Real talk: Timeline Looper vs DL4 looper

[ThurberMingus]

How do they stack up? I'm considering selling my RE20 and DL4 (and any other delay I have laying around, not ILFDD though) and getting a Timeline to do all my delays and loops. I only use the DL4 for looping, and I've heard that they are very similar in functionality. I've also heard that the grass isn't greener on the other side, but Ed O'Brien got rid of his DL4 when he got a Timeline, and I only play Radiohead covers. I would love to get a super shiny delay and free up some board space. What say you ILF?

[tremolo3]

Looper on the Timeline is the reason I still have it. I did tried the DL4 long time ago and it was OK, but it doesn't compare with the complexity of TL's

As a delay with single-track looper capabilities the only downside I can think of is that you will need to use an external device to get most of it.

Having said that, I like Timefactor's looper more than TL's, but no delay while looping is a no-no for me.

[backwardsvoyager]

You'll need to get a DMC controller to get the most out of the timeline looper. Compared to when I had a DL4 the TL+DMC combo was a lot better, you can use the TL footswitches for all your delays like normal then with the 3-button DMC have a rec/overdub and stop switch set, then use the higher switch to switch to a page with half-time and reverse switches to cop the rest of the DL4 looping tricks, and if you get an exp pot mounted on the side you can control the loop volume with your foot. Really good.

But yeah short answer Timeline kills DL4... IF you get a MIDI controller. Holding down the right stomp to enter or leave loop mode is annoying for most situations.

[Ghost Hip]

Word, I have the Timeline with the DMC controller and it makes the looper all sorts of flexible. I haven't played with a DL4 though.

[albertjq]

I am a longtime user of the dl4

a few months ago I retired its 10-year career and replaced it with a timeline

the timeline is very good. In general it sounds a lot better than the dl4 and has some new delay machines as well

nowadays you don't need to go midi to exploit the looper functionality; strymon makes a multi switch and there are a few third party switches on the market as well, I believe

[tremolo3]

nowadays you don't need to go midi to exploit the looper functionality; strymon makes a multi switch and there are a few third party switches on the market as well, I believe

Correct. But you are still missing some cool stuff you could do with MIDI.

[albertjq]

that's true, there is quite a lot of functionality to mined there

gotta get me one of them

[humandingus]

I can only echo the sentiments of everyone else. The Timeline looper with a DMC undeniably trumps the DL4 looper.

[ThurberMingus]

Can the Timeline do one-shot/play once looping? I mainly use the DL4 for short, rhythmic loops and I use the retrigger a lot. If so I will be figuring out the smartest way to hauk off some pedals and get a Timeline in my life!

Can the looper be midi synced with a DAW or anything? My life might just change forever if it can.

[tremolo3]

Not sure what "one-shot/play once" means, but there's a CC to trigger the play command.

And last time I read, Timeline was not able to send midi clock to sync with DAWs or external hardware, not sure of current state on this though.

[humandingus]

Can the Timeline do one-shot/play once looping? I mainly use the DL4 for short, rhythmic loops and I use the retrigger a lot. If so I will be figuring out the smartest way to hauk off some pedals and get a Timeline in my life!

Can the looper be midi synced with a DAW or anything? My life might just change forever if it can.

You can definitely do the "play once"/retrigger thing, but I'm not sure if you need the DMC to do it or not. I don't think you do. I just wish it had a dedicated button for the play once thing.

[ThurberMingus]

Well it's settled then. Now all I need is ~$600.

[tremulant]

timeline has a 30 second looper as opposed the 14 second on the DL4, comes stock with what would normally be the looper switch mod on the dl4 (just hold down the 3rd button the timeline and you're in looper mode), the multiswitch that you can add on to the timeline will give you all the DL4 functions and more (specifically half time/reverse then undo/redo). and you can can choose whether the delay is before or after the loop on the fly. all of those factors made me sell all my delay pedals (including my dl4) for the timeline.

[Muse FTW]

I'm only echoing the responses of the other people ITT but the Timeline's looper is the best one I've ever used. I even prefer it to dedicated looper pedals like the Ditto, and I don't even have the external footswitch (yet). It is surprisingly powerful and to be completely honest I use the Timeline more for looping on my board than delay (although the delay is killer, too).

[albertjq]

What switches are you guys using?

I'm in the market, and looking for some recommendations

I'm also in the market for a loop controller/switcher so maybe it would be more cost effective for me to get a complete midi/switching setup?