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  #1  
Old 09-23-2017, 03:23 PM
YamahaGuy YamahaGuy is offline
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Default Loop pedal with Quantize feature

I have a TC Ditto on my big pedal board. My Zoom G3X has a 40 second looper. But I'm looking for a looper that can record at least 5 minutes and has the quantize feature--the ability to stitch together the end and beginning of an imperfectly timed loop perfectly (or at least close). I know the older Boss RC20 and RC30 did this. It would be nice to have a mic input with Phantom power. Budget is under $300.
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Old 09-23-2017, 03:54 PM
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KevWind KevWind is offline
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The Boss RC 3 pedal $ 179 is stated to have auto quantizing. I use one and it still requires you to be pretty close in order to have a seamless loop . It does however have 3 hours of recording time
No phantom power, as this is just the standard Boss guitar pedal format & size

http://ca.boss.info/products/rc-3/
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Old 09-23-2017, 10:40 PM
Hurricane Ramon Hurricane Ramon is offline
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Default Serial - Quantize - Free

My T.C.Helicon Voice Live 3 X does that .

The VL3 does as well but the VL3X has a
  1. USB memory dongle flash drive
  2. Phantom power
  3. Aux in
  4. midi in/out
  5. USB to computer
  6. FX are awesome for vocal , acoustic and electric guitars
  7. Separate stereo outs for vocal & guitar





EZ :

HR
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Old 09-23-2017, 11:00 PM
Hurricane Ramon Hurricane Ramon is offline
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I just realized your budget restraints , my apology .

The Ditto 4 & 2 are with in you budget .

These do 5 minute loops .
EZ :

HR
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It started for me with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in 54 on a Blues Harp and progressed ,
then life .....some death ....Evolving as I went like a small rock in a stream rounding
out as I went with the flow as I go through the white waters and waterfalls of life .
Life has always been interesting to me


Last edited by Hurricane Ramon; 09-23-2017 at 11:20 PM.
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Old 09-25-2017, 04:48 PM
chris6120 chris6120 is offline
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Yamaha Guy,

I have owned a Boss RC-300 (the big one) and currently own and gig with a Boss RC-30 which is probably the most popular 2 channel loop station being used nowadays, even though its getting some age on it and Boss should really do a serious update. I also used to own the stereo JamMan from Digitech. I don't have any experience with the TC ditto stuff. I'm sure its good, but I have read a lot of reviews of owners complaining about the reliability of the ditto line. If there is anyone making a looper that can actually do what you are wanting, please let me know, cause I want to buy it.

In my experience with looping, even though a unit may have an "auto quantizing" feature, there is NO loopstation I've ever used or experimented with (and I'm not convinced that one even exists... like i said, let me know if I'm wrong) that will automatically correct a mistimed loop or patch together the beginning and ending of a single loop that wasn't timed correctly when you first looped it.

The auto quantizing I'm familiar with on the Boss stuff requires you to set a predetermined tempo and is far from any kind of magic bullet to smooth out timing errors in your recorded loops. It may "even out" some very micro inconsistencies in tempo (especially for 2 or more separately recorded loops) by quantizing them more consistently to the predetermined bpm, but if there is even the tiniest gap in continuity between the beginning and end of any one (single) loop, you are generally going to hear it.

It's very deceiving when you watch or listen to some artists who are truly experienced and well practiced with looping. They can make something that doesn't come naturally or easily to most (even to those among us who have a very good sense of time) sound and look almost effortless, but I can guarantee you that they have practised working with a looper for many, many hours to get to that level of consistency.

In some ways, being able to lay down perfect (or close to perfect loops) in front of a live audience, with no safety net is actually quite difficult and requires a LOT of practice to become consistent and confident. As a disclaimer, I'm not talking about laying down a simple 3 or 4 chord backing track of guitar in 4/4 time and just noodling over it for a lead, I'm talking about laying down creative and multi layered loops that can be brought in and out as an integral part of the song you're performing. Not that I'm any master level looper now, but when I first started looping, I was terrible. I mean I struggled to lay down any loops in one pass that were in perfect time. I discovered from talking to guys like Ben McGarity, Jarle Bernhoft etc. that it took them years of practice to get as good as they are at just the looping part of things. Practice was the only thing that helped me. I made huge strides once I understood this. I think this is a big reason why a lot of guys will buy a looper and then it eventually winds up on eBay because they can't get it to do what they've seen some guy with a thousand hours of practice doing on youtube.

I am 3 1/2 years into incorporating substantial looping into what I do, and I'm a million times better and more confident than I once was, but I still have a misfire now and again on the gig. For me it took a lot of regular practice to get very consistently well timed loops and not have a fear that I would "blow it" in front of a live audience. It was almost like learning to play the looper as its own instrument by itself. This may sound like I'm overstating things, but this was my experience and is definitely a recurring theme with many musicians I admire that are very proficient at live looping.

Sorry for the long post. I didn't mean to make any assumptions about what you are looking for or what you meant in your original post. I apologize in advance if this is the case. For all I know, you may already be very capable, experienced and comfortable with live looping... or you may just be looking for a looper to jam or practice with. For whatever you may feel my opinion is worth, I honestly think you should settle on whatever looper best meets your needs and practice creating loops on the fly as much as possible. I've found it to be a lot like actually playing the guitar itself. The more you practice it, the better and better and more comfortable you will become. Your timing will improve dramatically (guaranteed) and you won't even need or want something that can auto correct your loops.

