than the cost of a high-end metronome.

Lastly, if anyone has the tutorial video (that came with the unit) please, please, PLEASE rip it and post it on YouTube. I watched it years ago and it is also a great learning tool for first time DR-5 users. Unfortunately, it is very hard to find and is no longer available from Boss. Therefore, anyone that has it would really be doing the DR-5 community a great service by posting the video on YouTube.

Just my 2 cents.