- Looping pedals are great for so many things — practice, experimentation, and even replacing your bandmates 😉
- What are the best looper pedals for guitar and vocals?
- We look at the best looper pedals on the market, from compact budget picks to full-on looping workstations!
Looping has been popular long before hitting the mainstream with artists like Ed Sheeran. The ability to create a small recording on stage, overdub it and use it live in a performance has appealed to musicians for decades.
Since then, we’ve seen a plethora of looping pedals to fit all styles, genres, and budgets.
In this article, we’re going to explore the best options on the market and I’m sure you’ll find at least one that fits your looping needs.
What Are The 7 Best Looper Pedals?
Our pick for the best looping pedal is the MXR Clone Looper. It offers an ideal mix of features, ease of use, size, and price. For those that need infinite looping potential and power, it is hard to beat the HeadRush Looperboard Advanced Performance Pedal. And for those that value simplicity over anything else, the TC Electronic Ditto+ is an ideal choice.
All up, here are our candidates for the 7 best looper pedals.
- MXR Clone Looper (Our Pick)
- HeadRush Looperboard Advanced Performance (Premium Option)
- TC Electronic Ditto+ (Best Value)
- Pigtronix Infinity 2 Looper
- Electro-Harmonix 720 Stereo Looper
- BOSS RC-10R Rhythm Loop Station
- Vox Lil’ Looper
1. MXR Clone Looper
The MXR Clone Looper offers superb sound quality combined with great looping capabilities as well as durability. This is our pick for best looping pedal on this list.
Features
- High-fidelity 88.2kHz sample rates
- Unlimited loop layers — up to 6 minutes total
- Loops stay on the pedal between power-downs
- Stretchable time (1/2–2x) via an expression pedal or tempo-tap switch
- Durable brushed metal housing
Review
The MXR Clone Looper features impressive sample rates up to 88.2kHz. This is nearly double that of most other digital looper pedals, and ensures that you don’t encounter aliasing when recording an overdriven electric or a percussive acoustic.
With the Clone Looper, you get up to six minutes of record time to share between unlimited overdubs, and the loops you record will remain in the pedal once you power it down.
And to make sure you never get lost, the Clone Looper has a flashing 4-count entrance at the beginning of the loop.
Additionally, the MXR Clone Lopper features 1/2–2x time-stretching, expression pedal, and tap switch inputs, as well as Play Once mode for backing tracks and true/buffered bypass switching.
In typical
2. HeadRush Looperboard Advanced Performance Looper
If you are an absolute loop freak, then the HeadRush Looperboard Advanced Performance Looper is for you.
This looping powerhouse offers everything you could possibly need to loop multiple instruments at once and create layers upon layers, all with superb quality, flexibility, endless features, and ease of use. This is our premium option for those that need maximum looping mojo.
With this one tool, you can forge dynamic loops in the heat of a show, craft rich vocal harmonies using the onboard intelligent harmonizer, then export multitrack audio to your DAW for later layering and mixing.
- Flexible
- Endless features
- Intuitive and easy to use
Features
- 4-track stereo looper pedal from HeadRush
- Firmware 2.0 unlocks footswitch customization, automatic vocal tuning and harmonies, real-time BPM detection and quantization, and more
- Unlimited record time
- Bright, easy-to-read 7″ touchscreen interface
- Quad-core DSP eliminates bottlenecking
Review
The HeadRush Looperboard Advanced Performance Looper features a large 7″ color touchscreen that is easy to read from a standing position, even in the most relentless lighting conditions.
This screen lets you monitor incoming audio and see loops at a glance. Its touch, swipe, and drag interface is intuitive to use and fast to learn, even if you’re new to loopers.
Additionally, this HeadRush looping station is loaded with a wide array of premium modeling and effects and features a quad-core architecture that provides plenty of power for manipulating multitrack audio without any issues.
The Looperboard also gives you a tap-tempo switch with intelligent time stretching. This allows you to speed up and slow down loops as you wish, without altering the pitch.
And for making sure you stay on the beat, the Looperboard features BPM detection and quantization.
As far as I/O, the Looperboard also has plenty of options. It features four XLR-1/4″ combo inputs with dedicated gain controls and +48 phantom power to accept everything from microphones to guitar and keyboard gear, with MIDI in/out/thru to maintain sync with external devices.
The XLR and 1/4″ outputs allow you to drive a stage amp and feed a soundboard or recording medium simultaneously.
There’s even a headphone output for silent monitoring and a 1/8″ stereo aux input for audio playback from your phone or tablet.
