9 of the Best Compact Looper Pedals
It’s been a while since I covered loopers, and that topic is timely once more as there have been a number of very recent innovations.
I still feel that the TC Electronic Ditto+ is the one essential looper you need, while a number of the recent ones offer up some very interesting possibilities - in some intriguing formats. This selection focuses solely on ’Compact’ editions - so the Sheeran ones for example don’t qualify within that form factor. And a number of these combine a Drum Machine with the Looper function - and several here have full Stereo Inputs and Outputs!
I’m no Looper Trooper / Loop Master myself - unlike say KT Tunstall, Ed Sheeran, Pete Honoré, Jo Quail, and Chris Woods - where I use loopers for 2 vastly different purposes. The Ditto+ is mostly used when I’m trialling new pedals - and I just need a familiar pattern repeated as I tweak the knobs on said new pedal. And at the more experimental end of things - I have the Boss RC-10R Rhythm Loop Station, and the flagship RC-600 Looper at my disposal. Overall I own 5 dedicated loopers - where from this selection I’m most interested in acquiring the Mooer GL100 and ZOOM MS-90LP+.
If I could only have 2 from this selection I would go for the GL100 and the Ditto+ - the latter of which I already own of course!
The RC-5, JamMan Solo HD, Flamma FS01, and NUX Loop Core Stereo are sort of vying for the same ground. The 360 Pico and Ditto+ are stripped down affairs, with the ULooper being for more specialist applications - and where that one is obviously the cheapest and simplest of the lot.
The most visually appealing here are the Mooer and TC Electronic ones - which means that I will be looking to acquire at least the Mooer GL100 here, possibly the MS-90LP+ also - when that lands in the UK early February!
I feel there are compelling reasons for most of these. The newest of these is the imminently to be released MS-90LP+, with the Pico 360+ and Mooer GL100 also being very recently released. Overall this selection is relatively recent, with most of these having materialised within just the last couple of years - the Flamma FS01 is the oldest variety here - having been launched around 4 years ago.
I definitely feel that Mooer and Zoom are switching things up - and even some of the other recent ones of these now look a generation behind. The Mooer one is by far and away the most attractive / appealing one for me here!
The RC-5, JamMan Solo HD, and Loop Core Stereo are all still solid workhorses - while the Flamma is starting to show its age now, and I’m not sure that the Pico 360+ is going to take too many sales away from the Ditto+!
Here is my curated selection of 9 :
- Boss RC-5 Loop Station Compact Phrase Recorder - $199
- DigiTech JamMan Solo HD Stereo Looper - $249
- Electro-Harmonix Pico 360+ Looper - $138
- Flamma FS01 Looper/Drum Machine - $98
- Mooer GL100 AI-enhanced Phrase & Drum Station - $137
- NUX Loop Core Stereo Looper - $129
- TC Electronic Ditto+ Mini Looper - $99
- XSonic ULooper USB / Guitar Amps Looper - $79
- ZOOM MS-90LP+ MultiStomp Looper - $215
Do let me know if I’ve overlooked any in this category (Note : Compact Enclosure!).
Further details on each below as usual :
Boss RC-5 Loop Station Compact Phrase Recorder - $199
Controls - Memory / Loop Level, Rhythm } Tempo, On Off, Setup, Memory } Write.
32 Bit Processing | 13 Hours Recording | 99 User Memories | MIDI In / Out / Sync | RGB Back Lit LCD | Reverse Playback Mode | 50 Rhythms : 7 Kits | CTL / EXP Assign | Stereo In/Out | USB Wav File Transfer | Batter and PSA.
DigiTech JamMan Solo HD Stereo Looper - $249
Controls - Up / Down Scroll, Loop / Single / Card Mem indicators, Loop Level, Tempo, Setup, Store [Hold : Delete], Rhythm Level.
32-bit/216kHz AD/DA conversion | 32 Hours of Looping Time | 200 User Memories | 10 Included Professional King Crimson Drum Loops | Glitch-free Time-stretching | Mini-B USB Transfer Port | Jam Sync Enabled | AUX In.
Electro-Harmonix Pico 360+ Looper - $138
Controls - Loop Lvl, Rec / Play / Dub LED, Mem LED, Loop, Dry Lvl, Overdub.
24-bit A/D/A, 44.1kHz Sample Rate | 6 Minutes of Looping Time | Undo-Redo Function | Unlimited Overdubbing | Dry and Loop Level Controls | Adjustable fadeout time | Power supply included.
Flamma FS01 Looper/Drum Machine - $98
Controls - Looper level, Mode : Looper / Drum / Looper + Drum, Drum level, Genre : 1-11, Tap Tempo, Pattern : 1-11.
20 Minutes of Looping Time | 11 Drum Groove Genres / 11 Patterns | 3 Playback Modes | Visible Looper Recording Bar | Individual / Independent and Joint action for Looper and Drum Machine.
Mooer GL100 AI-enhanced Phrase & Drum Station - $137
Controls - Looper Level : -∞ > +6, Menu / Save / Delete, Smart Colour Screen, Auto Rec, Tap Tempo, Drum, Rec / Play / Dub Footswitch (Hold for Undo / Redo), Stop / Tap Footswitch (Hold for Clear / Delete).
Sample depth : 24 bit | Sample rate : 44.1kHz | 300 Minutes of Looping Time | 100 User Memories | Twin Multipurpose Footswitches | Time-Stretch Function | Tap Tempo BPM support | Auto-record Footswitch | Automatic and Manual State saving | Real time loop browsing | Count-in feature | Mooer AI Band technology | Drum Machine with 20 Drum Patterns and 11 Variations | Built-in Quantization | Full Stereo Ins and Outs.
NUX Loop Core Stereo Looper - $129
Controls - Drum Style, Tap / Tempo, Save / Delete, Global Settings, Value / Volume.
A/D Conversion : 24bit | Sampling Rate : 44.1kHz | Signal Processing : 32 bit floating | Up to 6 hours of Looping Time (Stereo) | Built-in rhythm tracks with 50 patterns | MIDI In | USB-C.
TC Electronic Ditto+ Mini Looper - $99
Controls - Previous Loop, Level, Next Loop.
24-Bit Audio | Analog Dry-Thru | 60 Minutes of Looping Time | 99 User Memories | Unlimited Overdubs | Dynamic Loop Length | Mini-USB | High Resolution Colour Display | Loops Retain in Memory when device is Off.
XSonic ULooper USB / Guitar Amps Looper - $79
Controls - Loop Level.
USB A/C Looper | Specially made for use with Amp USB connections | 3 Hours Looping Time | Compatible with most Positive Grid Spark, Boss Katana, Yamaha THR, Fender Mustang, and Marshall Code Amps.
ZOOM MS-90LP+ MultiStomp Looper - $215
Controls - Memory, Loop FX, Rhythm, Menu, Loop FX Switch, Rhythm Switch, Undo Switch, Stop (Hold to Clear), Core Footswitch : Record / Overdub / Play.
32-bit float Processing | 90 Minutes of Stereo Looping Time, 13 Hours of Recording Time | 100 User Memories | 68 Rhythm Patterns | Tempo Sync | USB-C Transfer Port | 8 Loop FX | 5 Dedicated Footswitches | Optional Battery Powered | Quantize Feature | Realtime Waveform Display | MIDI In & Out.
