Best Vocal Looper Pedals for Singers – Capable Ones

Author: Dedrich Schafer | Updated: | This post may contain affiliate links.

There used to be a time when loop pedals were reserved for guitarists and bassists. But more and more vocalists have started to embrace the power and potential of loop pedals.

This has led many companies to focus on creating high-quality loop pedals aimed at vocalists. The options available to vocalists today are almost as varied as those for other musicians.

5 Best Vocal Looper Pedals

The TC Electronics Ditto looper has been a well-loved looper pedal among guitarists for quite some time now. For singers and acoustic players, however, the Ditto was off the table. Until now that is.

The TC-Helicon Ditto Mic Looper is a very minimalist loop pedal. It has just two footswitches, a Stop and Loop, and a volume knob. And that is it, no fancy lights or a hundred different buttons.

The Ditto Mic is as basic as it gets for a loop pedal. But that doesn’t mean that it isn’t a good pedal.It is just as good as some larger pedals that do a lot more.

The sound quality is great, I didn’t feel like my loops sounded worse than the original. The pedal is also very responsive and loops just continue seamlessly.

The Ditto’s simplicity makes it extremely easy to use. You simply press the Loop switch to start recording and again to stop.

The number of loops you can have playing at the same time is also quite impressive. I initially thought that I would only be able to record two, maybe three loops. I stopped at six and only because I felt like things were getting too busy.

Stopping all the loops is then just as simple as pressing the Stop switch, then the Loop switch again to bring everything back. The Ditto is incredibly easy to use.

Of course, the Ditto’s basic design means that it isn’t going to be for everyone. It is missing a lot of features that I know many people look for in a looper pedal.

One of the biggest is the ability to record and save loops to use later. But if you are just starting to experiment with looping, or you just want something small and simple, then the Ditto Mic Looper is a fantastic little pedal.

PROS

  • Small and easy to use
  • Easily handles multiple loops at once

CONS

  • Can’t record and save loops
  • No additional effects or settings
  • XLR inputs only

BOSS has been making great pedals for guitar and bass for many years. But now they also cater to vocalists who have been left out of the pedal game for so long.

BOSS’ VE-20 combines a multi-effects pedal with a loop station and aims it directly at vocalists. All while maintaining the quality that BOSS is known for.

The VE-20 is a packed unit. It comes with 30 presets, with room for 50 user patches, a looper, and a harmonizer.

The 30 presets make the VE-20 pretty much plug and play. The presets come in a variety of music genres and effects and are easily scrolled through with the turn of a knob. Some of the effects do feel a bit like gimmicks in my opinion and I can’t see them getting much use.

The looper works and sounds great as well. Recording, stopping, and playing are all controlled with the left footswitch. It can record loops for up to 38 seconds and can layer many loops. I stopped at around seven loops because of how busy it started sounding.

It is a bit odd that you can’t save loops. I would have thought that you would be able to, considering you can save so many patches.

The included harmonizer does make up for that a bit. The harmonizer is controlled with the right footswitch, although you can change it to cycle through different effects.

I don’t usually like harmonizers since they can feel artificial. The VE-20’s harmonizer sounds quite natural though.

That is, of course, if you are singing in tune. Digital vocal harmonies can easily create odd glitches and effects when the original note is slightly off.

You also aren’t restricted to C Major. Different keys can be cycled through with the simple press of a button.

PROS

  • Looper is easy to use
  • Comes with great presets
  • Harmonizer sounds great

CONS

  • Can’t save loops
  • Some presets don’t seem very useful

Even with the increasing popularity of vocal effects pedals, most of them are still pretty much just set-and-forget. The Zoom V6-SP changes that by encouraging a more active approach during performances.

The way it encourages you to be more active is through its controls. Firstly, instead of having a small screen to scroll through the different effects, everything is right in front of you.

You simply have to turn a dial to switch between the voice and sound effects. Selecting different keys for the harmonizer is also done with a dial.

Not only is selecting an effect easy, but you can also easily and quickly see what effect you have selected. There are also a large variety of different effects.

Two different Pitch Correctors, Vocoders, Octaves, Talkbox, three different Delays, etc. The Voice and Effects both have twelve effects, so you have practically any effect you could want.

