Shared by Swedish musican per@boysen.se
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Here's a quick comparison chart of some looping devices avaiable today. It doesn't cover the the market completely and I have on purpose selected a few functions that I think make sense for comparing the devices. A fully featured chart would become astronomically big and not very helpful for that reason. Please feel free to contact me with suggestions on how to improve this chart. If you see the sign * inside a cell it means the issue is better explained down at the Enlightening Comments at the bottom of this page. Share on Facebook

  Overdub Feedback Undo Multiply Quantize Reverse loop MIDI Presets Sync Cut n Paste slices Pitch/speed transposing Time stretching Tap tempo Max numbers of cued linear loops instantly accessible multiple loops in parallel Audio channels, Tracks Stereo recording Built-in storage option can run on battery Memory RAM
Rang(TM)III yes yes yes, last part added can be removed or restored *Virtual multiply capability *no yes yes, only for downloading new software no *no no half speed no yes, two taps define initial loop length   4 parallel loops 2 stereo yes no yes, but the battery is external. There are no internal battery holders 64 MB
Echoplex LoopIV yes yes yes backwards scalling off layers yes yes yes yes yes MIDI clock, Brother, pulse yes half speed no yes, two taps defining initial loop cycle length as tempo base 16 no 1 mono no no, externally via MIDI no 16 MB
Repeater yes yes, but only in Overdub Mode yes, deleting only the last layer. When still in Rec Mode all new layers are deleted. yes sort of... yes yes no MIDI clock, beat, tap no MIDI notes, MIDI cc, manually yes yes 999

no
one loop may have four tracks

4 mono or 2 stereo yes, by linking two mono tracks CFC card no 8 MB
Boomerang 2.0 yes 7 fixed levels no no no yes no no no no

half speed. Interval can be changed from an octave to a lower 2nd., 4th., 5th, or 7th.

no yes, sort of... In version 2.0 you indicate the loop length and the device extrapolates the tempo 2 no no no no    
Line6 DL4 Modelling Delay yes no no no no yes no yes no no half speed no no 1 no no   no yes  
Boss RC-20XL yes no Yes. Last layer has Undo + Redo no yes related to tap tempo yes no yes no no no yes, but not fluently while loops are running yes 11 (if first manually saved to a phrase) no 1   16 min mono yes battery or AC  
Looperlative 1 yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes MIDI Clock, internally by first recorded set as master track yes

half speed, 1/4 speed,

 

no ?

8

 

yes. synchronous, poly-rhythmic or non-rythmic loops is possible 8 stereo yes can export and import digital audio using the ethernet web server port no 128 MB
Digitech JamMan yes no yes no yes related to tap tempo no no no no no no yes, following the master tempo yes 1 (99 if first manually saving to card) no 1 mono no CF-Card; PC via USB   128M-2G CFC
  Overdub Feedback Undo Multiply Quantize Reverse loop MIDI Presets Sync Cut n Paste slices Pitch transposing Time stretching Tap tempo Max numbers of cued linear loops instantly accessible multiple loops in parallel Audio channels, Tracks Stereo recording Built-in storage option can run on battery Memory RAM
Zoom G2 yes yes no no no no yes yes no no no no yes 1 no no no no yes  
Electro-Harmonix 2880 yes yes no no yes, for 1 bar length yes, action taken on all five tracks yes no yes, MIDI clock no half speed, octave button affecting all five tracks. Tempo slider also affects pitch. no, pitch changes with the tempo no 1, but with 4 tracks. Mixdown to 5th track can free up the 4 tracks for more looping no (?)
one loop may have four tracks
4, can be mixed down to a 5th stereo track yes, by linking two mono tracks Flash card, 128 MB to 2 GB, USB computer backup and restore no  
Roland RC-50 yes no
(can be achieved if you bridge SubOuts with AuxIns)

yes

only one layer back - then "REDO" back again

no
(can be achieved if you bridge SubOuts with AuxIns)
yes yes yes yes
(even audio for old loops can be saved in a patch)
yes no yes
(but it sounds horrible - unusable IMHO)
yes
(but it sounds horrible - unsuable IMHO)
yes
3
(but then only one playing at a time)
3
(but then no "Next Loop")
3 yes 49 minutes in mono (half of that in stereo).
99 patch presets.
USB to /from computer. Good editing/library software bundled.
no  
Boss RC-2 yes no yes no yes no no no no no no yes, but not fluently while loops are running yes 11 no 1   16 min mono

yes
battery or AC

 
Electro-Harmonix Stereo Memory Man with Hazari yes

"yes"
only during overdub

no no no yes no yes no no varispeed (continuous half to double speed) yes
(via tap tempo)
yes 1 0 2 yes no no -

