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this is one of those topics that has been covered 1 million times on every gear forum, just like what’s a good transparent overdrive, and recommend a compressor for people who hate compressors, etc. But… I have a ditto X2 that I have been using while we’re rehearsing for my band Terms’ first few live shows. I replaced the foot switches with Lehle switches and things have mostly been good, but towards the end of practice yesterday the looper started getting extremely glitchy. I would record a loop, then click for it to stop recording and start the loop playing, and it would act like it was playing, but there would just be silence. Like it recorded a blank loop. it just started acting very strangely. I’ll probably go through the process to restore it back to the factory defaults just in case that might help, but now I no longer trust it so I’m in the market for a different looper.
what need:
stereo in & out
separate rec/play and stop buttons
I prefer a lack of too many extra bells and whistles (delays, reverbs, different ways to modify the loop)
what i’m considering:
EHX 720 - seems like pretty much a lateral step in terms of quality when it comes to replacing the ditto, but it has pretty much exactly the feature set I want.
Line 6 DL4 mk2 - I always liked the functionality of the old DL4 looper. I’m a bit hesitant on this one, because I’ve heard a lot of grousing about bugs with the newer unit, and it also has a bunch of crap I wouldn’t use (delays/reverbs). Still haven’t completely eliminated it as a possibility though.
i’m sort of overwhelmed by the different Boss options. They seem to go from zero to way too complicated right out of the gate.
I could go really crazy and get a boomerang.
what else is out there? i just want something simple that works properly!!

This is essentially the no-name brand version of the EHX 720: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000320236949.html

I've used this for gigs and whatnot with no complaints, though for me it's a tabletop unit, so I can't comment on ease-of-use on a pedalboard.

consider the looper on the boss DD-500. dedicated rec/play*/stop.

* "play" also retriggers the beginning of loop, essential for keeping the loop from drifting out of time

high headroom, stereo, plenty of time, it might have kind of clean power supply feature I like how it doesn't make any of the digital background noise of the boss RC pedals I've owned.

pigtronix infinity 2 has always intrigued me but i've never actually tried one. being able to dial in a decay time for the loop seems like a nice feature, but it seems like it's not too complicated.

I have been through the same search a while ago:

If your purpose is a straightforward looper for band action i can't recommend enough the old boss RC-30, is bult like a tank, large memory, dedicated footswitches and eventually 2 independent phrases (with the same looping time) that can be turned on/off individually. Cons: it's quite big. Smaller options are the BOSS RC-3 or RC5, but they are single stomp so you'll need to tap twice to stop. Never had any kind of noise issues with any of those in years of use & abuse, and they are not expensive.

The EHX 720/1440 is equally good and has also options for timestretch, reverse, fade etc BUT has less memory and, most of all, when you overdub the overdubs go straight in the memory so, unless you delete the overdubs before unplugging it or changing bank, they get memorized.
This has been a major problem for me as in the band i use the looper also for pre-recorded noises/sounds on which i record overdubs live, but they must not be stored in the memory, so that every gig/practice i have the same "starting point", unless i it the "write" button to store it like onf the Boss RC series.

Pigtronix Infinity 3 is the same as the infinity 1 in a fancier enclosure. I have been on the edge of grabbing it multiple times because it seems the perfect match between the above-mentioned pedals, plus you also get the option of having two really independent loops (not time related), or partial (one must be the multiple of the other), or synced.

ordered a 720.

thanks for all the suggestions! hopefully the EHX does the trick.

I'm late, but I would have also advised the EHX 720 or 1440! Both super cool compact loopers (better than ditto x2 imho).
Boss are also super solid, I have since ages a RC3, for simple stuff (or play samples and backing tracks) is perfect.

Dowi wrote: Pigtronix Infinity 3 is the same as the infinity 1 in a fancier enclosure. I have been on the edge of grabbing it multiple times because it seems the perfect match between the above-mentioned pedals, plus you also get the option of having two really independent loops (not time related), or partial (one must be the multiple of the other), or synced.

Big diff between 1&3 is the midi, 1 is midi out and 3 is midi in… I have a 1 and a 2, the 2 is… weird.. I could never jive with the delay between when you push the button and where the loop starts..

I’m still looking for what the op is.. I just want a stereo one that can loop either side and take midi clock AND NOTHING ELSE!!!

I used to have the Infinity 1 and it had only MIDI IN plug. Inf3 is just a rehoused Inf1, a shame they didn't took any time to improve the concept.

If you need a stereo 2 tracks looper with a better feature set (and less money) check out the Looperlative LP2 Mini Looper (LPs have also a MIDI OUT which can send a midi clock, which is generated based on the loop length!)!

voerking wrote:recommend a compressor for people who hate compressors, etc.

Empress MkII is the only compressor I tried that makes a guitar sound better.
https://empresseffects.com/products/s-d ... ue-sparkle
They have some available for a bit of a discount.

with boss, you could get an RC1, RC2, or RC3 and add an external footswitch for stop. if you ignore the "rhythm" then it's pretty similar to the 720, though it lacks the half speed and reverse.

MXR clone is basically the same deal, on its own it's a bit annoying to use, but add two external footswitches and it's a decent simple looper.

the EHX 1440 is pretty great with the overdub decay knob since that can get you into DL4 territory, and you can undo/redo with an added footswitch which i find very useful.

pigtronix infinity 1 is really great if you learn it, but you gotta take the time to learn it and some of its workflow is... weird. i think they improved it a lot with the infinity 3. but the infinity 1 are cheap enough now that they're a great deal.

oh and the akai headrush will always be the best simple looper in my book.

I'm still using one of these after roughly 20 years now.

I could put a bigger card in it for more memory, but haven't ever felt the need.

Simple, two button, can just turn 'rhythm volume" to 0 with the knob and you'll never hear it again.

Did I mention it's held up to twentyish years of use?



They're cheap too.