Secondly, turning the effects on and off is done with the simple press of a comfortably large footswitch. The looper section has three separate footswitches as well to control recording, play/pause, and switching between memory banks.

My favorite feature on the V6-SP is the expression pedal. This lets you make small or sweeping changes to effects while you are performing. This means that your effects aren’t just static the whole time which can make your performances so much more dynamic.

You can also get the optional SGV-6 shotgun mic with the V6-SP. The mic is designed to pair seamlessly with the pedal. And since it is a shotgun mic, it isolates your vocals quite well.

The mic is quite nice with fairly decent sound quality. I wouldn’t say that it is a must, though. The V6-SP can work with any mic and the SGV-6 isn’t necessary, especially if you already have a decent mic. 

PROS

  • Great selection of effects
  • Effects are easy to select and control
  • Looper works and sounds great
  • Built-in expression pedal

CONS

  • A bit big and bulky

Although the Electro-Harmonix 1440 is marketed as a guitar loop pedal, it works just as well for vocals. And it is a fantastic upgrade to their previous 720.

The 1440 is another example of a simple, yet effective, loop pedal. It shows that you don’t need to have 20 different buttons to create intricate and interesting loops.

The control scheme is very straightforward: two footswitches for starting and stopping loops, and controls for Level, Tempo, Overdub, and Mode. Once you have those setup, it is just a matter of hitting the Loop switch and off you go.

The real standout feature of the 1440 is its loop time. As the name suggests, it has a loop time of up to 1440 seconds. That is an impressive 24 minutes of loop time.

This gives the 1440 one of the longest loop times. You will probably run out of ideas before you manage to fill up all of that time.

Combined with the uncompressed 24 bit/44.1 kHz audio resolution, the 1440 is an incredible loop pedal. Every layer I added sounded just as crystal clear as the previous one.

There is also storage for 20 loops. So, you can easily retrieve loops that you are working on or store loops for performances. You can even export loops to a computer via USB, so you never have to get rid of your favorites.

The main issue with the 1440 is the fact that it was designed with guitarists and bassists in mind. That means that it uses TRS inputs and doesn’t have any XLR inputs.

If you are planning on using it as a vocal loop pedal, you are going to have to connect to it through a mixer or DI. You could also use a TRS to XLR adapter which will probably be the easiest.

PROS

  • Easy to set up and use
  • High-quality 24 bit/44.1 kHz audio
  • Storage for 20 loops
  • Up to 24 minutes of loop time

CONS

  • Requires XLR adapter for mics

The Headrush Looperboard is the ultimate loop station for any musician. Whether you just want to use it for vocals or you are plugging multiple instruments into it, the Looperboard does it all.

Right from the get-go, the Looperboard is an impressive machine. It features twelve footswitches that allow you to control every aspect of your loops.

From simple things like starting and stopping loops, to adjusting the speed and length, reversing loops, fading, and almost anything in between. If you can think of it, the Looperboard can probably do it.

But the most impressive feature, for me at least, has to be the 7” touchscreen. The screen not only gives you visual feedback of your loops, but allows you to control the deeper settings like the effects.

The Looperboard features an extensive list of effects such as delay, wah, overdrive, and many more. It is a true all-in-one solution.

But its looping capabilities are the main focus. It allows up to four tracks that can be recorded simultaneously or individually. Each track can have up to 99 layers.

Most impressively is the amount of loop time it can store. The Looperboard has an unbelievable nine hours of audio storage. That is by far more than any other loop pedal on the market.

You are also not limited to one instrument at a time. The Looperboard can handle four inputs at once. That means that you can have vocals, guitars, synths, drum pads, all being played and recorded with the Looperboard at the same time.

The Looperboard is a dream come true for any one-man band. The footswitches make it incredibly easy to control your vocal and guitar loops while performing.

It does come at a fairly steep price, of course. The Looperboard is one of the more expensive pedals out there, but I think it is more than worth the price tag.

PROS

  • Easy to set up and use
  • Nine hours of audio storage
  • Can handle four different inputs simultaneously

CONS

  • One of the most expensive loop pedals

What Makes a Great Vocal Looper Pedal?

