New 2 Button Looper with Midi?

Digitalman

Digitalman

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It's come up here and there in some threads lately, but it would be great if someone would put out a simple 2 button, phrase looper, with midi sync capabilities.

I've had a Flashback & Ditto, messed with the Boss RC50, Rang 2 and 3. I'm currently using a Headrush E2. Basically what I'm looking for is a Headrush E3 with midi.

All signs point to the Pigtronix Infinity, Rang 3, or the EDP. What I need to do is set Ableton as the master clock, from where I can launch and loop sample sequences. Then loop my guitar part in sync with it. I'd rather keep my guitar signal out of Ableton, I've tried it with Möbius and Guitar Rig and wasn't into it.

The feature sets offered on these 3 are deeper than a mere Headrush (E3) with midi, but really I think reverse loop and A/B toggle would be enough bells and whistles. And a minimum of 2 buttons. That Ditto / Jam Man single button, double tap thing is lame.

I'll just end up with an Infinity at some point, but it would nice if someone (Akai, Digitech, Pigtronix, Rang) would offer a middle ground pedal. A scaled up Headrush or scaled back Infinity, with midi.
 
celticelk

celticelk

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That might be the upcoming EHX 22500. We'll find out when they actually release some information about its feature set.

ETA: Remembered that the EHX 2015 dealer catalog includes the 22500. I don't think it has MIDI, or at least it wasn't mentioned as a feature.
 
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Digitalman

Digitalman

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Yeah, I checked that EHX 22500, no midi. Built in drums, a damn XLR input - with phantom power no less, but no f-ing midi.

I did really enjoy Splatt's open letter looper thread. That ended in talk of euro-racks and modules. As exciting as all that is, I'm not planning on windowing and time stretching and all. My guitar loops would be phrase based, as I am implementing samples and sequences too with soft synths in Ableton.
 
Digitalman

Digitalman

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chrisjnyc said:
What about the Molten Voltage OZ? Does it work with a midi clock??
Click to expand...

Yeah I checked them out, the Oz is specific to the Timeline pedal, and I don't have a pedal compatible with their Master Control.

The most expensive pedal I have is an El Capistan. I guess I'll be forking out 450 for an Infinity then. I just thought there was a need for a middle ground between the Infinity and a Ditto, with like a 250 price point. Am I alone on this?

And really, with today's technology, couldn't we lose the multi-pin midi connector / cable and send out clock signal over Bluetooth? Doesn't the Eventide H9 have that capability? Considering you program the presets with a mobile device anyway? If that's the case, with the looper algorithm, that could do a hell of a lot more than an infinity. Just not at the same time, of course.
 
Digitalman

Digitalman

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I found this in the Eventida site about the H9 looper algorithm.

"You may find the odd MIDI pedalboard capable of sending START/STOP commands, or you could need a specialized 'midi solution'. The MIDI Clock signal will have to be generated from some type of outside source. But it's worth the trouble to explore how tightly Eventide's Looper algorithm will sync up with your entire system."

Sounds promising. If not used as a dedicated looper, the H9 can do much other cool stuff.
 
RockDebris

RockDebris

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Digitalman said:
I found this in the Eventida site about the H9 looper algorithm.

"You may find the odd MIDI pedalboard capable of sending START/STOP commands, or you could need a specialized 'midi solution'. The MIDI Clock signal will have to be generated from some type of outside source. But it's worth the trouble to explore how tightly Eventide's Looper algorithm will sync up with your entire system."

Sounds promising. If not used as a dedicated looper, the H9 can do much other cool stuff.
Click to expand...

I used my H9 as a looper for a few songs, sync'd to a MIDI clock, until I got an Infinity. It works, but not elegantly. The biggest problem for me is that you cannot effectively queue an action, and you cannot send an action on the beat or it will sometimes start the recording a beat late. You have to get the foot press in within the 1/4 note before you need the action to occur. That's not the same as queuing, because when you record the first loop, the H9 doesn't have any concept of measures. It is just gong to start the recording on the next beat. From then on, it is keeping track of measures. I can't remember all of the ramifications, but I do remember that it wasn't the easiest.

As far as the Infinity goes, I was initially very impressed, especially since I bought mine right at the time they were doing a big update that helped MIDI clock sync. Unfortunately for me, I also want to control the Infinity with MIDI commands (I don't put the device at my feet) and it has a tendency when used this way (MIDI Clock and MIDI Commands) to stop responding to MIDI and requires a reboot. No resolution in sight so far for this.
 
chrisjnyc

chrisjnyc

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RockDebris said:
I used my H9 as a looper for a few songs, sync'd to a MIDI clock, until I got an Infinity. It works, but not elegantly. The biggest problem for me is that you cannot effectively queue an action, and you cannot send an action on the beat or it will sometimes start the recording a beat late. You have to get the foot press in within the 1/4 note before you need the action to occur. That's not the same as queuing, because when you record the first loop, the H9 doesn't have any concept of measures. It is just gong to start the recording on the next beat. From then on, it is keeping track of measures. I can't remember all of the ramifications, but I do remember that it wasn't the easiest.

As far as the Infinity goes, I was initially very impressed, especially since I bought mine right at the time they were doing a big update that helped MIDI clock sync. Unfortunately for me, I also want to control the Infinity with MIDI commands (I don't put the device at my feet) and it has a tendency when used this way (MIDI Clock and MIDI Commands) to stop responding to MIDI and requires a reboot. No resolution in sight so far for this.
Click to expand...


Did you install the new 2.0 firmware?
http://www.pigtronix.com/blogs/infinity/
 
Digitalman

Digitalman

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2,214
Hey, thanks for the feedback guys. Very helpful. This will be a pedalboard/guitar dedicated looper, so hopefully I won't have to deal with the midi lockups from trying to control it with other means. Now if I can get the other end of it going, using Möbius in Ableton using an APC at the moment. Though I am eying the McMillan soft step for synth looping control.

I have run across used EDPs here and there in the $350 range. I'm not ruling that out either.

My high ambitions are getting dangerous, perhaps.
 
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