DigiTech JamMan

Loopers aren't nearly as straight forward as other pedals but this is easy enough once you figure out the process. The LCD display is something the Boss RC-20XL doesn't have but I wish it did.

This was the first looper I bought (I ended up returning it for a Boss RC-20XL) and I wasn't very excited about the sound quality. I know it has 44.1 kHz sampling but the playback from the JamMan just sounds lifeless to me. On top of that, I also had a lot of trouble matching the beginning and end of a loop - a problem I haven't really had with the Boss looper. And unlike the Boss looper, the JamMan doesn't seem to have a "fade out" stop mode - just "stop when I press stop" and "stop at the end of the loop". I have two more gripes about this pedal but I'll get to those later.

I didn't keep around long enough to find out. When you register your pedal, DigiTech extends your warranty to 5 years. I assume you could rely on it.

Never dealt with them.

In addition to my sound quality concerns, I was also disappointed with the actual build quality of the looper. Maybe mine was a fluke but the blue paint job was inconsistent and the pots had a lot of "dead space" in them. You had to turn the loop level up to 3 or 4 before the audio actually started to come in. And that problem wasn't just with the loop level knob, it was with all of them.

My final gripe is the XLR input. When I first bought this pedal, I thought that was a nice feature but now that I have had a chance to fool around with loopers more, I prefer having a second 1/4" phono input. That way, you can connect more than one instrument at once. Bass or keyboard anyone? If I ever want to use an XLR mic, I'll connect mic->mixer->looper. If you have an XLR mic, you probably own a mixer or some sort of converter.

On a positive note, I do like that the JamMan is expandable and comes with 24 minutes worth of memory. I also think the rhythms might be a little better than the ones built into the Boss loopers and I think the time signatures are more flexible too. Too bad those were the only redeeming factors for me. I had high hopes for this pedal.

I own both the JM and the Boss RC20XL. Interface design is very similar. 90% of what you want to do can be done with the 2 footswitches which control loop start/stop, tempo set, play/overdub, undo, and erase. I also have the optional footswitch for the JM which lets me change loop numbers with my feet.

I give it a 9 instead of a 10 becasue loopign can get complicated and you need to read the manual to use all the advanced features. But ease of use overall is great.

It also has a missing feature -- the Boss pedal has an auto fadeout which the JM lacks and I miss.

Sound quality is excellent. The JM samples at 44.1kHz, which is CD quality. it has a low impedance (XLR) mic input in addition to the instrument input, so you can do high quality vocal looping.

I gave it a 9 instead of 10 because it is mono, not stereo. Stereo would be perfect!

Metal case, built like a tank. I have had zero problems.

Digitech offers excellent customer support through their website. http://www.digitech.com/products/JamMan/JamMan.htm

I love the JM and recommend it highly. Check out my web article on advasnced looping techniques using the JM. Includes explanation of some of the mysterious settings in the LOOP.XML file.

http://www.normbowler.com/jamman/

10 This unit is very easy too use. I agree with other reviewers that what you put in is basically what comes out. I have the optional pedal which allows you to scroll up and down between loops. You can also press another loop before the loop that is playing ends and that loop will play when the first loop finishes.

I had the Boss RC20 and I compared it with this unit when I first got it. I thought that the loops were alot clearer on the digitech. I also found the pedal easier to get a more accurate loop. If you find that the unit is changing your sound then you may want to look at how you have it wired up. If you set the levels correctly you will get the same sound you put in. I use this with electrics and acoustics, vocal mics and electronic keyboards. It is a great way to do backing tracks with a keyboard. For a mono unit your loops remain amazingly clear dispite several overdubs. I recently did a show where all the backup tracks were on the looper. It was in a church. It worked great. Another use for this unit is transfering old records to your computer. Handy

So far so good. I have the 2 gb card and that opens up alot of possibities.

I am a music educator as well as a gigging musician. This unit is a must have tool for a music teacher or for any musician. There is nothing like having the ability to instantly hear yourself. A great learning tool.

Once you start and get comfortable with this product it can be invalueable

I have had problems with two units, both same problem. In the middle of practicing I will lose my guitar input. I can play with the amp for months and never have a problem and then when I start using my Jam Man more frequent the input from my guitar will be lost while the background loop will continue playing.It doesn't happen all the time just enough to piss you off.