You’ve probably noticed from the featured pedals in this post, that there is a lot of variation between vocal loopers. Some aim for simplicity, offering only start/stop and level functions, while others are bursting with additional processing options.

The main advantage of choosing one which also has onboard effects is that it saves you from purchasing external pedals and overcrowding your pedalboard. Effects such as reverb, delay, distortion, and harmonizers are commonly included with loopers.

Another thing that you should look out for when deciding on which vocal looper is best suited to your needs is how long it can record for. If you want to create long, complex loops, you’ll likely need at least ten minutes of loop recording time.

On the other hand, there’s no need to overcomplicate things if you only want to create short-lived loops. Some pedals offer around a minute of recording time, which makes them easier to operate.

What to Look for in a Vocal Loop Pedal

Just like other types of pedals, loop pedals aren’t all created equal. They can differ quite a lot in terms of quality and capabilities.

That means that you should take into consideration what you want or need a loop pedal to do when choosing the one you eventually end up buying.

Audio Quality

This should always be your number one priority with any pedal. The sound quality of a pedal is going to have a massive impact not just on how you feel about the pedal, but on how audiences feel about your sound.

You should especially keep in mind how the quality of sound changes as you add layers to loops. A good looper pedal won’t degrade as you add layers.

But if you notice a dip in volume, or the sound starts to become muddled and distorted as you add layers, then you should consider getting a better pedal.

Features

When it comes to vocal looper pedals, you probably aren’t going to need something with a ton of features. Especially if you are only using it for vocals.

Any pedal with a decent loop time that lets you layer a few loops on top of each other is probably going to be more than enough. And if it has some basic effects like delay and reverb, that will be a good bonus.

But if you play an instrument and sing at the same time, then you might want a loop pedal than can handle both vocals and the instrument at the same time. Something like the Headrush Looperboard is ideal for controlling multiple inputs and loops simultaneously.

Controls

This is important for both vocalists and instrumentalists. You want a pedal that is easy to control during a performance.

The last thing you want is to have to bend down to play and stop loops or change effects. Most looper pedals are controlled through simple presses of footswitches, so this shouldn’t be much of an issue.

What I would certainly look for is a looper that also allows you to control other functions like effects. The more control the pedal offers you, and the easier it is, the better.

Of course, you might be able to put your pedal on a stand or a desk. If you are a DJ for example, in which case you might want a pedal that uses buttons and knobs instead of footswitches.

Portability

If you are just a vocalist, you probably don’t want to carry around a huge pedal to every gig. In that case, getting a smaller, more compact pedal will probably work better for you.

If you are an instrumentalist and a vocalist, a larger pedal probably won’t make much of a difference and might even be necessary.

Just like with the pedal’s controls, its portability will likely be determined by your overall setup. Do you want or need your pedal to be small and compact, or is something bigger not an issue?

Connectivity

This is another aspect that will be determined by your setup. If you just need to plug a mic into the pedal, then a mic input and output are all you should need.

But if you want to connect the looper to MIDI controllers, other instruments, a laptop, then of course you are going to need a pedal with the right connections. This will affect the size of your pedal as well since smaller pedals usually have fairly limited connections.

Should You Only Use a Vocal Looper?

No, of course not. Just because a looper pedal isn’t designed as a vocal looper, doesn’t mean you can’t use it. A few of the pedals in this article are guitar pedals.

A guitar looper pedal will work just as well with vocals as with a guitar. The only trouble you could run into is with the inputs.

Because guitar pedals aren’t designed with mics in mind, they aren’t necessarily going to have XLR inputs. That just means that you will have to connect a mic to the pedal through a mixer or DI. There are TRS to XLR cables and adapters available as well for fairly cheap that allow you to connect a mic directly to a pedal.

Final Thoughts

Vocal looper pedals are a fantastic way for vocalists to add extra dynamics to their performances. They are a great way for vocalists to express themselves in entirely new and different ways.

Looper pedals are no longer something that is reserved for guitarists and bassists. I hope this article has helped you find the looper pedal to bring out the most creativity at your next performance.

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About Dedrich Schafer

Dedrich is a guitar player, songwriter and sound engineer with extensive music production and studio experience. He mostly listens to classic rock and punk bands, but sometimes also likes listening to rap and acoustic songs.

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