Electrix Repeater

Plug in your signal chain into the line level inputs, get a decent level, hit a foot pedal when your ready to start recording and once again to stop. Next channel repeat, etc..overdub or replace to taste.Bounce a mixdown to a new track to continue if you want to leave the original four on separate tracks for later.

I have always liked its sound quality. It is not pristine, it colors the sounds smooth and sweet and dare I say a bit analog. The noise issue isn't one if you give it a strong signal through the line inputs, not the front instrument input.

It really is one of my favorite pieces I own.

Mine has worked pretty flawlessly once you get ahold of the all important correct hitachi controller flash card. I got a 512mb (highest size the repeater can take) industrial grade metal encased Pretec card online, and the site said they were being discontinued when I talked to them while placing the order.

My young daughter took a shoe and whacked the left encoder sideways, but if I press it down while turning it still works.

They died, and attempted ressurection twice, and have now quit officially this month (Feb of 2008)Though it looks like a third party (condor electronics) is going to continue to service their products and offer the newest repeater software upgrade for $129 as last posted on the electrix forum. I'm just glad I got ahold of one.

Had never heard of electrix. I bought it new at a vendor street fair for a "one day discounted price" after breifly checking it out and being really impressed.

I really enjoy kick starting songwriting with the repeater. Any riff you've got in your head, boom, it starts looping and you start building. Experimental music is a forte for these too as you can pitch up and pitch down for speed up slow down effects, and get strange otherworldly atmospherics playing an individual or all tracks back at the extreme settings.

I like that you can record a track in mono or stereo and still have the other three available. You can create a very sparse 4 track ditty or overdub like a madman, or just mix down the four to a track on a new loop and continue, thereby leaving the original tracks if you want to mess with them later. Very immediate, very well laid out interface.

It really is in it's own class. I'm going to spring for the software update if it actually continues to be available and start experimenting with it's midi capabilities. I've got their warpfactory, filterfactory and mofx units as well. Love em.

My wishlist would have been eight tracks which would have required a reworking of the unit so it could use the much faster compact flash cards currently readily available. Maybe there will be a third attempt to reinstate their product line...

Well, this is a powerful tool, so you won't just install it and access all functions without any learning time as a first-timer. Apart from that, UI is fine "by comparison".

The front panel's layout is very logical and intuitive. If you've ever used a small mixer and a tape deck, you'll understand the repeater. There are lots of dedicated buttons, a very logical (albeit simple) display, and lights to indicate the status of any buttons. Some of the more "advanced" functions require two-button-presses, and these are not logically assigned and written in light blue on slightly less light blue on the front panel, so no chance to read it in club-style lighting conditions.

Connectors in the rear are all in one row, so no problem to plug cables blindly in a rack installation.

Programming a MIDI foot controller for this thing is a little tricky, simply because some functions (you can access all of them via MIDI) require program change messages, some controller messages, some note messages, some work with several of them.

Still, for a device this powerful, the ease of use department really shines!

I'll use this header to write about functions (and their limitations also):

First, about the sound quality: I personally had never any problems with the sound quality, speaking from a "effects rack in a studio setting" standpoint. What I understand is that you get huge amounts of noise when feeding a device with high internal resistance (like a guitar with passive electronics in conctrast to active electronics or a mixer) into it...which is kind of a letdown, as one would expect to use such a tool in a guitarist's style setting (i.e. no mixer). Solution: put it in the effects loop of your amp, or use it behind your floorboard or whatever.

Compared to other real-time-loopers, this is an extremely advanced device, offering features no other looper has. These include.
* four tracks for independent recording, overdub and processing/mixing
* pitch shifting and time stretching (the former independently for all four tracks)
* an effects loop with resample feature OR four independent outputs
* A wonderful varispeed feature, where you can pitch the thing like a tape with a foot controller

Many people have already written about the features, so I'll concentrate on a few problems which seem important for me.

1. You cannot record a loop, and go into overdubbing immediately. What does that mean? Say, you're playing a four-bar guitar part into the repeater. At the end of bar 4, you hit the record or play button again. The repeater stops recording and starts playback at the beginning of the loop. What happens is that a sound still sustained is thus apruptly cut off, and you cannot continue playing into the loop after another press of record.
Workaround: for the "sustained notes cut off"-phenomenon none really. You could record an empty track, close it and then start overdubbing into it (after the first overdub, you can just stay in overdub infinitely). Not very intuitive or "real-time". A big drawback!

