Featuring five independent loops, the BOSS ES-5 is an advanced effects switching system that can fit on smaller pedalboards. Each of the five loops can be switched on or off with the silent vacuum-style footswitches, and/or reordered for exacting tone-crafting with your existing pedals. While the ES-5 is digitally controlled in order to facilitate advanced switching and bank storage, the signal relays are all analog to preserve your tone. For true-bypass switching, the buffers offered on the loops can be turned off for each individual loop, perfect for vintage effects that work better with high-impedance signals. All of the loop settings can be stored in the ES-5's 200 banks for instant recall.

The ES-5 also offers advanced control options using the four controller outputs, expression pedal control inputs, and MIDI in/out/thru. This connectivity opens up real-time control over your effects through the ES-5. Like the loop settings, control parameters can also be appended to banks for instant recall. A mute switch cuts the signal to the output and routes it instead to the tuning output for silent tuning between songs.