Electro-Harmonix 720 User manual

1
720
Stereo Looper
Congratulations on your purchase of the 720 looper! Enjoy 720 total seconds of
high-quality, stereo recording time and the ability to store 10 different loops The
720 looper is packed with features such as reverse and ½ speed effects,
playback fadeout, real-time progress display, and a convenient programmable
second footswitch
WARNING: Your 720 comes equipped with an Electro-Harmonix 9 6DC-200 power supply
(same as used by Boss
®
& Ibanez
®
: 9 6 Volts DC 200mA) The 720 requires 75mA at 9VDC
with a center negative plug Using the wrong adapter or a plug with the wrong polarity may
damage your 720 and void the warranty
– FEATURES –
-12 minutes of loop recording time
-10 selectable, independent Loops that remain in memory until you erase them
-High quality uncompressed audio: 24-bit A/D/A, 44 1kHz Sample Rate
-Undo-Redo function (also available via optional footswitch)
-Reverse and ½ speed effects at the touch of a button or a footswitch tap
-Footswitch selectable for Stop or Effects
-Handy playback progress mode with seek function
-Unlimited overdubbing
-Optional external footswitch control for selecting loops and Undo/Redo
-Adjustable fadeout (trails) time
-Programmable looping order: REC/PLAY/DUB or REC/DUB/PLAY
- AC adaptor included or may be battery powered
2
– CONTROLS and INDICATORS –
LEVEL Kno – Controls the output level of the Loop being played Your dry
signal remains at unity signal level from input to output The dry signal also
remains analog throughout the 720
LOOP Footswitch – Use the LOOP footswitch to record, overdub, and playback
loops The LOOP footswitch can also be used to stop and undo-redo loops See
the QUICK START GUIDE on page 5 to learn how to use this footswitch to
create loops
STOP/FX Footswitch – The STOP/FX footswitch can be set to either STOP
mode or FX mode Select either mode by pressing and holding the PUSH:
MODE button for 2-seconds When in STOP mode, a DOT appears on the
display next to the STOP label When in FX mode, the DOT is off
REC LED – Indicates when a loop is being recorded or overdubbed
PLAY LED – Indicates when a loop is being played or overdubbed
MEM LED – Indicates loop audio is in memory for the current loop bank
LOOP Kno and PUSH: MODE Button – The LOOP knob has no pointer
because it is attached to a rotary encoder that can be continuously rotated in
either direction This knob also has a PUSH: MODE button with two functions: 1)
to cycle through one of three available modes, and 2) once a mode is selected,
to adjust the value of that mode from 0-9 All modes and values are shown on
the digit display
SELECTING/ ADJUSTING MODES – The 3 selectable modes are toggled on and
off by pressing the MODE button once When mode-select is active, the digit
display will flash the currently selected mode Turn the LOOP knob to cycle
through the three possible modes:
L = Loop Select
p = Loop Progress
F = Fadeout Time
When you arrive at the mode you would like to adjust, press the MODE button
once to select the mode The display will stop flashing and it will show the
selected mode value from 0-9 The selected mode can now be adjusted with the
LOOP knob from 0-9

