DigiTech JML2 JamMan Stereo Looper Pedal
DigiTech JML2 JamMan Stereo Looper Pedal By DigiTech
Price : $246.42
Product Description
When we developed the PDS 8000 looper pedal over twenty years ago, it looped eight seconds of audio. When we reinvented loopers in 2005 with the original JamMan, over 6 hours worth of material could be stored on a removable media card. Now, DigiTech has raised the bar with the new JamMan Stereo Looper with the ability to store 35 minutes of CD quality loops in 99 internal memories as well as having an SD memory card expansion slot giving you the ability to store over 16 hours of material in an additional 99 slots. The JamMan Stereo also features true stereo looping, reverse playback, and a mic input making it perfect for backing tracks or DJ applications. The JamMan Stereo features USB connectivity and will sync to DigiTech's free JamManager software that organizes and saves your JamMan Stereo loops to piece or Mac. JamManager also lets you quickly create custom JamLists to take to your gig.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #5108 in Musical Instruments
- Color: Blue
- Brand: DigiTech
- Model: JML2
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 7.25" h x
3.50" w x
10.00" l,
3.70 pounds
Features
- Store over 35 minutes of stereo, CD Quality loops in 99 internal memories
- Optional SDHC card can store over 16 hours of CD quality audio in 99 additional memories (198 total)
- Reverse Playback
- 4 Heavy duty metal footswitches for looping and loop selection; Connect to your computer via USB and use the JamManager Loop Librarian software to organize and archive your loops.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
52 of 53 people found the following review helpful.
By Dr H
(Note: Why several sites have this listed as a "Bass Pedal Tuner" is a mystery to me. It's not specifically for bass, and it's certainly not any kind of "tuner." What it is, is a stereo digital sample-and-playback looping unit.)
I like this unit, mostly. I knew what I was looking for in a looper, and I researched the available options before settling on the Jamman Stereo. For the most part I got what I was expecting.
The pros:
+ The unit is compact, and very solidly built
+ Controls are (mostly) self-explanatory
+ Excellent sound quality on the samples, with very low noise
+ Good internal memory capacity
+ Expandable memory, using common SD digital camera memory chips
+ Simple to use; shallow learning curve
+ True stereo input and output available
+ Adjustable tempo and quantization available
+ "Single play" and "infinite repeat" options
+ Accepts direct input from: instrument, mike, audio-player
+ No batteries needed
* I found it very easy to start working with this unit, record, playback, overdub, and erase functions are simple to implement through footswitch control. Sound is clean and high quality, and most of what I need to do can be done with hands-free operation. The unit accepts SD memory up to 32GB, which provides for 6-hours of storage; more than sufficient for any of my planned applications.
Indifferent/personal taste:
+/- "Reverse playback" option is kind of silly and useless
+/- "Snap"-type footswitches, rather than soft-touch
+/- No way to set a loop for a specific number of repeats
+/- No phantom power on mike XLR input
+/- No "on/off" switch
+/- Need for wall-wart & power cord offsets the convenience of not needing batteries.
* I might use the "reverse" once in a blue moon for a special effect, just becuase it's there, but if it wasn't there, I wouldn't miss it. Still, people were apparently clamoring for this feature, so I suppose they had to put it in.
* More of an annoyance for me is the use of small snap-type buttons for the footswitches. I find this particularly awkward (and noisy) when tapping in tempos. For that function I greatly prefer a soft-touch, more or less silent switch, and also the large rubber pad of the original Jamman. But then, I don't use the tap-tempo feature that much, so it really isn't that big an issue.
* It also would have been nice to be able to pre-program a loop to repeat a specific number of times -- 3, 6, 15 repeats, etc. -- and automatically stop. Instead, your choice is single play, or infinite repeat until the "stop" switch is hit. Again, not a big deal.
* I rarely use mikes, so lack of phantom power is NBD for me.
* I prefer devices I can /turn-off/ without having to unplug them.
But... I can live with all of this.
The cons:
- Many "fingers only" controls and the unit sits on the floor
- No quick way to switch from internal memory to SD card memory
- Loops stored in memory are designated only by number
- Quantization is touchy and not always accurate
- No way to trim or boost input signal level
- Significant tempo adjustments seriously degrade the sound
- Can't switch loops in "real time"
The first three of these are not a big deal for me, but they may be for some people.
* A lot of the controls on this unit are not footswitch-accessible, so if you do a lot of post-loop manipulation (I don't), you're going to be bending over a lot. For $35, you -can- buy an optional 3-button footswitch to put a few more of these functions at your toe-tips.
