DigiTech JamMan

This is my first Harmony Central review. I am the proud owner of the original Lexicon Jamman and I am not yet tempted to sell it. Digitech has upped the ante with this baby. It appears to be designed as a Boss RC-20 killer. The ability to store loops and edit on the computer is a joy. I looked over the manual once and never had to go back. My compact flash card was upgraded to a 512 meg and I never seem to fill it up.

I am mostly a six string bass player, but muck around with a Roger Linn Adrenalinn II and a Line 6 Pod XT. I have some facility with Ebowed guitar and midi/analog keys/software synths. My experience is that the sound is very close to what you put into it. Be mindful of your levels and there will be no problem with noise, unless you intend it. There has been one odd behavior and it may come from my own loose timing. When I connect the USB and examine the wave in SoundForge, the attack transient has been pushed to the end of the loop. I guess this is the auto-quanitze feature at work. You miss the attack when you first cue up the loop, but it sounds right as it begins to repeat. This is an easy edit in the computer. I can move new computer generated .wavs from the computer to the Jamman just as easily. The first step is to make a blank loop the same length as the sample to be imported. You don't have to accurate, just close to the same length. Then copy the wav from the computer to the Jamman location where you saved the blank loop. This feature alone is worth the price of admission. I compose songs and save loops as verse, chorus, bridge etc.. This allows me to solo over the changes I control with the add-on footswitch (which was a bit of a rip at $40.). The timing adjustment with pitch correction works ok, but extreme changes sound odd, but that can be good too.

Bullets and clumsy drummers bounce off it harmlessly. I have had no issues with reliability

No experience.

I play progressive originals and have been a looping enthusist for many years. This is your basic "Fripp in a Box", if you are so inclined. I wish that it had a larger display to allow for more meaningful loop names rather than two digit numbers. It is a little to easy to save something in the wrong place and overwrite another loop you intended to save. This makes you work carefully and backup regularly or get better at doing it all over again.

I will likely sell it to purchase the new Boss RC-50 to get stereo and three simultaneous loops. The new Boss RC-50 does not have removable storage, but I can use my computer for that. It looks like Digitech has been trumped in this wonderful war of technology. Keep it up guys, but could you also war on price and not just features?

Takes a little getting use to, however, once you do, its a terriffic tool. I have not as yet mastered all of the bells and whistles but getting a basic loop recorded is pretty easy.

Sounds fine. I run it through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and use several guitars including a Strat, a Ibanez AS73 and a Washburn J6, depending on the type of music I'm attempting to play

Works well, does exactly what I was hoping it would do. I really enjoy having the ability to accompany myself. I usually lay down a bass and rythym line and imporvise or play melody on top. Have had no issues with it so far, got it a couple of months ago

I was having a problem laying down a loop that sounded cohesive and flowed well. I called customer support and the gent I spoke with was very helpful. Even called me back to give me a couple of more tips. Very impressive

I genearlly play blues, jazz and standards. Started paying again 3 years ago after a 30 year hiatus. I really feel that by using the JamMan, my playing has improved substantially over the past couple of months. I tried out the Boss Loop Station and found the JamMan easier to use and more versitile, especially considering the amount of memory it has and the ease to upgrade to 2GB. For now, the standard card gives me more than enough recording time.

Very pleased with this puchase, having lots of fun playing.

Easy, it may take a few times to get used to the timing of things but, after a while, it comes naturally. I plugged my DigiTech RP-80 and use the delay from there and it really helps me to make beats with my guitar to keep me on track instead of the metronomes.

Sounds great, it doesnt distort when you play normally. Although it says you can change tempo of a song w/o loss of pich it's true but it sounds goofy. every once in a while i get a click when i hit the pedal but i switch it on and off and it works just fine. I hook it up with a splitter cable and direct one chord to my amp and on to the computer, sounds great when i put it all on the computer.

If you get a timing of the loops down to an art, yes you can use it on a gig. if you dont time it right, it sounds bad and you look like an idiot

No problems with it yet, i e-mailed them with a question about the computer stuff and saving it but it didnt really help, i found how to do it on my own.

I really like this pedal, it really motivates me to play everday and learn how to really improvise. I do wish it had a fade out button but once you learn to work it well you can come up with some pretty cool ways of ending the loops. I totally recomend this pedal BUT...., keep your eyes on the Boss RC-50 which will be released sometime w/in the next year. It will be more money but you can do a few more things with it. Awesome pedal, glad i got it, go buy one and have fun.

most people said the jamman was hard to use, but i got it to work perfectly the first time, and i am only 14. to save loops you have to bend down and press a small button, but aside from that, it is very easy to use

simple: what goes in comes out...

this thing seems indestructable...it is definitely made to last

never used it

i've played for almost 7 years now...i play jazz, rock, blues, acoustic, and i used to play classical. out of all my pedals and other equipment, this is my new favorite toy. i'm adding singing into the mix. playing difficult riffs and singing at the same time can sometimes be hard. i just record the riff, then i can write vocals for my songs with ease. the only thing i wish it had was hands free storing of riffs. that would make this thing a little easier to use. but if i use it live, i would probably record the riff before-hand so i wouldnt have to worry about it on stage. overall, this is a great product and i recommend it to any guitarist

Piece of cake...be patient and read the manual. The fact that you can use ram memory cards is great as I have a lot of songs and grooves on different cards..one for blues riffs...etc.

