If you’re looking for a simple looper and you don’t need the extra features in the other loop station models, compare this pedal against the RC-3 and RC-5 to decide which is right for you. It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner or a concert touring professional. The RC-1 is a great choice for any guitarist, bassist or keyboardist concerned with usability and simplicity while having lots of fun! What are some applications for the RC-1? With a maximum 12 minutes of stereo recording time, the RC-1 is capable of capturing any extended performance that you can create or imagine! The RC-600 is the most feature-filled loop station covered in this guide. It surpasses the now-ancient RC-300 in many ways as well as introducing new features not found on any other loop station pedal.

Best looper pedals 2023: fatten up your live performances

In this guide, I’ll go through each of the above pedal’s features and explain who each pedal may or may not suit.What’s really useful, is the coloured LEDs indicate exactly where you are within your loop, as well as give you a countdown to the start point. This visual aid is perfect for helping you to perform in time with your loop. IT will also inform you which mode you have the looper set to.

Boss RC-1 Loop Station review | MusicRadar

It’s also worth mentioning that this pedal doesn’t come with a power supply. Like most loopers, it’s relatively power-hungry and therefore won’t last long with a battery, so we highly recommend investing in a quality pedalboard power supply. You’re even able to connect a microphone directly into the pedal with an XLR cable, which allows you to use the looper for acoustic guitar, vocals, or any other instrument using a microphone. While the RC-1 is a great pedal, it’s bare-bones compared to the RC-3. Being able to save up to 99 recordings on your pedal will be worth the extra price for most guitarists. You can record different chord progressions and practice improvising over them and have them ready at every practice session. Other convenient features include battery and AC power, as well as flexible external footswitching capabilities.The above video uses a BOSS RC-50, which has been discontinued. But you can still achieve the same results with many of the pedals covered below. Which Loop Station is Best? Unlimited overdubs: some looper pedals are limited with how many overdubs you can add to your loop. Unlimited overdubs mean you have the freedom to add to your loops as much as you like.

BOSS - RC-1 | Loop Station BOSS - RC-1 | Loop Station

The way to think about this is you can build a dedicated loop for different parts of a song, different instruments, or different layers you want to start and stop without interrupting the rest of the music. Although the premise of using a looper is simple, it actually takes a bit of practice to get used to using one. Some loopers have just one switch, meaning you’ll have to get used to double-tapping, single tapping, or holding the switch to manipulate your loops. For those loopers with multiple switches things get a lot easier, and having a dedicated play/record and stop switch is definitely a useful feature. The second mode can be accessed by holding down the pedal switch and powering the pedal on simultaneously. The Second is Record > Play > Overdub. By having the RC-1 set to this alternative mode, users can explore musical ideas without capturing the audio straight after the initial recording. The RC-3 adds useful features such as saving up to 99 loops and a rhythm player. These features make the RC-3 a worthwhile upgrade from the RC-1. The X2 only adds in two loop effects that most players aren’t going to use.You’re able to connect up to two more expression pedals, so if you feel you need control over more than one parameter at a time, you can expand the control. The best looper pedal depends on what you want from it. There is a big difference between many of the Loop Stations covered in this guide.

BOSS RC-1 Loop Station Pedal | Industry Standard Simple

Stereo inputs and outputs: All BOSS Loop Stations support mono or stereo inputs and outputs. This is great if you run a stereo rig, but it can be a great way to experiment with looping different instruments together. As you will read next, a better comparison is the RC-3 and the RC-5. Read about the RC-5 below before you decide on either one. The RC-5 is the same size as the two above pedals, but you’ll instantly notice a big change with the pedal’s interface as shown below. Play - This plays the original recording, all the layers you have overdubbed and allows you to play along with them, without adding to the loop. This means you can perform freely without having anything added to the loop.

RC-5

The DL4 MKII sees a significant upgrade on the original’s capabilities but retains an easy-to-use ethos with four separate footswitches to control your loops. It’s got up to 240 seconds of looping time, which goes down to 120 seconds in stereo mode, so whilst it’s not as long as some on this list it’s still plenty to be getting on with. As soon as you’ve recorded a loop, the overall cycle duration indicates loop length. This means you know exactly where you are in the loop at any point. It’s an extremely useful feature for people who like to work with long loops or build sonic soundscapes that don’t have a formal bars/beats structure.