Ditto Jam X2 – Release Date: Aug 2018
The Ditto Jam X2 Looper is an interesting addition to the TCE Looping family of pedals. You would think it picks up where the previous X2 pedal left off, adding more effects, loop time or maybe adding a drum machine …
In fact, the Ditto Jam X2 took away the Reverse Track effect, the Half speed effect and the Stereo In/Out. What it does add, is a new feature that almost no other Loop pedal has -the ability to hear your band’ s fluctuations in tempo, and adjust the loops to match !!
‘Beat Sense’ is a great feature that automatically detects your playing tempo, and as you fluctuate your tempo slightly, (as many musicians and bands may unintentionally do) the Jam X2 will actually compensate by adjusting its playback loop to match the tempo it ‘hears’ you playing !!
TCE has added a pair of high quality microphones to the top face of the Ditto Jam X2, and these mics are configured to listen for something like a snare drum or other rhythmically identifiable steady beat. once it has locked on to a beat, it will detect variations in that beat (say, a drummer who is speeding up or slowing down as he plays) and the Looping tracks will automatically adjust in tempo to match the beat it is hearing. It will do this without affecting the pitch of the loop, and will not create a ‘glitchy’ sounding track. It will be very smooth and unnoticeable transition!!
Alternatively, the Ditto Jam X2 has an external mic port and even comes with a descent external mic (which disables the onboard mics) so that you can place the mic much more appropriately on something like the snare drum, and the ‘Beat Sense’ signal will now be far more discernible and allow much better results in a noisier environment such as a full band setup!!
The reasoning behind all of this is so that you can bring your looping to your band’s rehearsal, live jam or concert performance with your full band. Normally, if a looper is used in a band environment, it must dictate the tempo to everyone else as it would be very inflexible should the drummer go off beat a little.
Everyone would have to listen to and ‘follow the looper’ rather than follow the rest of the band. With this feature, the looper will ‘follow the band’ and keep in time as your band slows down or speeds up incrementally !!
At the time of writing this article, I am not aware of any other looper with this capability. I know however, some of the more advanced loop stations do have ‘Beat Sense’, but is not really used in this way. This makes the TC Electronics Ditto Jam X2 a real standout Looper pedal from all the loopers discussed so far!!
As far as other features go, the Jam X2 has 5 minutes loop recording time, unlimited overdubs, Undo/Redo, True Bypass/Analogue Dry-Thru, and stores loops when powered off. There is USB Connectivity to allow you to migrate your loops & files into or out of the pedal into or out of your computer’s DAW.
There is a tiny toggle switch on the face of the pedal to select either Record/Play/Overdub or Record/Overdub/Play modes. Foot Switch Two can be set to function as a Tap Tempo if desired. In standard mode, it will operate just as the previous version did, with foot switch 2 being a Stop/Clear function.
Overall, if you are looping in a full band environment, this pedal is your best bet !!
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