Summary
• Pros: The NUX JTC Drum & Loop is an easy-to-use, compact looper that has 11 high-quality drum sounds. It’s also affordable.
• Cons: Limited options. For example, only one rhythm backing per genre and no way to import backing tracks. No long term storage for loops.
• Overall: The Drum & Loop is a good choice if you’re looking for something to practice with on a budget. Otherwise you’d be better off spending more.
Compare Prices
• Amazon: NUX JTC Drum & Loop/NDL-2
• zZounds: NUX JTC Drum & Loop/NDL-2
Full review
A lot of the time, looper pedals come in tiers. Not everyone wants a fifteen-switch monstrosity, and there are other musicians who would never waste their time with something stompbox-sized. And let’s be honest, companies spend huge amounts of money on R&D when they’re working on something new, so they tend to milk each generation as much as they can.
It can be annoying when the smaller version of a pedal is almost the same as the big one but with less functionality. There are are some benefits, however. Most of all, it means you can get the basics of what you need in a package that suits budget. For every RC-300, there is an RC-3. For every JamMan Delay there is a JamMan Solo. And for every JTC Drum & Loop Pro, there’s a JTC Drum & Loop / NDL-2. So, in a sense you know what you’re getting here, but is it worth the money?
Drums and Loops, with a Tiny Footprint
The core concept is a small pedal that contains both a looper and some options for rhythm backing. And upon seeing the Drum & Loop, it’s obvious that they’ve this as simply as possible. The whole pedal consists of a single footswitch, two dials and a push-button. These are all labeled so simply that you won’t even need to glance at the manual to get started.
The footswitch controls the basic looping functions and has context-dependent functions for the rhythm as well. You tap the switch once to start recording a loop. Tap it again to play back what you’ve just done. Then tap it a third time to start recording the overdub. Of course, you can continue overdubbing pretty much indefinitely.
A Simple Rhythm Section
The drum portion of the pedal is substantially simpler than the system on the Drum & Loop Pro and other similar pedals like the Boss RC-10R. Rather than offering a massive range of rhyhms to navigate through, the choice has been pared down to 11 patterns. You simply select these using the left dial on the front of the pedal. These are labeled according to genre, which makes it easy to find something to suit your composition. It also shows the limitations of the pedal, however. If you’re into blues, for example, there is one blues drum beat. Sure, you could get some use out of the others too, but your options are definitely limited.
Actually starting the drums going is pretty simple. Just press the small button on the body of the pedal. You can also start the drums by holding down the main footswitch for 1.5 seconds (when a loop isn’t playing). There is also tap tempo function. You activate it by tapping the button in rhythm or by tapping your foot on the footswitch when a loop isn’t playing. You can also hold down the footswitch for one and a half seconds to stop the rhythm from playing back.
It’s important to note that here you don’t get the handy little extras like the ability to add a fill whenever you like, or variations on the same beat like you would on other pedals from NUX or Boss. The looper part of the pedal has a bit more than just the bare bones, but for the drums all you can really do is start them and adjust the tempo.
Undo/Redo In the House
The looper does have the most important additional feature, undo/redo for your last overdub, which you activate by pressing and holding the footswitch while the loop is playing. This might not sound too important, but it allows you to fix mistakes and opens up the possibility of bringing in an additional melody or phrase for the chorus section of a song, for example. Other than that, there isn’t much else beyond the core feature of any looper.
The pedal is small and it makes sense that it doesn’t have tons of ins and outs. All you have is the 1/4 inch input and output jacks for your guitar signal and your amp, a USB port for firmware updates, and a power supply jack.
Is The NUX JTC Drum & Loop the Best Budget Rhythm Looper?
The Drum & Loop (NDL-2) isn’t really trying to be the ultimate looper when it comes to features and capability. There’s an inherent understanding that NUX offers this – essentially a stripped down version of the Drum & Loop Pro – because they know that not everyone wants to pay for bells and whistles they may not need. The price is as much of a selling-point for a looper like this as all the actual features.
So if your question is: does this looper beat the competition in terms of features and capability? The answer is no. The Boss RC-10R, for example, packs tons more rhythm sounds, has vastly increased memory and a simplified workflow (not to mention dual-track looping). It wipes the floor with the Drum & Loop when it comes to raw capability. But the question you should be asking is: does the Drum & Loop (NDL-2) offer a good experience for the price?
The answer here is yes, with a couple of caveats. If you’re just looking for a practice tool and don’t need tons of rhythms, then you’ll enjoy the Drum & Loop. The sound quality is 24-bit, so its audio quality is on par with much more expensive loopers. It’s also very intuitive to use and is great as a practice tool.
But if you’re interested in anything beyond this, I recommend spending a bit more on something like the Boss RC-10R. Even the NUX JTC Pro version increases the capabilities substantially, and has much more potential for continued use if you become more interested in looping.
In a nutshell, it’s a good pedal but very limited in terms of the rhythms.
Where to Buy the NUX JTC Drum & Loop?
• Amazon: NUX JTC Drum & Loop/NDL-2
• zZounds: NUX JTC Drum & Loop/NDL-2
NUX JTC Drum & Loop Product Clip
