Boss RC-50 vs. EHX 2880

[ZJD]

Which one would you buy? And why?

[Wilbo26]

I think these two pedals are meant for totally different applications. The RC-50 is a no brainer for somebody wanting to do live looping. The EH looks like its more geard towards studio work. The 16 second delay would be a better comparison to the RC-50 I think.

 

I could have missed something about the 2880 though.

[ScreamCage]

So does the 2880 have a massive foot board controller ala 16 Sec. Delay?

[ZJD]

Originally posted by Wilbo26 I think these two pedals are meant for totally different applications. The RC-50 is a no brainer for somebody wanting to do live looping. The EH looks like its more geard towards studio work. The 16 second delay would be a better comparison to the RC-50 I think. I could have missed something about the 2880 though.

 

Thanks for clearing things up. I've got absolutely zero experience with those types of pedals so any info about their applications is great!

 

[ZJD]

Originally posted by ScreamCage So does the 2880 have a massive foot board controller ala 16 Sec. Delay?

 

Foot Controller???

 

 

[ZJD]

Another thread about the Boss RC-50

 

[BmoreTele]

I have read the description of both units and I still have no {censored}ing idea.

 

The video demo of the RC50 makes it look like a sample player - lotsa pre-recorded backing tracks and a built in drum machine. It does have MIDI and USB, so saving to a computer or syncing to a master track should be easy.

 

The 2880 is a bigger unknown. No demo yet. MIDI in and out, no USB - Flash Card. "Four 16 second delays in one." It does have reverse, punch in, and octave (up and down?) but sure looks like a desktop unit. Maybe when the foot control comes out ... but then it'll cost more than the RC50.

 

I'll give the RC50 points on the interface - foot pedals for most everything.

 

The 2880 gets points for pitch shifting(octaves).

[Wilbo26]

 

Originally posted by BmoreTele I have read the description of both units and I still have no {censored}ing idea. The video demo of the RC50 makes it look like a sample player - lotsa pre-recorded backing tracks and a built in drum machine. It does have MIDI and USB, so saving to a computer or syncing to a master track should be easy. The 2880 is a bigger unknown. No demo yet. MIDI in and out, no USB - Flash Card. "Four 16 second delays in one." It does have reverse, punch in, and octave (up and down?) but sure looks like a desktop unit. Maybe when the foot control comes out ... but then it'll cost more than the RC50. I'll give the RC50 points on the interface - foot pedals for most everything. The 2880 gets points for pitch shifting(octaves).

 

 

From what I can tell the RC-50 demo was showing off all the ridiculous extras they crammed into it. Its going to sell because its an entirely floor based looper that can perform like an Echoplex Ditigal Pro.

 

The 2880 definatley looks to be a desktop unit. Cool as hell, but not something that a guitarist looking to loop is going to need. I really think its geared more towards samplers and DJ type applications. I'm sure some creative guitarists could make great use of it though.

[BBop&RockSteady]

To me, they are both very very similar. I would personally say that the 2880 was more conducive to live use, because the BOSS is preset and scrolling menu based. The 2880, however, has a variety of features right on the top of the box for manipulating the loop-reverse, octave, pitch shift, whereas with the RC-50 it seems like it would be more of a stretch to pull any of that off right off the bat. They both look like the would work just fine for pre-loading loops and playing along, and they both look like they'd work just fine for live multitrack looping. The 2880 looks a little better as far as a 4-track recorder because of the mixdown track. Personally, I'm more down with the 2880 just because all of the features are right out there in front of you... it's more of an expressive tool, rather than just 4 16 second delays, or 4 RC-20s for that matter...

 

-Colin

[elctmist]

And unless the GP review of the 2880 is very wrong then it does certainly have USB and card storage. Looks pretty well suited to live looping to me, it appears to a something like a simplified repeater with a more sensible user interface and some EH wackiness.

[cl516]

i'm actually looking to buy the 2880 soon...

 

but debating whether to pick up an old PCM42 with extended times, instead.

 

I KNOW they do different things, but I'm concerned with (A) sound quality (B) sounding good / vibe.

 

anyone wanna convince me either way? ;-)

[tim gueguen]

One negative regarding the PCM42 is parts if it develops problems.

[cl516]

yeah, i agree about that.

that would be especially discouraging after coughing up $1k for a pcm42, to find out it breaks down 3 months down the road.

 

let me put it this way:

 

suppose i get the 2880.

it kinda does similar things to pcm42.

 

am i missing out on any particular magic of the pcm42?

i know the sound is a bit special, with the way its converters work...

 

who knows, maybe the 2880 ends up clipping super easy and might sound like crap...

wish i could test one.

[marshallspaul]

the eh looper does have a external footcontroler that any serious live applications

 

as for me i'm eagerly awaiting the new boomerang that should be out this fall (i'm definately not going to commit to buying a looper until i can compare rc-50 eh and boomerang together)

[bond]

i'd definately take the rc-50

need to be able to foot control it ..

[cl516]

anyone else familiar with the 2880?

[analogmike]

a 16 second delay's footswitch will work for the 2880.

 

The 2880 interfaces to a PC very nicely, looks like a disk on the PC so you can just drag and drop files back and forth. You use filenames for the tracks 1-4 and the mixed track. 2880 does some awesome things but maybe the Boss is easier to use live.