2. The repeater's internal MIDI clock is extremely unstable. Apart from your music becoming not very tight in the process, lots of effects you might have MIDI-synced to the Repeater might react with audio glitches (like i.e. the TC FireworX). Workaround: sync the repeater to another clock source (I use a Eventide Eclipse w/ software 3.00) - but then you lose the varispeed option. And don't use the ploytec 34one pedal, it will put repeater's tracks 1 and 2 into stereo link upon startup!

A word of caution is due regarding the CF cards. Electrix listed a few card manufacturers whose cards they do recommend. I used some of them (i.e. a SanDisk one) and had CFC TOO SLOW messages even when not stretching the specification too much. The trick is to use a CFC with a Hitachi controller, so make sure to get one.

Ah, and lest I forget: fitting the thing with (MB of internal memory is a joke! 64MB would've been more like it...

Point 1 from above really gives a big "down" in this category. Point 2 might also not be acceptable for someone using a smaller rig (like with a Repeater and a FireworX).

never had any problems. also no startup failures/lockups or something.
I trust it.

Too bad Electrix just fell short of creating perhaps the greatest looper available. From my working methods, the "can't go into overdub immediately" flaw (see above) really drops it some levels for me...and the clock thing is another issue. And hadn't Electrix folded shortly after releasing the Repeater, the overdub issue should be fixable quite easily.

Still, comparing what I paid to the only real competitor (the EDP), it's great value for your money. I enjoy working with it. It inspires my creativity. And I've come to accept its shortcomings.

The Repeater has a lot more controls than my previous looper, the Jamman, but it can do a lot more. My one frustration has been importing loops into my computer via the flash media card -- the Repeater puts a small amount of silence on both ends of each loop track, and while the manual says how to get rid of these gaps, the Repeater simply does NOT do what the manual says it will. Obviously, this isn't an issue for live use, where it's dreamy.

For recording, going out of the Repeater into the device is unacceptable -- too much noise for my tastes. FX inserts double the problem. The best thing to do is get the best sound possible going in and then take the loops off the card, but see the complications with that above. Again, live is just fine.

Very few problems, although you get different performance from different media cards, even if they're from the same manufacturer, which can affect playback. You can always dump the loop from the card into the Repeater's internal memory if it doesn't feel like playing off the card, however. You just have to remember to save any changes back to the card before you turn the Repeater off.

Company's been out of business since before I got it.

Despite its quirks, the Repeater can be a very useful tool. After a year, I'm continuously finding new ways to use it. Besides just looping, it's great for figuring out arrangements, whether you're doing electronic styles or classical composition.

This is an addition to my earlier review of the Electrix Repeater.

Earlier I rated it a 1... maybe that was a little harsh, but the ticking sounds is bad. I want to add two more issues about the sound quality.

1 - Yes, it is very noisy when running with a guitar. You can use a line mixer to boost the level, but this will alter the way your guitars and amps interact. Also, it adds a little bit of digital harshness to your sound which is noticeable to me - makes overdriven sounds rougher in a bad way, less smooth.

2 - When the FX Insert is engaged, the dry sound becomes phasey and chorusey in an uncontrollable way. This seems to be because there is a time delay - the wet signal is delayed from the dry signal. This ain't too cool. It happens when you patch the FX send straight into the FX return, so it is in the Electrix unit and not my outboard FX. So, you can deal with the chorusing on your dry sound with the FX Insert engaged, or, you have to only use the FX Insert to add effects to loops that are already recording (then outputting a wet signal only through the FX loops ) and routing your dry signal through a different track on the Repeater. This is somewhat limiting.

It's still cooking.

Out of business.

Maybe I seem overly critical, but hey, you gotta be when it comes to deciding where to spend your hard-earned bucks. Hopefully some manufacturers and inventors pay attention to these reviews and will test their products thoroughly before putting them into production, and will not let "minor details" go unresolved. Buyer Beware! Repeater is still cool, but it has some problems.

Easy to get a good sound. The manual could be less 'humanized' and more to the point.

I haven't had it very long.

Same here.