* Internal loops are numbered 1-99, and SD-card loops are 1-99 plus a "card" LED lit. If you need to get from loop #78 in internal memory to #14 on the SD card, there seem to be only two ways to do it: you can use the loop up/down footswitches to step through either 35 or 178 loops, one at a time; or you can use the knob on the unit to scroll through all of the internal loop-slots until you get to the SD-card loop-slot you need. I've not found any way to quickly jump from one loop to another if they're not adjacent numbers.
* If you actuallly store 198 loops (or even more than 20), remembering that you need to call up # c-35 in the chorus of the 5th song of your 2nd set might be challenging in a performance situation. Would have been nice if the Jamman had a slightly larger display and a feature for assigning a short mnemonic -name- to each loop. I deal with this by having a coded "loop playlist," but this is definitely an area that could stand improvement.
* Quantization (theoretically) works by setting a time signiture, tapping in a tempo, and then recording your material, which is then auto-quantized to the beat you set. However, I found the unit a little flakey in setting the end/repeat point of the loop. With some practice you can get the quantized endpoints to work right; but with the same amount of practice you can get the endpoints right manually, /without/ quantization, so this feature, as implemented, is rather useless.
* Input level: In transfering audio tracks from my computer to the Jamman I ran into a problem that I've experienced with other digital-audio devices. With a fixed input level, audio signals with long fade-ins often start out too faint to trigger the recording circuitry, so the first part of your loop will be cut-off. I've devised various work-arounds for this, but having an input level boost/cut trim-pot on the Jamman itself would make the process much simpler. Of course, if everything you do is at death-metal volume, this probably won't be an issue for you. :-)
* Tempo of loops may be adjusted, but outside of a limited range the sound will rapidly and noticably degrade. (To some extent, this is to be expected with any digital recording device costling less than several thousand dollars.) Depending on the particular kinds of sounds recorded, I found that tempo changes of about +/- 5-10% were the cutoff for acceptable sound. If you want a loop to play back at, say, half-speed, you're better off recording it at that speed to begin with.
* Again, for me all of the above quirks are relatively minor, and I can live with them. I saved the most annoying for last: Hitting the "loop-up" or "loop-down" footswitch while a loop is playing does /not/ switch loops in real time; it changes only the display. To change loops you have to 1) select the new loop; 2)stop the currently playing loop, and 3) start the new loop -- each step requires a separate footswitch operation.
...This last quirk is the main reason I give the Jamman four stars instead of five. It would be immensely useful (to me) to be able to switch loops either in the middle of a loop, or even at the end of a loop, by hitting only one switch, with no loss of continuity in the sound. Instead, you have to hit /three/ switches, and -- no matter how fast you do this -- there will be a noticable break in the sound. Essentially, each loop is treated as an independent, stand-alone entity, and the concept of using several loops in a single piece apparently didn't enter the engineers' heads when they designed this unit.
==
To summarize: I spent more time discussing "cons" than "pros" because my experience has been that not knowing what your equipment /can't/ do can be more of a show-stopper in performance, than not knowing something that it /can/ do. But, bottom line:
...I like this unit, it does 95% of what I need, and
most of what it does, it does very well.
For me, it represents good value for the money, and I highly recommend it for those whose needs are as uncomplicated as mine.
One final tip: Shop around -- I've seen this unit sold for anywhere between $229 and $339. It's worth the $299 list price, but not more.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful.
By Kenneth of Westfield
Review Part I - About this looping pedal:
Background - My first looping pedal was the Line 6 DL4 Stompbox Delay Modeler with only 13 seconds of looping time, no undo and no option to save loops in the pedal itself.
By upgrading to this pedal, I can now permanently save loops and undo an overdub.
Comes with 35 minutes of onboard memory and an SD Ram slot for substantial memory expansion - import, export and expand the memory.
The perfect configuration of switches: 1.) record/play back 2.) stop 3.) loop up and 4.) loop down. Apparently the latest generation Boss pedals can't go seamlessly from one stored loop to the next like this one does.
Any looping pedal, regardless of pedigree, that only has a single switch, is just not enough IMHO. You'll burn too much time maneuvering from one loop to the next or deleting if you can't just hold down a switch for 2 seconds. The single switch Boss RC-3 Loop Station stomp box I purchased and returned before picking this one up required you to hold a little button down (not the main switch) for 2 seconds then hit it again to confirm deletion. I found that too disruptive.
I love the option of the auto start function, you don't have to punch in with a switch, just arm start playing when ready. If the song starts with a rest, you can still do it the old fashioned way.
The tap tempo seems a bit counter intuitive, if you train wreck and delete a loop, your tapped tempo is also erased. As for the built in rhythms, I don't routinely make use of them other than occasionally as a metronome, then turn off after the first pass. I'd rather have a fade out function or some effects.
