It sounds like Boomerang III is the only really successful looper so far, but it is not available in the U.K. (as far as I can see). Has anyone had good success with any other looper and the Beatbuddy??
Has anyone figured out what cables/hardware are needed to do something like this? I know I would need the Apple Camera USB adapter, but beyond that, how do I get from the PS2 connection in the BB to the USB connection in the Apple Camera USB adapter for the iPad?
I jumped on a used Boomerang III soon after I joined the Indigogo early supporter ranks last January. I worked with the looper a bit and it’s a bit more complicated than the Boss RC I used to use, the Digitech I replaced it with and the TC Ditto X2 I’m using now (mostly due to the small footprint).
How about a quick tutorial on hooking the BB to the Rang since many of us guitar players are not midi savvy? I was disappointed that the midi cable I bought from BB won’t plug directly into the Rang, but I do have one short monoprice midi cable and I guess I’ll buy another if I need two.
I’m guessing that I want the BB to be the master and the Rang to be the slave. Any reason to do the opposite?
If this is correct, do I need to hook up both in and out jacks or can I just go from the out on the BB to the in on the Rang?
What do I need to set the Rang to read the standard midi out of the BB?f
Any other tips or tricks for setting this up or using the combo?
Thanks!
I hope to make a short video today that will focus exactly on this topic.
Boomerang III is known to be an excellent MIDI Slave. BeatBuddy is very good in being MIDI Master. I don’t think changing this will make anything good. It’s like swapping a hammer and a nail.
I think you would need a ps/2 to midi adapter cable first. These i’ve found come in a few varieties. Creative sells one with the PS/2 port on one side and a ‘female’ MIDI 5 -pin on the other, and it’s really just an adapter. I actually bought one of these off Ebay as I can’t be sure when i’ll get the BB cable (cost me around $10 US). These are good for an IPad connection if you also get a USB midi cable to connect to the female end. Amazon sells these USB midi cables. They go for about $6 US to $50 US. The $6 one is probably good enough. I have a couple of these and they work (or did work) fine). Then you connect this to the iPad USB connection kit
Then there’s the Rocktron cable. It has a PS2 port and a 5pin ‘male’ MIIDi connector. These are the same as the Creative just male now, which means you would then need either a MIDI coupler (to connect your USB MIDI cable too) or another iPad compatible (core audio compliant) audio interface (like a Focusrite, Roland, etc) with a midi port to accept the male Midi side of the Rocktron.
The BB cable has a two female MIDI sides.
Note: Midi couplers, which I mention, are cheap, passive adapters. You can get these for a few dollars at the usual places.
Has any one been able to sync the BB to Voice live 3 which, among other things, is a looper?
Setup
- Ipad Air running IOS 8
- BB with midi cable into iConnectMIDI1 into the Focusrite Itrack Dock class compliant midi I/O
- Focusrite Itrack Dock
- Loopy HD IOS
- AudioBus IOS
I tried to get amplitude and audiobus together, but it doesn’t seem to work yet in IOS8
I then ran Loopy HD on the iPad, and tried to get the BB midi through the focus rite, but it doesn’t seem to work (maybe an IOS8 problem - I’m going to download a mini monitor to check)
I then moved the Iconnect Midi over to my MAC laptop and created a network midi session and that worked fine for BB midi in and out to master or slave to Loopy HD… However, the intro triggers start, so you have to deal with loops playing over your intro. It would be nice to have a feature to select midi start to go on the intro start or intro end to trigger verse loops… Still working on this…
I have the Focusrite iTrack dock (for now). It’s midi USB port is very limited. I can’t get anything but a few keyboards to work. I tried midi controllers: Tech 21 Midi mouse, Logidy USB midi pedal, and neither of them worked, yet worked perfectly using the USB connection kit for iPad.
Frankly, the iPad is good for some things but it’s really a toy for Audio. The only thing that I use iOS for with audio production is Loopy.
