looper (phrase sampler) options w/sound on sound or tape loop emulation

[Swift713]

I've had a couple pedals that do fantastic sound on sound looping, the Boss DD-20 and the Hardwire DL-8. They have very natural tape like decay and are spectacular for Frippertronic soundscapes.
I have recently been using the Keeley Eccos which does this quite well with the looper functionality of a record/play switch (plus it can do a simultaneous delay) so one can set the loop length to the phrase in real time rather than having a preset delay time. The problem with the Eccos is that it tends to make a little glitch sound at the beginning/end of the loop when recording something more rhythmic than ambient.
I've used a Ditto x4 which has a decay knob but the decay tends to sound stepped rather than gradual like a tape loop.
Does anyone know of a pedal that can combine these functions better?

 

[SteveCS]

The problem with the Eccos is that it tends to make a little glitch sound at the beginning/end of the loop when recording something more rhythmic than ambient.

Isn't that just a question of practice to become more precise/nuanced with the start/stop footswitch timing?

 

[Swift713]

Isn't that just a question of practice to become more precise/nuanced with the start/stop footswitch timing?

No, I haven't had that issue with other loopers. Keeley said it has something to do with the specific circuit. When you hit the start/stop switch the second time it works like a tap tempo, defining the end of the loop, but continues to record until the 3rd time you hit it.

 

[sunbeast]

The Strymon El Capistan is a tape delay emulation and has a pretty great looper setting which applies all the tape degradation to the loop with every feedback. Given all the adjustable parameters it can be tricky to set it so that it doesn’t degrade too quickly though, which is particularly noticeable with bass as it will thin the sound out noticeably. There aren’t any settings where the sound won’t degrade eventually so you have to tweak to get the kind of decay you are looking for.

I’ve been experimenting with various delays in the HX Stomp set up using clever routing and footswitch assignments to act as sound-on-sound loopers inspired by this guy’s tips:
You can definitely get some Frippertronics going on with an HX Stomp, and there are tons of different delays that you can play with to find different parameters (including some tape delay emulation with degradation).

If you are just looking for loopers with adjustable decay parameters, then the Pigtronix Infinity, Looperlative LP1/2 and any of the Boomerang loopers are great options though none do tape emulation tonally. I believe most of the EHX loopers will do this too, though I don’t have direct experience with those.

 

[SteveCS]

No, I haven't had that issue with other loopers. Keeley said it has something to do with the specific circuit. When you hit the start/stop switch the second time it works like a tap tempo, defining the end of the loop, but continues to record until the 3rd time you hit it.

That sounds like a design flaw to be, or at least something that should be a user-configurable option. Most loopers have the option to go into 'playback' or 'overdub' mode when you mark the end of the loop, or have 'playback' as the default.

 

[Bob_Ross]

Chase Bliss Blooper does what you’re looking for (plus a whole lot more).