I'm comparing this unit to a Boss RC-20 and a Zoom 1044 (no burner). I really like the fact that you can record a loop at one tempo and then precisely change the tempo of that loop. You can change the tempo on the boss unit but not precisely and you can not change the tempo on the Zoom recorder. What this allows is for you to change your mind about tempo. It's a luxury that is also a time saver in many applications. The boss unit has 51/2 minutes of loop memory but this seems to include overdubs as I have used the unit in that way. The repeater only comes with about 4 minutes 20 seconds of track memory guaranteeing that you'll have to buy compact flash cards. The 128 MB cards are 50 bucks give or take a few a pop and provide 241/2 minutes of track memory (not loop memory. If you want to use this unit for click tracking (which because of the adjustable metronome sound would most likely work well- I'M assuming now that these electrix people were not so stupid as to import that sound in the outputs - I haven't tested it yet, then you could click about 5 or 6 songs per 128 MB card or about 10 bucks a song. If you'd like to output those tracks in stereo half that. I perceive this as a negative. I paid less for the Zoom unit and it has a 15 gig hard drive which has room for over 100 hours track time. Now for all that unit does it is a steal relative to the repeater. To conclude I would say that the repeater is about an equal value to the boss rc-20 but the Zoom recorder blows both of them out of the water. If Zoom were to make a looper I bet you it would do alot more than these loopers and for less money.

The manual is very well written. Although Electrix is no longer, parent company IVL still exists, and they are maintaining the message board for all Electrix products, as well as providing customer support. While that is not as good as having an active company to talk to, it's not bad. There is a nice community of people that have Repeaters that are readily available through the message board. Therefore, it's pretty easy to troubleshoot and get advice.
While the front panel of the Repeater is extremely easy to use, they never created a "dedicated" footpedal/board (ala Echoplex). While this is a blessing to some, it is a curse to others. Therefore, you'll have to go through a little programming time if you use a midi pedalboard. (The three button footswitch from Digitech allows you to record, stop, play, but won't allow you access to many of the Repeater's cooler functions.) Many users, myself included have opted for the Behringer FCB1010 for it's two expression pedals, and rather nice features. You'll find plenty of support if you use that board.

Unlike the Echoplex, the Repeater was stereo. As a keyboard player, this made it the winner over the Echoplex alone. (I'm not about to buy two Echoplexes!) Being able to store and transfer loops via CFC is DAMN COOL! This also enaples the Repeater to be used as a sampler of sorts.
I had the CFC "ticking" problem referred to in other posts. The problem lay in not having enough input volume. The "tick" is below the "noise floor", and if your input levels go to orange or red, you shouldn't hear any tick (this is from the Repeater forum on their site, so forgive me butchering the explanation). Once I made this modification, the noise was a non-issue. (Also check the line/phono switch in the back.)
I have the Repeater running into a compressor/noise gate before it goes out to speaker, so noise is a non-issue for me.

It's a TANK! You could use it as a car-stop, hammer nails with it, and throw it down ten flights of stairs, and it would probably still work. (Not that I'm advocating any of those acts.)

The only dealings I've had with customer support is communication through the message board... and while not serious, they have been very helpful.

If anything happens to my Repeater, I'll be very very VERY VERY upset. Seeing as the company has folded, getting one at a good price is becomming increasingly difficult. Much like the Jamman, it appears to be appreciating in value.
Like many other products, it involves a slight learning curve. However, once "personalized", it's FANTASTIC!

a bit deeper than might first appear. requires a bit of time.

headphone output:NOISY.
L/R outs: NOT DEAD QUIET EITHER
digital out:appears to be fine.
tweaking the input/record levels can help the L/R noise quite a bit. the headphone output is noisier than hell, though. but,..it IS just a headphone out.

like all electrix gear it is packed into a military-spec iron case. seems unbreakable. haven't owned it for that long, though.

great website (until they folded). still seems pretty informative. never called them. hope i don't have to.

i've owned TWO Lexicon Jamman's for years. i love them. i bought the repeater to COMPLIMENT them (not replace them). my first impression was: "what the???......this noisy piece of crap will NOT enhance my Jammans". then i started tweaking. the UNDO is great (the bad riff is not fatal like it is when looping on the Jamman). i layed down a riff. i looped it. i re-recorded it backwards. i added an external effect. i panned the 4 seperate parts all over the place. the result made my jaw drop. i played the result backward and then foward. very cool. i saved it to my memory card and then started over. i LOVE it. it will NOT replace my Lexicons. i prefer them for more "spontaneous" looping AND for the GIGANTICALLY long ECHO capabilites. i look at the Repeater as more of a looping tool-box. construct....DE-construct....layer...reverse..add effects....pan the 4 seperate tracks.......save to data card or load directly to my little sampler. it is HUGE addition to my humble home studio. if you are looking for a delay unit...maybe the Line 6 DL4 will suit you better. if you want the purest real-time looping available,..look for a Jamman OR BETTER YET an Echoplex Digital. if you want a looper (and it CAN be used "realtime") that can INSTANTLY produce some phenomenal results on ANY input material (guitar/voice/synth,etc) than look at the Repeater. the data card storage is SWEET. the user interface (once you are familiar with it) is very easy to operate. you can think of it as a "supplemental" 4-tracks to whatever recorder you use. i find it indespensible. find one now before they go the way of the Jamman and are impossible to locate (and afford).