I hope this helps...

Last edited by chris6120; 09-25-2017 at 04:57 PM.
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  #6  
Old 09-25-2017, 05:12 PM
pf400 pf400 is offline
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Check out the Boss RC20XL, affordable used.
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Old 09-25-2017, 05:59 PM
YamahaGuy YamahaGuy is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chris6120 View Post
Yamaha Guy,

I have owned a Boss RC-300 (the big one) and currently own and gig with a Boss RC-30 which is probably the most popular 2 channel loop station being used nowadays, even though its getting some age on it and Boss should really do a serious update. I also used to own the stereo JamMan from Digitech. I don't have any experience with the TC ditto stuff. I'm sure its good, but I have read a lot of reviews of owners complaining about the reliability of the ditto line. If there is anyone making a looper that can actually do what you are wanting, please let me know, cause I want to buy it.

In my experience with looping, even though a unit may have an "auto quantizing" feature, there is NO loopstation I've ever used or experimented with (and I'm not convinced that one even exists... like i said, let me know if I'm wrong) that will automatically correct a mistimed loop or patch together the beginning and ending of a single loop that wasn't timed correctly when you first looped it.

The auto quantizing I'm familiar with on the Boss stuff requires you to set a predetermined tempo and is far from any kind of magic bullet to smooth out timing errors in your recorded loops. It may "even out" some very micro inconsistencies in tempo (especially for 2 or more separately recorded loops) by quantizing them more consistently to the predetermined bpm, but if there is even the tiniest gap in continuity between the beginning and end of any one (single) loop, you are generally going to hear it.

It's very deceiving when you watch or listen to some artists who are truly experienced and well practiced with looping. They can make something that doesn't come naturally or easily to most (even to those among us who have a very good sense of time) sound and look almost effortless, but I can guarantee you that they have practised working with a looper for many, many hours to get to that level of consistency.

In some ways, being able to lay down perfect (or close to perfect loops) in front of a live audience, with no safety net is actually quite difficult and requires a LOT of practice to become consistent and confident. As a disclaimer, I'm not talking about laying down a simple 3 or 4 chord backing track of guitar in 4/4 time and just noodling over it for a lead, I'm talking about laying down creative and multi layered loops that can be brought in and out as an integral part of the song you're performing. Not that I'm any master level looper now, but when I first started looping, I was terrible. I mean I struggled to lay down any loops in one pass that were in perfect time. I discovered from talking to guys like Ben McGarity, Jarle Bernhoft etc. that it took them years of practice to get as good as they are at just the looping part of things. Practice was the only thing that helped me. I made huge strides once I understood this. I think this is a big reason why a lot of guys will buy a looper and then it eventually winds up on eBay because they can't get it to do what they've seen some guy with a thousand hours of practice doing on youtube.

I am 3 1/2 years into incorporating substantial looping into what I do, and I'm a million times better and more confident than I once was, but I still have a misfire now and again on the gig. For me it took a lot of regular practice to get very consistently well timed loops and not have a fear that I would "blow it" in front of a live audience. It was almost like learning to play the looper as its own instrument by itself. This may sound like I'm overstating things, but this was my experience and is definitely a recurring theme with many musicians I admire that are very proficient at live looping.

Sorry for the long post. I didn't mean to make any assumptions about what you are looking for or what you meant in your original post. I apologize in advance if this is the case. For all I know, you may already be very capable, experienced and comfortable with live looping... or you may just be looking for a looper to jam or practice with. For whatever you may feel my opinion is worth, I honestly think you should settle on whatever looper best meets your needs and practice creating loops on the fly as much as possible. I've found it to be a lot like actually playing the guitar itself. The more you practice it, the better and better and more comfortable you will become. Your timing will improve dramatically (guaranteed) and you won't even need or want something that can auto correct your loops.

I hope this helps...
Much help, thanks. I've used 3 different loopers and can say I was most proficient with my Peavey Vypyr VIP2 with Sanpera I. I now have a Zoom G3X, but the main button needed for looping doesn't always work, and the Ditto is so small and in such a weird spot on my pedal board, I struggle to get the timing right. I like the idea of the countdown lights on the low end Boss unit. I guess I just keep on practicing. Thank you for saving me a few hundred dollars (at least for now) I can get real close--close enough when playing alone, but not close enough playing with my drummer. I guess I could find a rhythm guitar player...
Lol.
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As my username suggests, huge fan of Yamaha products. Own many acoustic-electric models from 2009-present and a couple electric. Lots of PA too.

Last edited by YamahaGuy; 09-25-2017 at 06:12 PM.
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  #8  
Old 09-25-2017, 09:02 PM
gfsark gfsark is offline
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Chris, thanks for some detail in sharing your experience. I found looping a simple backing track with a half dozen jazz chords to be pretty hard and humbling. A lot of my difficulty is simple musicianship...can I play that 2 or 3 minute track without mistakes? Answer, yes but only on the 4th or 5th try or 10th try. Getting better, but going live is still in the future.
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