Looper pedal with pre set length and midi synced?

The Lounge Other Gear
#22

Test done.
So i could have skipped the test since in all logic i am sending midi clock in all banks of a project so of course it is following it when i change bank :sweat_smile:

When i change project it will follow the current bpm as well.
The big drawback is that there is like half second without sound but it’s due to my setup as the MC is receiving and going baxk to the OT. I did like that to be able to dose the volume from the OT mixer since i don’t have a mixer so that can be avoided if you have a mixer.
According the loop you record and the kind of FX applied to it, the bpm jump can be quite musical. The biggest issue is the tonality of the next track if you start to play it before stopping the recorded loop.
If there’s no more tempo sent (i.e. if i unplug the midi cable) it reverts to the tap tempo defined by the user beforehand. Quite logical here as well.

A solution would be to send the Midi clock after pressing play or any other way to start without receiving clock. Since Midi parameters are global per project (not per track) for sending clock, i think there’s no way to even start with a Part which whould not send the clock. Any looper receiving Midi clock would behave that way i think.

1 Like
#23

What about the Kaoss Pad 3? Seems to tick most if not all boxes for you, it’s quite cheap and also simple to use. You can set the length before you start recording. Audio quality might not be as pristine as in other high end alternatives but I doubt you would notice it when switching between sources.

#24

Hey, I’ll just add that the Aeros can’t do exactly what @ROM72 wants. It’s a great looper, the MIDI sync is rock solid, but you can’t preset the number of bars recorded. That said, you can quantize the start and end point of your loop to the bar so you can hit the switch at any time during the previous bar and you’ll get a perfectly-timed loop. It takes a lot of the pressure off but yeah you still need your hands.

1 Like
#25

Whatever you go with, make sure to look not just at “MIDI sync” but also “MIDI quantize”
A looper that will start at the start of the next quantized bar means you won’t have to be super accurate on the foot switch to avoid clicks.

The first Pigtronix Infinity (not v2) is, indeed, one such looper.
Most, but not all, stereo looping delay pedals, sadly, are not.

1 Like
#26

The Boomerang and Microcosm are quantized but not as far as one bar. Something like 1/16 i think.
The second loop on the Boomerang can quantize until half bar since it is using division of the master loop.

1 Like
#27

Ok this is getting complicated I guess ^^.
I would be curious to try without any midi and only tap tempo.
I could even try this with any basic looper to see if it’s a mess or not.

Why not ? I have to check it out, but rca input/output though, I don’t understand.

Yes I think that’s what I was looking without knowing the word. Thank you.

//////

For now my list would be :

  • Pigtronix Infinity
  • Microcosm but used with tap tempo

The Blooper looks amazing but a bit too pricey for me.
I’m going to check out the Kaoss pad 3 too.

#28

you can just get a TRS to RCA cable, or get some adaptors.
MIDI sync has been solid for me, and sampling is as easy as it gets. have in mind that you have a max of 4 bars of sampling - you can’t sample for super long… but if you’re considering for transitioning between songs, it will probably be enough.
In fact, I think I’m about to get a KP3 for a third time (!) since I haven’t been able to sell a pedal I’m not using (Digitech Polara) and it seems like I found someone willing to trade.

1 Like
#29

Ok,
Do you know how the Kaosspad behaves when it no longer receives a midi clock ?
Does it keeps the last bpm sent ?

#30

IIRC, yes… but not 100% sure - I’ll check if I make that trade.
You could of course also set the BPM manually.

#31

H9/Timefactor quantizes to the next beat. It’s also possible to control all looper functions via midi cc and the varispeed and hp/lp filter are pretty cool for transitions. But unfortunately there’s the mono thing…

Do any of the Boss loopers have midi quantize?
Ha! Seems the answer is yes.^^

2 Likes
#32

Really ?
I haven’t found something about the RC5

#33

I’ve heard the MIDI sync on RC5 is not good.
Apparently much better in Electro Harmonix 1440, which is similarly spec’ed

1 Like
#34

All the Roland/Boss loopers function better as the master clock. That has been a consistent issue since the RC-50. And on both of their flag-ship loopers (RC-50 and the RC-300) you could absolutely specify the loop length, in bars, ahead of time, and save those as templates.

Cheers!

#35

Well I checked the EHX 1440 in this video, this guy has clearly some sync issues.
Also the EHX begins to glitch when he plug the midi cable out.
This is something important for me because when the Tracker is loading project B, no midi clock is sent anymore but the looper needs to stay at project A’s bpm no matter what.

#36

OT: :dizzy_face:

image

#37

Get a Blackbox :blush:

#38

Seems this problem was acknowledged by EHX and a firmware update was supposed to fix it. It’s in the comments of that video, not sure how’s the current status, tho.

RC202 and RC505 have midi quantize, not sure about others.

1 Like
#39

I also thought about an alternative, which could be a dynamic (or duck) delay.
You have it on the Strymon Timeline, the Echosystem, the Flashback x4 or x2,
With the feedback set to full you have something more simple to setup thant a looper.
No double tap to end a loop.
The delay is gated so when the sound stop the delay is triggered.
The only thing is, it last very long (2 beats max I think).

Line 6 DL4 Mk II
#40

Any updates in this space?

#41

Looperlative LP1 does this. You can set a different length for each of the 8 tracks. It syncs to midi, but doesn’t have transport control so can’t start/stop via midi.

It’s also a rack unit…not pedal