Looper recs? Or: Can the Ditto x2 do everything the Line 6 DL4 does WRT looping?

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Mechanical Birds
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Looper recs? Or: Can the Ditto x2 do everything the Line 6 DL4 does WRT looping?

Post by Mechanical Birds » Wed Jun 17, 2020 1:59 am

To me it seems like yes? I liked the DL4 more than the dd20 for looping because you could turn the loop on or off without necessarily deleting it, and by the time I lost my DL4 I was just starting to try and learn the Dave Knudsen thing... I know the Ditto also has reverse and half speed or what they call lower pitch so it seems real similar.

Am I wrong that, essentially the Ditto x2 is pretty much like the DL4 but everything is done with two switches instead of 3? I’ve been looking at DL4s and it seems they still kinda break pretty often and any that I’d be comfortable paying for have broken switches and unreliable on off functionality anyway... I’m set on delay so wouldn’t be missing the delays from the DL4 by going with the Ditto.

I had a Headrush for a while too and it was really fun but looking back it isn’t as versatile/doesn’t do the pitch/speed stuff I’m pretty sure. I know that there are tons of options out there now compared to 15 years ago but I feel totally lost and don’t wanna throw a ton of money/board space into a DL4 if I’m not gonna need one to do what I want to do

Thanks in advance cool dudes
Last edited by Mechanical Birds on Sat Jun 20, 2020 3:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Does the Ditto x2 do everything the Line 6 DL4 does WRT looping?

Post by Mechanical Birds » Fri Jun 19, 2020 1:47 am

If anybody can chime in :/

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Re: Looper recs? Or: Can the Ditto x2 do everything the Line 6 DL4 does WRT looping?

Post by somanytoys » Tue Jun 23, 2020 6:59 am

I was going to post something, but I wasn’t sure if it would be relevant, so I didn't and was waiting for someone with more experience to, but I will now.

I’ve owned all of the pedals you’ve mentioned except for the DL4. Since your main question is about the DL4, and I’ve never owned or played one, I can’t speak to other pedals having its properties.

I liked the Ditto X2, I had 2 at the same time. It does a good basic job if your switch timing is good. My problems with them (besides that my switch timing was shit) was that it could only hold one loop. You can save & export and import loops via computer, but it seems like it’s only good on the fly, to create a loop and build on it, and manipulate that loop, then start over.

I had other needs from a looper, like 2 channels or loops, quantized switching and multiple saved presets.

I ended up selling the Dittos and I got a Pigtronix Infinity looper. The timing is quantified and you can save 2 loops per setting:
-either 2 channels together (I do a midi-synced Beat Buddy drum machine & record bass lines), or;
-2 of one channel for different lines, like verse and chorus.

And it has around 80+ of those loop memory settings to save & recall. I just record loops of drumbeats and bass for different songs, and play guitar along with that, at the moment, but I have the capability to do more.

I don’t recommend going cheap with a looper, if you can help it. If you’re just filling a basic need, the Ditto seems fine. It won’t expand with your needs, tho, and often your needs do expand later on.

I’ve also read great things about the EHX 360 and 720, but I’ve never used them.

I don’t know how much this helps, but I hope it does in some way.
-David

It's a boost booster, to boost your boost - it makes your tone much muchier.

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Re: Looper recs? Or: Can the Ditto x2 do everything the Line 6 DL4 does WRT looping?

Post by Mechanical Birds » Tue Jun 23, 2020 8:55 pm

No that’s awesome thank you for chiming in! Been real frustrating to see this thread remain empty for a week so yeah, thank you.

I can’t say having the ability to store loops and presets would be useless to me, because that sounds awesome, but I think I’m really just looking for something base level that has what to me seems like something that should be a universal feature in the ability to turn a loop on or off without having to completely erase it, and I guess secondary to that would be the pitch/reverse effects. I want to be able to maybe do some Dave Knudsen/stutter sounding stuff and be able to set a loop and maybe some overdubs, and retain the ability to cut what’s RDR is coming out of the looper without necessarily having to lose it forever. So picture a song where the intro is the same as the chorus, so I can start with a thing, knock it out for a few minutes and then bring it back later on.

Now that I’m saying that I’m wondering if something exists that might ALSO have the ability to pause loops too? Like record a thing and let it play, stop the playback in a specific spot, only to flip it back on and continue playing where you left off. Anybody know of something that does that? If it does all of this stuff that’d be incredible, but surprisingly it doesn’t seem like the features I’m seeking are widely desired or if they are, they aren’t worth talking about or something.

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Re: Looper recs? Or: Can the Ditto x2 do everything the Line 6 DL4 does WRT looping?

Post by andy_tchp » Tue Jun 23, 2020 9:43 pm

I got confused when I saw the mention of Boss not saving the loop when you turned it off, then realised you were talking about one of their delay pedals and not a looper.

Their old RC-20 'Loopstation' sounds like it'd do what you're after (including reverse playback)? I've not used the newer RC-30 which is probably a lot fancier - I bought my Loopstation nearly 20 years ago so I expect there's a lot more tech available for features.
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Re: Looper recs? Or: Can the Ditto x2 do everything the Line 6 DL4 does WRT looping?

Post by jvin248 » Wed Jun 24, 2020 3:17 am

.

I have an Ammoon/Kokko SOS FLP2 mini looper. It's a clone of the Ditto mini. Probably the same factory the Ditto is made in. $35 new. This was half the cost of any of the used Ditto mini pedals I could find at the time.

If you need looper with a second bank, just buy two of these pedals.

Ten minutes of loop recording plus it keeps whatever you stored in there when the power is off.

.

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Re: Looper recs? Or: Can the Ditto x2 do everything the Line 6 DL4 does WRT looping?

Post by somanytoys » Wed Jun 24, 2020 5:22 am

I think more of the “basic” loopers are only going to do start/stop, not pause & resume. There may be some, but I’m pretty sure that the ditto was only start/stop.

Mine will pause and resume, but maybe that’s something that you would need a little more expensive one to be able to do. I know Boss makes different levels (my boss RC-5 died on me) and EHX makes some that may be at the price point and features that you’re looking for.

Good luck.
-David

It's a boost booster, to boost your boost - it makes your tone much muchier.

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Re: Looper recs? Or: Can the Ditto x2 do everything the Line 6 DL4 does WRT looping?

Post by burntumber » Wed Jun 24, 2020 8:53 pm

My desert island pedal is the Jamman-delay.

The delay is the Hardwire, with some extras.

The looper stores 99 loops, and you can buy a memory card to store more if you really need to.
You can bank up and down stored loops, slow down and reverse.

If you just want to slow down, speed up loops check out the hotone Wally.

Straight up looping, Boss RC-1.
I like the clock wheel on this one.

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