Boss RC-20xl Loop station (1 Viewer)

[sugar_referee]

Was thinking of getting one of these fellers. Like geriatric porn , the knobs confuse and frighten me but I think I can brave it out.
Anyone used one? Ill give you sweet , sweet candy/ rep in return for a miniature, bitter review.

 

[KarlS]

l got one a few months back because I was rich then. I think it's great, really easy to use provided you have a half decent sense of rhythm. The sound quality is good enough for live use, though for recording you'd definitely get a better sound out of recording each layer separately.

The instructions are printed on the bottom which is a good idea. Means you can't lose them even if you're as stupid as me.

There's a mic input as well so you can do clever stuff like overlay vocals and guitar stuff together. Or indeed any other instrument you like.

There's something like 14 minutes of sampling time in it - I haven't managed to use it all and I have some pretty long loops in it.

It has a backwards button on it which is cool, but you need an extension pedal switch to work the backwards thing with your feet. Otherwise you need some kind of poking stick to hit the backwards button without bending over.

I think one of the best things is the way you can hold down 1 pedal to undo the last overdub or hold down the other pedal to clear the entire loop (not including stuff you've saved permanently with the save feature). This way you can have a starting loop that's always in the machine and you can overdub to your heart's content. If you mess up 1 pass of it you can zap it and start again.

The click track feature is a good idea but badly done because you get a thumping bassdrum type noise instead of a click. And it's always in 4/4 which is a pain if your tune isn't.

My only other advice is don't buy an ex-demo model like I did (it was the only one left) full of poor quality "rawk" loops left in it by music shop muppets. Some excruciating stuff in there.

 

[sugar_referee]

Sounds good.I read a review with some lad moaning about the click time, but he said he couldn't turn the click off, and I've no intention of sticking to 4/4 for the next few years. Was this lad telling porkies?
Also , I assume you can manipulate the foot pedals just to stop a loop live?
I've never even touched one of these lads before so this is basic stuff. i'm gettin one manual-less too so that's good news about the bottom instructions.
Lovely stuff , have some broiled rep

 

[Anne OMalley]

I agree with everything KarlS says, except for two important points. Although it's not obvious from looking at the pedal, the RC20XL does in fact give you several different styles of click track, not just a kick drum. The kick is the default, but check the manual and you'll see how to access the others.

Also, there are a number of other time signatures, apart from 4/4 (which is the default). Again, this isn't obvious, so take a look at the manual.

The RC20XL is an amazing pedal but to me there's one big drawback to it: it's in mono. This is fine if you're running a guitar or a single voice through it. But if you want to loop something like a sampler, a stereo synth or the output from a mixer, then you'll have to sum the channels, either in the RC20XL itself or beforehand. Either way, your output from the RC20XL will be a mono signal.

Contrast this with Boss's DD20 delay pedal, which lets you loop in full stereo. Having said that, the DD20 isn't a full featured loop sampler like the RC20XL. For example, the DD20 doesn't have the (incredibly useful) undo feature. It's also a bit harder to overlay sounds, it doesn't let you stop and start your loops (once you stop, the loop is erased) and it doesn't have anything close to the memory of the RC20XL. So if looping is your main interest, and you don't need stereo, go for the RC20XL.

The click track feature is a good idea but badly done because you get a thumping bassdrum type noise instead of a click. And it's always in 4/4 which is a pain if your tune isn't.