loooping stations? Boss vs Digitech?

Im thinking about investing in a looping station.....from what I have read the digitech jamman is good but I wasnt looking to spend 300...

I saw the boss RC 2 for 189 and was wondering if I would be missing out on all the extras of the jamman. Im not looking for anything to play out with or do anything fancy with it....just something to do some basic looping stuff with...expand my playing.

Is there a real huge difference between the two? I mean Im sure there is..but will I notice and say damn I wish I bought the digitech?

thanks for the input

i have an RC20xl and it's great. i've heard that the sound quality was questionable with the jamman but i'm not sure since that's all heresay. overall i'm very happy with the 20xl; it set me back 280 with the power cable (20 bucks for the damn thing?! it's like a cell phone charger). look up the specs on both, try them both out, and make a personal decision.

oh, and the differences....the jamman supports uploading of larger files to the device, whereas the 20xl essentially has a line-in port and you can just record CD's/mp3s like that. i heard that the jamman was harder to get a good loop going because the quantatizing skills of the jamman are less than impressive, but again...i've never actually used one. i do know that the quantatize feature on the boss is great, it detects what tempo you're playing hte riff at even if you don't set one beforehand, and it makes (for the most part) very accurate cut-off points regardless of if you hit the "stop" button a few seconds late or whatever. sortof takes your mind off getting the loop tempo perfect and you can concentrate on making quality music instead.

Hey guys...
Just read all the remarks on the do's and dont's off loop stations. I'm also new to the looping game and understand the need the get good advice. But the first question was asked in regards to BOSS RC 2 Looping station. This is a less expensive pedal than the RC 20 XL and looks like a stompbox. Is there anyone out there with a good (experienced, educated) review and opinion about this pedal. Thinking of buying it for about $200. What else should i be looking at in this price range?

That boss pedal is a great pedal and will do pretty much everything you need. the only differences between that and the more exspensive boss loopers are additional foot switches to start and stop loop on the fly, and some other things that from what you say you will be doing with it won't miss, get it, try it out, worse case return it:_)

I know this is an old thread but I've also been looking at the Boss RC-2 and RC-20XL. It looks like they both pretty much do the same thing but the 20XL has the additional input for a CD or MP3 player... but, unless I'm mistaken, the RC2 has a bunch of drum patterns that you can play to whereas the 20XL just has a metronome.

Since I'm just a beginner I'm leaning towards the RC2 because I read on one thread that you can overcome the inability to plug in an external player simply by recording it into the device, unplugging the device and then playing the tune as a backing loop... or something to that effect.

Itsmesilly, which one did you end up going with? Are you pleased with the decision that you made?

I have used an RC20XL for a long, long time. I am a big fan of it, and have used it for a variety of different techniques ranging from live to studio effects. I stand by this unit whole-heartedly. The Digitch Jamman is good, but I have never used as I have been quite content with the Boss unit. Honestly, I don't really trust Digitech products so I have veered from that pedal as a result.

You are looking at spending around $300 for the RC20XL. You can get the RC2, and those are great for looping as well. I will say, having only one foot switch is a bit cumbersome but you can work past it. For the money, I don't think it gets better than that smaller stomp box. Also, the DM4 Delay pedal from Line 6 sounds great as well and has a good looper in it that I have seen many, many players use.

Best of luck if you not already made your decision. Here is a video of me using the loop station about two and half years ago.

Douglas Showalter - The Quest w/ Boss RC20XL

Thanks for the info Doug. I had already seen that video on YouTube; nice work. Man, I am so looking forward to the day that I can actually play! Isn't that crazy?... Can't even play yet--only 3 months in--and I already have the Taylor 114ce, just bought a Gretsch G5120 on ebay and I want a loop station! :) Maybe I'm a little loopy already but the way I see it, the investments will provide greater motivation to master it all.

Thanks for the compliment and for having already watched the video. I plan to put out more professionally done videos in the future of myself playing in that vein soon.

The key with the loop pedal is the timing. You have to work with it for a long time to get how the loop actually occurs. There is a slight amount of latency in getting the loop perfectly in time. Even than, it will be very close for YOU to play; and not necessarily for a drummer to play over. Things like the loop station and jam man are loops in real time, and unfortunately they are never perfect as say if you were working with a software program or working with something that is MIDI synced. At any rate, it simply takes practice and working with a loop pedal is very satisfying in many ways for both practicing and performance.

As long you are working to be better at your instrument, and love to play; you can own whatever you want. Best of luck and sounds like you are on the right track.

I use the RC-20 and the drummer and I always fall out of synch by the end of our song...any advice? I'm tempted to get a Line 6 DL-4, because it dirties up the loop a bit and has foot tap tempo, but 14 seconds isn't quite enough time. Having to hit the tap tempo with my finger on the RC-20 isn't very live friendly either.

tagging along

Originally Posted by: Ben_FusselI use the RC-20 and the drummer and I always fall out of synch by the end of our song...any advice? I'm tempted to get a Line 6 DL-4, because it dirties up the loop a bit and has foot tap tempo, but 14 seconds isn't quite enough time. Having to hit the tap tempo with my finger on the RC-20 isn't very live friendly either.

The RC20 is not perfect. Even if you get the loop dead on in time, it will naturally drag a little bit unfortunately. The best way to remedy this is first make sure your loop is in time, and than run headphones of the loop to the drummer. He can adjust his/her time if need be and experiment from there. The model up from the RC20, the RC50, has MIDI sync capability and I believe you can sync it in time again pending that the loop is in perfect time.

The LINE 6 pedal will not do you any more good than the BOSS honestly. You don't get nearly the looping capability and it isn't as clean. Again, make sure your loop is in time and than try getting a louder signal to your drummer. You are dealing with REAL TIME looping, so unless you are doing everything yourself it is tough to get everything in sync; but it can be done.

Good luck! :eek:

Thanks for the advice! I used the Line-6 and like it for its dirtiness, it would be a definite buy for me if it had more looping time.

I love my boos gt10 and have owned all the digitech rp1 5 10 20 30 and silver rack valve fx and I rate boss as now being a better unit but not when the rp30 was out. I tried every unit in the shop for hrs ..before buying the gt8 then the 10 after has it had a better looper and extra ctr pedal plus interface was easier ,,,I was dissapoited with the looper but the rest of thew unit is a killer box so I bought a rx20xl with the two pedals , and apart from no midi sync which is hard to keep it looping to a drumloop externally playing (any tips if you have one pls) but its got loads of live versitilty that the jamstations just hvent got , tempo tap and clear overdubb on the fly , plus guid tones drumloops built in , a center cancelling to rid vocals and some guitar off audio plus the ability to slow guitar phrases right down and keep the pitch makes it great for learning stuff too, boss was clever with this , the 50 would be great with midi and stuff but the price is too high and it to big too

Ive said my peice so peace out ,