The company doesn't really see your product they send it to a contractor to fix it

I wish I could do something about it, I payed $300 and I just want it to work like its supposed to.

Easy to use, The boss is better though.

Does not change sound at all.

I have had this thing for 2 years and it has broken twice to the point of having to send it back for repair.

It's ok but it will cost you to get the unit fixed.

I bought the Boss and the digitech at the same time because I wanted one for bass and one for guitar and coulden't make up my mind. I was intruiged by the lexicon techmology in the digitech but Boss is a way better pedal in general. Now I really wish I would have got 2 boss pedals. Do not buy this hunk of crap.

After a few minutes I was up and running with the jamman and had no issues. Pretty simple.

Manual is very clear.

The one thing I have seen others say is "It changes your tone"......
I dont see were they are getting this from....?
Everything that goes in comes out the same for me.

I am using this with a Yamaha 335 style set neck electric and a '68 fender champ as well as a USA big muff.

I havent really had an issue at all.
I had experianced the same issue someone said about the unit sounding like a record skipping....
That can come from the audio quantising function on the Jamman.
WHich can be bypassed.

I would go without a backup.

Never delt with them. so 5.

I give this unit high marks for the extra options and such.
I bought the $40 pedal an am happy I did it provides a few needed foot control options.

I only wish it had a MIDI sync jack of some kind for syncing to a drum machine.

I had a Boss RC-20XL and disliked it very much.

This thing is well worth the money and the time it takes to learn it.
Like all looper's it can be temperamental if your not patient with it.

Get one dang it!

this pedal is a little tricky. you definitely have to read the manual on this one.

I found that this pedal sucked my tone right out. I play a g&l LB-100 bass through a 70's Ampeg SVT and an Ampeg 810e cabinet. Through the jamman my tone is thinned-out and less distinct. I also notice a slight air hum coming throught the jamman. Maybe this pedal can reproduce guitar signals better than bass, but I haven't tryed. All the digitech material I've read said that this pedal is suitable for bass but I definitely would not use it for a performance. Like an earlier review said, this would be an excellent songwriting tool. Since tone doesn't really matter. It's really one of the most versatile pedals I've ever used, it just doesn't reproduce my tone very well.

I only had this pedal for about six months and never had any problems, but who knows shen it will break down.

never had to deal with DigiTech.

Like I said earlier, this pedal is an excellent songwriting tool. It's pretty user-friendly. But it's tone reproduction is less than ideal. It would be great for jamming in your bedroom, but not onstage.

It is pretty easy to use - I'd say it's got a learning curve of about an hour or two, if you have read the manual and are paying attention. My only real gripe so far is that, if you set the tempo and then record your first track, but mess it up, you have to erase it all and re-set the tempo again. Not a big deal, but it would be nice to be able to undo the first take too.

If you're planning on using this for live performances or recording, you really, REALLY need to go try this unit out. It will DEFINITELY change your tone (as in, I can roll the tone knob from one extreme to the other on my strat and hear no difference when I'm running through the JamMan). Some may be okay with this - most people will not notice, and it will really only affect the subtleties of your playing. If you're planning (as I was/am) on using this pedal simply for songwriting, then this really isn't a big deal - it helps you sketch out how you want your song to sound, and it's more portable than aa computer with an audio interface, and much more convenient. For this purpose, the pedal does quite well. But try it out, and listen for tone-suck.

Seems pretty sturdy. I've only have mine a few months now, but it's been perfect so far, and I see no cause for concern.

No idea.

I've been playing about 7 years on electric, and 10 years on acoustic. I play everything from shred to soft rock.
I run a strat through the GT8 with this pedal in the GT8's effects loop (works beautifully that way, I can pull the Looper in and out of my signal chain with the touch of one button, and when it's out of the chain, it won't affect my tone at all) into a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.

This can be a great unit, depending on what you want it for. I feel that three things could be added to make this pedal almost perfect.
1) A tempo input in bpm. It would make it so much more useful as a songwriting aid if I didn't have to use a metronome/my computer to determine what tempo my riffs are played at.
2) Stereo-freaking-inputs and outputs! I also use a boss GT8, which can create some really awesome stereo effects, and I lose it all when I run through the looper.
3) No more tone suck. But i've also tried the Boss LoopStation RC20XL (basically the exact same looper, but in red, with less storage space), and it sucks the tone just as bad, if not worse. If it were lost or stolen, I'd probably go A/B this JamMan with a LoopStation to see which one is clearest, and then buy that one.

