TC Electronic Ditto X4 Looper

Started by Rhcole, March 31, 2016, 10:57:10 PM

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Rhcole

If you look down this review section not too far away, you may see my recent review of the Electro Harmonix 45000 looper. It is a fine product, but optimized more for recording than live performance as I see it. I recently added the Ditto X4 looper to my pedalboard to allow resampling of the 45000 and better live looping capabilities. I have a personal bias that loopers should be performance products first and foremost, which you may not consider to be true. Well for live work, two loopers together is quite a bit of looping firepower, and I have to say it is a wonderful experience for me thus far. The 45000 gives me nearly limitless loop combination capabilities and more powerful recording options in the studio, and by resampling through the Ditto X4 I can create rich ambient textures live.

Now, on to the Ditto X4. It was just released recently, and I was a bit puzzled because it lacks a few common features that are present on many newer loopers, in particular SD card storage, quantization, etc. Yet, it was the very simplicity of the product that drew me to it. I read the manuals for several similarly-priced loopers, but didn't want to get into the "menu diving" on the unit that several of them required in exchange for more features.

Before I get into the features further, I want to get my biggest real complaint about the Ditto X4 out of the way: it has a bit of hiss. Not bad, but enough so that I noticed it. I would listen carefully through headphones before deciding whether I wanted to use this looper in the recording studio or not. I'm sure a noise gate would fix this, and it is minor, but I have the EHX 45000 right next to it and it is dead quiet by comparison.

OK, back to features. You can hook the unit up to a computer, but you will be limited to how much you can store and loop. The Ditto has stereo dual loops and a backing track. All can be either uploaded and downloaded via a computer, but only one set of these at a time. The X4 is clearly intended as a real-time, performance looping system. Further, as I mentioned, it lacks quantization, no metronome, no count-in, none of this. You hit record and away you go. This would be almost impossible to sync with a drummer, and also your timing has to be dead-on if you are recording tightly intertwined parts.

Assuming you can live with these constraints, it is a wonderful and simple looper to operate. It took me about 15 minutes to memorize the foot switch combinations for recording playing overdubbing erasing etc., and I was good to go. Further, the Ditto X4 has great immediate access to loop fading, special effects, loop synchronization, independent loops, and many other powerful features. You can also combine multiple effects at once (reverse, octaves, fades, etc.) which many other loopers can't do. It is also well-built and seems to have good switches and pots. The loop switches are quiet, which I appreciate.

I have spent the last several weeks reading looper manuals, watching demos, and deciding what I wanted to do with my looper setup, intending to optimize for live ambient performances. I'm glad I got this product. I don't mean to diminish either the EHX 45000 or the Ditto X4 by saying that I'm using them both. One thing I learned by studying the products out there is how different the design philosophies of different products are. The Ditto X4 is likely the current state-of-the-art for combining simple operations along with advanced performance features.  It doesn't have some features that others may consider necessary, but for a powerful, simple live looping solution, it can fill the bill nicely.

Brak(E)man

#1
Hey
How are you using the exh and ditto?
On the floor or on a stand?

I'm trying to decide if I want to use a looper
that has midi sync live and are sort of choosing which to use the DItto x4 or
RC-505.

The tc have imo better options for live use , easier to tweak.

But RC-505 can use two ext pedals for start stop recording two loops,
the rest I can do with my hands but lacks loop decay which is important to me.

Where as ditto have the same problem as most stompboxes have.
All the knobs that really needs to be easy tweakable
are on the floor or the knobs that needs to be stomp on are at waist height.

Bending down all the time with a guitar ( or even less with a double neck )
isn't good for my back

Of course there's the midi footcontrol option. But they're big , cost a lot etc.
Can't seem to find a small lightweight 5pin midi.

I'm thinking of a remote foot switch box with 4 switches,
but I'm not sure how difficult/expensive that might be to make for the Ditto.

What's your or anyone else's take ?
swimming with a hole in my body

I play Country music too, I'm just not sure which country it's from...

"The only thing worse than a guitar is a guitarist!"
- Lydia Lunch

gumbo

Quote from: Brak(E)man on October 27, 2019, 02:13:41 AM
Hey
How are you using the exh and ditto?
On the floor or on a stand?

I'm trying to decide if I want to use a looper
that has midi sync live and are sort of choosing which to use the DItto x4 or
RC-505.

The tc have imo better options for live use , easier to tweak.

But RC-505 can use two ext pedals for start stop recording two loops,
the rest I can do with my hands but lacks loop decay which is important to me.

Where as ditto have the same problem as most stompboxes have.
All the knobs that really needs to be easy tweakable
are on the floor or the knobs that needs to be stomp on are at waist height.

Bending down all the time with a guitar ( or even less with a double neck )
isn't good for my back

Of course there's the midi footcontrol option. But they're big , cost a lot etc.
Can't seem to find a small lightweight 5pin midi.

I'm thinking of a remote foot switch box with 4 switches,
but I'm not sure how difficult/expensive that might be to make for the Ditto.

What's your or anyone else's take ?

Not that I have an answer, sadly, BUT I have lost count of the number of times that I have thought "HOW GOOD IT WOULD BE" if many of these such devices were built with a simple (TRRS ?) jack on the side for the attachment of a remote footswitch..   I realise that circuitry varies considerably and there is no one-size-fits-all solution, but it would be SO NICE to get into the heads of those who think up these boxes and get them to engineer such a facility into the item from Day One.     ....sigh.

If they could just see that they could ALSO be selling remote footswitches as well....

Just my 2c worth for the evening.....

Peter
Read slower!!!   ....I'm typing as fast as I can...