Beat Buddy, Loopers, Midi Sync

the rc 50 is crap at midi sync as a slave , as the master it should be fine …

Hey Yeah Mike read all your posts! There looked to be a possible light at the end of the tunnel but I actually went for the infinity instead (over the rang III). It works really well, might make a video of my own soon. I’ve just got one dilemma. When I pause/unpause the BB it also stops/starts the loops, which is cool but: I don’t want the loops to start again if they were previously stopped. So example, I have a loop waiting in the infinity for later in the song, I pause the drums, bring them back in, and the loops start (both loops infact) even though they weren’t playing before. It’s my ONLY issue, any ideas?

Hello Beat-Buddys: What is a good “Looper”, with Midi-.Sync.? As I heard, “Boss” can only work as the “Master”, not slave … ??? I try to be “in time” with the Boss RC1, but sooner or later it is out of time.

Members on here have reported that the Rang III, Infinity, and VoiceLive3 sync pretty well. There are discussions in each of those device forums regarding the BB so it’s worth checking them out as well.

It will be impossible, to sync with RC 1 , since it has no Midi… With RC50 and RC 300 you can use BB as slave, but my experiences are also not so good with Boss RC`s. I changed both for Pigtronix Infinity, what can only be used as slave(BB as master). This works absolutely perfect for me. Other members here quotet for the Boomerang looper, which I never tried.
Theres another treat in this forum to make Digitech Jamman syncable… I also never tried.

+1 on the Infinity. Works perfectly. There may be other good choices but it’s hard to go wrong with the Infinity.

And another +1 for the Infinity

Is there anyway possible to sync beat buddy with jamman solo? by using USB/MIDI interface?

This link may help you…: http://mybeatbuddy.com/forum/index.php?threads/synchronising-jamman-looper-and-beatbuddy-seems-possible.4303/#post-14784
Good luck!

has anyone ever tried a soundbite micro to sync there loopers with? does it work? thanks.

See the other thread that was posted. It works great with the Custom Live Electronics SyncMan device! Even with the cost of that, it’s a far less expensive option than some of the others mentioned. Plus, once one JamMan device is synced, you can link up others in a chain.

do you have a demo video of what this sounds like? is it good?

I haven’t posted any demo videos of the Digitech JamMan Solo XT syncing up with the Neat Buddy via the SyncMan device, but it syncs great (I run the outputs separately so the BeatBuddy is not running through the JamMan looper. But when I was experimenting and trying that, it stays very synced, with a slight flange-y tone occasionally as the MIDI clock/sync very slightly varies.)

Depending on the MIDI loop and tempo (a lot of the MIDI files that I download and adapt are set at double the actual BPM tempo at 4 beats/measure). the SyncMan flashes its LED either once or twice per measure. And when you hit on the JamMan, it waits until the next one to start recording - thus it is extremely easy to get the loop starting exactly on the 1st beat of the measure. Closing the loop and playback work the same way. You can, for example stop the JamMan on its own while the BeatBuddy continues playing and then restart it later on the 1st beat very easily.

And the JamSync reads the MIDI stop command that the BeatBuddy sends when pausing or finishing a song and sends a stop signal to the JamMan. If you want to restart playing a loop on the JamMan though, you have to do it manually.

It’s sort of crazy that Digitech used a proprietary “JamSync” system for their JamMan series when they could have just used MIDI and sold more units! It’s the same thing with their (and other company’s) multi-effects pedals. They actually run MIDI commands internally and you can control some MIDI functionality from the USB port, but it requires some sleuthing/hacking.

very useful much appreciated, think im going to buy one. Looked up a web page AS plan B, about setting preset tempos manually, but seems too complicated and requires patience. do you think this could be used in a live setting?

sorry,
do you think the syncman could be used in a live setting?

Definitely could. It seems rock-solid.

One issue that I want to check in about with Benoît Andru at Custom Live Electronics is that when switching songs or tempos, the SyncMan flashes 3 times and goes into a non-responsive mode. Have to power-cycle it to get it ready again - a bit of a hassle. He was very responsive a couple of months ago when I first got the device and even updated the firmware in response to some specific issues I was having in terms of slightly weird behavior with restarting JamMan after stopping a loop while the BeatBuddy or other MIDI clock device was still sending signal.

I know the technique you are referring to in terms if presetting tempos on the JamMan. But even if you set the same tempo as another MIDI device, the clock will most likely be slightly different and it will also vary/drift over time. Also if you are trying to start a loop in sync with another device, you are reliant on your own timing for the start and stop and that is just not going to work very consistently.

brilliant thanks, that saved me time as well. just ordered now, so probably take a week to arrive.

I hope someone can help because when I have the MIDI plugged in from the BB to the Infinity the looper does not record my guitar playing.
How do I get this to work? The arm light is lit and also the record light flashes however nothing is recorded.
Thanks

I’m not sure what you’re saying—does your guitar record when you do the same thing but unplug the MIDI from the BB?