Although it does have its weaknesses, the LoopStation can be an excellent songwriting aid, if that's what you're looking for. You will have SERIOUS trouble using it with a drummer, unless the drummer somehow has a metronome playing right next to his/her ear, due to the auto-quantize feature.

Basic operations are quite easy. But more sophisticated stuff, like changing the tempo of your loop without changing the pitch requires a bit of twinking through the manual, which is very clear by the way.

Sound is pristine, crystal clear. A human ear cannot tell the difference between the Jamman's playback, and the original sound that you record.
The only issue with the Jamman is the fact that it is a mono machine all the way through. It has an input for stereo devices (like your CD player, for example), but it converts everything to mono. This is a serious disadvantage, because you cannot use it as a sampler machine, in a band context. If it had stereo signal, you could send the sampler you want to add to your band to one channel of the mixer and to one side of your drummer's headphones, and the metronome to the other side. But because it is mono, if your drummer wants a metronome, the entire signal goes with it (and the crowd would have to hear an anoying tic tac along with the sound). No need here to talk about trying to add samplers to your band without a metronome for the drummer. It's a huge risk of screwing up. I know that boss top loop station, the RC50, has stereo output, but you would have to go to the 500 bucks territory.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS MACHINE.
i got it 3 hours ago. and you need to buy one if you're thinking about it.

sound is great, manual helps very much. i'm just excited about this and i felt like sharing that with the world

sound quality is very clear - there is not much noise at all. by that, i mean when i loop and loop and loop things on top of other things, it still stays clear.

i've only had it for 3 hours.

3 hours.

it's wonderful.
go find $250 and buy it on ebay (i bought mine from samedaymusic.com BLEMISHED) or if you want new, drop the $300.

INVEST IN YOUR HAPPINESS.
INVEST IN YOUR MUSIC CAREER.

The JamMan is easy to use, although the minmum 3 seconds for a loop is a drag - I had a Boomerang and didn't have to deal with this. Getting started with this is fairly straightforward.

Sound quality is excellent, very quiet, no hiss.

I have had one major problem that I cannot solve that is driving me nuts. Creating and storing loops is easy and works great, backing up the the computer works great. However, when I begin stacking parts (overdubbing) on top of my loops sometimes the loop 'skips' like a record player with the needle caught in a groove. I can wipe the overdub but if I try to redo the overdub I run into the same problem. There is no rhyme or reason to this. I have tried two different CF cards (the one that came with it and a larger memory one that I bought) but the problem is repeating itself. Since it is so intermittent I cannot play it live, which is what I bought it for.

I have not dealt with support yet.

If I can solve the skipping problem then the JamMan is a dream, however, I usually don't like to spend a lot of time having to fix something when I can bu something else. My fiddle player friend has one and has never had a problem so I guess it depends on luck whether you get a good model or not. I'm not inclined to recommend it at this point.

Exceedingly easy to use. Records exactly what I put into it. It connects to the PC to download recordings in a WAV file. I convert it to Mp3 and send it out to my friends just to drive the crazy.
The wav files can be burned into a CD or recorded on my ipod by the PC of course. I'm an old nontechy guy and this is simple for me!

I've recorded nearly one hundred tunes so far with no issues. Some with up to nine overdubs! Where the hell was this thing in the 60's when I was learning to play? Well, I'm still learning to play...........

Good in, Good out. Bad in, Bad out. No noise, absolutely seamless overdubs.

I ahve had NO issues with hundreds of hours so far.

I called the company to ask about various sound inputs for the JamMan and talked to "Bill". He took several minutes to explain more about it's capabilities than I had asked about. Truly friendly and determined to make me understand things.

It is essential for the home guitarist (or other instrument) for practice, lay, recording, etc.
If it ever poops out, I'll send it in for repair and buy another one while I'm waiting.
Couple this thing to a Fender G-DEC amp and you can never exhaust your creative well.