Awsome sound...so much fun and it will make you a better player. I know a lot of mudicians who have rarely if at all ever listened to a recording of themselves...and we all know how we aren't as good as we think now don't we??/ This thing will improve your playing and begs to be used..great woodshedding and practice gear..USE THE METRONOME and watch your playing get much better. I have a friend who is a drummer in Nashville I played in college with. He is 3rd place there with Album credits...hundreds..25 years...toured with Skynard..Reba..you name it. He still works out with a metronome because in the studio if you are a first call double scale player you better keep your aging self TIGHT. I agree with the other reviewer as I also have an old boomerang...piece of garbage..This thing sounds so good.

No problems yet

No clue..

I play in a r b vintage cover dance band..recording as well..been at it 35 years..I love this gear and would definitely get another..it breaks the boredom of practice and song learning...Tap tempo is amazing as you can slow licks or songs down..I use it with the 'Black Box" amp modeler and drum machine for getting grooves down quick....yeeeessirrrr !!!

I haven't used other loopers but this one is pretty straight forward. One thing to note is the fact that you have to record for atleast 3 seconds or you'll get a delay and the loop won't be seamless. I found this out after calling digitech. The rep explained to me that this happens because the flash card needs some time before it can make an effective loop. This is no big deal since most loops I make takes more than 3 seconds anyway.

Sound is clean but what you must remember to do is turn all the knobs to 0 before each use. If you don't, the volume will be lower and lower each time you loop. Again, no big deal.

Haven't owned it long enough to find out but it seems tough as nails.

Very quick to answer phones and very knowledgable about their products.

Man, I didn't know I was that good! This thing definetly motivates you to play. I can finally play the rythems than solo over the entire song. You'll like it, trust me.

Just got it out of the box, glanced at the quick start guide, started making loops. Lot's of features, just now learning how to use.

Here's the reason I bought this and why I am submitting a review so early on. I think the sound quality is extremely good. I had a Boomerang (early model, not the + version) and I was never happy with the sound degradation of the looped playback. You would hit the record button, play your phrase to be looped, hit the record button again to begin the playback, and it sounded like someone through a blanket over your amp. I would immagine that Boomerang has upgraded the sound quality with the newer versions. With the Jamman, not only is the looped phrase sound accurate, but the overdubs don't degrade the original phrase. Very impressive!

So far, this is a very good value for me. i am a solo acoustic guitarist/vocalist/harmonica player. I have a weekly restaurant gig and I sometimes need to create a looped phraase to give my performance some depth and break the monotony. Only dislike is the stiff resistance to the record pedal. I got used to the switches on the Boomerang which very touch sensitive.

I find the unit very easy to use. My only beef is the levels controls. (more on that below.)

A agree with the poster that noticed a loss of "sparkle." Not enough to bother me, though. If you continuously add sound on sound, you will notice a some degradation after about 8 or 10 loops, but that's to be expected with a 16 bit device, I think.

Seems pretty dependable.

I haven't dealt with the company yet.

I'm using this for solo electric guitar. I'm happy with the fact that I can load my recent studio tracks into the machine and play my original songs as if the band were there. I'd be happier if I could load those wave files directly, but it seems that it would be tough because each sound file also has an associated file that needs to be included. It's much easier to go from the jamman to a computer than vise versa. Some software to completely manage the files on a computer would be appreciated.

The loop volume on my unit kicks in too suddenly, and it's difficult to adjust levels of incoming wav files.

I would like to mod my machine so the loop level is controlled with a volume pedal. I'll see if Digitech will let me know the value of the potentiometer used and then I'll have an opinion of how helpful they are.

