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Looper's Delight
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On Tue, 6 Jul 2004 goddard.duncan@mtvne.com wrote: > >>.....and Lo-Fi Loop Junky.....<< > > I had to go & read about this one (http://www.zvex.com/junky.html) > because it appears to be looping hardware which, so far as I can recall, > hasn't been discussed by any users on this list yet. Every few months someone asks on this list about it, and so far as I recall I'm the only person to ever respond with a "yes, I've got one". > I don't see it in the "tools.." section or anywhere else. care to > submit a review, steve? Sure, here goes. When I get my hands on the new Seek-Trem I'll let whoever asked about it know what I think of it, too. > I don't expect the thing to be up there with the EDP, repeater & jam-man > in terms of functionality, but then the dl4 isn't either & I've lost > hours & hours to my little green monster..... the dl4 is probably my > "desert island pedal"; I'd like to be sure that the loop-junky is in > that general territory before hassling the dealer to stock one for me to > try. Duncan gave the website for the Loop Junky, which goes into more detail than I will: http://www.zvex.com/junky.html There are links at the top of this page to sound samples, and a demonstration QuickTime video (the video is big, not for dialup modem users). Based on the definitions given on http://www.loopers-delight.com/tools/tools.html I consider the Z-Vex Lo-Fi Loop Junky a "performance-oriented sampler" and not a "current real-time looper". There are two big limitations of the Lo-Fi Loop Junky for looping: 1) it does not record sound-on-sound. You can record a loop, but not overdub onto the loop. You can of course play live over the playing loop. 2) It *is* lo-fi, since it's based around an old telephone answering machine chip. It makes the Akai Headrush E1 or original Boomerang sound audiophile-grade in comparison :). Accept those two limitations and what you get is a twenty-second sampler you can carry in your pocket, that does not need a wall-wart AC adapter (Z-Vex gear has ridiculously long battery life in comparison to any other battery-powered pedal I've ever used), that stores the sample indefinitely until you erase it, and is built like a very small tank. You can control the playback volume of the loop, alter a "tone" control to roll off hiss of the loop, and change depth & speed of a vibrato for the loop. You can do this live, while the loop is playing (assuming you have a free hand to knob-tweak.) There's a small switch to protect the sample so you can't unintentionally delete it. I use an Akai Headrush E1 and RC-20 LoopStation as my performance loopers. I rarely take my Repeater to do a show. I almost always have the Z-Vex Lo-Fi Loop Junky in my bag or set up as my third inline looper, in case either or both of my loopers fail for some reason as a backup. There's nothing to fail on the Loop Junky as long as I change the battery roughly annually (not really an exaggeration). If I had to leave one of the three (Headrush, RC-20, Z-Vex) home, I'd probably leave the RC-20 home. So it's very limited in comparison to anything in the "true looper" tools section, but I still like it for its indestructible stripped-down minimalism. > the bad news is that the loop-junky (in the UK, anyway) is quite > expensive for what it does. for what it /is/, however, along with > zach's other little boxes, £300 is probably about right. the ones I've > seen in "sounds great" in cheadle are little works of art, & zach > deserves our patronage. best, Steve B Phasmatodea http://www.phasmatodea.net/ Subscape Annex http://www.subscapeannex.com/