I received this little beauty only 15 hours ago but have had no trouble grasping the basic functions after reading the manual which is concise and easy to follow. My only critism of the manual is that it it strictly "no frills". Compare this to the manuals for, say Tascam Portastudios, which are full of tips on alternate signal routing and other means of getting the most out of the machine.
First attempts resulted in less than seamless looping and I've learned the importance of setting up the tempo function and playing the first phrase right on the beat then stopping the recording just prior to the first beat of the next bar, to avoid a noticable gap before the loop repeats.

The loops are rendered in good quality audio without noticable loss of tone or added noise. Of course the tone will be coloured by effects further down the chain and your amp settings, which leads me to my number one item on the wishlist for this pedal - a seperate direct out (a foldback from the instrument in). Say you've recorded a clean rythm track and wish to play a blistering lead over the top of it (not overdubbing, just playing along).Well, it ain't gonna happen. The JamMans single mono out will combine your rhythm and lead and direct them to a single channel of you amp/mixer. Apart from selecting a diffent pickup for rhythm and lead or placing an effects pedal in front of the looper, you're stuck with the same tone for each part.
My setup is as follows:'89 PRS Custom/'75 Strat/'69 SG/current Flying V/'99 G&L legacy/'85 Charvel Model 4 --> Digitech Hendrix --> JamMan --> Boss GT-8 (as preamp)--> Marshall 9100 Monoblock power amp, Marshall cabs.
I can't place the Boss in front of the JamMan since it is acting as a stereo preamp for the Marshall.

I've owned the Digitech Hendrix pedal for over a year and never had the slightest problem with reliability. Like the Jimi, the JamMan is very solidly built and I don't anticipate any issues.
I rarely play outside of home so don't need a backup.

I've had no dealings with the company. Not eligible for warranty support here in Australia so I hope I never need them.

I play a fairly broad range of old school stuff - Hendrix, Santana, Steely Dan, Zeppelin, Kinks, Sabbath, Tull with the occasional tune from this millenium. So far I've only laid down a few backing tracks on the looper but will be trying it out with a synth for something as bit more avante garde.
I've been playing for 35+ years and own a 100W tranny Marshall from the 70s (good keyboard amp, less than ideal for guitar), A modded 50W Tube Marshall, some Systech pedals from the 70s (anyone remember them?),2 synths, 2 mixers, a hard-disk recorder and a 244 Portastudio which would work perfectly if I could find a rubber band that fits it.
Plus the gear mentioned above.
If lost or stolen I would replace it as I believe it's the best looper available at this price.
I love its ease of use although it needs the the optional footswitch for ideal operation. I got a bargain on the JamMan by importing it. To buy the footswitch (3 switches, a metal case and a cable) will cost me a third of what I paid for the looper, in this country.
I love it's compact, rugged build and the ease and speed of laying down backing tracks compared to using a recorder
There's nothing to hate about this unit, although there are extra features to wish for.

This rating says more about me that it does about the jamman. I am not good with buttons and knobs, I prefer menu driven stuff. But, for the price there is no way a gadget such as this could do that, or do it well. It is not too hard to get used to though. I am not sure I would find getting into the deeper uses of jamman that easy. The instruction manual is very well thought out though.

Great. I am a play at home only guitarist. I have been playing for a few years and my aim was simply to have something to help improve my practice. Now I can record my own little jams and lesson and noodle along to my heart's content. I use the following, relatively basic setup:

American standard strat -> seymour duncan pickup driver ->wah -> chandler tube driver/rat -> holy grail reverb -> jamman -> Laney LC15

I am no setup/tone snob. I think there is too much rubbish talked about tone these days. (I know guys who sound like the mutt's nuts with a ts-9 and giys who stink with ts-808's). However, I am not an all in one box multi-effect fan, which is what digitech are famous for. So I was sceptical about the jamman.I think that the jamman does a bloody good job of not tainting sound too much. That might be because I use a pickup booster. Whatever, diminution there is to the sound is nothing that you would not expect if you were jamming anyway.

I have not had it long so I can't say, but it feels like a tank. I am careful with gear anyway. So I will give it full marks on build quality alone.

Again not applicable. I have had no need to get in touch. Will give them the benefit of the doubt on the basis that their website is really helful.

I play (or try to play) along the lines of Eric Johnson, Jeff Beck, Billy Gibbons and Santana. If it were stolen I would buy it again.

For once I really like the presets. They are great to practice with. It really helps me to make music, as I am not in a band I can now have the sense of being in a band.