Sound quality is great; it sounds just like me playing through my rig.
Review Part II - Looping pedals as practice aids:
I have found this pedal to be an invaluable tool for practicing. It has been a catalyst for working through music books, especially on guitar where I'm mostly playing either the melody or the accompaniment. Now I can do both. I can comp chords and/or bass lines into the looper and then work on sight reading single note figures, all seamlessly looped over and over until I get it down.
Some loops are disposable as they are only song fragments or a tune played at slower than performance tempo in an effort to master a difficult figure. Others are keepers, inspired performances or challenging figures that were nailed.
I have learned a great deal about my playing from looping. It's improved my accompanying skills due to the need to routinely play with rhythmic accuracy and seamlessly splicing each loop's end into its beginning so it repeats without glitching. Also, I've become more aware of dynamics, interplay and the flow of the music overall as the loop needs to stand the test of repeated listens. I do this so frequently now, that I it has improved my arranging skills. It gives practicing an almost recording studio vibe... when you are not only going to hear what you just laid down played back to you over and over, but are layering over it, you get better at knowing what will work.
Shedding with a looping pedal has also greatly structured my practicing. More than ever, I find myself working systematically to compose entire arrangements of songs: choosing the right chord shapes, working out melodic bass lines, sight reading melodies and working on coherently improvising over the structure. By hearing myself I lean what to do and what not to do. For years, I would I would play things when accompanying others that made comping interesting for me, but were distracting to the soloist/listener. I have found that I play more tastefully and for the song due to this pedal.
Prior to this pedal, I was practicing primarily with my Boss Dr. Rhythm DR-880 Rhythm Machine, which I use to program drums patterns and bass lines, but programming that unit takes a lot of time and energy and it doesn't sound as organic as my own guitar playing. I also use Aebersold play alongs which are great, but the tempos are locked in and they only play through a set number of times.
Finally, this pedal did a lot to cure my piano envy. This is a close as you can get to playing chords and single notes on guitar as a single human being without trying to be Lenny Breau, who by the way, I came across a masterclass he gave at the Guitar Institute of Technology where he said "by the time I figured out what I wanted to do, it was too late, I should have played piano." I started studying piano after hearing him say that, but this pedal was a game changer, it pulled me back to my first love, the guitar. Now I can do my version of the Bill Evans thing on guitar, it just takes a few stomps of this pedal. Thank you Digitech, lookout Keith Jarrett!
14 of 18 people found the following review helpful.
By M. Ganz
The device is great - I run 2 jacks out of my guitar (neck and bridge pickups through my normal guitar pedals, and a middle pickup that runs through an octave pedal for bass tone). I'm able to run both lines into and out of the looper to separate amps, which is great.
It's EXTREMELY easy to use right out of the box, and has most features you'd want, and a few that are nice bonuses (fade out, reverse, stop when loop finished, etc.). Originally, I was going to get the Boss RC-30. Over and above the JM, the Boss has 2 tracks, phantom power for the mic input, a higher output (1000k vs. 500k, i think), and some (imho, really pointless) effects. The Boss is tougher to figure out - e.g., fade out can only be done to a saved loop (meaning you have to stop the loop, save it, program it, play it again - not good for on-the-fly). You also have to double tap the pedals for certain things (loop up or down, undo, etc.). The boss effects are useless to me, and the one I might have used (reverse) is no longer available on that model. Honestly, I went for quality over quantity here - more stuff doesn't always mean better, and the jamman has everything you'd need in a much easier to use box.
While the Boss has 3 hours storage, the Jamman has 35min (which really is more than enough, trust me), but has the expander slot with a standard SD card for up to 16hours. The sound quality is good until you get up there in phrases (typical for most loopers), but that's a high number - if you have that many phrases, you should just get a backing band or a looper with 4 or more tracks ;-).
Things I'd like to see: the external footswitch should still have the option to loop up or down (with this model, the switch will undo, reverse or tap tempo only). While there's a loop up and loop down switch right on the JM, I'd like to leave the JM on my pedal board and have the external switch over by my drum kit so I can move a loop up or down while on the kit.
I also wish there were more tracks (actually, if it'd had 2 tracks, I wouldn't have even considered the boss at all), or the ability to move through phrases within the loop (right now, you can undo and redo a phrase over the initial loop, but you can't move through each one). Another wish: If I were to record one measure, it would be nice to extend that one measure to 2 or more measures.
Overall - it's a great device, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a looper for practice, sampling, or simple live (like, one or 2 loops for backup vocal or rhythm guitar lines) purposes. I deducted a star for the lack of features I mentioned above. features like that could allow one to grow to more advanced levels with the Jamman.
See all 25 customer reviews...
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