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Re: Repeater vs EDP



Now now, Mr. Wyatt, self-flagellation is not necessary.  

Ye said,

> I think my point earlier was just due to my frustration that I might be
> stuck permanently with OS1.1 - Its buggy, could have so many options,
> more midi implementation etc. etc. 

Indeed, if there were ANY company that was both willing and able to put
serious money and muscle behind a deep, dedicated hardware looper,
things would be very different.  One of the first things a dedicated
loopist has to learn to live with is the frequent uncertainty of just
how long-term of a committment a parent company might give to supporting
the product in the marketplace.  It was that way with the JamMan, it has
sporadically been that way with the EDP, and it now seems to be that way
with the Repeater...

> I have found it highly limited at
> times.

I personally REALLY LIKE limits.  I really dig the fact that there are
some things the EDP not only can't do, but never even tried to do in the
first place.  It's got a fairly strict and specific focus, which I find
increasingly attractive as time goes on: it helps me focus specifically
on features that I know I want to deal with.

> Given time, testings etc. etc. I really think that the Repeater
> can be a mind blowing gadget. 

I personally think it already IS a mind blower.  Can you think of any
other hardware unit on the market that can do all the things it does
with a US street price of under $600?  

> I know the hardware exists inside the box,
> and it is just up to the software to route/process audio. [/rant]

Ah, but actually getting the software to do the stuff is the tricky
part.  Matthias Grob had to pull some seriously long months and years
(literally) to get LoopIV to do what it does with the processor inside
the EDP, which Matthias described as being the equivalent of a Mac Plus.
 It was no mean feat at all, and it was done almost entirely as a labor
of love for several years.

There are lots of cool things the Repeater does that no other looper
can.  If I was going to work with one, I think the first thing I'd do
would be to start delving into the things that are largely unique to
that unit itself - timestretching in particular is an intriguing
proposition to me.  

At the risk of sounding like an idealistic optimist, my advice would be
to look at the Repeater in terms of what it CAN do, as opposed to what
it CAN'T do.  That doesn't mean people shouldn't push for additional
features, or relay any frustrations with the current OS to the
designers.  What it means, to me, is that it's a different instrument
with a unique feature set.  If there's a lesson to be learned from the
EDP in that regard, I'd say that it's important to explore the features
that are already in a unit, just as much as asking for new features that
aren't in there yet.

NO looper can do everything, and if there was one that COULD, I think
it'd be awfully difficult to decide what to do with it in the first
place.  :)

> To hear how passionate people are about this box 
> really highlights my ignorance in the unit, 
> and feeling embarrassed for saying what I did.

Well, I spent the first two years of this list highlighting my own
ignorance about countless things, so I'm well ahead of you in the
self-induced public embarassment department.  ;)

Take care,

--Andre LaFosse
http://www.altruistmusic.com