Boss DD

-20

Yes, kind of:
sound-on-sound-recording
in SOS mode. Overdub in Delay Mode by keepign on playing in Record mode
yes no Yes, kind of: only in Delay Mode no reverse delay setting no 4
(flash RAM)
no no no no yes 2 'yes* 2 yes no yes
battery or AC
holds 23 seconds of audio
  Overdub Feedback Undo Multiply Quantize Reverse loop MIDI Presets Sync Cut n Paste slices Pitch/speed transposing Time stretching Tap tempo Max numbers of cued linear loops instantly accessible multiple loops in parallel Audio channels, Tracks Stereo recording Built-in storage option can run on battery Memory RAM
Loopback AU plugin of Mainstage OSX yes No. Has Fade Out that also clears the loop. You set a Fade Out time in seconds. yes no yes yes yes, in the MS host yes, in the MS host yes. Each instance can sync to another instance, to host tempo or spin freely out of sync. no no no yes, by MS host. But LB has a better system that calculates the tempo by the first loop's length and implies that tempo to the host Mainstage. Almost infite. Depends on the computer power. Set instanced to the same Group Number and they will play in a linear way like "NextLoop". Almost infite. Depends on the computer power. Istances set to different Gropu Numbers work in parallel (according to each instance's local sync settings) Almost infite. Depends on the computer power. yes yes, handled by Mainstage, the host application. Presets can be stored and recalled by pedals. Loops can be exported and imported. yes, if you dare running the laptop on batteries Depends on the computer
Syncopath Performer
OSX, Windows
yes no yes no, but 3 tracks can have different lengths yes yes yes yes, by the host appl yes* no half, double quadriple no yes, by the host appl infinte! yes, can be of different lenght 3, steeo or mono yes no yes, if laptop battery  
Logelloop
OS X
yes both traditionally summing layers OR each new layer given its own channel in the loop yes yes (but no "redo") yes yes (for mixer and effect preset changes) yes yes yes swapping between mixer and effect presets as musical performance no no yes yes yes 3 as default but many more linear loops can be created and lined up yes, but rather l10 layers of the same loop. Layers can have different length though 10 loop layer channels, 2 VST plug-in channels and 1 chanel for built-in effects yes yes. can save files and has a syncable "file player" aside the looper yes, if laptop battery  
Looper plug-in of Ableton Live 8+ yes yes (not active in play mode) yes (erases all recent overdub layers. "Redo" puts them back in place) Sort of... Instant multiply or divide by 2 (no "3" option) yes, follows host app's setting yes yes yes, following Live's preset system yes, does both master and slave position well withing Live no, but can be achieved by inserting a track + plugins into the looper Speed control on octave up/down buttons and quantized to semi notes no yes, handled by the host Live 1 yes, just open more Looper instances on parallell tracks 1 yes yes, saving by usual computer/Ableton Live routines yes, if laptop battery  
Ableton Live OSX/Windows no no* no* no* yes yes* yes yes yes yes* yes* yes yes Many! Depending on computer spec's yes   yes yes yes, if laptop battery  
Lexicon PSP42 OSX/XP yes yes yes no no no yes yes by the host appl   no half speed no yes       yes no yes, if laptop battery  
Augustus Loop OSX yes yes no yes* sort of yes yes yes by the host appl yes no MIDI notes, MICI cc no yes 1 per instance     yes no yes, if laptop battery  
Sooper Looper Linux, OSX yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes by the host appl yes no half speed, rate shift no yes Many! Depending on computer spec's     yes no yes, if laptop battery  
AU Looper OSX yes* yes* yes* yes* yes* yes* yes* yes by the host appl yes* no yes* yes* yes* 4 per instance yes   yes   yes, if laptop battery  
Mobius, Standalone, VST, AU, Windows, Mac OS X yes yes yes backwards scalling off layers. Customizable yes yes yes yes yes MIDI Clock, internally by first recorded set as master track yes yes (not perfected yet), half speed, rate shift, yes (not perfected yet) yes Vitually unlimited depending on computer spec's yes. synchronous, poly rhythmic or non rhythmic loops is possible 8 stereoper instance, or more if you tinker with the code yes yes, store loops or record complete performance to the computer's drive yes, if laptop battery  
Loopy Lama XP, OSX yes   yes     yes yes   yes       yes           yes, if laptop battery  
Radial
Mac OS
yes   no       yes   yes yes yes no             yes, if laptop battery  
  Overdub Feedback Undo Multiply Quantize Reverse loop MIDI Presets Sync Cut n Paste slices Pitch/speed transposing Time stretching Tap tempo Max numbers of cued linear loops instantly accessible multiple loops in parallel Audio channels, Tracks Stereo recording Built-in storage option can run on battery Memory RAM


