Electro-Harmonix 2880

it sounds great! the manual is good.

really good sound.

it seems pretty solid considering electro harmonix has a rep for making flimsy pedals. sliders and knobs seem very reliable.
i already want another just in case they stop making it!

it syncs up perfectly as a master or slave i love it!
ive had my eye on this unit for about a year and its better than i imagined. also get the foot controller you will be glad you did

I purchased this unit about a year and a half ago. It's very intuitive to use -- very much like, as the last reviewer describes, using a multi-track reel-to-reel recorder. Unlike the Boss RC-50, this really isn't designed as a sampler/sequencer-esque tool. It's basically an extremely long, high quality looping delay that's more on par with something that Robert Fripp would use. I imagine it's pretty easy to recreate "The Heavenly Music Corporation" on this thing. It's pretty easy to get started, and it's a powerful creative tool.

I think my favorite feature of the unit is the ability to enter "constant tempo" mixdown mode and detach the length of the main tracks from that of the mixdown track (which remains consistent). This allows for some incredibly powerful non-cyclical chorusing and flanging as well genuine pitch-bending, and well, polyrhythmic psychedelic mayhem. Try not to blow your own mind.

So why a 7 (and not a 10)? Well, I have a few complaints.

For one, as the previous user reports, the external MIDI syncing and quantization is well, kinda screwy. Just try creating a new loop on the fly with this thing as a slave device. After you record, the loop "wooshes" and sounds like it is struggling to find the correct tempo. Well, scrap that. I will only use this device as a slave MIDI unit if I prerecord (and obviously, pre-quantize) the length of the loop I will be using. I won't use it as a master unit, as there is no tap tempo feature.

Another non-feature that bothers me is the lack of multiple loop sets per card. You can only save one set of loops per card. This unit would be worth twice what I paid for it if I were able to save patches, but I can't. I'm not planning on buying a ton of flash cards, either, since (a) it's expensive (b) this particular format of flash card will be obsolete relatively soon, I imagine, and (c) The card compartment is not exactly designed for ease of load/removal.


So, as far as ability to get started and create some bizarre textures and loop, 10++++. As a performance auxilliary, it gets a 4.

Yeah, it's digitial, but the resolution is the industry standard (16 bit, 44.1 khz). I'm sure if you're a recording engineer, you'll claim to be able to hear some degradation, but it sounds good enough to me. I've found that in other loopers, there are issues with degradation if the input signal is not high enough, but I haven't had that problem with this looper. I imagine the inputs are fairly high quality and impedance.

On the downside, I've noticed that when I use reverse mode (with my guitar, anyway), the input signal sounds like it is pretty out of phase with the reversed signal. I haven't seen this with other loopers, so it's noticable. However, it's really not enough to detract from how high quality the sound is.

I love the thing, but I'm not sure I really trust it given how flimsy the box looks and some of the issues I've had with my other "trapezoid" ztyle EHX boxes. I keep it in a heavy duty padded case with my MPC1000.

Never dealt, at least with this particular product. I've dealt with them before regarding repair on a PolyChorus, but not here, so I'll abstain from comment.

I love droney ambient and post rock, so it's definitely a huge creative tool for me. Like I said above, it is lacking in some features that other products out there for less have (IE: Jam Man, RC50), but blows those products away in terms of sound quality, ease of intuitive use, and being a creative tool. Ultimately, I plan on using the looper to generate and capture some bizarre guitar drones and noises and then resample those sounds into my Akai MPC.

I liked that part pretty well. I'd used a 4 track reel to reel as a looper for years, and found this pretty intuitive

One of the channels is a bit noisier than the other

Well, it would be sort of ridiculous to take it a backup to a gig! It's not working properly now (see my rant below on support) and it's only sat on my work table since I got it, so I'm not feeling very good. It worked OK for a couple of months.

Specifically, the device is supposed to synch to an external Midi clock (this is not soo unusual or difficult, right ?) and lock loops to a beat. Pretty cool if it works. But it doesn't. As soon as you stop recording the first track and switch to playback, the recording you just made slows way down and does the long swoopy thing (with pitch changing, too) until it sort of catches back up a few bars down the road. It renders it totally worthless for performance or even having fun in your studio.

Well, I informed E-H of the problem by email (they have no phone number). Hmm, they said, can you describe the problem in more detail? So I did, and then I've never heard back at all. Ever. I even threatened them with this lousy review, and I didn't hear a thing. So now I think they really bite the big one. I won't buy their crap ever again. I feel ripped off.

