Which looper?

djspecialist

I'm after a looper to put at the end of my board - for home noodling, and to add some pads with the band. It needs to be small, and is always going to be in the chain so mustn't have a tone-sucking buffer. The ability to apply an action (e.g. stop) at the end of the currently-playing loop would be nice, but not essential. I'm not interested in drum machine / backing track functionality.  I don't think I need parallel loops, 

Options ...

The Pigtronix Infinity 2 looks like it ticks a lot of boxes, and has the ability to plug in additional footswitches if I decide I need those.  Size-wise it might be a squeeze.  But it does look sexy.

The TC Ditto plus has an attractively small footprint, but will the single footswitch be too limiting?  If so, the TC Ditto X2 looks about the same size as the Infinity 2.

I read somewhere that the Boss RC-3 buffer sucks tone. What about the Boss RC-5? Same concerns about single footswitch though, plus I don't really get on with Boss-style switches.

Donner Circle is a cheap option, though apparently it isn't true bypass, so I worry about tone suck.

I read the EHX 720 has a tone-sucking buffer, and I haven't had good experience with EHX quality in the past.

... any others I should consider?  And which one would you recommend?

Winny_Pooh

I read some reviews and bought the TC, will do what you want however the only annoying thing about it is that it starts playing the loop as you hit delete...

merlin

I have a Digitech JamMan Stereo that I bought here but have used hardly at all. It isn't small but it is excellent and probably everything you could could need/want from a looper. It's like new in box with everything they come with. Although they don't come anymore as they've been discontinued 

I don'r remember how much I paid, you're welcome to it for £90 delivered. 

Grumpyrocker

I own a Boss RC3 and a Donner Circle Looper.

I think the Donner is much better, has more features, and I don't really notice it affecting the tone at all. I haven't used the RC3 since I bought the Donner.

When I looked around at features I wanted I couldn't find them in anything other than the Donner. So whether or not it was inexpensive wasn't really the issue. 

The Boss did affect the tone. 

DesVegas

I have an Ammoon pock loop for sale. It can store 11 easily accessible loops. And has USB input so they dont have to be guitar loops. Thunder and air raid sirens are in there at the moment

JohnPerry

Had the Pigtronix Infinity for years. It was great but added hiss to the fx chain (and isn't true bypass). Also had the TC Ditto (the small one and the X2). Great, simple loopers and true bypass. But the Donner Circle is better than any of them. Zero noticeable tone loss or added noise. Substantial storage for loops (as opposed to the TC). An LCD screen displaying loop progress. It's a no-brainer at that price (or twice that price frankly) 

markv

Hard to get smaller than the Hotone Wally+

Grunfeld

djspecialist said:

The TC Ditto plus has an attractively small footprint, but will the single footswitch be too limiting?  If so, the TC Ditto X2 looks about the same size as the Infinity 2.

The Ditto plus is great, the single footswitch is fine for functionality.  I've never been too sure what the X2 brings to the table.  But the X4 is what I use now -- it has the ability to play two loops of the same or different lengths which is something I find really useful.  But you immediately lose the small size that you got with the plus.

Here's a short example of playing about with an X4 using two loops of different length synched together

skay

I found the ditto affected the sound in bypass, despite the claims stating otherwise, so I couldn’t leave it on my board for those spontaneous moments of inspiration due to the dreaded ‘tone suck’. 

I also found the single foot switch and no display confusing, as jamming loudly with others made it very difficult to tell whether the loop had started, stopped, or was still recording, and randomly switching it on and off to check what was happening (due to no visual clues) and the loop starting mid jam riff was frustrating. Maybe it was just me...

djspecialist

Thanks for all the responses so far!

merlin said:

I have a Digitech JamMan Stereo that I bought here but have used hardly at all. It isn't small but it is excellent and probably everything you could could need/want from a looper. It's like new in box with everything they come with. Although they don't come anymore as they've been discontinued 

I don'r remember how much I paid, you're welcome to it for £90 delivered. 

DesVegas said:

I have an Ammoon pock loop for sale. It can store 11 easily accessible loops. And has USB input so they dont have to be guitar loops. Thunder and air raid sirens are in there at the moment

 Cheers, but I'll pass on those thanks.

Grumpyrocker said:

I own a Boss RC3 [...] the Boss did affect the tone. 

Ah, good to know.

Grumpyrocker said:

When I looked around at features I wanted I couldn't find them in anything other than the Donner. So whether or not it was inexpensive wasn't really the issue. 

JohnPerry said:

the Donner Circle is better than [Pigtronix Infinity, TC Ditto, TC X2]. Zero noticeable tone loss or added noise. Substantial storage for loops (as opposed to the TC). An LCD screen displaying loop progress. It's a no-brainer at that price (or twice that price frankly) 

A couple of votes for the Donner ...

Grunfeld said:

djspecialist said:

The TC Ditto plus has an attractively small footprint, but will the single footswitch be too limiting?  If so, the TC Ditto X2 looks about the same size as the Infinity 2.

The Ditto plus is great, the single footswitch is fine for functionality.  I've never been too sure what the X2 brings to the table.  But the X4 is what I use now -- it has the ability to play two loops of the same or different lengths which is something I find really useful.  But you immediately lose the small size that you got with the plus.