Others have covered this sufficiently. The Repeater's features are great, once you learn how to do everything.

This is my beef. I have an ever-present "ticking" sound that comes out of the Repeater's right channel whenever I play back off of a CFC. Electrix has acknowledged this as a design flaw, but it seems that it does not bother others as much it bothers me, so I wonder if my unit is particularly screwy. It has made it unusable as a stereo unit for me, at least if sound quality is a big deal (such as in recording). It's super annoying. It does not happen when playing off of internal memory, only off of the CFC. Also, it is noisy in front of a guitar amp, but I haven't tried building the attentuator yet. So, mostly because of the ticking sound, I hereby slam the Repeater. The sample rate and record quality is very good.

I depend on it completely for fun and jollies. I can't afford another one, or else I would have one. Now, if you had two Repeaters for stereo, that would work and you would have no ticking sound to worry about and four tracks of stereo, but don't tell anyone, because they're becoming scarce fast. Oh yea, I crushed the front panel knobs in a rack case once and they came out just fine.

They were very nice while they were still around, until I asked them to fix my Repeater or replace because the ticking sound was unnacceptable to me. Then, they stopped replying to me. Now, they are out of business.

It's super great, it sucks, I love it, I hate it. I wish there was no ticking sound, then I could just rave about it, but honestly, it really really bothers me.

Very easy to run

Too much noise for my taste, so i returned unit, never to have it re-appear. Don't send the unit in for repairs. 6 months later, Still no refund on insured mail to Canada.

didn't last me very long

Friendly but lost a smart card sent to them as well as unit

Fun while I had it, which was 2 months. Will I buy another one if I ever get refunded. Don't think so.

I'm a complete propellerhead, so my opinion should be taken with a grain of salt, but really, the basic operation of this unit is as simple as any cassette 4-track - they designed it to look that way for a reason and it pays off. There's depth and you can wade in to full midi implementation, but I've opted not to expand my already oversized pedalboard with a dedicated controller. I just attached a simple momentary footswitch (radioshack $5) to activate/deactivate record - and for the rest I actually prefer the front panel interface. As a solo looper, this doesn't really impact my live performances - in fact, it lends a nice Mr. Science quality to it all. I have used contollers with the unit too, for the aforementioned propellerhead reasons (had to check it out). Tech 21's midi mouse is a minimal real estate choice that works well...

My rig is only slightly less complex than Mr. Torn's - did everyone notice that David Torn has an entry here? - skip this, read that and buy if so inclined - I use a dozen different guitars, including midi-equipped - half-a-dozen stompboxes on the front end, three rackmout preamps/effects units, mikes, CD's of samples (mostly vocies)- anyway, point is that I do get a little digital noise from the unit itself during headphone monitoring - that's with guitar direct to front-panel repeater input, with no other connections, to headphone out. That is my only ding on the unit. Note that this noise does not appear on the .wav files saved to CFC, nor does it impact the sound through the back panel outputs. I think it's actually a problem with the headphone out. Sound is otherwise great once you get the levels set. A master output control would have been a nice feature, as others have noted.

So far, so good. Seems solid, but only time will tell.

Well, sadly, Mr. Torn seems to have been slightly off about this company's dedication to their product - in that they are now defunct - at least as a separate entitiy. Their website says they will continue to support warranty and I'm not sure what their affiliation with TC Electronics will mean. But it appears the product has been discontinued...?

Right now, there just is not a more versatile unit for the performing looper - particularly for guitarists. The list of positives is long:
Stereo operation with panning
Multitrack looping (with bouncing)
.Wav file format - you just started your next CD.
Great sync functions
Great morphing (time / pitch stretching)
Long loop times with an appropriate CFC
By the way, Mr. Torn says that this unit is not based on the long echo model like so many others - true - but I want to emphasize that it can function exactly like such a unit - with fine control over the degree of fade. I often use it this way and it kills the digital echoplex, jamman and

The list of negatives has already been laid out by others. To my mind the two biggest are lack of internal ram (especially when memory is soooooo cheap) and the oft mentioned lack of master output - Both of these can be overcome (buy a $50 128MB CFC from Amazon and bypass the internal ram - use a stereo volume pedal between the outs on the unit and your amp / PA). A great box. The last (for now) missing piece from my rig. Knee-cymbals and bass drum on the back no longer necessary. You are a one-person band.