Some Thoughts on the Sheeran Looper+ and Looper X

OK - so I’ve been ruminating on this one for a long time. I’m certainly not a looper pro - but have some experience of TC Electronic Ditto, and Ditto X2 Loopers, and Boss RC-10R, and RC-600 Loop Stations.

Ed Sheeran’s history with the Boss RC-20XL is very well known - that is to say his Chewie Monsta / Chewie 2 modified version of that - aided and abetted by his Looper Technician Trevor Dawkins.

For the longest part of his career Ed has relied on some Boss underpinnings for his key essential looper, and in his new 3-way collaboration with Trevor Dawkins and HeadRush - there is some fairly obvious old-school Boss DNA carried across. Including the looping circle, and of course the very Boss-derived kick-pads, albeit somewhat cutely evolved with quality aluminium surrounds.

That format is what Ed has been used to all his recording life, while Boss evolved towards more conventional lower profile footswitches a long time ago. You need quite the elevation of your foot to use those Sheeran-style kick pads, while they no doubt have a very satisfactory action to them - but in ergonomic terms they are somewhat clunky.

The Junior - Looper+ is kind of close to the Boss RC-10R in price and function, while the larger HeadRush Looperboard derived Looper X comes with a somewhat hefty $1299 premium versus Boss’s industry standard flagship RC-600.

As with every signature pedal - there are some very personal choices in the ergonomics and core functions of the Sheeran Loopers, and while other Looper pros were consulted during the design process - the core template was very much set by Ed’s needs. Those other looper pros rather more adding to the functional feature set and software implementation versus the core ergonomics and dynamics of the device.

The two things that immediately stand out for me are the screen, and the ability to easily load in different external rhythm tracks say for instance from YurtRock - which I don’t believe is a possibility on the Boss devices.

I really like the screen function on the larger Sheeran Looper X - in particular the 4-Tracks Waveform Screen - as per the main visual. As a long-term DJ - one of the things I always liked about DJ-ing with vinyl - was the visible cues in the grooves of that format - you could at a glance see exactly what was happening in the track - where the breakdowns occurred etc. - for easier and more precise cueing. The same holds true for those Looper X waveform track traces where you can more easily identify exactly where you are within the song structure and what is coming up next.

Within the Boss Loop Station EcoSystem - and particularly at the flagship level - there are all manner of smart things you can do to repurpose the footswitches for more tracks and pretty much every part of that control interface - re-assigning the footswitches to various purposes. The Boss EcoSystem has been robustly road-tested for decades, and there are whole armies of Looper Pros that subscribe to that canon and philosophy.

The massive challenge here is in overall dimensional footprint - ease of use and re-purposing of controls, and how capable and versatile each device is. There are various things that Boss can learn from the Sheeran Loopers, but also the other way round. Those 2 EcoSystems are overall quite different really.

I always adhere to the ’horses for courses’ philosophy - meaning that different devices will suit different musician’s needs, preferences, and playback requirements. On a comparative level each has a slew of its own advantages.

While there is certainly a huge price differential in the comparative cost of the Sheeran X ($1299) to the Boss RC-600 ($599). In many ways the Boss is the more powerful device, while there are several advantages to the Looper X too - in particular its different screen modes, and ease of incorporating 3rd-party beats - which I totally understand can be a big thing.

The Looper+ and Looper X seem very well built - and while the screen displays and software environments are very modern, those Boss derived kick-pads are very old-school. Would be interesting to see a comparative study in ease of use of those versus the more conventional lower profile footswitches. The very pro Boomerang III Phrase Sampler Looper has its own type of footswitches - which are also very low profile really.

The Sheeran Loopers are therefore distinctly different in that approach. I would say each looping artist will need to discover what they are comfortable with - while I would certainly personally be leaning more into lower profile formats - I find it somewhat awkward to use Wah pedals on occasion (prefer auto-wahs!) - let alone those raised kick / foot-pads on the Sheeran Loopers.

As you would take a car for a test-drive to see how well it suits your driving style and physiology - including foot and leg placement and the overall ergonomics of those controls - I would assume the same case would apply to the format of looper switches / action.

There are so many different basis you can compare these on - I’m really not sure it’s worthy doing a blow-by-blow features comparisons - all those devices are somewhat different in their takes on looping - even though the central concept is the same.

I’m not sure the RC-600 is particularly threatened by the Looper X - it offers abilities that the other doesn’t cater for. And conversely the Looper X has several killer features that aren’t available on the RC-600 - but then again it is nearly 3 times the price.

Undoubtedly there will be some attrition at the RC-10R level - I’ve already long since fed back on what I feel needs to be improved on that device. And now with the Sheeran Looper+ slap bang in that territory for just $10 more - Boss certainly needs to do some more work there - to bring some of those visibly user-friendly features to the fore on its competing devices.

I’m always fascinated as to what drives product design - and what the core markers and therefore limitations, and advantages might be. These Sheeran Looper pedals very obviously feed directly into the Ed Sheeran EcoSystem - and the other professionals involved are somewhat of a smokescreen - as so much is defined by Ed’s needs way before those others even get involved. Would be interesting to see the breakdown in rationale over the ergonomics of the device and to see if other lower profile alternative footswitches were considered - or if the mission was always to pivot from the Chewie Monsta and cross it with the HeadRush Looperboard.

For sure the Beats integration and the screen display / modes are a big draw, but sense and sensibility would dictate that for sure the Boss RC-600 has to be the more sensible and practical choice - while it’s rather more open season on the RC-10R / Looper+ equivalency.

I would love to hear from players that sit both sides of the divide - as well as those who are planning on getting a Looper X - as to what the key motivation is, and how they justify that enormous price differential.

I was going to end with a load of technical stats comparisons - number of tracks, number of effects, looping times, overdub times, number of loops / phrases etc. While I feel the decision tree here is not really on that level - there are other more tangible fundamentals at stake which determine which device is the more suitable for your needs.

I actually always used to think that the RC-600 would be too large for my needs (while that has been incorporated into the chain for a couple of years now!) - it sits at 435mm x 163mm x 66mm, while the Sheeran Looper X is at 552mm x 320mm x 101mm - significantly bigger in every dimension - and additionally three times the weigh also! Obviously if you’re considering that size of Looper - it really has to be your main mode of operation - as it will surely become your entire pedalboard in effect.

Looking at the smaller format head-to-head there is again a significant differential between the RC-10R’s 138mm x 101mm x 63mm, where the Looper+ is at 216mm x 159mm x 76mm. While the just $10 price differential will mean that more people should be willing to take a punt on the Sheeran+ - as there is no major financial incentive to go for the RC-10R in preference.

I’m fascinated to hear your opinions here - please weight in with due consideration, it doesn’t serve anyone to be overly partisan - and as I see it there are plenty of reasons on both sides of the argument here.

I don’t think Ed really needs the money - so this seems more like a HeadRush and Trevor Dawkins play to cash in on the Sheeran brand - I very much look forward to seeing how all this evolves and pans out - and who eventually ends up in either camp!

What say all of you?!