The X4 does look great, but I really want something I can fit on my (already pretty crammed!) pedalboard.

skay said:

I found the ditto affected the sound in bypass, despite the claims stating otherwise, so I couldn’t leave it on my board for those spontaneous moments of inspiration due to the dreaded ‘tone suck’. 

Interesting, that's the first I've heard about that.

skay said:

I also found the single foot switch and no display confusing, as jamming loudly with others made it very difficult to tell whether the loop had started, stopped, or was still recording, and randomly switching it on and off to check what was happening (due to no visual clues) and the loop starting mid jam riff was frustrating. Maybe it was just me...

I can imagine the lack of visual cues being a problem.  The Ditto plus should fix that, as would the Donner (though the screen on that one looks pretty tiny).  I'll have to do some more research to figure out whether the other ones have sufficient LEDs to make it clear what mode the pedal is currently in.

djspecialist

Another one to add to the mix: does anyone have experience of the MXR Clone Looper ?

skunkwerx

I have 4 boss pedals in my chain, one of them an Rc-1 looper. Today I played through the fx chain and compared it to straight in to the amp. Cant say I noticed any difference tbh

UnclePsychosis

Boss "tone suck" is actually "volume suck".

Turn the volume of your amp up by a tiny fraction and your tone will magically reappear. 

Teetonetal

I have used the pigtronix for years. Great piece of kit. I must say for me, having separate start and stop / delete switches is a must, especially in a band. Nothing worse than accidentally retriggering the loop

menamestom

I’ve been using the HX Stomp lately.  I didn’t like it when it was only one button but you can assign any function to any button with the addition of the command centre so now have record / overdub / play/stop buttons which makes it much more usable.
would be overkill for just a looper but pretty handy if you already have one.

I used to have the Infinity which was good, I used to have series loops so I could set up a verse/chorus.

djspecialist

Teetonetal said:

I have used the pigtronix for years. Great piece of kit. I must say for me, having separate start and stop / delete switches is a must, especially in a band. Nothing worse than accidentally retriggering the loop

Do you have the full-size Infinity?  IIUC with the Infinity 2, plugging in an external switch is necessary to have a separate stop switch.

menamestom said:

I used to have the Infinity which was good, I used to have series loops so I could set up a verse/chorus.

Similarly, did you have the full-size Infinity, or the smaller Infinity 2?

TheBigDipper

Winny_Pooh said:

I read some reviews and bought the TC, will do what you want however the only annoying thing about it is that it starts playing the loop as you hit delete...

I've had a TC Ditto+ (the "+" matters...) for a few months now and I use it more than any other looper I've ever tried to use. It sometimes goes at the front of the chain and sometimes at the back. No noticeable tone suck as far as I can tell when it's off. It's supposed to be true bypass when it's off, of course. Possibly not so when it's just stopped and waiting for you to restart the loop, but that's not audible to me either.

The display is totally usable when it's on the floor and you're standing up. You can easily tell what mode you're in. I like the ability to make my own drum patterns and load them onto it. Makes it a very useful practice and jamming tool. I could see pre-recording pads sounds and doing the same would also work. Having lots of slots to store loops you want to keep or upload to a computer is also nice. 

It does play a short snippet of audio when you clear the loop out of the current slot, though. I'm not sure that works in a performance situation, but that's not why I bought it. A Ditto 2+ (if they were to make such a thing) might be better. But as a home use practice/ideas tool it's been really good so far.

menamestom

djspecialist said:

Teetonetal said:

I have used the pigtronix for years. Great piece of kit. I must say for me, having separate start and stop / delete switches is a must, especially in a band. Nothing worse than accidentally retriggering the loop

Do you have the full-size Infinity?  IIUC with the Infinity 2, plugging in an external switch is necessary to have a separate stop switch.

menamestom said:

I used to have the Infinity which was good, I used to have series loops so I could set up a verse/chorus.

Similarly, did you have the full-size Infinity, or the smaller Infinity 2?

Full size. The 2 looks good though.

Teetonetal

menamestom said:

djspecialist said:

Teetonetal said:

I have used the pigtronix for years. Great piece of kit. I must say for me, having separate start and stop / delete switches is a must, especially in a band. Nothing worse than accidentally retriggering the loop

Do you have the full-size Infinity?  IIUC with the Infinity 2, plugging in an external switch is necessary to have a separate stop switch.

menamestom said:

I used to have the Infinity which was good, I used to have series loops so I could set up a verse/chorus.

Similarly, did you have the full-size Infinity, or the smaller Infinity 2?

Full size. The 2 looks good though.

Full size for me too

Wazmeister

I’ve literally owned them all !!

The big issue is - do you want to save your loops ?

The Pigtronix big one could be a little noisy, same as EHX 360/720 and def the Jam man which did affect tone as well, imho.

All the Boss are good; the RC 500 is king and excellent.

Aeros Loop good quality and silent, but too much corn for limited features; no reverse or panning.

Ive settled in the EHX 95000. Not pedal board friendly but still the best out there for drums, mixing, panning, reverse, fun and ease of use.

djspecialist

Thanks @Wazmeister that's really helpful!

Having thought about this some more, my main usage would be as a songwriting tool. For that, I think having more than one loop would be helpful, though not essential.

I'd also like it to fit on my board. The Infinity 2 is the only 2-loop model which would do so, and I think therefore that's the one I'll go for ... except it's out of stock everywhere  Anyone have one for sale?

If I find that saving loops would be useful, I expect I'd then look at the Boss RC-10R.