I got this when it was pretty new (avoid buying beta products, suckers). I paid over $500, and now it's a rock. Awesome.

Remember ART stuff from the 90's ? It's that bad.

The sound coming out of the machine sounds exactly as you put it in. I cannot hear a difference. I have a critical ear, and I remember the Boss RC-20XL I used to have - it defintely sampled at a lower bitrate. This is 16 bit, 44100. It sounds exact to me.

There are no patches to edit. The manual is clear and concise, although it repeats itself in places, which is a bit redundant, but I understood why the information was repeated.

I never try to get the sound of my favorite artists, but I suppose you could if you wanted to. It's a sampler. It samples at CD quality. I believe anything is possible, given the proper motivation.

The unit itself does not have any effects, so to speak. It has a few functions that definitely spice up the sound, though. It has a reverse function, which reverses all tracks playing back. It has a tempo slider, which will change the pitch and rate of the audio playing back, again, all tracks at once. It also has an octave button, which lowers the rate and pitch of the audio one octave below it's recorded pitch and rate.

There is no noise coming from the unit itself, but it can and will pick up any noise your instrument produces. In this case, I was looping a synthesizer part played through a delay pedal - Moog Rogue through a Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man Delay Pedal. The Rogue produces noise from it's circuitry. I personally don't care, but most people would have a fit. I use it with either a Behringer Thunderbird bass amp or the speakers on my iMac. Maybe someday I will use it out of other speakers.

I believe I can depend on this machine to do what I want, and when I want it to. I feel that the case could be a little more sturdy, along with the sliders and pots. It's not flimsy, but my Deluxe Memory Man pedal feels far more durable. It takes a little muscle to move the perfectly smooth pots on the Deluxe Memory Man. In comparison, the 2880 is a bit more fragile. I wouldn't treat the knobs or sliders in the manner that an amateur DJ would tweak his gear.

I would use it on a gig, without a backup. I can still play my music without looping, although it would sound completely different.

An overall rating of 8, all factors considered. It's a great-sounding looper, and it gives you the sound you put into it. It's a bit less durable than I hoped it would be, but it'll do.

I compose ambient and experimental music, either drone or loop based. The 2880 will definitely add an extra dimension to my music, and allow me to create the things I want. I have been playing drums and percussion for 17 years and composing/synthesizing for 10 years. If it were stolen or lost, I would buy this again. I have owned other loopers in the past, and they were not as good as this. Although they were more durable, this device has more powerful functions.

I love the fact that I can loop 4 individual channels, and in overdub mode, use the slider as a feedback control. I dislike the feeling I get that it's a delicate piece of machinery. My favorite feature is the reverse. Always the reverse.

I compared this to the RC-20XL and the DD-20 by Boss. They were tough, and had some nice features, but they were not up to the challenge. The 2880 is a fantastic looper. I wish it had a more durable case/sliders/pots - and the ability to sample individual tracks at different lengths. That is an oversight, I believe. I would like to have one track clicking and one playing a long loop. I would like loop "shuffling" features, like granular sample mangling and rearranging. This device will help me make music.

as should be the case with a good looper, this doesn't have any menues or anything like that. it is all controllable by knobs and buttons on the front of the pedal (or on the foot controller). like most loopers now, you hit a button to start recording, then hit another one when you're done and that's the foundation for your loop. with this unit you get 4 tracks that you can mix independently. still, you will probably end up going to the manual to find a few things out. for instance, the effect of the different buttons like 'new loop' will change depending on what state the looper is in (i.e. if it's playing or idle), and the manual will tell you what does what and when. my main complaint in the "ease of use" department is that there is technically no undo feature. if you screw up your first loop, you can just hit new loop and start again. but if you have a good first track and then go to do something on the second track and screw up, you cannot simply undo that track and do another pass at it. the way you accomplish this is by recording over the track with the mistake on it, by turning down the volume fader for that track (which in overdub mode acts like a feedback control). this is a little cumbersome and cannot be done with the foot controller alone.

sound quality is very good. no complaints here.

it seems fairly reliable. i don't know if i'd describe any pedal i spent this much money on as "rugged", because i don't exactly plan on tossing it around to find out what it can take. suffice it to say, it seems sturdy enough, but i wouldn't go dropping it. i do have one MAJOR complaint with the construction of the unit and especially the foot controller. the paint on the foot controller is EXTREMELY delicate and will flake off if you even so much as poke at it with your fingernail. in my opinion, this is rather inexcusable considering this thing is supposed to be on the floor and will undoubtedly be scuffed up by shoe soles, etc. i didn't have the thing one day and most of the lettering on a few of the words under each button was missing. the paint on the main unit is not quite as bad, but it is still rather easily scraped off. while these thing technically do not affect the functionality of the unit, it is a major letdown and does affect the aesthetics and resale value. i take very good care of my stuff and the foot controller already looks like it's been in an abusive home.