All in all a great bit of kit. I would recommend it for any stay at home guitar player like myself. Two things that stand out for me, are the metronome/tempo facility and the separate volumes for loop, instrument and rythm, means I can go for it at low volumes.

I read ovner's manuel of this machine before buy.Not problem very very easy.

really good.not noisy.I tried my all guitars (yamaha sa2200, fender american strat,yamaha apx9na, cort lcs1) without effects.Sound quality enough for me.

I dont know.It's very new now.

I don't seen any good customer before.

I play fingerstyle jazz.This baby like medicine for me.composition and practise very easy.there is one problem,this machine is mono.WHY digitech?

All my friends and audiences agree - this is the best-sounding device I ever looped with. That's because I know how to use it easily.
I don't use a patch.
I don't read manuals, but this one has lots of fine graphics. My tech set it up before sound check and I was good to go.
My unit doesn't need upgrading

Yes! Ivor Stavinski, Bananarama, Jello Bifra, Beastie Boys (Pre Rubin), Kaki King, Air Supply, RockBitch. All these sounds can be faithfully reproduced on this little blue pup.
The Jimi Hendrix effect is weak.
I'm currently utilizing: Benedetto Venesia, A-4 Gibson mandolin repro., Squier Telecasters.
Noisy as f*ck. And I like it that way.
Weak effects if played through the laptop.
Using a Pignose Battery-Operated Amp., Mic'd for the larger arenas.

N/A
I have several. ALL TRAVEL WITH ME.

The nice man who answered the phone told me to press certain buttons, depending on which option I wanted. He was soo cool, sounded almost like a robot.
No upgrade, these little blue pups are going straight vintage!!!!

Excellent match for my styles; Christian Rock, Psychograss, Dub, Hip Hop, Electronica, Classical Baroque, Jazz, Death Metal, and Children's songs.
I've been playing since 1978. I own guitars, keyboards, and an oboe.
I wish the unit had an on-board PC.
This sucka' is seamless - never gets in the way.

To plug and play normal looping this thing is pretty intuitive. To use the more advanced features and move loops on board it takes a little bit of fiddling (not a lot, mind you). The sound is great! Absolutely transparent and the loops are seamless in tone. It would be nice to be able to adjust the loop and instrument volume a little easier with your feet (knobs are small and hard to manipulate cleanly with your feet). The miracle of this thing comes once you've laid down a loop and start playing over it. I can play the way I've always wanted to in my living room all by myself!

Great, clear, transparent sound. Faithful reproduction of loops. Everything I put in comes right back out.
- Quality LP clone into loopmaster 4 loop, Behringer eq, Sabine Fuzzstortion, ts9 (mod), ds-1, Fab distortion, Black Cat Moan Wah, Zoom G2, Digitech Delay, Ernie Ball volume, Jamman -- ABY'd into a Fender Ultimate Chorus, and portable PA.

Built like a well-built brick. Solid case, sturdy feeling dials, and great feel to the pedals (enough give for the sometimes necessary acrobatic tap, yet a solid feeling stomp with a clear feel at the switch point). I have, and would gig w/o backup. I don't see this thing breaking.

Not necessary yet.

I play rock, blues, classical, pop, a little of everything else mixed in. For blues and rock it is a great practice tool and a greater tool for the solo musician like myself to take solos and orchestrate good textures live. For classical hybrids it is great to lay down the counterpoint and build on it or input an accompaniment and play full solo pieces at a tap of a toe (yes your expression is quite limited when playing with a machine, even if you recorded the accomp., but it's pretty good anyway).
I've been playing for 14 years, am a classical bassist, play quite a few other instruments, and this is, by far, the coolest musical toy I own (yes it's a powerful tool, but only toys can be this fun). I would definatly buy another if broken or stolen.
I have a Akai Headrush which turned me on to loopers, and it is fantastic in its own niche (the best delay I've ever played, a great feature that Digitech should adopt that allows you to erase all overdubs and return to the first loop at a stomp) but the loop time is way too small (around 24 secs). The Jamman is great for lots of time for loops and upgradeable memory. The $300 price tag is a bargain and worthwhile investment.

Digitech Jamman. Ease of use - it dpends what you intend to use it for.
Sampling is at 44.1 16k CD quality. What goes in is what comes out.

