So I've had this unit a few weeks now... I haven't yet got around to
trying it out in a live performance situation so I can't speak to its
practical abilities and limitations in that respect, but I've sort of
got a handle on what it will and won't do and how to operate it (except
for the MIDI part, I don't use MIDI being too much of a Luddite and
general technophobe myself)
I actually like this piece of gear, although when I begin to list
its limations I'm not sure why I like it... well, I haven't owned or
used any kind of live looper since I had a Repeater, so it's good to
have one again, but I keep comparing it to the Repeater and finding it
deficient on many counts:
* Working with tempo: Unlike the Repeater, the 2880 doesn't have
any kind of beat detection, NOR does it even have a tap tempo button,
which means that if you are trying to make a loop from a prerecorded CD
(drumbeat, four-bar chord progression, whatever) it is extremely
difficult to hit the button at the exact beginning and end of the bar
so you have an even loop that doesn't end early or late i.e. off the
beat - The 2880 DOES have a 'quantize button' that can automatically
end the loop at the exact end of the bar, but ONLY if the bar is in 4/4
and if the beat of the source material is synched to the 2880's
imprecisely adjustable on-board tempo... Moreover, the tempo setup is
inflexible in that the slider goes from 30 to 240 BPM in steps
(basically the tempo slider doubles as a pitch slider which varies the
pitch in semitone intervals from 2 octaves down to 2 octaves up while
simultaneously altering the speed of the loop, just as you would by
altering the rpm of a tape loop)... which brings me to Rick's point:
unlike the Repeater, you have no INDEPENDENT control of pitch and speed
of the loop... bummer - And if you record a loop at one pitch and tempo
and then want to record another track at a different pitch and tempo
setting, then the playback of the original loop shifts to the new
tempo/pitch setting as you record the new loop: so if you wanted to
create a bass line by doubling the pitch setting during record, you'd
have to listen to the original loop at double pitch and tempo while
recording, and then switch back to the original setting (which would
return your original loop to the normal setting, and make your second
loop one octave lower and half-speed)...
* Unlike the Repeater, this doesn't have an external effects
send/return circuit, so forget about putting effects on one loop and
not on another... I run the 2880 from the effects send on my mixer and
back into a channel strip so I can send the loops thru another effects
processor, but it has to be applied to all the loops coming from the
2880...
* The built-in metronome is cool for recording loops but useless
for live looping unless you want to have the metronome clicking as live
accompaniment to your performance (it doesn't record the click track,
of course, but it outputs it thru the main outs, instead of just thru a
headphone jack for example)...
* If you're planning on saving loops you'll need to buy plenty of
compact flash cards to store each set of loops on, since you can only
put one loop on each card (one loop meaning four tracks and a
two-channel stereo mixdown track) - You can back up loops from the
cards to your computer and reload them later onto separate cards to
bring to your gig, like if you've got thirty loops you want to keep
just back 'em up and only keep five or ten cards on hand... So, no use
getting one of these huge 2GB CF cards that with lots of storage unless
you're planning on recording 60-minute loops (in other words, using
this unit as a four-track recorder with removable drives, as opposed to
using it as a looper): a 128MB card holds a four-minute loop (that is,
four tracks with unlimited overdubs on each track + a stereo mixdown
track) which is as long a loop as I'm likely to need...
On the more positive side of things, I like the footswitch, which
offers more control options than the three-button foot pedal option for
the Repeater - The 2880 pedal has six buttons (new loop, play, record,
octave down, reverse, and track select)... And it does true stereo
looping like the beloved Repeater... It has a punch-in button so you
can fix one little part of a loop without rerecording the whole track
or overdub...
Also I like that when recording a new track after recording your
original loop, you can begin the recording at any point in the playback
(not just at the beginning) of the first loop, which enables you to
easily add some cool counterpoint and syncopation...