I might also ad an A/B switch so recorded music goes through the PA and guitar goes through the amp.

the pedal is fairly straightforward and has some interesting features.. i haven't had a huge amount of luck with autorecord, getting the levels right to trigger it properly, but i'm not too concerned about that as my playing style leads me to create loops in the middle of something, as opposed to the beginning..

i'm a keyboard player, and i intended to use this unit on top of my gear, so i approached the user interface from a hands-on angle.. the first thing that needed to go was the travel and spring resistance on the pedal switches.. if you take the pedals off (just push in the spring-loaded silver detents on the side) you can see that the switches are deep inside the unit, and surface mounted to a PCB, so i didn't want to replace the pedal assembly at all.. i initially removed the springs (they're held in with a rubber glue, just pull hard) and put the pedals back on, but the weight of the pedal sometimes keeps the switch pressed down, so a spring of some kind is necessary.. i picked a spring with the same diameter, but a much lower compression rate, just enough to keep the pedal above the switch.. the only problem now is that it can get a little bouncy, so i plan on limiting the travel of the pedal by modifying the rubber heel stop under the pedal to shorten the travel..

the point is, if the complaint is the pedal travel or resistance, this can be addressed relatively easily.. sure, it means modifying the unit, but one size doesn't always fit all - you guitarists know that.. :)

otherwise, it's not really a tricky unit to master, it's laid out really well and has some great features, like the undo feature, and the tempo change, which really put this way ahead of my DL-4 i was using for loops previously.. the DL-4 is still in the signal chain, but now just for it's amazing delay modeling.. the ability to store loops and transfer them via USB is a fantastic addition, and easily rockets the usefulness up the scale - i can throw in clips from all sorts of media outlets and trigger them at will, which is always good if used sparingly.. the form factor and ease of use in that respect puts this unit ahead of a dedicated sampler, for example, in my case since it performs both functions to the extent that i need them.. i don't need amazing edit capabilities, so this does it all for me.. and if i do need amazing edit capabilities, well, i use the USB cable and edit the loops on my computer.. this is how it should be!

the rest of the buttons and knobs - i have no idea how you're supposed to use this with your feet.. i suppose guitarists set most of these knobs and forget about them, but playing is a dynamic exercise - i need control, and that's fine for me since i'm using this unit on top of my gear, with my hands, but i would imagine that someone with this on the floor might run into some difficulty without the additional footswitch at the very least.. either that or try your hand (no pun intended) at seeing how dextrous your feet can be..

like others here, the sound is really quiet and clear.. the unit doesn't color the sound anywhere near what other effects do..

at first i was appalled at the click that happens occasionally if i stop a loop mid-sound, and it is indeed a bad flaw, but i realized that i don't usually stop loops in the middle, and in practice i never hear that..

i haven't gigged much with it yet, but it's built solidly.. i have no problem flying without a net with it, if it craps out i could always fall back on the DL-4 or do without..

haven't dealt with them yet, and hopefully won't have to..

make no mistake, this unit is meant to loop, and that is *it*.. it's not like the DL-4 or other looping/delay/echo units.. and with that in mind, it does what it's supposed to do fantastically.. aside from the audible 'pop' it makes sometimes when stopping a loop mid-sound, i find it to be pretty much unimprovable..

i'm a purist, and cannot stand things like pops and noise where they shouldn't be.. when i first heard the pops, i said "oh, that's got to go" and prepared to send the unit back - most sane people would.. however, once i started playing with it in a way i would actually use it (as opposed to hitting random things as much as possible to try to break it) i realized the problem didn't affect me.. so, for the reason the problem is even there i have to take off 3 points, but since it doesn't affect me and i can use every feature i need without a hitch, i'll add a point..

When i first had the pedal,it took me some time to really understand how it works.The thing is that you gotta have PERFECT time to make loops with this,it means you must press the stop pedal SIMULTANEOUSLY with the end of your loop,or you will have the loop not running smooth.
But once you've mastered how it works,you will get addicted to this pedal,it means hours and hours of improvising and fun.
It sure helps improving your playing,if used in the right way.

The only thing i don't like is that the pedals must be pressed very deep,and you have to do a very quick shot with your feet on it.So it's not that naturaL to do,you must press very much with the foot.

I would have prefered two big buttons instead of these,so it's a 8/10.

Well this is where it really shines.
When you transfer your recording to the pc,you will hear exactly what you've recorded,16 bit 44.100.It's fantastic.

It looks really well builded and solid,except for,another time,the two pedals.
They dont seem so solid to me,they move a lot and they make
*clank clank*
I really fear that someday i will have to replace them after a lot of use.

Another thing,for the price this thing costs,a soft case(like the POD one,for understanding)would be really appreciated,especially if you want to use it live.

dont know,never had to do with Digitech.

I play basically rock with some funk and blues in it,and i record my chords and other stuff in it to improvising and write songs.
At first i was a bit disappointed because i couldn't make very "in time" loops,i always ended with some silence in it.
But after 10/15 minutes i started to loop,and stopped 2 hours later,so...well spended money!
Buy it,you wont regret it!!
I think i will never sell this unit,it's a lot inspiring jamming with yourself in front of the amp.

I will post a song recorded with it on the digitech website(forum/jamman section)so you can hear what you can do with this baby.

Other things i appreciated on the Jamman:
- power supply is included
- smart card is included
- virtually endless looping time(6.5 hours!!will you ever need more time?!!
- the rythm guide sounds are very musical,they don't disturb(example:cubase click.Arrgh it smashes your ears!!) :)

BUY IT!!