I’d like to get a looper to play along with OT, to record loops and snippets of sound that can be immediately looping and overdubbed if I wanted to.
Would be nice if the looper had a few FX built in and maybe a few tracks? And maybe midi sync? Don’t care if it’s out of production…
There are so many looking at Boss and Korg etc…
THANKS IN ADVANCE
Budget? How many tracks? Midi sync needed? Also, an important one: do you need independent loop lenght per track?
Boss RC505 - RC202
Pigtronix Infinity
Electro Harmonix 95000 or 45000 or 22500, …
Ditto x4, x2, …
Boomerang,…
C&G Organelle
PiSound can for sure be configured to be a looper
…
Also multiple Ipad Apps
And desktop software
Ableton Live
Ambiloop
Mobius
Echoloop VST
Ambiloop
Giada
zenaud.io
repetito
from the forum:
Korg KaossPad KP3 would do all of that, if 4 loops / max 16 bars per loop is enough for you.
Forgot that one, thanks for the reminder 
Thanks TonyDS,
budget as low as possible but with the features like immediate looping and overdub.
Amount of Tracks I don’t know, I guess the more the better but then the price goes up…2 would be great.
I definitely want hardware box, maybe table top…but that’s not important
Do you know the kaoss pads, like kp3?.
PS. Just saw the other replies, thanks all for your input.
The KP3 sounds the best I think and it has FX on board
yes, it has whole lotta FX onboard.
i use it as MIDI controlled FX processor, but saw your post and remembered that it has looping capabilities too 
Have heard great things about RC-202
Yes, my brother had a KP since way back, solid and fun, not too pricey.
If roland would just give us a looper in a sp404sx/A firmware update!!! Please roland make your brand great again.
16 Bars? That’s plenty and 4 tracks is enough
I kind of “like” more the KP3 but I’m not decided yet because I never used either and hate to buy one, only to find out that it doesn’t do what I want it to do…
MIDI in/out is great and they both have it and I think the FX can be recorded in KP3? Correct me if I’m wrong
And you can overdub any track and don’t have to stop the track to loop?
Is the KP3 COMPLEX or hard to learn/use?
Me too, and it is reasonably priced.
THANX ALL.
oops… 16 beats, according to manual. not bars.
so, 16 beats is 4 bars for 4/4 signature.
yes, overdubbing works without stopping the track.
have in mind it’s 16 beats, not 16 bars… so, 64 steps max (on 120bpm, slower tempos might not get you that length)
also, you can’t overdub immediately, you would have to work around that… that beeing said, it’s a cheap, versatile and fun little peace of gear… FX are ok, some sweet spots here and there, but definately more quantity than quality.
haven’t used RC202 but I think those probably do the direct-overdub thing, and they seem pretty intuitive (plus you can make really long loops afaik)
The KP3 is a worthy looper that I’ve relied on for livesetting for more than a decade. You get four pads that can record up to four bars of CD-quality audio each, and with a little practice you can create seamless loops with very little effort. (You can do this with the OT as well, as I expect you know, but the KP3 gives you results quickly with virtually no “procedure” to memorize.) For this and other reasons I have kept the KP3 at the end of my signal chain and used it for transitions.
The effects on the unit are iffy IMHO and I use them mostly for quick splashes of drama, but there are a few notably good exceptions, especially since they updated it to the KP3+ version (I like to think Korg listened to their user base). YMMV of course, but in any case, if you do want to apply an effect to your recorded loop, it’s a resampling process that’s pretty quick and easy to do.
If reliability and longevity matter, FWIW I used my KP3 for about nine years before trading up to a KP3+. Even at the end my old model was working fine after lots of gigging and travel, and I sold it for I think $250.
MIDI sync I haven’t tried on the plus model, as I usually only need it to stay synchronized for a minute or so while I transition, but I remember there was a lot of jitter on my first one. I ended up not using a MIDI connection and simply adjusting the KP3’s BPM manually, which worked fine and was (again) quite easy.
tl;dr: I’d try one out because it seems to be a low-stress tool for what you need.
I used to have one and I think it’s really good. It’s one of the most forgiving loopers I’ve used, meaning you cant get nice clean loops without having to be surgically precise with hitting the buttons. The sound quality was also good. Loads of effects, some better than others.
My only really complaint was the look. I’m not into the plastic and flashing lights.
Thank you all, really appreciate your inputs and sharing your knowledge and experience.
The Boss RC-202 wins totally with 8x8 banks = 64 loops and 2 tracks and compatibility so I will get one, hopefully 2nd hand.
Meanwhile I thought I should use what I have and see how it’s going to work…the looping part, so I setup my iPad and Octatrack with ZOOM U-24 and after some frustration I figured out the routing etc…
My living room setup
I’ve also used multiple iterations of iPad setups… sometimes simple, other times super custom made (effects, midi remapping, controllers, looping, sequencing ipad synths etc.)
although it’s almost limitless, and great for playing at home, I’ve had a few bad experiences performing live where an app would crash (typical scenario where it works great at home, never fails, then while playing live something goes wrong) and I just couldn’t trust it anymore…
I got my second KP3 in a trade recently (I sold my first a few years ago) and I thought of using it along a portable dj mixer for transitioning between patterns, for the ease of use and instant functionality (compared to the OT, wich I also tried a setup with but seemed more falible - I had to remember to reload the part in case I had messed around with the effects on the previous transition, etc.)
but I eventually realized it also had some caveats - for example, once I had my loop going, I had to remember to change the input to MIC in case I wanted to effect the loop with the KP, or otherwise the input from my DT would go through the effects too when enabling them, hence duplicating the signal… on the other hand, I would need an extra mixer if I wanted to sum up the external synth I use (Audiothingies P6) to loop both sources… and also, with the OT I could use THRU and NEI machines to process the P6 (filtering low end, adding some reverb to glue everything together a bit, etc.)
sooooo… after all this coming and going (and beeing really close to selling my OT) I’m now working on a set with DT, OT, P6 and a small Faderfox UC4 controller.
I was getting too obsessed with having a portable set, and I don’t even play live that often! so now I’m trying to go for a set that inspires me the most, while remaining fairly straight-forward…
sorry for the long post, this got out of hand!
I was getting too obsessed with having a portable set, and I don’t even play live that often! so now I’m trying to go for a set that inspires me the most, while remaining fairly straight-forward… Hehe I know the feeling
Edit: don’t know why I couldn’t get the quote to work
I also don’t like performing with too much gear - get’s too distracting/overkill for me… but I think if I fine-tune this set, it might work.
I know I’m not taking full advantage of the OT, but I don’t want to overdo it either - so far it’s helping me create longer/more interesting transitions and that’s quite nice
This may be obvious but have you played with the pickup machines on the OT at all? I can understand if you want something a bit more robust, or just a separate unit so the OT doesn’t get too cluttered, but you should try if you haven’t.
Not at all, thanks, very much appreciate it.
I did, but not much, because there were much simpler things that I had to learn to really use them. (Have OT for 2 months)
Kind of: got to learn to walk before I can run