A big plus is that I think this model sounds better than the
Repeater, which makes it better for in-studio applications: the noise
floor is lower, there is none of that chirping with compact flash card
loops, and no electromagnetic interference like with the Repeater which
used to cause an annoying whine in my powered monitors whenever it was
powered on... However, I did notice some faint clicking that would
start to build up on prerecorded loops during playback (this was only
obvious on loops with silent segments and when listening on
headphones)...
I like the mixdown function which enables you to record loops on
all four tracks, then do a live mixdown onto a separate stereo channel,
manipulating the faders and pan knobs during mixdown... And I like how
the track faders double as feedback control when overdubbing onto a
single track (adjusting the amount the volume of each overdub
diminishes with every repeat)...
In sum, I paid about $550 for the 2880 and foot pedal (foot control
sold separately) including shipping, and that's rock bottom pricing
from
www.instrumentpro.com...
if you could find a used Electrix Repeater for not much more than that
(wish I hadn't sold mine, stupid me) I'd say get a Repeater, unless
you're using it for mainly studio applications and can't deal with the
Repeater's noise issues...
I might have more to say when I've more thoroughly explored using
this model in live settings (lately I'm having more fun with my new
Lexicon MX200 processor, which outperforms my previous Lexicon MPX550
at half the price), but that's it for now...
Well, I *thought* maybe I had found a workaround for the noisy
footswitch issue... After some trial and error, it seems like the
recorder only picks up the click on the original track of the loop (the
so-called 'new loop', before you've made any overdubs)... so I thought
I could use the punch-in feature to record over the original loop with
the click, and I tried it, and it recorded a new take and the click
went away! But get this:
When I record on 'punch-in' setting (punch-in is a feature not
included on the footswitch, stupidly enough, you have to press the
button on the main unit with your finger... whereas they put octave and
reverse switches on the foot controller, not as essential as having a
foot switch to punch in record, IMHO)... continuing, when I record on
'punch-in' it records a NEW ARTEFACT, and this time it's a pulsating
BUZZ in time with the built-in metronome - This buzzing is clearly
audible on quiet loops or loops with a segment of silence in them,
annoyingly so on headphones especially - And the buzzing occurs even if
you have the volume on the metronome turned all the way down to zero
(and there is no way of shutting off the metronome which flashes in
time with the tempo whenever you are recording or playing a loop)...
CLICKETY CLICK... BUZZ-ZZZ-ZZZ... I could see someone using the
2880 in a live performance setting if you're playing loud music and
using electric instruments, but forget using it as an acoustic player
in a studio setting (which is probably 75% of where I am going to be
doing my looping, honestly, since I am not very good at getting gigs
and consequently most of my music is amateur home recording)...
My final question is this: Is there any recommendation for a
stand-alone live looping tool (no laptop or software or MIDI required)
with a well-functioning foot controller, and no significant noise
issues, suitable for looping live miked acoustic instruments? A looper
with a quiet foot pedal and no troublesome glitches or bugs to contend
with? I guess I will have to forsake the desired feature of multiple
loop tracks with individually tweakable pan and fader controls, since
the 2880 has failed me and I don't want to buy a used Repeater and deal
with it's own legendary quirks and bugs... do I have to spend $1000 on
an EDP or $1500 on a Looperlative? (in which case, I'm too poor, forget
it)... Somebody already praised the Boomerang, maybe I will check that
one out (I was actually almost gonna buy the Rang, till I read about
the 2880 and saw all the added features I could get on the 2880
compared to the Rang for the same price)...
Which loopers have the most virtually silent foot pedal
controllers, maybe if I start with that question, it will give me
something to go on when I begin shopping for a replacement for the 2880
(at this point, even if the Mouser switches I have ordered can fix the
footswitch noise, I'm still left with the buzzing issue which has
nothing to do with the foot controller)... If I was smart to begin
with, I would've found time to test this 2880 out THOROUGHLY before the
30-day return option expired... MY DUMB...