i wrote an email to them about the paint issue and they never got back to me. not a good sign.

if it weren't for the issues with the paint and the customer support (or lack thereof), i would say this is a damn fine pedal. if i had to list its drawbacks i would say the following:

1. only one loop can be saved per flash card. keep this in mind when buying flash cards. considering you can have a 4 minute long loop on a 128mb card, it doesn't make sense in my mind to get a larger card than that. if you have a loop that's 30 seconds long on a 2gb flash card, you are wasting a ridiculous amount of space.

2. there are two mixdown modes: standard and 'constant tempo', in which the tempo/pitch of the mixed down tracks will not be affected by the tempo slider, which is really handy. however, only standard mixdown mode can be accessed while the unit is playing. in order to get to 'constant tempo' mode, you have to stop playback, which is stupid. i still have this vague hope that they could provide an operating system update for the pedal that would change that... but then again, see my 'customer support' rating.

3. the unit will ALWAYS assume it is working with a 4/4 loop. there is no way to get it to think in terms of another time. so if you want to use the metronome function or sync this via midi and want to work with other time signatures, keep that in mind. i don't use the click track at all, so this isn't really much of an issue for me personally.

everything else about the pedal is great and if you like the idea of essentially having a 4 track tape loop of any length that you can speed up or slow down or reverse, then there isn't really any better piece of gear out there.

Very Easy to use. this thing has so many features for a looper. its so easy to layer on top of loops using the same track or new tracks. and then mixing them all down to the extra 5 and 6 stereo track is so much fun. being able to speed up and slow down the loop by half step increments up to an ocatve either way is very fun. reverse the whole thing or mix some stuff down to the extra stereo track and use something they call Constant Tempo Recording and you can reverse what you recorded then record new stuff in regular time reusing the four tracks you just mixed down. confused? im not. i friggin so into this thing, it might as well be an episode of the sopranos.

then when all is said and done: bam, pop out the CF card (where all memory is stored) throw it in my printers' card reader, and save loop forever. CF cards are somewhat cheap i have four or five lying around now and just pop a new on in anytime i want to save a loop and its overdubs. one thing that sucks is you dont need a lot of memory on a CF card but they are getting bigger and bigger in memory size and it cost more so im buying some small ones for cheap before i can only get a gig or 2 which is like an 8 minute loop or more or some shit which is insane, i will never need that, well maybe....

also must mention you have to have the foot controller...in order to have hands free, on the fly looping, unless you can play and operate machine with your hands but that would be like juggling while playing guitar i think.

Sounds perfect. there is some noises: sometimes i have a buzz that goes in time with the tempo light, i wish i could turn off that light as i never use it, and never use the click either; also every now and then very infrequently i will get a short burp or a sound, kinda like a piano key about middle c being hit for a second. very stange sound that happens when a loop is playing or not. i have my equipment pluged in for awhile and was taking a break and just heard this quick note. then again while playing through the machine with a loop engaged i heard this thing. buyt i got to tell you it happens so infrequently i could care less.

i am mostly playing a '61 Guild archtop through lots of pedals into 2880 into old Airline amp or Gibson GA-50t. pedals include fulltone OCD, buddha wha, Zvex fuzz factory, EH pulsar, boss vol.jr., boss dd-6, EH holy grail into 2880

so far no problems. i have only had it 2 months. i have tons of other EH stuff even as old as late 70's Big Muff that rules. i have had minor issue with my Pulsar (light is mostly not working, no big deal but does suck that it broke right away, they will fix it for me but to send away for a light, well i'd feel dumb cuz i can hear the pulse.) So a 9 for my Pulsar issues even though thats not fair to the 2880.

dealt with them via email on above mentioned Pulsar very helpful even without warranty offered to fix for nominal fee. quick response and all.

Love it. be all and end all of lopping pedals. price may be prohibitive for some especially because you need the foot controller at an extra 100 bucks or so. i waited forever to find the right loop pedal to invest in and i love this thing. i use alot of compact 4 track cassette machines in my day to day music life so this feels right at home and a natural fit. thank you EH but whats that strange and very infrequent piano-like sound??