Hi there,

I recently bought the EHX 95000 Looper, absolutely love it! There is just one thing I cannot seem to figure out, maybe somebody can help. Let me start with my setup:

Guitar -> Pedalboard with multiple effects -> EHX 95000 Looper -> Focusrite Scarlet 2i2 Audio Interface, recording into Cubase 7 Elements.

Now, when I record an 8-bar loop/multiple tracks, at, say, 71 BPM, I have two choices of processing the individual loops further on my computer. I can either transfer the loops to my computer via USB. Works fine. No problems here.

Alternatively, because I prefer the sound quality once the loops have gone through the Focusrite Scarlet 2i2, I can just let the EHX 95000 play, record one long WAV file into Cubase, and fade the individual loops in and out while doing so, thus ending up with one audio track in Cubase which consists of all 6 loops in sequence. Now, looking at the first coupe of lines in the tempo file which is stored on the EHX 95000:

I can see the tempo is not exactly 71 BPM, but 71.82410. Okay, so I set my project tempo in Cubase to 71.824 (that is the most precise value I can enter, apparently), and then I can, in theory, chop up my long audio file every 8 bars. I end up with the individual loops, with the added bonus of them having gone through my audio interface and thus sounding even better, and I can further modify the individual loops in Cubase/EQ them/record additional MIDI stuff in sync and all that. (Note: in reality, I will let each loop play three times through on the EHX 95000 while recording, so that I have a “clean” version of each loop in the “middle” of three runs, without any fade-ins or fade-outs at the beginning/end).

So far, so good!

Now for something slightly more complicated (as if my workflow described above did not seem complicated, ha!): I want to make use of the tempo slider on the EHX 95000 once I have recorded a couple of loops. I think it very much adds to my sound (I play ambient guitar). So for example, I will record some volume swells at 71 BPM on the EHXD 95000, then use the tempo slider to slow the swells down a semitone, to 68 BPM (as indicated on the EHX 95000 display). I can play another loop, e.g. a lead guitar, on top of that.

Same challenge: I want to edit the individual loops (in this state!) in Cubase, and I also want the signal to go through my audio interface. So I proceed as outlined above. And with regard to the tempo, I take a look at the entire tempo.txt file from the EHX 95000:

Okay, so I’m thinking the information regarding the slower tempo (68 instead of 71 BPM) must be “hidden” somewhere here. At first, I thought it would make perfect sense to multiply “TAP TEMPO” by “TAP ADJUST”.

However, this results in a slower tempo than the one displayed on the EHX 95000, namely 66,217 BPM.

And If I multiply the tempo listed under “Record” (btw, why are the numbers of “Tempo” and “TAP TEMPO” marginally different?), the result is 66,289.

These values are both evidently not correct. Hence, setting either as my tempo would not lead to my “chopped up audio” in Cubase being “in sync”, it that makes sense. If I set the tempo in Cubase to the “straight” number displayed on the EHX 95000 after using the tempo slider, i.e. 68 BPM, this also does not seem to yield the desired results. I am missing the exact precise tempo, it would seem.

So, to cut a long story short, can anyone tell me how to calculate the correct tempo to be set in my DAW when working with loops which were recorded on the EHX 95000 at a certain tempo and then slowed down through use of the tempo slider?

I know I could simply record loops into Cubase without the use of an external device such as the EHX 95000. However, I find it such a brilliant tool for songwriting, with all the wonderful features it has, and definitely want to use it in the process!

Likewise, I know I could simply record a “live” performance through the looper (hence its name “Performance Loop Laboratory”!), but I do like the freedom that comes with editing/mixing the individual loops in my DAW.

Yes, I kind of want the best of both worlds.