It comes with a navigation menu, file browsers (for simpler importing/exporting), storage page (shows remaining loop time for the internal drive and connected external drives), and combined mixer+meter page for a better presentation overall.
Besides being able to loop away with instruments using the Looperboard’s onboard FX suite, this unit also includes intelligent vocal tuning and harmonization. Ed Sheeran watch out!
As far as the quality of the recording, this unit features premium 32-bit/48kHz floating-point DSP that preserves the full dynamic range of every incoming audio source.
In short, the HeadRush Looperboard Advanced Performance Looper is the most complete and advanced looping pedal on the market today.
(The HeadRush Pedalboard is also our pick for the best guitar multi-fx pedal on the market!)
3. TC Electronic Ditto+
The TC Electronic Ditto+ is an upgraded version of their popular Ditto looping pedal. It features a streamlined design that is capable of looping, overdubbing, undoing, juxtaposing longer loops with shorter ones, and more.
The Ditto+ works with uncompressed 24-bit audio for ensuring the best sound quality. Its analog-dry-through design keeps the integrity of your dry signal, even while the effect is on, all of this with one of the simplest designs in looper history.
With the TC Electronic Ditto+, enjoy total creative freedom with unlimited overdubs, while dynamic loop length enables you to layer long overdubs onto shorter loops.
- Unlimited overdubs
- Dynamic loop feature
- Simple interface
Features
- 60-minute recording time
- Stores and recalls up to 99 loop sessions
- Unlimited overdubs
- Dynamic loop length enables you to layer long overdubs onto shorter loops
- 1-knob control and easy-to-navigate layout
Review
TC Electronic Ditto+ features storing and recall capabilities for up to 99 loop sessions and is also able to retain your loops in its internal memory after you turn it off.
It also features unlimited overdubs and a dynamic loop feature that enables you to layer long overdubs over shorter loops.
With the Ditto+ you can also import and export loops and backing tracks via USB. To ensure top sound quality, everything is stored as uncompressed 24-bit audio.
This TC Electronic looping pedal will also appeal to those who value simplicity but want to have a complete looping tool as well. Another great feature of this looper pedal is the Ditto Mode.
When activated, the Ditto+ allows you to press once to record, and press once again to play the loop. You can also press once to add another layer and repeat with unlimited overdubs until you’re done.
To undo or redo a layer, simply press twice to stop. Press and hold the footswitch to clear the loop.
4. Pigtronix Infinity 2 Looper
The Pigtronix Infinity is a great choice for those that like to do traditional looping but would also like to experiment a bit more.
It offers versatility and is a solid looper that is simple to operate, and comes in a small package that fits easily onto your pedalboard.
Features
- Dual stereo loops allow you to record verse and chorus loops independently
- Full-range inputs handle instrument-level and line-level signals
- Decay control fades out loop audio during overdub
- External footswitch input lets you trigger special effects while both loops are engaged
- Loop boundary functionality makes sure your overdubs are perfectly on time
Review
The Pigtronix Infinity 2 comes loaded with features and packs a punch for such a small pedal. It operates under the premise that most actions you trigger are automatically applied at the boundaries of the current loop.
This eliminates the need for spot-on timing to switch between loops or stopping your loop at the correct time.
The Infinity 2 also excels in simplicity as it has only two knobs: Volume and Decay. The Volume control allows you to set the ideal level for your loop. Add the Decay knob to cause your loop audio to fade out during overdubbing.
When you set the knob fully clockwise, the Infinity 2 will behave like a standard looper with all layers at full volume for the duration of your session. But turned all the way counter-clockwise, each overdub disappears after a single loop cycle.
In typical Pigtronix fashion, the Infinity 2 goes beyond just looping the same section of music over and over while you play along. This unit can help you spice things up via player-controlled effects.
This is done with a small push-button switch that sits above the left footswitch, which allows you to change the functionality of the footswitch itself.
You can choose between Stop, Stutter, Octave Shift, and Undo/Redo. On the back panel of the pedal, a TRS remote jack allows you to trigger each of these special effects with an external footswitch.
Overall, this is a great looping pedal that lets you keep it traditional, or dive into experimental territory if you wish.
5. Electro-Harmonix 720 Stereo Looper
It is hard to put together a pedal list, of any kind, that does not feature at least one
This is because this legendary company has a stellar reputation for creating great-sounding, useful, and sturdy stompboxes. The 720 Stereo Looper is no exception and offers that signature EHX quality and durability.
