TC Ditto, Ditto X2, or Jamman Express XT?

[Leevibe]

I want a simple looper. I've owned a Jamman Solo and got rid of it because it had way too many features for a one stomp pedal. Even with an external switch, I couldn't keep track of how to run it. Also, I felt like the fidelity wasn't 100%.

I want a simple looper that retains 100% of my signal. I think I lean toward the TC Ditto because of the simplicity and reports of accurate tone reproduction. I don't care about the f/x in the X2, but the dedicated stop switch would be nice. The thing I like about the Jamman Express XT is the dedicated LEDs. I'm a bit color blind and that would make it easier for me to see more clearly what's going on.

I don't really care about 10 minutes vs 5 minutes of loop time. syncing, down/uploading loops. Stereo I/O isn't important to me but could be fun.

My main uses for a looper would be:

- practicing/messing around
- using it at the bench for hands-free testing of circuits instead of using a function generator
- using it to play for me so I can hear my tone through the PA
- possibly some live use both with acoustic and electric

The biggest values I would want in a looper are fidelity and ease of use, in that order.

I've read that stopping/clearing the Ditto can be a pain live. I'm thinking if that's an issue, I could put it in a TB loop to make it easier to reset and not have to worry about that split second where it restarts the loop before clearing. I could probably also replace the red/green LED with a red/blue, which would be far easier for me to distinguish. That's probably a lot of bother.

I realize that the Ditto and Jamman show the same sample rate and bit depth, but I believe that those numbers don't tell the whole story, and I wonder if there is a difference in the converters. I really truly believe that my first Jamman was robbing tone.

OK, let the opinions fly. If you own one of these, how well have you bonded with it?

[micromegas]

I don't have any of those, but have tried the ditto.

Regarding audio fidelity, both are specified as 24bit and 44.1KHz, so both should have the same quality and no degradation.

If you are not going to use it live, both are a good option and, taking a look at the manual, they work almost exactly the same for undo/redo except that the Jamman Express can only redo overdubs (which makes sense).

I would go with the Jamman, as for almost the same price you have stereo and the posibility to sync with other Digitech devices plus it has status leds. Btw, I haven't heard any issue of tone degradation with this one as there were with the other Jammans..

Have you considered the EHX Nano-Looper? same characteristics and you can store up to 11 loops. It is buffered instead of true bypass though.

Reviews of all three here:
http://looperpedalreviews.com/tc-electronic-ditto-looper/
http://looperpedalreviews.com/digitech-jamman-express-xt-review/
http://looperpedalreviews.com/electro-harmonix-nano-looper-360-review/

[Matt]

I use the ditto at home only. It's perfect for jamming by myself. To me it really compresses my tone. I wouldn't use it live

[Leevibe]

I use the ditto at home only. It's perfect for jamming by myself. To me it really compresses my tone. I wouldn't use it live

This is the concern I have. If it audibly loses something from the original, I won't be able to use it for dialing in my rig or fine tuning a circuit.

This makes me wonder if you are certain you have your loops set all the way at unity gain. Even a slight volume difference would translate as a tone loss or as compression. For that matter, where is unity gain on the level knob? Is it all the way up or is it at 12:00? Is it possible to have the loops louder than dry signal?

[knifedawg]

I use my Ditto x2 all the time live.

[Matt]

I use the ditto at home only. It's perfect for jamming by myself. To me it really compresses my tone. I wouldn't use it live

This is the concern I have. If it audibly loses something from the original, I won't be able to use it for dialing in my rig or fine tuning a circuit.

This makes me wonder if you are certain you have your loops set all the way at unity gain. Even a slight volume difference would translate as a tone loss or as compression. For that matter, where is unity gain on the level knob? Is it all the way up or is it at 12:00? Is it possible to have the loops louder than dry signal?

The best thing to do would be to see if a local music store carries it. That way you can judge for yourself before you buy it

[Rockhorst]

Def. vote for the Ditto X2. I tested all three, decided to go with the X2 because:

-Jamman introduces an audible click every time the loop restarts. Unbearable.
-Ditto X2 has internal dip switches that you can set for 'spill over' looping, what you need if you really want to create seemless loops ands soundscapes, because you can let your last note ring through and it will immediately record this over your loop.

[add4]

i feel your pain.
i have a jamman, first of the name (the simple one with 2 buttons, direct copy of the first boss looper (red)). and it changes my sound in an unacceptable way
- dynamic loss (i'm playing a VERY dynamic amp and it's ridiculously hearable when i remove the looper from the chain)
- high end loss
- hum/hiss if the instrument level is a bit too high

i was actually planning to put it on sale today and go for a ditto x2 i've heard it's really transparent... but apparently it's not , so .... yeah i don't know . maybe i should just try it

[Rockhorst]

You could always go for a (Boome)Rang III looper, but that will eat through your pedal board real estate and wallet quickly. It is however the best looper ever. Owned one and if I had been more of a looper genius I would've kept it.

[playpunk]

The pigtronix looper is well liked too


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Leevibe]

Haha. Yeah, the boomerang would be more than I need in every way. But I would love to mess with one some time. I do have a looper built into my timefactor but it's only 12 seconds. Works OK for checking my rig but I have to bust out the manual to remember how to get it to do what I want because I don't use it often enough. And I can't run it with delay unless I use a separate delay. And it's not the solution for using at the bench.

I'm thinking it's going to come down to whatever pops up on Craigslist that I can trade for. But it will probably be one of the TC units. I think I could like either one.

[pickdropper]

I have a JamMan Solo XT.  It has a lot more features than the Ditto, but that can be a plus or a minus depending on your perspective.

The main draw for me was that I can save loops to a MicroSD card.  This is particularly handy if you want to easily share loops with somebody (which I did).

[Matt]

I use the ditto at home only. It's perfect for jamming by myself. To me it really compresses my tone. I wouldn't use it live

This is the concern I have. If it audibly loses something from the original, I won't be able to use it for dialing in my rig or fine tuning a circuit.

This makes me wonder if you are certain you have your loops set all the way at unity gain. Even a slight volume difference would translate as a tone loss or as compression. For that matter, where is unity gain on the level knob? Is it all the way up or is it at 12:00? Is it possible to have the loops louder than dry signal?

Just found this
http://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/articles/ditto-looper-loses-volume-when-i-play-over-a-loop/
Maybe this better describes my issue. I'll try the update when I get a chance.

[m-Kresol]

I just ordered the Hotone Wally looper. It's in the ditto's price range, has only the necessary functions and is VERY small. I can report back once I get it and try it out (end of the week hopefully)

[add4]

How about the controls of the ditto? i've heard that the double tap (for ending a loop?) makes it hard to be really precise in the loop, which can defiantly be an issue. i'm looking towards the ditto x2 because of that