Least Costly Looping Solution

[Rainer Straschill <moinsound@googlemail.com>]

Rick said:
"Remember,  things like all the freeware software loopers than abound
don't really count, because you have to have a decent laptop and a decent
breakout box to use them for free."

This statement of yours does not appear to be true to me, and this is why:
First of all, what are the hardware requirements of a freeware
software looper? I remember a thread on the Mobius discussion group
with a guy who had run Mobius (standalone) on a 800MHz Celeron
machine. Now this is the kind of computer hardware that you'd have
found lying around at the junkyard - about one to two years ago.
Laptop computers with more than that power go for amounts considerably
below the 100-buck-threshold on ebay. And finally, a lot of people
today already do have a computer at their disposal, so the solution
using free software is in fact free.

However, there is still the fact that a computer solution does not
come "ready to use out of the box". You need to setup various things,
and actually using it for more than a first "I use my laptop
microphone and push buttons onscreen with my mouse" test run of e.g.
Mobius requires you to get a decent audio interface (or at the least
adapter cables), a MIDI interface and a MIDI controller - all of which
sum up to more than a cheap hardware looper. What's more, not being
able to carry the thing to a band rehearsal (or to quickly get up in
the middle of the night, plug in and loop) definitely will work out in
favour of the hardware solution.

My recommendation for a software looper would be Mobius, because it
rules. For a stompbox one: I'm somewhat torn between the EH SMM
w/Hazari and the Boss DD20. The former has that great varispeed
option, the latter one is a really long delay (that also allows you to
do multiply) with a "loop" mode that sucks.
The DL4 you recommend is about 50% more expensive, and all that for
two footswitches more.
Then there's the Headrush, but with 3/4s of the price of the SMM, the
lower price does not justify the lack in functionality compared to the
SMM.

Summarizing: At least for that first tryout of a looper, I don't know
what's wrong with trying e.g. Mobius, especially if the person in
question already has a computer (which could very well be a almost
antique one by computer market cycles). For anything beyond that, a
stompbox is the most cost-effective solution.


            Rainer