Loopers

[Hotblack]

Bass Emporium has the RC-50 on sale for $350.00.

Not a bad price.

[T. Alan Smith]

Thanks!

Anybody got any feedback?

[thebeatcatcher2]

i like mine. the I/O's are pretty versatile, there's some very handy MIDI controls (although i wish there were more), plenty of room and patches/phrases to loop with, it can store alot of phrases, it's pretty cool.

 

BUT, i don't really have experience with other units to A/B.

 

if you already have a decent laptop i would DEFINITELY go with Ableton Live (demo). they also have good tutorials to get you started. the demo is fully functional, you just can't save anything. so if you were using it totally for live/improv stuff you wouldn't necessarily even need to buy the entire program.

[Hotblack]

Thanks! Anybody got any feedback?

At that price, it's a really good deal. The multiple pedals make it a little easier to use that the Digitech Jamman (you have to use a scroll wheel or accessory pedal to scroll through loops on Jamman). It's got longer looping time than the RC-20 or RC-2.

It's not as versatile as the Echoplex Digital Pro or Repeater, but it is also far cheaper. I think it does stereo loops unlike the EDP.

[takeout]

Honestly, how long of a loop do you need?

 

My Headrush's 30-something seconds goes a long way, and it's dead-simple.

[Hotblack]

 

Honestly, how long of a loop do you need? My Headrush's 30-something seconds goes a long way, and it's dead-simple.

 

It really depends. I've done songs with stereo loops inside as long as 2 minutes. If you're going to do some layering, you may need as much as 40 seconds for one loop. You'll need even more if you're going to use it as a phrase sampler as well.

[thebeatcatcher2]

 

Honestly, how long of a loop do you need? My Headrush's 30-something seconds goes a long way, and it's dead-simple.

 

 

for me it's about having 3 phrases within each patch that can all be turned on and off and have overdubs, makes it more versatile for composition. the loops themselves aren't individually that long. combine that with 99 patches that can all be saved and that's pretty powerful for a looping musician at that pricepoint.

 

and yes, it is stereo. there is a L/R in and two L/R outs.

[T. Alan Smith]

How's the sound quality? ...signal degradation?

[thebeatcatcher2]

 

How's the sound quality? ...signal degradation?

 

 

i think the sound quality is good, especially when you get the input gains and output gains dialed in. i haven't noticed any discernable degradation, but i haven't really pushed the amount of overdubs. i usually have 3-4 overdubs on each of the 3 phrases going at once and don't notice anything wonky. the input gains can be a little tricky, but then again i have like 6-7 different synths/ basses going into a mixer then into the looper so that might make it a little difficult.

[T. Alan Smith]

i think the sound quality is good, especially when you get the input gains and output gains dialed in. i haven't noticed any discernable degradation, but i haven't really pushed the amount of overdubs. i usually have 3-4 overdubs on each of the 3 phrases going at once and don't notice anything wonky. the input gains can be a little tricky, but then again i have like 6-7 different synths/ basses going into a mixer then into the looper so that might make it a little difficult.

 

Thanks.