Electro Harmonix 2880 super multitrack looper

darkrezin · Post by **darkrezin** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 4:24 pm

http://www.ehx.com/ehx2/Default.asp?q=f ... F09%5F2880

I realise this device is quite new but has anyone here tried it? I want to buy one but I'm interested in user experiences.

erminardi · Post by **erminardi** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 11:52 pm

Look also this similar stuff: http://www.roland.com/products/en/SP-404/index.html

Shroomz~> · Post by **Shroomz~>** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 1:55 am

Interesting piece of kit, but to be honest, it doesn't really cut it for me, as it doesn't use the CF card's full potential. It uses it more like a virtual tape. I was quite intrigued so I had a look at the manual where it states:-

"Only one loop, song or project can be on a CF card at a time, even if it is only 1 second in length. When you begin recording a New Loop, it erases the previous loop that you had on the card; you cannot retrieve old loops once overwritten."

So anything that you want to keep has to be either recorded from it's analogue outs or else you're gonna be quickly annoyed at taking the CF card in & out to remove a session at a time.. every time. If only they'd taken the CF reading/writing technology a little further, put a small LCD on there & allowed you to name tracks/loops & browse the CF card contents, I think it could've been a more attractive tool.

That said, I'm sure it's a creative & intuative little box.

darkrezin · Post by **darkrezin** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 1:57 am

Thanks but it's not really the same thing... I need something realtime - record a loop, it starts playing immediately. The Roland looks more like a Dr. Sample type thing... I already have something similar (Akai S20). It also looks really fiddly and has way too many features. I want to use the Electro Harmonix as a super-quick idea capture device.

darkrezin · Post by **darkrezin** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 1:59 am

Shroomz - yep that is one of the drawbacks of it. However, my intended use is to simply record sections away from the computer, then bounce them into Logic when I'm happy with them. So for me it's not a huge deal.

Apparently the EHX dudes couldn't work out a way to browse through multiple sets of loops on a CF card without making the interface overly complicated. To be honest, I love this way of thinking.

It also has USB so it could be hooked up to the PC all the time and loops copied off it before starting new ones.

[ This Message was edited by: darkrezin on 2006-06-06 03:09 ]

Shroomz~> · Post by **Shroomz~>** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 2:17 am

I know what you mean. Not only that, but it'll be rock solid stabiltity-wise in this simple form. The more you think about it, not having an LCD & menu structure to browse through, probably makes it really fast to use & that's undoubtedly the point, although I'd still love to see it with browsable banks of loop 'programs', as it would definately make it even more creative if you could load individual loops while playing or whole sets of pre-saved loops.

Much more expensive, but for creatively mixing loops live in the studio, I think I'd much much rather have some nice pro CD decks & a mad scratch mixer.

Hey, you keep adding bits

The usb .. mmm.

[ This Message was edited by: Shroomz on 2006-06-06 03:18 ]

darkrezin · Post by **darkrezin** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 3:52 am

Yep, I'm definitely looking for simplicity and speed. I have been playing with a thing called an Electrix Repeater at work - a very similar device although it has a lot of features I just don't need (bad sounding timestretch/pitchshift, editing functions which are way too complicated anyway). However the ability to record audio away from the computer triggered by a footswitch is incredibly inspiring, and having it synced by MIDI clock to your main sequencer is just awesome!

Re: the CD decks - that's cool of course and my turntables will be one of the sources I want to record. However I also need to record guitar, bass and synths too

Shroomz~> · Post by **Shroomz~>** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 5:34 am

Another option would be to hook a motorised BCF or similar up to a laptop & run Live on it. Not quite the simple approach your talking about, but amazingly powerful if used as a dedicated loop machine.

darkrezin · Post by **darkrezin** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 5:39 am

Yep Ableton Live is very capable.. but I really want something which lets me get away from the computer. I hate mice!

darkrezin · Post by **darkrezin** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 7:38 am

Well I found some info on some guitar forums and it seems to get the thumbs up, so I just ordered it

I'll post some feedback here if anyone's interested.

dawman · Post by **dawman** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 8:39 am

I wish to hear of your sucsess with it. I do live reverse looping with my Line 6 Echo Pro, Synthesizers in reverse are heavenly, as is over dubbing on ongoing loops. Your device seems like I could add to my Line 6 stuff as I quickly outgrew it's memory amount. But it has excellant models of EP3 Maestro,Roland Space Echo, and several other great tape delays. I got chops up the ass with both hands, but seems like the kids these days want to trip out like the '60's, but with more synths/psychedelic stuff. The reverse solos always get the attention, and reverse vocal pads as my comp.

Be Festive,

darkrezin · Post by **darkrezin** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 8:42 am

Nice... yeah I'm sure I'll post a review here after I get to grips with it. I love EH gear and have never been let down by them so far, so I'm pretty optimistic.

I'm not familiar with the Line 6 (although I have to say I avoid their amps/preamps/guitars like the plague - they sound amazingly fake). However I have heard this delay is quite fun. The EH certainly gives you more looping time (up to 2GB CF cards can be used). I think the only devices comparable to this thing are the Electrix Repeater (hard to get hold of and a bit flaky in some respects), Looperlative rackmount looper and Gibson Echoplex Digital Pro Plus. These last 2 are stupidly expensive but feature-wise are incredible.

[ This Message was edited by: darkrezin on 2006-06-07 09:45 ]

dawman · Post by **dawman** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 10:16 am

829 USD on ebay. They can suck my ass!!

DoeZer · Post by **DoeZer** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 11:18 pm

Hi..

just a quick qeustion on the EHX.

it looks like a great little unit but i cant find one vital piece of info from all the blurb... no matter how many reviews I read!!!

If i was to use it live as a looping device for a 1 man guitar setup... so i record in some loops and layer things up nicely. Is it possible , using just the footswitch obviously to drop out just some of those loops. say i build up three looops they are working nice together. then i come to a softer part of the song can i just drop back to one of those loops and play over that.

if the fopotswitch had buttons one to four at the bottom i could see that being real easy then you just toggle each one on/off...

anyway. could someone clear that up for me please??

thanks
D

darkrezin · Post by **darkrezin** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 12:52 pm

I bought it and have used it for my purposes, which are not the same as yours. I use it synced to Logic in the studio to jam riffs and transfer them over USB. It won't do what you want - the only control over levels of the 4 tracks is on the main unit. The footswitch duplicates the Track select, reverse, octave, new loop, record and play buttons on the main unit.

I think it's a very nice unit for certain uses but maybe not for some ways of working (it does not have tap-tempo for example).

Have a look at the manual, it's downloadable from ehx.com

dawman · Post by **dawman** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 5:30 pm

Gibson Echoplex looper on ebay 4 435 USD!!! This is worth bidding on 4 that type of delay/looper.