A new announcement from Boss for NAMM 2014, here are a few quick review thoughts! This really does look fantastic, I had an ME-70 for a while, but quickly realised it's limitations and I wasn't particularly enamoured with the sound palette. It seems like Boss have been beavering away to come up with something new, and this is it. I really like the fact it has eight effects with eight switches. I think that is pretty massive and is extremely practical, with nothing else on the market offering that level of flexibility at that price point. Every unit so far has been a compromise on which effects you can switch on and off and which presets you are switching between. (obvious exception being the Line 6 M9, but that doesn't have amp modelling). Like other units such as the Nova System (again no modelling), I think it might be nice to have a dedicated switch for patch to manual mode switching, that doesn't involve holding combinations of switches down. Even the GT100 has this, although you can assign an external switch to switch modes, which is useful. It is also obvious to see some of the missing features which enable it to be placed at a lower price point and not interfere with sales of something like the GT100, such as 4CM functionality.All in all, from the brief reports, it looks like a really simple and flexible unit to run directly into an amp if you just want effects, and something you could use with some of the amp models, should you need to. I think it is a great forward progression for the ME series!From the Boss Press ReleaseMobile, battery powered, and filled with a diverse selection of flagship-quality BOSS amps and effects, the ME-80 is the ideal compact tone processor for performing guitarists. A friendly knob-based interface makes it simple to dial in great sounds in seconds, while easily selectable operation modes offer the flexibility of individual stompbox-style on/off or instant recall of complex multi-effects setups. Unique new footswitches deliver twice the control of previous designs for efficient and intuitive effects switching, patch selection, and real-time sound shaping while playing on stage. The free BOSS TONE STUDIO software unlocks even more tonal possibilities, providing a cool graphical interface for tweaking and organizing sounds on your computer, plus a web connection to BOSS TONE CENTRAL for direct access to free gig-ready patches created by top pro guitarists and much more.

• Compact and powerful floor multi-effects with a simple knob-based interface
• Eight simultaneous effects categories, each with multiple effects types
• Dial up tones with the ease of using your favorite stompboxes
• Includes a massive selection of top-quality effects, from classic BOSS stomps to the latest MDP effects
• Updated flagship-level COSM® amps derived from the GT-100
• Eight multifunction footswitches and expression pedal
• Manual mode for stompbox-style on/off; Memory mode for switching complete patch setups
• Delay section includes Phrase Loop function with 38 seconds of recording
• Runs on six AA batteries or optional PSA-series AC adapter
• USB audio/MIDI interface built in
• Free BOSS TONE STUDIO software allows you to edit and organize tones on your computer, and also preview and download free patches directly from the BOSS TONE CENTRAL website

 Peace Neil