Summary
• Pros: The Vox Lil’ Looper is a dual-pedal looper with multi-effects that are not available in similar compact loopers.
• Cons: A lot of plastic and the price is on the higher side compared to other compact loopers.
• Overall: The Vox Lil’ Looper is easy-to-use. It has many of the same features as its big brother the Vox VDL1 Dynamic Looper, but at a fraction of the cost and size.
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• Amazon: Vox Lil’ Looper
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Full Review of the Vox Lil’ Looper
Everyone’s seen a guitarist play a solo and thought to themselves, surely someone else is playing along with them. There’s no way all of those notes are coming from one musician. Thanks to the introduction of looping technology, musicians are capable of playing a single phrase of music, having it loop a couple of times, and each time build on the previous phrase.
Previously, looped phrases were prerecorded or found only in studio recordings. With the advent of looper pedals, however, musicians now frequently use looping in live shows. Vox’s entry into the looper market in 2012 is a welcome change from the ongoing battle between Boss and Digitech. The Vox Looper steps in a different direction by dispensing with unneeded hours of recording time. Vox has chosen to keeps loops at 90 seconds and focus on building multi-effects options into their loopers. The Lil’ Looper allows you to add variations into your loops using different effects that would otherwise have to be purchased separately. It is one of the most compact loopers to offer this type of technology. This size is really great for when you are traveling light or if don’t have a lot of space.
Looper Functions
Another feature which sets the VOX Lil’ Looper apart from other compact looper pedals, is its overdubbing features. This feature allow you to record countless layers of music while maintaining the original sound quality of each layer. It also allows you to “Undo” the last layer if you make a mistake or just want some variation. The reverse is also the case. You can also use the “Redo” feature to add the last layer back into your loop.
Timing and Quantization
The Lil’ Looper also offers the power of Loop Quantize. This solves the problem of making sure your phrases are perfectly in time. The Loop Quantize feature helps musicians to take independent phrases and to loop them, so they’re automatically on beat. By synchronizing these phrases so they’re at the same tempo, you won’t have to re-record your phrases if they happen to be slightly off.
Built-in Multi-Effects Processor
If you want an all-in-one looper pedal and multi-effects processor, the Vox Looper is a great option. Instead of having to carry multiple pedals, the VOX Lil’ Looper gives you 12 effects options. It includes 4 pedal effects, 4 simulation effects, and 4 modulation effects.
Pedal effects include: Comp, Distortion, Crunch, and Overdrive. Simulation effects include: acoustic, Pitch, Bass, and Radio. Modulation effects include: Chorus, Stutter, Phaser, and Mod Delay. Like all VOX effects pedals, the Lil’ Looper offers only the best effects available.
Unlike the full-sized looper pedals, the Vox Looper compacts everything into a small powerhouse package. This makes it an ideal pedal for carrying along from one gig to another. Additionally, the Lil’ Looper offers you the option to use either an AC power adapter or battery power. This helps to reduce the number of power cords needed.
While the size of the Vox Looper makes it ideal for transportation, its other features make it ideal for practicing at home. For instance, there’s a built in metronome that helps you stay in time and become familiar with the rhythm needed for a particular piece of music. The metronome can also be used with the built-in headphone output feature. That way, you can hear the metronome without the sound going out through your Main Out.
Because you can easily switch from the guitar to the mic input, the looper is also beneficial for any mic’d musician, including a vocalist. Many of its effects are fun to experiment with when you mic different instruments and/or vocals through the looper. This allows a variety of musicians to use the looping and effects available with the Lil’ Looper. For inspiration of what some people do with loopers and effects, check out the artist DubFX.
Optional Extra Footswitches
One of the optional features available on the VOX Lil’ Looper is the VFS2 footswitch, which is specifically designed for use with Vox loopers like the Lil’ looper and the larger Dynamic Looper. With the VOX Lil’ Looper, the VFS2 footswitch can be used to turn effects on or off, control loops, and even erase phrases. It essentially allows you to have completely hands-free control of VOX Looper and its features.
Conclusion
If you shop around, you can find this pedal for around fairly inexpensively. Even at the reduced price, there are other looper pedals which cost less. With all the built-in effects you get with the Vox Looper, however, the Vox Lil’ Looper is a pretty good option for musicians who like to travel light, and who don’t want to collect or carry individual effects pedals along with their looper.
Where to Buy the Vox Lil’ Looper
• Amazon: Vox Lil’ Looper
• zZounds: Vox Lil’ Looper
Vox Lil’ Looper Product Clip
GREAT UNIT I HIGHLY RECOMMEND BUYING THIS VOX LIL LOOPER I JUST BOUGHT ONE AND IM NOW A ONE MAN BAND WITH AMAZING SOUND QUALITY SO GET THIS ITS WORTH IT MUCH LOVE AND BLESSING TO ALL NAMASTE…..CHRISTOPHER NAMASTE VILLANO TYPE IN THIS NAME ON FACEBOOK TO FIND ME AND ASK ME QUESTIONS.
Nice looper, gonna check them out.
Does anyone know about that little drum machine pad? That’s
a handy little item – anyone know what they’re called? Who makes them?
Want to check those out too!
Thanks
I had one of these for 10 minutes and the plastic tang on the footswitch cover broke. Took it apart to find plastic switches soldered straight to the board. Shafts less than 1/8 inch thick. Fairly useless as a stomp box even under gentle use. Really couldn’t believe the switches were that cheap. That said, you can convert the switches by using an inner and outer shaft (tubing) and a big head screw for a button to a decent 2 button push button looper. That worked out great but I would not recommend this pedal for floor board use.