Editing patches using just the Jamman is limited to tempo change. That is it. You can 'undo' a recording or overdub but actual editing - none to speak of.
Third party developers have already created a basic looper editing software program but it doesn't edit tempo within the Jamman, it just alters the metronome. Talking of the Jamman's internal metronome, it leaves a lot to be desired. It does have a flashing light, Red for on beat and green for the others and an audible, volume changable metronome with several different sounds to choose from. When it comes to actually use the metronome you will find it very limited. There is NO READOUT so you virtually guess what the tempo should be. You can tap a tempo in but this is very hit and miss. If you mess up a sample recording and need to do it again, deleting the flawed sample also deleted the tempo so you have to start all over again tapping in the tempo time after time until you think it's right. This is both time consuming and frustrating.
The user manual is adequate. I'll say no more on this subject.
Saving a sample to the internal card memory is a simple matter of pressing the 'store' button. Once stored, you can not accidentally lose your sample when using the foot pedals - the pressing of buttons is required. This is a good feature 'cause we all make mistakes and it would be hell to accidentally erase a sample on stage.

Despite that fact that I can suggest some additional functions, the unit appears to be steady, reliable and reasonably easy to use. It's a matter of getting used to it ansd working around the few limitations.

If I could have found a small sampler with a simple foot pedal trigger mechanism, that would hold 20 minutes or more of samples I would gone for that instead but there simply 'Ain't no such beast'

This unit is the same size as two stomp boxes stuck together. It's quite heavy and feels robust. It should be easy to carry around.
It comes with the mains adaptor and has no battery facility.
I believe the actual switch mechanism arte connected direct to a printed circuit board and this worries me. If one breaks, it may be cheaper to buy another than try to sort out a repair or replacement part. Fingers crossed on this and I hope I've been misinformed (but I don't think so)

The Digitech Jamman is meant to be a guitarists tool for creating and playing loops. With this in mind, the fact that the samples are mono only should not be a major problem, however it would have been nice to have a stereo option to increase the range of use.

Sampling is at 44.1 16k CD quality. What goes in is what comes out.
No perceptible noise added during recording. Once the tempo is sorted out, recording is fairly simple and will loop easily providing that you press the 'stop' pedal on the beat. The start (when you use the 'record' left footswitch) allows a brief 1,2,3,4 count-in before recording starts - this allows you time to stomp the switch then get ready. The record light comes on to show that it is in fact recording. You can have the metronome turned up or turned off, using the flashing tempo lights for recording
This unit carries no internal effects - think of it as a mono sampler in a pedal - that's it.

My intended use it as a pseudo second guitarist because I just could not find a suitable second guitar player for my band.
I will not be recording loops in live play, simply recording my own guitar parts before hand (one or two at most in a song) and triggering them via a seperate amplifier. The tricky bit is ensuring the track is in tempo with the sample without the drummer having to use an earpiece, but practise should make perfect on this. With this useage in mind, it would have been very nice to have an earpiece 'out' feed for the metronome so that, if needed, an earpiece could be used.

What amp or guitar I use has no relevance here - except to say that what you record into the Jamman is what comes out. If you record an overdriven sample, it's no good playing it back through an overdriven channel as it will be overdriven twice and sound like an old fuzz box. You need to record the samples in the sound you want to hear, then trigger them back through a clean amp. However if you are using it as a looper in a live situation, the sound you use on your amp is what will come back because you are plugged into your amp via the Jamman. In this situation, the Jamman is recording your guitar signal, not the amp signal.

Had it less than one week. No problems so far.
I will gig with it IF and WHEN I'm satisfied it will do the job intended. As for a back up - what, at this price? I don't think so....

I have so say that there appears to be nothing else around currently that performs this task. The datacard that comers with the Jamman will hold 24 minutes worth of CD sampling. This is certainly enough for my needs.
Sample editing can be done by connecting the card to a computer and importing the WAV files. The Jamman has a USB connection - this is one of the reaosns I chose this unit. Samples/loopes can be saved and edited in your PC so back up cards can be made too.

Never dealt with them. I have owned other Digitech products and had no problems. (Touch wood)

Style of music does not matter.
I've been playing for 36 years, part as a pro. Still spending too much of my hard earned cash on 'gear' Sigh!!!
If it does what I want it to do, it will be invaluable to me. If it doesn't I will sell it on - probably at a substantial loss, as with almost all technology gear.