Relateded links you may find useful:

  • Loopeprs-Delight mailing list (you may also look for the Loopers-Delight Facebook Group)
  • LiveLooping.org (web site resource with a certain educational inclination)

Enlightening comments:

Rang III: (thank you Lee Hardesty for submitting this information)
The Rang III has a 'virtual' multiply capability. Create loop 3 first and let it be the base loop you want to multiply. Then create another loop of any length with loop 3 playing as the master. This secondary loop can be any number of multiples of the base loop you desire and there's no need to preset this length since the final length will be determined by the end-recording tap. In the parallel styles you can create up to three 'multiplied' loops that will play in sync with the master. These loops can be of any length, can be stacked on, reversed, erased and re-recorded, etc. It's a slightly different approach but the results are essentially the same I think. Some of the other products on the list may be able to do something similar but I'm only familiar with the Boomerang unit.

In the parallel styles (Sync and Free) you can have up to 4 loops ready for immediate playback. They can be started and stopped individually or the Play-Stop-All function can be used to start (or stop) playback of all existing loops simultaneously.

Pitch transposing now allows octave-up and octave-down capability.

The internal memory spec might be expanded to state actual recording time(s) since products differ as to bit-depth, sample rate, etc.

Augustus Loop Multiply: (Os)
If you turn off the 'tape inertia' feature, then you can change the loop length to anything you like, while you're looping, with no glitches. So you can record a phrase and later change the loop time to e.g. four times the original length - which is effectively a multiply. The joy of the complete flexibility this gives you is that you could e.g. record an 8 beat phrase and then change the delay time to 11 beats. So you have fractional multiplies going on, if you so desire. Same applies in reverse - you can change the loop time to lower than the original time. So e.g. go from 4/4 to 3/4 seamlessly if you like.

BOSS DD-20 multiple loops in parallel: (Rainer Thelonius Balthasar Straschill)
I describe the "parallel loop" function of the DD20 in some more detail below, but the quick answer is still "yes" (2) (Some of the details here do not apply if one of the modes in question is the stupid "SOS" mode): The DD20 has four memory slots to store your favourite settings and then switch between them and "manual mode" (i.e. what you set up with the dials and knobs). It also has a "seamless switching" function which will have the last delay playing - only disconnected from the input as well as from the controls - if you switch to a new memory slot. This last delay will then continue playing either until it has faded out or until you switch memory slot again. Note that you lose control over that "last loop" completely, so you can't adjust feedback or volume or even go back to it and overdub further. But it sure does qualify for your description of "making changes to one loop whil still hearing the other looping on". As a matter of fact, you can even create four loops in parallel, namely if you choose the double delay for both your memory slots ;)

Synchopath (Lasse juul Kolding, developer)
Sync: MIDI Clock, internally by first recorded set as master track. As slave, the host has per sample control of recording and playback.
Requirements: You need a free version of Pluggo to run it. Pluggo Runtime or Pluggo Junior will work. Java and Quicktime are also needed.

I'd also like to thank Bernhard Wagner and Kris Hartung for helping me with research for this page.