Is this compatible with non vox brand amps? In addition to that is the Vfs2 also compatible with non vox amps? I can’t find this out. If someone could tell me you would be SAVING MY LIFE. It’s that serious. Thanks!
Yes, you can use non Vox brand amps. For example, here’s some dude playing it through the fx loop of a Blackstar HT-5r: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DinS9LxJSmA
Yes I use mine with a fender or sometimes a Yamaha amp no problems
Hello,
I wonder if anyone can help me, I am looking to get a pedal as a gift to a singer/songwriter. They are unfamiliar with loop pedals and not a fan of complexity so was thinking the Ditto X2, but it occurs to me that they would possibly want to loop vocals as well as guitar, which led me to this pedal.
Am I right in thinking that these are my two best options? As it is going to be a starter loop pedal and I haven’t exactly got a massive budget, it needs to be on the cheap side.
Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks for an already incredibly informative site.
Ta
If you’re looking for an inexpensive looper that will loop both guitar and vocals, then the Lil’ Looper fits the bill pretty well. If I was buying a looper for both guitar and vocals, I would opt for the Boss RC-30 which isn’t so plastic, although its a bit more expensive. Both pedals have built-in effects which a serious guitarist probably won’t use much, though they could be useful for sketching out ideas.
The Ditto X2 is a much different animal. It’s very stripped down in terms of features and only stores one loop at a time, so your friend wouldn’t be able to loop guitar and vocals. The X2 has superior sound quality compared to both the Lil’ Looper and the RC-30 though. If your friend is a real audiophile and/or wants to use the pedal for recording, the Ditto X2 would be a good choice. Good luck!
Thank you 😀
Hi there:
I´ve this and now, I don´t know what´s happened but it works like the distortion effect constantly. and feedback. I cannot up the level more tan nothing.
Have you any idea? Thanks.
This has just happened to me! Would love to know if you managed to get it fixed? The pedal is amazing though but this has totally ruined it.
I recently bought one of these for looping guitar and vocals even though I knew it would be annoying pressing the switch between mic and vocals it was all I could afford at the time.the guitar looping works fine but whenever I switch to mic (dynamic cardoid) there is so much feed back from the amp it is IMPOSSIBLE to use! Even when recorded with earphones the vocal track isWAY louder than guitar! Is my unit broken? Anyone got any ideas pls bcos its just unusable at the minute tha nks
Don’t buy this junk!. Used it less than 20 times and the plastic switches got stuck under the metal frame. Also the looping pedals will quick working. But considering the other two items I bought from VOX also had problems quickly after buying them-why was I surprised? Spend the money and get something with a decent track record. The Lil’Looper ain’t it.
Can you hear the loop and the true instrument through the headphones output or is it only for the metronome?
If you have headphones plugged in and the metronome activated, you will only hear the metronome through the headphones.
You can hear them all. It,s a normal headphone output plus the metronome, if it is on. Metronome volume can also be controlled.
got to give this lil guy om suger in here. i highly disagree with those who apparantly broke it and calls it a “piece of junk”. its far from junk. I had mine for half a year, and its as good as new. Also, there are real good reasons to prefere this over “the other” two tracks. One is its way more intuitive to use . ITs set up differently and it seems they really thought this trough when they made it to make it less complicated than the others two tracks. Plus, another thing – the effects – you can pre set and save the effects your gonna use, so you wont have to ever fiddle with that during recording or performing, just switch between them with a click of one button. And i can actually push the buttons (not only the pedals) with the foot too, no need to bend over like a prison shower pretty boy :D. I paid about 120 dollars for it new in germany, its WAY way worth the price, give it a chance.
just want to apologize for all the typos, i meant two tracker, not two tracks. Also if it sounded mad, its not meant to be. I will put in a “lol” right here to lighten the mood. And a smiley 🙂
By the way, why are people calling it “lot of plastic”? its metal! the buttons are made of hard plastic for the turnknobs and soft for the lighted pushbuttons. Its how most other pedals are made lol. I feel this is getting an unusual amount of undesrved bad rap, i wish ppl would look more into it because i know ppl who owned it and switched to the more expensive rc 30 because they believed it was better, but then they went back realizing the design of the lil looper has a better workflow.
I had my lil’ looper for more than 3 years and used it heavily also playing outdoor. It is my first and only looper and I have to say I’ve been very lucky to get this one, especially because I really need the dual sync loop capability, which is missing in most loopers and cannot be found in any other looper in this price range. Sound quality is very good and the tool is very easy to use. The device is made of metal, but the footswitches and the buttons are made of plastic. A few months ago I had some problems with the footswitches that I easily solved by just open the device and cleaning the switches with some compressed air. The fact is that I often play in parks with a lot of dust going around. The less reliable part are the buttons. After 3 years of intense use they started breaking, but I was able to fix them somehow by opening the device.
Yes probably the ditto x4 or the infinity are made to last longer, but they cost significantly more. Furthermore, I use also some of the effects of the lil’ looper, like the overdrive or the compressor, and if I had to change to a more expensive looper I would have also to buy some additional pedals on top of it. This is why I’m still sticking to my good old vox looper and trying to make it last as long as possible.
If you want to listen to some music I play with toys looper, check out my youtube channel: cherchimatteo