Very easy to use. Take a glance at the manual and away you go.
Nice if there was some kind of simple loop editing here, like that available on the Roland sp 404.

Using this with an acoustic guitar going to a Fisman Loudbox. All sounds very sweet.

Only had it a couple of weeks. So far all OK. It weighs a ton and seems to be built like a tank.

Play all types of music and this box has been inspirering so far. Easy connection with the computer e.t.c.
I do, however, wish you could record in stereo, especially if you intend to use backing tracks of other instruments. Also I can't understand why there is no BPM read out when setting tempos. This makes things more difficult when trying to match tempos between memory locations. If you want to record a whole song using different locations for verse, chorus e.t.c make sure you copy the blank (no recording but tempo set)
patch to all the locations you want to record at before doing any playing.
Even with this slight annoyance this is still a good piece of gear and is great fun to use

The first one I received didn't work. Average rating here. I've seen better written manuals.

The first unit I received didn't work. Very good reproduction of what I layed down on the loops with the replacement unit.

The first one I received didn't work at all. What a disappointment waiting with anticipation for a week only to find out it didn't work. It wasn't an operator error either. I tried this unit at the music store for an hour and the demo worked. The second unit took 2 weeks to get to me. What's up with DigiTech's quality control? Will I purchase another Digitech product? I'll let you figure out the answer.This is my first experience with DigiTech. I've had Line 6 stuff for years and their quality is far superior. Line 6 manuals are excellent too.

It took 2 weeks to get a replacecment unit. You would think they would send another one quickly for the inconvenience.

I give a 5 rating because the 2nd unit works. So far...

Man, where do I start with this...well, THING you call a JamMan? It is not user friendly. Not that you can't ever master it, but it has some really bad design quirks. 1. If you happen to buy one that works correctly, I have had 3, you will see what I mean. It is very hard to obtain a correct, full loop effects unless you can hit the pedal at just the right beat. 2. The ones I had that worked only half the time, were hard to record and save tracks so you can overdub to them. 3. Editing is difficult at best. 4. The manual says one thing and the unit responds different. 5. The compact flash cards that come with this, this, this...beast, don't work half the time, so don't count on 'em. The reason I gave this.....thing.....a rating of 3 is because I purchased 3 of them and to this day, I have not purchased one that worked for over a week or two. This catagory is not worth a 3 but I am being nice. I am a 30 year veteran guitar player a I am fed up with sorry electronic equipment. What has happened to DigiTech, they use to produce very good equipment.

The sound quality, while the unit was working, sounds fantastic. It's CD quality recording and playback. I was very impressed with the low, mid and high frequency response of this unit. The JamMan seems to sound fantastic with most all electronic and acoustic instruments. I am a guitar player using a 1959 American Fender Stratocaster and a Ibanez Artstar semi-hollowbody (like Gibson ES-335's except better sounding), a 1965 Fender Blackface 50 watt Bassman Amp Head, a Peavey Classic 50 Amp Head, and a Mesa Boogie extension speaker cabinet with an ElectroVoice 12" speaker, A Boss DD-20 Giga Delay pedal, a DigiTech XDD DigiVerb Reverb pedal (which is a fantastic reverb pedal), and a Line 6 Pod for effects. I also use a Lexicon Digital reverb/delay pedal when playing clean. Honestly, I don't play other artists songs, I am a songwriter and like to play my own thing. And I only have two favorite artists and they are Terjie Rypdal. Man, what a fantastic guitarist, check him out, and Paul Motian.

You can not depend on it. Three strikes DigiTech, and your out in my book. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT TAKE THIS THING ON A GIG, period. I had 2 brand new ones, and during 2 recording sessions they both quit working. I took the 2nd one back to the music store and tried another one out at the store. I tried saving loops and sure enough, it quit recording after 3.5 minutes of recording and would never record past that point. The owner of the store was there and said he purchased on for himself, tried it on a gig and the memory locked up in it too. It's just a bad design and need some engineering revamping.

There is no customer support to amount to anything. I have emailed the company that handles the DigiTech JamMan and never got a response from them. They are worthless in my book. Give up and get something else or call Robert Fripp (aka: King Crimson), maybe he's got an old Fripp-a-tronics-looper-machine he will sell you real real cheap.

