more RepeaTer 1st impressions

[dan mcmullen <dog@well.com>]

here's another first impression.  on balance, i like it a lot.

the good:

- works as advertised: 4 tracks, fx insert, all the goodies.
- pitch/time mods work well w/in "reasonable parameters"
- *very* nice user interface: operation is quite 'transparent' for most
common things

limitations:

- no mix control: creates potential feedback problems when looping from
microphones.  doesn't work well w/ RepeaTer on fx send of a mixer.  
- no way to go direct from initial record pass immediately into overdub:
this prevents you from laying down an initial loop w/ sound which sustains
through the endpoint.  for example, since looping stereo reverb is one of
the things i've been waiting to do w/ RepeaTer, this keeps me looping a
long reverb tail on the initial pass.
- no midi control of input level
- trim after multiply of several tracks awkward: if several tracks have
been multiplied and left in the 'virtual' state, trim will not operate
until each track has been individually commited by an overdub or resample.
trim should give the option of committing all virtual tracks en mass and
then doing the request trim as a single operation.
- resample doesn't work well in real time: the level and mute of the tracks
is not adjusted after a resample to account for the new material.  it would
be nice if there were an option for resample to mute source tracks which
are not also destination tracks.  this wouldn't be perfect, but it would be
better than the current situation where it generally ends up playing both
source and resampled tracks together.

warnings:

- overdubbing while playing back a loop at extreme time stretch can
generate *loud* artifacts if the loop is returned to normal tempo

bugs:

- trim undoes slip: trim seems to return tracks which have be slipped to
non-zero offsets back to zero.  they still display a slip amount however.

nits:

- yellow, "good" zone on input led seems quite small

wishes:

- loop knob control semitone pitch shift/beat slips: since the loop knob
presently duplicates the operation of the tempo knob when modifying track
pitch and slip, couldn't it be used to allow gross changes without the
awkward & slow "move quickly for greater effect" operation of the tempo 
knob? 
- option for output level knob to control global level: instead of just
controlling headphone level, i'd like a knob on the box to adjust the
overall output level.

___
dan mcmullen, ca, usa                      don't worry - pay attention
mailto:dog@well.com                                       707-485-0220
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