Features
- 12 minutes of high-quality looping
- Unlimited overdubbing
- Loop 2 instruments at once
- Reverse and 1/2 time available
- Dual footswitches for hands-free operation
Review
The Electro-Harmonix 720 Stereo Looper offers you access to 12 minutes of uncompressed audio with 24-bit conversion and a 44.1 kHz sample rate. I would say this is the bare minimum in terms of digital audio quality, but it’s certainly good enough and you won’t hear any difference.
This pedal divides loops into 10 individual phrases that can be accessed via the Loop knob or an additional 3-button footswitch, all of this with unlimited overdubbing.
The 720 Stereo Looper pedal features plenty of options for creating new sounds, such as stereo in and outputs for getting a wide sonic spectrum.
The stereo inputs allow for looping with two instruments simultaneously and there is also a foot-switchable undo and redo function to enhance your looping experience. Its I/O features 2 x 1/4″ (left, right), 1 x 1/4″ (external foot controller) for inputs and 2 x 1/4″ (left, right) outputs.
Additionally, this EHX looper features reverse and 1/2 time buttons, all in an easy to operate design and configuration.
Two footswitches let you control the current loop for recording, overdubbing, undoing, and redoing a performance. The Loop knob/button accesses the pedal’s three modes and cycles through the 10 loop locations for maximum power and simplicity of use.
6. BOSS RC-10R Rhythm Loop Station
It offers not only fantastic looping capabilities but also a great variety of drum rhythms that can come in handy for performance and practicing.
Features
- Stereo looping pedal for guitar and bass
- Up to 6 hours of recording time, with 99 loop recording slots
- Over 280 rhythm presets with 16 drum kits
- Rhythm presets offer two distinct song sections, plus intro/outro fills and two transition fills
- Stellar sound quality with 32-bit conversion
Review
The BOSS RC-10R Rhythm Loop Station Pedal combines a fantastic looping pedal with great performance and practice tools thanks to its included drum loops.
This unit features over 280 onboard rhythm styles, covering rock, pop, Latin, jazz, electronic, and much more.
For maximum flexibility, each of these rhythms offers two distinct song sections, two fills, and intro/outro fills to complete your arrangement. Additionally, the serial two-track loop engine is perfectly synced to the rhythm engine for capturing performances that mesh together nicely.
You could also choose to create two independent loops with no rhythmic accompaniment if you wish.
The BOSS RC-10R Rhythm Loop Station Pedal also features a loop engine that is based around 32-bit converters with 32-bit floating-point processing.
This unit is designed for performance and features built-in optimization for multiple playback systems with dual outputs.
This allows the RC-10R to feed both a guitar or bass amplifier and a full-range speaker simultaneously so you can use your own amp to shape your tone while sending the rhythm track to a playback system.
The RC-10R has an option that lets you filter just your instrument or just the drums, to optimize them for combined playback through a single speaker.
Overall, this is a great looping unit from the company elevated the looping paradigm.
7. Vox Lil’ Looper
The Vox Lil’ looper offers plenty of features in a small and simple to use design. With this looper, you can get independent loops that you can sync to a specific beat.
The Lil’ Looper features two separate footswitches for enhanced control and flexibility, as well as dozens of effects for guitar, vocals, and any other source that might inspire you to create.
Equally well suited for both guitar and vocals, you'll find endless clever ways to enhance the way you practice, perform, and even write new songs when you pick up a Vox Lil' Looper.
- Simple to use
- Flexible
- Offers enhanced control
Features
- Compact looper and multi-effects pedal for guitar, vocals, and other applications
- 1/4″ inputs for both guitars (instrument-level sources) and microphones
- Dual independent loopers provide separate controls
- The quantization function lets you lock your loops to the beat
- 12 x onboard effects
Review
The Vox Lil’ Looper features two independent loops with large, easy-to-reach pedals and simple controls for a powerful yet easy operation and up to 90 seconds of total recording time.
This looper comes with a quantize function to ensure that your loops and overdubs are perfectly lined up and on time.
The Vox Lil’ Looper is a good choice for guitar, bass, vocals, and other instruments and comes with a suite of excellent-sounding effects.
Here you’ll find classic effects including overdrive, octave bass, and even an acoustic guitar emulation for your guitar. As for vocals, the included mic input jack lets you take advantage of effects such as radio lo-fi mode, delay, and chorus.
This unit is also very pedalboard-friendly and will fit in most setups thanks to its small size.
Next check out Exploring Live Looping Possibilities (Interview w/ Abdous).