any loss of signal is going to be associated with the longer signal path of the loop. this is unavoidable but at least you can reduce that thanks to the loop.
Reliability/Durability:
it's boss. mine has to be at least 20 yrs old, beaten, chipped, starting to rust, but it always works. mine is a jap one (dunno if they made these in taiwan) for what thats worth. i'd be more worried abou tthe daisy chain than the pedal.
Ease of Use:
it all depends on your setup and how you like to arrange your kit. once you get your head around this thing it's not hard to use. heres an example of my current setup: dunlop 2002 hendrix fuzz-wah->sd-1 super overdrive-> pcm-5->(brackets indicate fx in the loop, behringer vintage phaser->behringer vintage distortion-> danelectro french fries octave distortion)-> crap behringer eq (soon to be replaced by eq-20). this thing makes my life a lot easier, not only do i not need an expensive power block, i also don't need to choreograph some wild tap dance while i'm trying to keep my place in a song, fx can be turned on/off while i have time to think and not during a part in a song when it's gonna be real obvious if u stuff up.
Customer Support:
Overall Rating:
get one if you can, good luck finding one though! as far as i know they don't make em anymore (there are lots of other boss pedals now that can do the same thing plus more). if lost or stolen i'd go for something similar.
