Sheeran Looper+

[Scouser]

Not sure if anyone can help with this one..

I have recently bought Sheeran + Looper and having read the manual it says to use the instrument knob to get the desired signal, which should be amber, obviously no peaking into the red.

I am struggling to achieve that, if I go flat out on my LR Baggs Anthem pickup, on my Martin acoustic guitar and turn the instrument input control on the unit to max, then I get close ? But having watched a lot of YT vids many folks are not getting that kind of level, also is it a good idea for me to run everything on max ? The mic input is attenuated and gives me a stronger signal.

The metering is... Well, questionable perhaps or budget may be a better description, not very quick to respond etc

The lights are labelled

-20db =1 green light
-6db = 2 green lights
-3db = 2 green & 1 Amber ( Which looks red )
Max = all of the above plus 1 red

I really do wonder if -6db is good enough it seems to be for many of the YT demos like I say and I don't want to be chasing something elusive, if this will suffice.

Also can anyone advise the best/quickest way to recorded audio loop the same volume as live playing, if that makes sense. I guess all loopers are different...

[Scouser]

Well that's a first on here, no response... But then it's a new product and I thought it might be a long shot.

Perhaps someone could tell me how I can simply increase the level going into the unit ? Would my little active Orchid DI box do that, the reason I ask is that I don't have a jack to xlr to try it and didn't want to get one if that wont do it ?

[Hugh Robjohns]

I have recently bought Sheeran + Looper and having read the manual it says to use the instrument knob to get the desired signal, which should be amber, obviously no peaking into the red.

I'm assuming the meters are calibrated in dBFS, so the Amber LED corresponds to peaks of -3dBFS. If so, that feels worryingly hot for a live sound device! Personally, I'd be aiming for peaks of no more than -6dBFS (the second green LED), and more likely -10dBFS (first green light on often, second green light almost never).

That said, much depends on how dynamic / consistent your playing is... but unless they've used the world's worst converters you really should be able to work with a healthy headroom margin without running into noise penalties.

...if I go flat out on my LR Baggs Anthem pickup, on my Martin acoustic guitar and turn the instrument input control on the unit to max, then I get close ?

That's fine then. As long as noise isn't intruding, 'close' is absolutely fine. Remember, those meter LEDs only cover the top 20dB of dynamic range, in a system with probably more than 100dB available!

....is it a good idea for me to run everything on max ?

The control's range is as it is for a reason. There are no rules to ban you from using the top 5% of the range! If you need to use max gain then use it!

I really do wonder if -6db is good enough....

I'd say it was scarily high! You really don't need to go that high, and you risk overloads and distortion on transient peaks.

I've recording concerts where the meter never went beyond -20dBFS for sustained periods, and they sounded absolutely fine.

...it seems to be for many of the YT demos...

This is one of the rare occasions where I'll say, trust the YT video !

Also can anyone advise the best/quickest way to recorded audio loop the same volume as live playing

I'm surprised it isn't... it maybe worth experimenting with the output menu settings to see if that makes a difference.

[Scouser]

Hugh,

As ever much appreciated answered everything I needed to know.

Like you mentioned _6dBFS seems plenty and it is something I can comfortably work with moving forward.

Another thing I have noticed with the unit is the metering is quite laggy and slow to respond, I wonder if that is poor design, software issue or if it can be improved with future firmware update ?

I would have thought that if ginger put his name on something like this it would be half decent, I have to say it is built like a tank and it does have some positives.

Unfortunately support is iffy and they have asked me to do a few things to ascertain if the unit has a hardware fault, but honestly apart from the metering and misleading manual it's not too bad, perhaps it's something you guys may review at some stage ?

Thanks again Hugh