RE: Zvex LoFi Junky Looper

[stanitarium@earthlink.net]

hey m ax-
Welcome...to...the...Machine

-----Original Message-----
>From: max valentino <ekstasis1@hotmail.com>
>Sent: Jan 10, 2008 10:27 PM
>To: loopers-delight@loopers-delight.com
>Subject: RE: Zvex LoFi Junky Looper
>
>
>
>Hey fellow Loopists.....
>Recently I posted some questions pertaining to the Zvex LoFi Junky 
>Looper.  Between the responses (thank you all very much...), and some 
>further research, I decided to toss caution to the wind and just buy one. 
> It arrived Tuesday and I have been puttin' it thru the paces and thought 
>I would share....
>(I guess maybe I should try to post this to the LD site as well..... 
>since ther eis precious little info there on this box.)
>
>It is pretty damn cool.  It is also quite small---which is nice.  And, it 
>is built very well (like a tank). The switches and knobs are top notch 
>and the inside assembly is very thorough and clean (remarkable attention 
>to detail there) and the components are all very high quality. It may be 
>"lo-fi" but it is not cheaply made (nor cheaply priced).
>
>So, first off what it doesn't do: No overdubs, layers, replace, reverse 
>or other loop manipulations...and no MIDI!  It is a one-shot 20 sec max. 
>analog looper.
>
>It also doesn't do pristine, hi-fi sound quality.  And, it certainly is 
>NOT for everybody....
>
>But what is does do is quite cool. More than anything it adds a certain 
>"je nais se quoi"; a vibe, an atmosphere to the loopage . Kinda like 
>playing thru an old Supro amp or something; yes, it is a bit noisy and 
>less than "perfect" in sound quality, but there is something very 
>inviting and comfortable about that. Being analog (and lo-fi) it can hiss 
>(and careful setting of the levels helps keep this in order), but the 
>hiss and noise is strikingly different that the hiss and noise found in 
>digital devices....and what hiss there is seems to be masked by the 
>playing to the loop (in fact it sort of melts into the music itself...).
>
>For this feature alone, to me, it is worth every dime.  It injects 
>something quite human, something quite blemished, worn and imperfect to 
>my looping.  AS for the shortcoming of layers (or lack thereof), It is 
>quite easy to re-sample the LoFi into a bigger more full featured looping 
>device.....
>
>It does have true bypass and the instrument preamp which drives the 
>unlooped signal is of exceptional quality: a very high impedence 
>(>5megOhm)input which insures there is no loading or degradation of your 
>signal (the looper section does enough of that!!).
>
>It has a single passive tone control which is useful both for tone 
>variations and controlling hiss.  It has no freq response above 2.6kHz.  
>This seems like a somewhat severe limitation, but actually it helps 
>produce a sound wholly different than other loopers...and quite different 
>than the source sound fed into it (but drastically different....different 
>in what to my ears is a good way.......)
>
>The input/rec level is adjustable (as is the output) and the recording 
>section can even be overdriven.  The result is a very pleasing driven 
>sound VERY different from the digital clipping other machines produce 
>when hit too  hard. In fact, on my basses, the distortion produced here 
>is very cool.
>
>It also has a cool vibrato circuit which can give anything from a warped 
>LP kind of warble to a psuedo Leslie spin to some rather jiggly 
>modulations.  Of course, I am using this with bass and the effect is 
>somewhat understated...but for my purposes that is perfect as I do not 
>need to get to heavy handed with modulations. It is more subtle than 
>other fx, but it is also quite present and noticeable.
>
>The behavior of this vibrato circuit is somewhat unpredictable as well.  
>Which I find very appealing. It is something of a loose cannon, 
>unpredictable yet still quite musical and useful. It does shimmer...but 
>not like other modulation effects. And since the controls (rate and 
>depth) are interactive you're never quite sure jsut where the effect is 
>gonna land........pretty neat.
>
>All in all I am very pleased.  I have some other looping devices (modded 
>Lexicon JamMan, EDP, Headrush, DL4), but this is quickly becoming my 
>favorite---it seems especially geared towards my direction in looping in 
>which the looping is not so much a feature in itself, but rather a 
>necessary and integral part of the compositions and performances, and as 
>such is somewhat stealthy in its appearance--never static and not always 
>present--, and usually neither dense nor drone-y.
>
>I am sure the limitations of this little box make it "less than ideal" 
>for a great number of loopists, yet for me it does something 
>special...and that is quite inspiring.
>
>I have a solo show next week...and the LoFi will definitely get some 
>game-time.
>
>Max
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