This is my problem, I have an OT but have no clue how to loop with it yet. Maybe I should hold off and keep with the minimal mind set.
Stupid deals thread, it always has me thinking!
1 Like
SW says the units they’re getting from Piggies will ship with the latest available firmware.
regardless, the feedback shared by @AdamJay regarding his experience with the Infinity resonates with me. I’m gonna pass.
As far as big-boy loopers go, I’m presently learning as much as I can about the RC-505 and the Boomerang III.
It feels a little silly to be shopping for another looper when I already have a blooper… But I don’t use it the way I pictured myself using a looper…
2 Likes
I’ve had some really weird results with the rc 202 in slave mode. The loop gets grainy and sometimes it adjusts so the timing becomes wrong when I add loop number 2. Might be a way to fix it but I haven’t found it. Don’t know if rc 505 has the same issues. I’m back to using infinity which works well aside from that I can’t use a clock source that also sends midi notes to something else. Also the update app file inside it mysteriously disappeared when I was trying to update to the newest firmware. Since the file is no longer available from the pigtronix website I can’t update it. Feel free to let me know if you have it:)
1 Like
The sound degradation thing seems to plague a number of loopers. My first one was a Boss RC-20XL, and it sucked signal really badly, almost like the lo-fi effect on the OT.
I’ve got a Ditto X4, which fortunately doesn’t have that sound degradation issue, but has a few other quirks (I’m also trying to move away from B-owned brands).
Just have to figure out the best workflow (and cable routing!!!) for looping with my new OT.
What is your routing setup for using the OT as a looper? How do you handle impedance matching between line/instrument levels and back?
2 Likes
Had RC50, RC300, RC505, RC202, RC505… 
RC505 has the same issues when slaved due to a bad tempo interpretation, but not in all conditions.
Timestretch modulate the sound in a bad way when you start playback (OT or DN in my case), then it can be ok. If the RC505 receive midi notes, it can fluctuate again, getting worse and worse if you add notes.
It seem to support much better CCs than notes. It has been stated in a video, I can try to find it later if requested.
In comments of that video, it was stated that disabling Timestretch with Tempo Sync Off (or something similar), ends with stopped loops. Tested : unusable indeed. Can’t imagine a randomly stopped loop in live conditions.
I don’t regret RC202, I still prefer RC505, but I’d like Octatrack as master of course. Who’s the best (beast)? 
Tests needed concerning quality if slaved, only receiving clock, a few CCs. IMHO it can be OK.
If you want to be sure to have best quality…I’d record with RC505/202 master.
Standalone, or master with DT slaved, RC505 can be really efficient. Will I tell my OT I’d slave it to a RC505 for a dual looper experiment ? 
1 Like
-
Audio from MS/Typhon into the input jacks.
-
Use a thru track to bring them in.
I prefer to use a thru track as it gives me a pair of FX slots to use on the live input, and that allows me to creatively mix the live input with the flex loop.
The thru track allows you to mix the inputs in different ways, all in one track. I mix the two stereo pairs, like this:
-
Use a flex track to do the looping.
-
Use the main outputs to leave the OT.
I only plug line level things into the OT. If you wanted to plug instrument level things in, a DI would be my recommendation.
for further setup things to check off, so that you can actually get down to some creative looping with the Octatrack!.. I created this:
12 Likes
This is extremely helpful, thank you for the awesome level of detail!
2 Likes
I didn’t really grok live looping on the OT until my third go-round with an OT! First was borrowed, second was bought then sold, and the third was bought out of pure determination.
So if it helps to prevent such an experience for you, then it was worth doing! I mostly typed all that out because I was frustrated with how every video covered looping differently. Only once I fully understood the capabilities of the OT and how they are implemented and interact with one another, could I grok it.
I also made a guide for pickup machine looping, for anyone interested:
10 Likes
Thanks @AdamJay much appreciated. I’ve been taking the OT slow and honestly staying away from looping as it frustrated me so much last go around I sold it. This is a cool reference, downloaded and printed!
1 Like
Dude! Never thought of using Flex with a Thru Machine!
And yes, I’d be interested in your Pickup Machine looping guide, if only to see your take on using Pickup Machine instead of Flex.
Pickup Machine was the very first machine I learned to use when I got my OT. But I haven’t gotten past kindergarten level with it.
1 Like
I prefer flex + thru over pickup for sure! Less likely to push the wrong thing resulting in project BPM going haywire.