For some unknown reason, there isn’t anything on a desktop that’s comparable. That is, something as simple and fun to use as Loopy.
“The BB cable has a female MIDI side and looks like the creative adapter.”
Does the BB cable have two or only one female midi sides? I have at least two of the creative style ones, I bought the BB one thinking it was special and had two midi ports, i/o.
The cable is a breakout cable which gives you two midi ports one for midi in the other is midi out which are female. The midi connection an any device is also female, so you will need a normal midi cable which is male male or two if you are using both midi in and midi out ports. Hope that makes sence.
Oh sorry (careless)
No your good, It’s dual. (I will edit my post).
VL3 does not have a midi sync…a shocking exclusion in such a high end unit…
VL2 does however, I will be hooking mine up this weekend to try it, and the VLT and VLGTX
I’ve not quite managed to get the RC-300 to play well, it does seem to recognise things but goes out of sync after only 2 rounds…I need to look into this further, but I was expecting the RC-300 to be the least friendly of my toys.
Ive asked David if the BB will be able to be synced with the Boss RC 300, before I ordered the BB and he said (wrote) it will! ("...just make sure to order the midi cable...") But I have to wait some weeks to try, itll be shiped at 28.10. and Ive to add the infamous shipping delay (to europe/germany)... I would realy be pissed off if it doesnt work! 
:evil: :twisted:
Boss loopers are known to be a complete junk when it comes to MIDI Slave synchronization. I would say it would be a miracle if it works, but I wouldn’t hold my breath on it.
If I were you, I’d get Boomerang III. It is a performance looper that is paired with BeatBuddy (that is a performance drum pedal as well) very nicely. I have both, and the sync between them is really tight without a single issue.
As far as David said, yes, while RC300 will definitely work, you may not be satisfied with how it works. And there is actually nothing can be done on a BeatBuddy side.
I just knew, I had to use the RC as master and the BB is allready useable as slave… Thats what Im looking for…
RC as master works in many combinations, as I`ve seen on google, and I by myself using it with a Boss DR 880-slave.
It just has to stay in sync that way (hm… Maybe a new song-title?)
Using it this way should most likely work correctly.
Hope so, can`t wait to try it… If only I knew for sure… But you whipped my hopes up, thanks for that :lol:
My first song with BB is dedicated to you :mrgreen:
Is there anybuddy out there, who has allready tried???
I’ saw where folks have said they had trouble with the infinity looper. I had a dittox2 when my BB arrived after a couple of days I sold the ditto and purchased the infinity. since getting the infinity, i inittaly had the same issue with a blank bar but i had assumed it was just me getting used to the looper which it was… the only issue i have with it now is when i go to a time singnature other than 4/4. The user manual states that the default is 4/4 and has directions on how to adjust the looper(i just havent done it yet)
I read up on both the rang and the infinity, i went with the infinity for 3 reasons,
cost… both loopers are close in price but with both you need the accesories to utilize it’s full capabilitites…the extra foot switch for the infinity was only $50, the sidecar for the rang was almost as expensive as the looper itself!!
features…both loopers have a bunch of features, the infinity seemed to fit my needs better
on board memory and the ability to upload and download to the unit, the infinity gives you more recording time,with the rang, you cant save anything on the unit, you can save it in your DAW, but once it’s cleared off the rang it’s gone… for the cost of the two units the infinity seemed like a better deal (to me anyway)
I have a Tascam DP-24 multitrack set as SYNC CLOCK. Midi out on Tascam to midi in on BB. Hit start on recorder and BB starts.
Once the manager software is available, I am hoping to create song order for BB to match my own songs. A HUGE step up from the Roland TR-505 I bought in 1980.
Please keep in mind, there are several specific songs right now in the default content that are MIDI sync-bugged. To the best of my knowledge, it will be fixed as soon as possible (I have fixed a version for myself).
So please, before starting troubleshooting MIDI sync problems - make a quick check with any Metal Song beforehand! The song you are using can be affected!