Electro Harmonix Intros 4500 Four-Track Looper

electro-harmonix-looper-45000_

Electro Harmonix has introduced the 45000 – a ‘state-of-the-art’ multi-track looping pedal.

Each loop has four mono tracks and one stereo mixdown track. The 45000 records non-compressed, 44.1 kHz / 16-bit CD quality audio direct to a removable SDHC card (4 to 32GB). Each card holds up to 100 individual loops accessed with the optional 45000 Foot Controller (sold separately).

Loop speed is adjustable over a two octave range, and reverse recording and playback are also possible. For extra convenience, a built-in metronome to a separate Monitor Out and a Headphone Out are also included.

Here’s a demo, featuring Reggie Watts:

Features:

  • Includes a 4GB card delivering up to 125 minutes of recording time
  • Import .Wav audio files from PC or Mac
  • Auxiliary Input mixes MP3 players with the loop output
  • Stereo mixdown track frees tracks for re-use
  • Overdub or punch in/out recording
  • Quantize or non-quantize (free running) modes
  • MIDI Clock Sync as master or slave
  • Most user parameters are MIDI controllable
  • USB port enables backup/restore with PC or MAC
  • Standard 9.6VDC 200mA power supply included

The EHX 450000 has a street price of about $500. See the EXH site for more info.

via Matt

21 thoughts on “Electro Harmonix Intros 4500 Four-Track Looper

    1. The loop speed is changed with the middle 4 sliders. You can changed individual loop speed independent of the three others.
      I real hope is that they fixed the a few kinks on this considering (alongside the HOG 2)it seems like a mostly rehashed version. Do a Google search on EHX 2880 MIDI sync. I’m a big EHX fan & I know they added more presets, but…

        1. your right, my fault. if you change the original tempo,(using the tempo button) you can re-record over the original loop at different tempos or start recording the original loop at anywhere besides the middle position & presto! your guide loop is sped up or slowed down. Sorry about the misinformation.

      1. Added more presets? I don’t believe you’re talking about the right thing. The 2880 didn’t have any presets, and I don’t know what you would actually save as a preset on a looper pedal.

        From the description on ehx.com, it doesn’t appear the 45000 has any presets, either. Which would make sense… It, once again, is a looper…

        1. The RC-300 has presets-each one is up to 3 loops, plus all the settings for efx, routing, type of recording and playback, etc.
          To answer your question about what you might “save as a preset on a looper pedal”…

    1. Removable storage, ability to slave to MIDI clock, are 2 reasons someone might prefer it over the RC300.
      OTOH, you pretty much need EH’s or another companies MIDI controller to use it, which adds a good bit to the price.

  1. Wow. Now that is a very musical instrument. Its the other side of the coin from overuse of the Drum Machine Effect. In fact, it embraces and elevates the DME as a creative resource, because you still have to dig in by hand from moment-to-moment to make it sing. I’m a bit uncertain about that much loop storage being useful, but after you learn how to engage it, that could become a secret weapon. This thing is a scary new breed. Someone is going to meld with it and do something massively impressive with it. Anyone remember going from just an 8-voice synth to one that had 32, or 64? Mashed your mind into a new shape, didn’t it? Same here.

    Having Reggie Watts demo this thing was brilliant; its a natural environment for him. He’s damned funny and exceptionally articulate. If you are willing to tolerate one of the most Not Safe For Work things you ever saw, look up his video “F*ck Sh*t Stack.” Its nazty, but also surreally hilarious, like an urban Fellini short. He turns trash talk into Art.

      1. DME = Drum Machine Effect, from the previous sentence. I’m referring to what I see as the overly mechanical aspects of dance, mostly. I like some EDM, but I hate seeing synths used so simply that they lose part of their pizzazz to the public ear. I think a lot more people would like and “get” “Switched-On Bach” than Skrillex, if they heard both for the first time. No, you can’t sensibly fret over not pleasing “everyone,” but an added dash of broadening can make a big impact, like a really good, funny dubstep break that makes you LAUGH because its brilliant.

