DigiTech JamMan

the interface is very simmilar to the boss, but I'm going to have to give a very low grade because of the usless tempo light

don't know yet, seems well built... however the tempo light is way to dull to be of ANY use for a drummer to follow... way more dull than the boss, which was alreadly at the threashhold

when I inquired about the light... customer support responded with total nonsense, not even related to my question... they are a bunch of drones

the unit would be absolutly ideal if this problem was fixed... I have delt with loops in a performance enviroment for years, and played hundres of gigs with one... I have purchased the line6, boss, digitech, and electrix loopers, in the quest to find one that works well, and I'm still looking

I found this unit very easy to use right out of the box. After a short review of the manual, I was looping in minutes and using a number of the special features. I am a long-time looper, having used a Boomerang exclusively for several years. I have tried other loopers/phrase samplers, but couldn?t find anything I liked as well as my Boomerang until now. The JamMan is an exciting product that seems to have addressed the shortfalls that I have experienced with other units. To me, what really sets the JamMan apart from the rest is the ability to save a large number of loops and the flexibility (and economy) of using compact flash cards for the storage medium. What a great idea. I found it quite easy to learn how to store loops, delete them, and even to transfer them to my computer with a USB cable. Some of the features I really like are:

You can use a ?rhythm? while recording but turn it down when actually playing. This helps you create loops that have perfect timing. (you can modify the time signature and choose from a bunch of different beats such as tambourine, kick drum etc.). A really cool feature is that you can speed up or slow down the playback of a previously recorded loop without affecting the saved copy of that loop!

I like the small size of the unit...it fits in my gig-bag pocket.

There are level controls for virtually all of the things you might want to adjust: loop, rhythm, instrument, microphone. You can get everything perfectly balanced and adjust it any time.

The auxiliary input is a good thing. A lot of people would probably like to create loops from cd?s or sequencers. That seems like it would be a great practice tool, but my main interest is creating loops with my own guitar for singles and duo gigs. I believe that if you make the loops too fancy it sounds corny on the gig.

Again, CF card storage ? this is really a huge advantage. A 1 gigabyte card is a cheap upgrade that will allow you to fill all 99 loops.

Some things I would like to see improved:

The record/play/overdub footswitch is stiff and must be pressed down quite far to activate or inactivate it. This may seem insignificant at first, but experienced loopers will know that it is extremely critical to kick the ?record? on and off with absolute precision so your loop is perfectly in time. The Boomerang has a feather-light record/play button and it is really easy to gently tap it to start or stop your loop. On the JamMan, I had trouble switching it in perfect time unless I really jumped on it. I like to create and use loops on the fly, right on the gig. I need a better switch to do that effectively.

You can?t name your loops. I guess you could carry an ?index? on a piece of paper around with you. Also, when you search through them on your computer, they are stored in folders called loop1, loop2, etc. If you want to know what song a loop is, you have to open it and listen to it, or go back to the ?index?. This seems to be a weakness in my mind.

It would be nice if they provided a USB cable with the unit.

It seems to have a very high quality playback. I find that even when you add several overdubs, the tracks don?t seem to lose sound quality. I play hand-made archtops through a Polytone MiniBrute IV and the JamMan is dead silent.

It was missing a little rubber part when I took it out of the box. The dealer got the part for me from another pedal. Other than that minor point, I can't comment on reliability yet. It is too new. It seems to be built very well though.

I have never owned a Digitech product before, so I can?t comment.

This is a terrific product. It is nearly perfect. The only reason I haven?t sold my Boomerang yet is because of that big stiff switch on the JamMan. I am still using my Boomerang for on-the-fly looping on my duo gigs. I am, however, starting to build up a library of JamMan loops and this will serve me well on singles. If it wasn?t for the switch, I would definitely use the JamMan exclusively on all gigs. I have communicated this concern back to the dealer (Long and McQuade) who is going to pass it on to the good folks at Digitech and hopefully they will consider making this small change. If that was changed, I would give this unit an overall rating of 10 without hestitation.