Sometimes after that first bourbon, I can’t trust myself to push every button correctly 
Pickup was the first way I learned to loop on OT, and I am glad I did it, as it helped me understand the whole architecture of looping on the OT.
For example I didn’t fully understand that every track has its own recorder, and when you go into recorder setup, you’re setting it up for that one track you are currently on. This was a revelation!
I knew that, on paper, it had 8 recorders. But in use, I was confused by it.
7 Likes
I’ve been extensively using looping for a solo show for like 7/8 years. My looper to go is definitely the Boomerang III.
This pedal has been very well thought for a live use.
The only drawbacks would be for me it syncs only as a Midi slave and for those who are searching for a memory you’ll have to look for something else.
Other than that, you can configure the use of the different features for your own needs and it WORKS.
The sound is good, it does what it is designed for. I love that thing.
I also have an OT but so far and even if i thought prior to buy it it could replace the Boomerang III, i would not compare the ease and immediacy of use to the Boomerang.
I’d recommend the OT in case you want to mangle and distort, re-use and overmanipulate the loops. Still if you need your hands you’d have to use a Midi Pedal controller so you’d be better buying a dedicated looper. Also i’m really not a big fan of the OT inputs.
For for a pure looper, the Boomerang is stereo, works and responds easily and well, syncs well, has a small footprint, asks for like 500mA, has undo natively (good luck on the OT), you can fade in/out or play/stop all or one loop with one button, enjoy polyrythms, and even has fx like slowing down 2x one track, reverse a loop or your live input, … it has basically 3 loops all with possible infinite overdubs and you can extend to 4 loops.
I never needed to buy a Sidecar.
You can possibly do all of this on an OT but you’ll need to sacrifice a part of your brain to achieve it and you’d probably loose all wish for looping before you succeed 
5 Likes
I appreciate this insight as I want to learn as much as I can about the
‘rang III.
Does it natively support 3 loops or 4, (without the sidecar)?
I guess an explanation about how the Rang III functions is needed here.
You have basically 3 slots: each one has a button to trig record/play/stop a track.
Then you have what they called 2 Bonus Buttons. For each of those you can assign 2 functions: one that will be launched by a short press (TAP), one by a long press (HOLD).
One possible function to be assigned is to have a 4th track.
I personnaly use one TAP to stack and another one to delete a track. I use one HOLD to stop or fade all tracks and the other one to Undo.
Using the Undo function allows me to add an overdub and switch it on and off as long i don’t overdub on this track. Very useful for a live situation to make the looping more alive.
What a side car would bring is to have all the functions + a fourth track permanently available. I guess they just did not choose the right option commercially speaking since one big plus for the Rang III is its footprint and the sidecar would kill this… and is really too expensive.
Edit: i forgot to mention that each track has its own volume knob.
Also once you define the master track length, a slave loop can « sync » to the closest multiple length from the moment you stop the recording.
Thanks for sharing these details about how the 'Rang III works.
The demos on the website leave much to be desired.
I guess when you’ve got a great reputation, you can slack on marketing.
I wanna say the first time I ever noticed a boomerang was in a video of a Victor Wooten performance. Any gear that makes it into one of his sets is worth a close look, (IMHO).
1 Like
I never had a clue it would be used by someone like Wooten. I discovered the Rang some years ago when comparing all kind of loopers on the market at that time and the Rang ticked many boxesand never disappointed me as a traditional looper.
I used many loopers, but keep coming back to the rc-505. I always try to get away from this big ugly spaceship, but functionality wins it back every time.
I never had any problems with the rc-505 as slave. I feed it midi clock from elektron, and via foot controller (morningstar mc6). Never had any issue… slaves perfectly
I tried a few times using the octatrack, but what I absolutely need in a looper, is going from record into overdub.
OT can only do this as master and will fuck up tempo quite regularly.
I tried the flex route, but setting it up with overdub is quite a stretch, and I want my looper to be easy to use 
I love the fact that you can let the 505 stop or clear loops with a specified fade out
3 Likes
for the life me, I cannot find any videos that clearly show him using the boomerang. There’s at least one that shows him using the rc-300.
I sold my 505, can’t get over that plastic space ship thing. Now, just bought a 1440…
3 Likes
No fluctuations, even at the beginning, after playing the master Elektron?
I’d be curious to hear a proof. I recorded sine waves for test, easier to hear fluctuations.
The problem is obvious if you send a few midi notes. You can send more CCs at the same time, it behaves apparently normally with a few CCs at the same time. So I you sequence other gear with notes, it’s recommended to filter them before RC505 midi in when slaved.