RE: Update on Looping Hardware

["Rainer Straschill" <rs@moinlabs.de>]

Dear Ernie, dear Stuart,

no, Stuart, I'm not going to flame you...I just want to second your opinion
on the DL4, which I keep enjoying more and more everytime I use it.
Quick history of my use of the DL4: I got mine a long time after I did 
first
"lo-fi" looping experiment with the delay algorithms of a SE-50 and a
StudioQuad, then a RDS2001 and a fourtrack with an endless cassette tape,
and shortly after I got a Headrush. While the Headrush sat on the shelf for
some time after I assembled my main rack, I revitalized it when I built
together my "live rack" (also to beused for my project "Eclectic Blah", see
www.mp3.com/eblah), put it in the main setup and moved the DL4 to the live
rack, thinking I could do anything the DL4 did with a combination of
Repeater, FireworX and a multitude of other weird effects...BIG MISTAKE!

Apart from its looping functions, which are cool for the reverse/half speed
option, the stutter function and the additional 800ms delay alone, the
different delay algorithms are simply phenomenal. I played in this dub 
combo
where everybody and his/her brother had a Roland SpaceEcho, and those 
people
just were rendered speechless when I came in with a green stompbox which 
did
exactly what their huge space echos did...and more! The "Sweep Echo" is an
absolute must, and I also like the (don't remember the name) mod delay with
volume swell.
Currently, I use it in every session with Eclectic Blah, and discover new
variants of possible noises every time. Also listen (if you wish) to my
piece "Confidence" on the www.mp3.com/moinlabs: the tune was done without
real "instruments", rather, a combination of resonant filters (Electrix
FilterFactory), surreal reverbs (Zoom 1201), oscillator cascades (Nord
MicroModular) and the forementioned delay algorithms of the DL4 were played
as "instruments"...

Coda: Stuart is right (of course): I'd start with a DL4 and play A LOT with
it. Then, if you really like the looping thing, think about getting an EDP+
(improved version for the ECE market coming soon) or a Repeater 
second-hand.

All the best,

        Rainer


Rainer Straschill
Moinlabs GFX and Soundworks - www.moinlabs.de
digital penis expert group - www.dpeg.de
The MoinSound Archives - www.mp3.com/moinlabs

> At the lower end of the market, check out the Line6 DL4 - I have used
> it with microphones, and have performed most of my music
> using a single
> DL4 pedal. It seems to have a good frequency range, and is
> noiseless -
> especially when run on batteries (30 hours use on a good set of
> alkalines)....