        When I hear a woman with a nice voice, a really tuned-in guitarist or a synth player using a really lush, sinuous lead over a dance beat, it becomes part of a smokin’ TEAM. EDM sounds too bare to me without more of that; it lacks enough context and contrast. Reggie, OTOH, demonstrates a near-perfect blend of electronic muscle blended with a superior human touch. I simply suggest rolling the idea around in your head and considering it as a vital tool. Staying in The Box is too safe.

  2. Yes, I agree with the comments so far. Reggie is an amazing talent and a great ambassador for the units potential. Although the ability to save loops has been substantially expanded in the 45000, I would like to see the ability to sync different loops lengths or time signatures other than 4/4. I would also like to be able to adjust the pitch and reverse of independent tracks in real time. While those are on my want list of future updates, I love that they retained the rich midi implementation of the 2880 – it is really the most attractive feature other than storage that this unit has over alternatives (most notably the boomerang 3).

      1. Yes, I was looking at the Octatrack for that very reason but the complexity is something I would like to avoid. Nothing kills a vibe like having to stop loop playback to read the manual 😉 I suppose once you’ve prepared a template set in advance it would be easy to use the Octatrack.

        EHX already has a select track button on the unit so implementing an independant “reverse”, “pitch”and “octive” behaviour per track could be a feasible in the current work flow. As for syncing different length loops, something like recording loop length in accordance to how long the record button is held during overdub would retrain the current work flow and add this improved functionality.

        I think the Octatrack would be a nice supplimentary device considering its fx/sequencing capability and the midi sync possible with both devices… with my modest budget one can only dream.

  3. I feel like this pedal had so much potential but they dropped the ball. I was really let down when I heard about it and it still only allows 4/4 sync. Extra LEDs or even a small screen to make these things possible? I’m not sure, maybe they will update it and make it possible in an update. People will still do amazing things with it though. Maybe if Gibson wasn’t too busy satin finishing all their guitars, they would notice there’s a market for the gibson echoplex looper and re release it.

  4. this is a great pedal if you buy it for what it was designed to do. i would think the RC-300 and boomerang would be the best loopers if you are just adding noise or playing solo.

    this machine was built for multitrack looping that will SYNC through MIDI protocol to other MIDI devices, like drum machines, synthesizers, sequencers or even a computer running a DAW like ableton live, logic, etc.

    i just picked one up and it is a great looper. zero problems with just looping out of the box, i might even prefer it to something like a boomerang in that regard. it has a “quantize” function which will pick up the tempo of your playing and automatically sync the metronome controlling the looper’s MIDI clock to it. i like to think of it as a “smart” looper. however there are still some kinks–if you are playing in odd time signatures, 7/8, 5/4, or something with odd, tricky rhythm, the quantize function will have a hard time picking up the right tempo so in those cases its better to stick with the free-running loop mode.

    it took a while for me to get this looper to MIDI-sync but eventually i hit the right formula. i ran it through a MOTU fastlane MIDI interface into ableton live. once i was able to get the sync running it was working perfectly. however, after a while if i kept adding loop after loop, the new loops would start to cut out a bit towards the end or beginning of the loop, and this was followed by drastic pitch instability. this was an issue with the previous looper, the 2880 but the released a software upgrade the supposedly patches this bug so hopefully you can use this upgrade on the 45000 as well. if the pitch problem can be fixed, this will easily be the best MIDI connectable looper on the market.

  5. I’m from Mexico City. I would like to know if you have dealer distribution in my city. Thanks
    IT’S LOOK GREAT

  6. HI all,

    I’ve got a few questions unanswered:

    -can a single track be 20-30s long?
    -is the 4 track is 4 stereo track?
    I just found this for the ehx 2880:

    “You can choose between recording in mono or stereo, the difference being that entering stereo mode will halve the amount of separate tracks you can record. If you tap the “Stereo Mode” button, you will record onto two tracks at a time. The plus side with this is that you can split your recording and adjust the individual levels and fades to personalise the stereo sound.”

    Thanks!
    Best,
    A

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