I just bought this baby. I thought the unit was pretty easy to use. The Manual is very good also. I used to have the BOOMERANG, but it doesn't even compare to this unit. I really don't understand why the BOOMER is so pricy. I like this JAM MAN, mainly of the huge memory it comes with. It comes with a 128 Meg COMPACT FLASH card, which is 24 minutes of music. I also like the AUTO RECORD this unit has. Push the AUTO RECORD and push the record with switch with the foot. as soon as you start to play it begins to record, what a great option. This unit stores 99 loops, man o man thats plenty for me. It also has a USB interface for downloading additional loops from DIGITECH. The first 10 loops that are already in the JAMMAN are purty good.

My set up is the following:
JAM MAN into the EFFECTs LOOP of my Fender Hot Rod 212.
I run my Warmoth strat or Ernie Ball Axis Sport through my DIGITECH Wammy Pedal and into my DIGITECH Jimi Hendrix Pedal (I love). I use the the Hendrix pedal for all kinds of tones. I use the Wammy Pedal for a BASS GUITAR sound with my guitar. I usually get a BASS line going in the LOOP, then add guitar. I also like that this unit has 10 different percussion sounds,even though 3 are useful for me.
The unit is very quiet !
FUN FUN TOOL
I haven't used the USB yet.
The JAMMAN also has a AUX in. this is very handy for plugging a CD player in and recording a section of music. I have many BACKING TRACK CD's. So, i just feed one in and JAM ALONG, FUN FUN FUN.
I also like that unit has a VOLUME control for the guitar, loop and percussion, very nice. The MAIN GOAL for me was to learn RYTHM of my favorite songs, and then play a loop with the rythm and then just solo over that chord progression. My favorite RYTHMS are, HEY JOE, BLUE on BLACK, Thrill is GONE, Born Under a BAD sign, and so on.....
Very fun rythms to improvise over. I also make RYTHMS up to JAM ALONG with. You also have the option of transfering your loops to the computer and BURNING to a CD. This way you never loose the LOOP.
I thought $299 was a little pricy, but actually its not. he BOOOMER is $500 and the Boss RC20 is $299 with no adapter. This comes with a adapter. I think DIGITECH understands what the consumer wants, they're very smart that way. They know we want a Power Adapter when we buy EFFECTS. My Hendrix Pedal came with one also.
Thanks DIGITECH for maken a fun unit.

N/A

VERY GOOD

LOVE IT

This Looper is brand new, although the name had been used by Lexicon years ago for their rackmount looper. The Digitech JamMan is a twin-pedal, with a metallic-blue heavy die-cast case.
The unit is powered with the included wall adapter -no power switch.
It's easy to get started, especially if you read the nicely written manual. I even read the manual online as a PDF file, before my JamMan even arrived.

Connecting this thing couldn't be easier, and I started playing within five minutes.

I played the JamMan with a Strat and a semi-hollowbody through my Sunn T50C combo amp, and then through a Roland VGA7 modeling amp. Both amps looked at the JamMan just as if it was any other pedal, or for that matter, the amps reacted just as if I was playing all the looped stuff. No loss of tone, power etc. The pedal is transparent, even though I know it's a 16-bit device. My guitars are analog of course, and guitar amps don't care if you send 24-bit sound: they don't reproduce tone digitally. To make this short: The Digitech JamMan is quiet. Quieter than the Boss RC20 looper (which looks very much like the JamMan's cousin!).

Built like a tank. Well, sturdy, compact, heavy and the controls feel solid. Can't ask for more from a pedal.Dgitech offers a one year warranty, but if you register the JamMan, the warranty is for SIX YEARS! Be reasonable and mail that card today!

Have only owned it for 24 hours -no need to call for help. But if the manual is any indication, they are good folks (smart enough to put out excellent documentation). So my rating here is for the manual and the confidence it instills in the device.

I play mainly classic rock and blues, but also quite a bit of ambient music for the past 40 years (stop giggling!). I've owned the original Lexicon JamMan and later the Boss RC20. Both those loopers seemed to have been designed by engineers. This one was made with musicians in mind, and since technology has made it possible, we now finally have gobs of memory, USB connectivity, usability -a product that is well thought out and brilliantly equipped with features. The Digitech JamMan is state-of-the-art gear. Man, I've been waiting for it since the mid-90s -at a price that makes sense. I just feel a little sorry for Roland/BOSS: the JamMan effectively will ruin the BOSS RC20 business for good, and soon you'll be able to pick those up for less than $100 bucks.