Looper + Mixer

I’m looking for one box to operate as both a mixer (for ~4 inputs) and looper, does anyone have any suggestion for gear? I was interested in the Octatrack but it seems hard to use with a difficult interface.

No, the Octatrack has a bad reputation because it can do plenty of things.

Another aspect is that Elektron machines are sequencer-oriented, there’s a logic that you retrieve in any Elektron machine…

But it really seem to be what you’re looking for.
If you have the money, maybe try a used one so that you can resell it without loosing money if you’re not OK with it.
Note that you will need time to really make full use of it.

But no, it’s not THAT hard to use.

First thing to do though, even before watching tutorials and all : you HAVE to read OT manual. This is the very first step.
Most of the people that find it hard to use don’t rtfm :slight_smile:

And then you’ll be able to judge if it seems to fit your needs.

The Octatrack will indeed do this, but as a looper (using the pickup machines, ugh) it is the worst and most badly thought out PITA, however it is an awesome machine to use for loops using the flex or static machines, a fair bit of setup and thinking is required but once you get it then it is all pretty simple.

Elektron failed very badly at trying to make dedicated a dedicated looping machine (pickup) when in fact the existing flex machine does the job much better and much simpler, without the risk of pressing a wrong button and losing the loops like you get with the ridiculous pickup machines. Ha, can you tell I hate the pickup machines yet?

The Octatrack is a very flexible and powerful sampler, sure it only has 8 voices, the interface can sometimes require many cryptic multi button combinations, and there are some really silly os things like timestretch defaults to on, and midi control cannot be turned off - so hit a wrong key on your controller and oops you just recorded over that sample. But it is not difficult to use, just a bit awkward.

One thing to consider is getting an iPad mini, iConnect Audio, a cheap pedal MIDI controller like Behringer’s FCB1010, and run Loopy HD + AUM on it. Much cheaper than getting an Octa, and way more easier to use. But check out some Octatrack videos too, or if possible ask somebody to show it to you in action… Some people pick it up quickly. For me it’s been quite hard to internalize Octa’s workflow.


The EHX 45000 (http://www.ehx.com/products/ehx-45000) seems to have 3 or 4 ins, but dunno how the aux channel works. Anybody used that?

^ you could also do that with an iPhone or iPod. Loopy and AUM are universal :slight_smile:

One thing to consider is getting an iPad mini, iConnect Audio, a cheap pedal MIDI controller like Behringer's FCB1010, and run Loopy HD + AUM on it. Much cheaper than getting an Octa, and way more easier to use. But check out some Octatrack videos too, or if possible ask somebody to show it to you in action... Some people pick it up quickly. For me it's been quite hard to internalize Octa's workflow.

The EHX 45000 (http://www.ehx.com/products/ehx-45000) seems to have 3 or 4 ins, but dunno how the aux channel works. Anybody used that?

The 45000 is bypassed via the aux input. That aside, it has

2 inputs (L & R)

Ableton, a souncard and a midi controler might be a cheap alternative assuming you have a computer
This soundcard is nice and cheap
http://www.thomann.de/gb/esi_maya_44_usb.htm

Is not an all-in-one-box solution but you can put the computer to clamshell mode and use the controller on top of it. the footprint wouldn’t be much different compared to a standalone device. And battery power ! plus much more versatile/powerful than iphone imho. there is an inherent latency with apps that i never managed to overcome

If it’s just a looper you need, Pigrtronix Infinity might do the trick.
MIDI sequenced, but only two inputs.

I use a Pigtronix Infinity with aux foot switch and a Vestax DJ mixer with stereo send on each channel. I love it.


The beauty of the Infinity isn’t just the fact that it slaves to MIDI sync… the beauty is in the fact that the loop transport is QUANTIZED to the beat so the loops are rock solid.

Also, the reverse and undo functions on the aux foot switch make using it as a creative tool on stage even more fun.

Not even the RC-505 has more than a stereo input. Loopers are generally designed for one person with one instrument so not a huge market I guess. I’d just find a looper you like and get a mixer to compliment it.

I use a Pigtronix Infinity with aux foot switch and a Vestax DJ mixer with stereo send on each channel. I love it.

The beauty of the Infinity isn't just the fact that it slaves to MIDI sync... the beauty is in the fact that the loop transport is QUANTIZED to the beat so the loops are rock solid.

Also, the reverse and undo functions on the aux foot switch make using it as a creative tool on stage even more fun.

Right. And you can have different lengths on your two loops.

I love looping with Ableton, it’s just so easy. And you can switch really fast between all the loops you’ve recorded. All you need is a usb audio interface. I do it with a simple zoom H4n, it has 4 mono inputs. But you could do it even better with a Zoom R16 or R24. The R16 and R24 are also mixers.

This is not what you are looking for, but Auxy (on the iPad) is very easy to use in combination with the OP-1:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7evfcW7LuE