* I play mostly jazz, progressive rock, and my own mix of free style jazz and new age progressive music * I have been playing for 30 years * If I still had the JamMan, and it were stolen, I would be very glad that someone has the problem now * I hate everything about the JamMan except the sound quality, it is outstanding when the JamMan is actually working * I compaired other products and finally decided on a Boss RC-20XL Loop Station and it is easy to use, has never broken down, and the sound quality is recordable quality for use a background effects loops, but not for front effects where you would use it to replace a band member. But it sounds good and has not failed me yet.

Really quick and easy to understand. At the time I am writing this I will say that the online / downloadable manual is much more detailed then what comes in the box. If you need more info i'd download it.

Very easy to use. WAVs can be created on your PC with your favorite software and simply copied to this unit as if it were a usb ramdisk. No software required. Just a USB cable (not included)

I use this as a phrase sampler to play audio clips between songs and as intros to a live set. I have no need to loop instrument parts but ive tried it for fun and the sound quality is superb. I purchased the optional 3 button switch ($50) and you really really need this to make it useful. Otherwise you have to bend over and manually scroll through the samples and then press the start button with your foot to get it going. Easy to do but fairly unrealistic to be flexible in a live setting

Pick up a short 1/4" cable and a DI as well if you plan to run this direct to the PA as I do.

the unit itself seems very durable. Made with heavy grade aluminum.

It uses a seperate AC adaptor similar to a guitar pedal adaptor (included) so if you play live gigs on a regular basis I could see the AC adaptor cable eventually wearing out easily and shorting out unless you have it mounted to a permanent pedal board.

digitech only makes high quality gear from my experience. This item does what it advertises t odo easily and even better then I expected. In a world with so much junk glutting the market this is a superior product and I expect it to hold its value and stick around for a long time.

I'd buy it again if it was stolen. I did a lot of research after my last sampler was stolen and this thing is best at what it does so far. The ability to store vast amounts of loops on the included card and huge expandibility is great. The ability to dump WAVs from my PC is fantastic. Sound quality is excellent

I just acquired the jamman and so far it seems to be pretty easy to use. I've used a boomerang for years and while the jamman is not as simple and straight forward as the 'rang, it is still fairly intuitive. The manuel spells everything out clearly and the device itself has instructions printed on the bottom of it. I'm not a rocket scientist or a computer geek but I had no problems using the jamman right away.

As I said earlier, I've used the 'rang for some years now and have had to deal with the 'rangs predisposition to being noisy. The jamman on the other hand produces very high quality loops (16bit). It doesn't seem (at least at the time of my writing this review)to be predisposed to being finiky (ie.-noisy).

Ah yes. Well, it seems to be sturdy; but only time and lots of live playing with it under varying conditions will tell. If it does crap out, I've still got my 'rang as a back up. One of the things that experience has taught me is that no matter how good a piece of gear is, it will break down at some point and probably at a bad time. Always have a back up...

I don't know yet...and hopefully I won't need to find out very soon.

I've been playing for 36 years. I play for a living and depend on my equipment. The lions share of my work over the past several years has been corporate gigs as a solo guitarist playing fingerstyle arrangments of jazz, pop and classical tunes. I use a phrase looper as a suppliment to my straight chord/melody arrangments. The jamman is faily easy to use and seems solid. It has outstanding sound quality You have to push firmly to engage the pedel which, if you're used toand is capable of holding large pieces of music. It's comparitively small and costs less than a 'rang. It's one major weak point, at least for me, is the absurdly stiff pedels on the thing; they require some getting used to. It does compensate for this (to a degree) by having an 'auto record' function; but I think this seems a little much in live situations. Over all, I'd have to say that my 'rang will be getting retired to a back up looper status from now on. The strengths of the jamman far out weigh it's weaknesses for me. Is it perfect? no; but, it does seem to be a better mouse trap for the money. If not for the unreasonably stiff pedels, I'd give it a 10.

easy peasy japanessy!
set the levels and you are ready to go!

sound is clean! i play bass and it gets all the tones!

solid a s a rock!

inovative looper for the time it was introduced! Now there are few new products like looperlative and the new monster from boss but these are in different price range!
the exchange with the computer is excelent i just wish the usb cable would be inclouded!
It was the dream come true when i brought it home!

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?