[tim gueguen]

Of course those lucky folks with lots of bread with simply buy both.

 

So...anyone wanna lend me 1200 bucks?

[marshallspaul]

Originally posted by tim gueguen Of course those lucky folks with lots of bread with simply buy both. So...anyone wanna lend me 1200 bucks?

 

sure i would

 

at 30% intrest

 

whats your fico?

[funkintubin]

Don't know if it's practical for most guitarists, but I would put the 2880 foot control ( which is roughly the same size as the main unit from what I have seen) on my board, and keep the main unit at arms reach, either on a music stand mount, or on my amp. I use my PDS 8000 ala Bill Frisell (sitting on my amp) so I can twiddle the controls during performance. I don't use looping for a *one-man-band* thing, but in an improv setting, so this works well for my purposes. I saw footage of a recent Bowie tour, where one of the guitarists used a music stand mount for a couple of pedals to keep them within *twiddling* range.

 

Kerry M

[spiral]

I can weigh in on the RC-50 and tell you after trying to use a few times, i will be buying a 2880.

 

For pre-recorded loops that you need to only trigger, never record real-time and never sync to any other midi machines, the RC-50 is probably fine. There are 3 major issues with the RC-50 that make it unusable in my situation:

 

1. MIDI sync as a slave to a sequencer / other rhythm device is completely worthless. After about 4-5 measures the RC-50 starts to wander from the master rhythm. You would be better off manually setting the BPM and starting the loop at the exact right moment. Also, as soon as you start the master device, if you have no loops recorded the first loop starts recording automatically. I tried to get the RC-50 to send a clock signal and start / stop to my MC-808, but that didn

[ollenorin]

 

Originally posted by spiral I can weigh in on the RC-50 and tell you after trying to use a few times, i will be buying a 2880.   For pre-recorded loops that you need to only trigger, never record real-time and never sync to any other midi machines, the RC-50 is probably fine. There are 3 major issues with the RC-50 that make it unusable in my situation:   1. MIDI sync as a slave to a sequencer / other rhythm device is completely worthless. After about 4-5 measures the RC-50 starts to wander from the master rhythm. You would be better off manually setting the BPM and starting the loop at the exact right moment. Also, as soon as you start the master device, if you have no loops recorded the first loop starts recording automatically. I tried to get the RC-50 to send a clock signal and start / stop to my MC-808, but that didn

[Feghead]

I have incredible GAS for a 2880....

[threm]

Originally posted by BmoreTele The 2880 is a bigger unknown. No demo yet.

http://www.gearwire.com/electro-harmonix-2880.html

http://www.sonicstate.com/news/shownews.cfm?newsid=3265

 

 

 

Originally posted by cl516 i'm actually looking to buy the 2880 soon... but debating whether to pick up an old PCM42 with extended times, instead. I KNOW they do different things, but I'm concerned with (A) sound quality (B) sounding good / vibe. anyone wanna convince me either way? ;-)

Splatt (D.Torn) over at TGP uses the PCM42 with an upgrade. Check a couple of his posts

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=151854&highlight=PCM42

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=140240&highlight=PCM42

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/search.php?searchid=613687

 

 

BTW

There`s an original Lexican Jamman with the Sellon upgrade (4 tracks of looping etc etc) for sale - $350

"The sound quality is notably better than my Electrix repeater or EH-16 second delay reissue, plus the Jam-Man has ZERO latency...unlike the repeater and the stock 16 second delay..."

http://www.loopersdelight.com/LDarchive/200608/msg00109.html

Bob Sellons Jamman upgrade site

http://www.stecrecords.com/gear/jamman/index.html

A review of the upgrade

http://www.loopers-delight.com/LDarchive/199903/msg00018.html

 

 

 

Originally posted by tim gueguen One negative regarding the PCM42 is parts if it develops problems.

Jim Fabiano (ex Lexicon employe) does excellent work on several of the old Lexicon boxes.

Helped me fix a Super Prime Time

http://www.jimfabiano.com/

 

 

 

Originally posted by spiral There are 3 major issues with the RC-50 that make it unusable in my situation: 1. MIDI sync as a slave to a sequencer / other rhythm device is completely worthless. 2. Horrible sound quality when loop is being time stretched / 3. Audio gap when you are recording and the loop starts over:

Isn`t the troublesome workaround to have feedback control over loops (essential to most serious loopers) a fourth major issue?

Discussed here

http://www.loopersdelight.com/LDarchive/200608/threads.html#00089

 

 

 

Originally posted by marshallspaul as for me i'm eagerly awaiting the new boomerang that should be out this fall (i'm definately not going to commit to buying a looper until i can compare rc-50 eh and boomerang together)

 

"It will be 2/3 (I`ve heard closer to 1/2 the size) the size of the Rang, less expensive and WAY more powerful: vastly improved audio specs, super low noise floor, long record time, true stereo, multi level undo/redo, 6 loops, and a slew of different utility features such as a built in octave down effect for creating bass lines and a metronome with volume control."

And cheaper than the original I`ve heard .......

 

 

 

Originally posted by analogmike a 16 second delay's footswitch will work for the 2880.

Footcontroller and a pedal with hands on real time control -

the best of both worlds