tc electronic Ditto X2 Looper

An excellent addition to any musicians effects arsenal.

I was recommended this little looper by a friend a while back and eventually I decided to bite the bullet. This thing performs better then most notable loopers I've come to trying out in the past. It has an array of variable options that makes it ideal for both practicing and songwriting.

I especially likened the addition of both the half time mode and reverse effects you can get with this pedal, as well as the ability of being able to import backing tracks onto the device also. These two components make it to be for an ideal practicing tool when in the shed.

The saving function is super neat also. One thing I noticed was that after you save a loop and turn of the power supply the pedal retains said loop for when you turn it back on again. Helpful for when you want to come back later to refresh.

It does take some time getting used to the sensitivity of the footswitch however, especially where timing is concerned. I have never found myself in a situation where I have dabbled with the looper in a live scenario but have utilized it just for fun in rehearsal with a drummer and I find the recorded loop nearly always phases out with what the other person is playing. IMO if you plan on using it live, I suggest working with this pedal around the clock before you feel 110% confident you can achieve a total steady tempo, otherwise it may just end in total disaster.

The benefit of this though is that you become increasingly aware of your timing so perhaps not all bad. :-)

These cons are somewhat unnecessary however considering the fact that this looper is arguably one of the best on the market. Major props to TC and as always to thomann for their exceptional level of professionalism.

Would recommend to anybody.

I have been using this looper for more than 5 years now and I had no issues with the sound quality, but I do start to see some problems with the build quality.

Use:
I use this looper at home for jamming, have not tried it in band context. It has been reliable for about 4+ year , but now it seems, that some parts of it start to wear off. I have all my pedals equipped with Barefoot Buttons, so the Ditto had 2 of those as well. I first noticed a couple of months ago that pressing the Play button with the BFB on did not work. I heard a click as usual but the recording did not start. Taking off the BFB helped for a few months, now sometimes I have to step on the Play button 3-4 times until it actually does something. The Stop button is still fine, but considering that that button is used much less, it is not surprising. Warranty already expired, so did my own research. It turned out that several TC pedals have issues with the spring under the soft-click buttons wearing off after a while. Some people recommend changing or adjusting the spring, but I haven't managed to open up mine so far, due to the weird screws that do not seem to support any screwdrivers I own. So now I guess I just wait until it slowly gives up or I get tired of it and just order something else.

Other than that, it is a good pedal.

I've purchased the Ditto x2 after using the Ditto and the Boss RC-3. What I can say is that by having a bigger box, the pedal is much more stable.

The fact that it can have a dedicated stop button makes its handling so much better. Having two switches makes the pedal easier to operate. Th extra effects are really cool. I use it for solo performances and they can give that extra 'Ohhhh' that sometimes lacks in solo stuff.

The only downside I see in this pedal is if you are already used to the original Ditto two-click stop (even though you can use it on the x2), this pedal is less "bang for your buck". The x2 is also bigger and heavier than the original, and that might be a problem for some people too.

I'm completely satisfied with the x2 and would buy again!

My first looper; this pedal is easy to operate with an excellent switch that is easy to step on with accurate timing. It also has some cool features to play with.

It's a superb practice tool which really highlights your flaws back to you so you can work on them; the half speed option, which drops your loop by an octave when slowing it down, is particularly good for highlighting mistakes or timing issues. (Half speed is also useful for creating a bassline type loop to play over, I guess!)

There's a surprising amount of ways to play with the sounds here too- for example you can put a recorded loop at half speed, record a second loop over it, then return to normal speed to get the effect of raising the second loop an octave above what you played.
The reverse effect can create some fun and atmospheric sounds. You can also use the half speed effect and the reverse loop effect together by switching the toggle.

The pedal saves whatever loops are active when you switch it off- which means you can even use it to record a riff for later if you're stuck.

You can also drop a .wav file onto the pedal from your computer to use as a loop, which is a nice feature. There are sample loops available online, but I've used this to practice over tunes from my music collection.

I have used it for years for it's quality of sound and timing accuracy. However, the switches are absolutely NOT going to last for too long. They failed me during gigs several times. Another very bad issue is that the UNDO doesn't work consistently, in all 3 "ditto x2" that I owned. So if you want to delete a small mistaken overdub, you have to wait until it's being played. You can't just hold the switch and expect to UNDO it in any time point, especially on a long initial loop. Other loopers do this with ease. The Ditto is consistently totally unreliable on this part. So if you make a mistake and want to UNDO it fast, it's not going to happen on a long initial loop. You will have to wait until the mistaken overdub will be heard on the speakers(!), and then you can press the UNDO (hold the rec for 2 seconds) and hope that it will erase it. Sometimes it does it's own things... For example you can press the REC and it will stop instead of playback, or it will not playback what you have just recorded. It will record and undo at the same time the last overdub. So you will have to long press the switch to recall the last overdub. I only keep on buying it because of the big volume knob which I can control with my foot, the great sound quality, and the switch accuracy (not durability though). Of course, because I am very familiar with it. However, if I would buy my first looper right now, I would maybe go for the mxr looper.

A friend told me that loopers were great when getting into electric guitar. I looked at lots of products and read reviews on lots of websites then decided to buy this one . Thomann's price was better than in the UK and as always their communication and delivery time were superb. The Ditto is VERY solid, easy to opetrate and quite intuitive. I think the two button design is helpful. My only criticism is the use instructions are limited to a tiny "quick start" sheet and a few more use instructions may have helped me as a first time looper user. It's a bit tricky to get the timing right in use, but like anything it will just take practice. Sound of the recorded loop is true and I liked the volume control for the loop playback. I haven't yet used all the features, like saving my loops to a computer or downloading free backing tracks from Jamtracks. However I can see great possibilities with this device and am pleased I bought it.