3
REVERSE Button – Press the REVERSE button to play the loop in reverse The
REVERSE button glows red when enabled Reverse can be used at any time to
playback or overdub a loop
½ SPEED Button – Pressing the ½ SPEED button causes the pitch of the loop
to go down one octave and the tempo is halved If a loop is overdubbed during
half-speed mode, returning to normal speed playback causes the pitch of the
overdub to go up one octave and the tempo is doubled The ½ SPEED button
glows red when enabled ½ SPEED can be used at any time during playback or
while overdubbing a loop
FX LED – Indicates when an effect is active The FX LED automatically lights
when the REVERSE or ½ SPEED buttons are used and the STOP/FX footswitch is
programmed to operate in STOP mode Alternatively, the FX LED will toggle
on/off each time the STOP/FX footswitch is pressed and programmed to operate
in FX mode
MONO/L INPUT – ¼” Left Instrument/Line Input Jack Plug the output of your
instrument or another effects pedal into this jack If you use just one input we
recommend you use the MONO/L input The input impedance presented at this
jack is 1MΩ The maximum allowable signal level into this jack is +6 dBu The
input is unbalanced
R INPUT – ¼” Right Input Jack Plug the output of your instrument or another
effects pedal into this jack Use this jack for stereo recording The input
impedance presented at this jack is 1MΩ The maximum allowable signal level
into this jack is +6 dBu; it is an unbalanced input
MONO/L OUTPUT – ¼” Left Output Jack The Left output signal is sent
through this jack The dry signal present at the Left input will be output on the
MONO/L Output jack The source impedance of the MONO/L Output is
approximately 330Ω
Note: the MONO/L OUTPUT jack also functions as a power switch when
powered from a battery Disconnect the cable to save battery power when the
720 is not in use
R Output – ¼” Right Output Jack The Right output signal is sent through this
jack The dry signal present at the Right input jack is output to the R Output
jack The source impedance of the R Output is 330Ω
4
FC Jack – ¼” TRS Foot Controller Jack Use this jack with popular three button
foot controller units to control the 720 bank up, bank down, and instant undo-
redo
The Digitech
®
FS3X 3-Button Footswitch [see: http://digitech com/en-
US/products/fs3x-3-button-footswitch] is recommended for this application If
using this product, the following switch labels on the FS3X control the following
720 functions: DOWN advances the 720 bank down; UP advances the 720 bank
up; and, MODE will instantly undo or redo
The circuit required for the foot controller is as follows:
TIP / S1 = Instant Undo-Redo
RING / S2 = Bank Down
Diode-AND TIP+RING / S3 = Bank Up
9V Power Jack – Plug the output of the supplied AC adapter into the 9V power
jack located at the top of the 720 The Stereo Looper 720 draws 60mA
typ /75mA max at 9VDC with a center-negative plug The Stereo Looper 720
accepts Boss
®
and Ibanez
®
style AC adapters

5
– QUICK START GUIDE –
RECORDING A LOOP
1 To record a Loop: simply select an empty bank and press the LOOP
footswitch once The REC LED will light solid and recording begins
immediately
2 To stop recording the loop, press the LOOP footswitch again once The REC
LED will turn off, the PLAY LED will turn on, and the loop will begin playing
immediately The MEM LED will also light solid, indicating the presence of
recorded loop memory
Note: if the recording order is REC/DUB/PLAY, the REC LED remains on
when the LOOP footswitch is pressed again once Recording will stop and
the 720 will continue immediately into overdub mode
3 All Loops play indefinitely Each time the loop repeats, the PLAY LED will
turn off briefly
4 After a loop is recorded, the length is subtracted from the total loop
recording time of 720 seconds
STOPPING & STARTING LOOP PLAYBACK
1 To stop loop playback, press the LOOP footswitch two times quickly
Alternatively, press the STOP footswitch once to immediately stop playback
2 Note: if using the LOOP footswitch to stop, the REC LED will turn on
together with the PLAY LED during the first press Both LEDs turn off
during the second press and playback stops immediately
3 While stopped, press and release the Footswitch once to start playback
The PLAY LED will light to indicate that the loop is playing
RECORDING AN OVERDUB
1 To record an overdub, make sure a Loop is playing back If a loop is not
playing, press the LOOP footswitch once to begin playback The PLAY LED
will turn on and the loop will begin playing immediately
2 To start recording an overdub, press the LOOP footswitch once The REC
LED will turn on—together with the PLAY LED—and audio will be recorded
on top of the original loop No volume loss will occur to the previously
recorded portion of the loop
3 To stop overdubbing the loop: press the LOOP footswitch again once The
REC LED will turn off, and the loop will continue playing along with the
overdubbed audio
4 Overdubbing will never change the length of the loop
5 The 720 can overdub indefinitely, allowing you to continuously overdub new
audio onto your loop
6 After finishing one or more overdubs, the UNDO-REDO function is enabled
You may undo, then redo the last overdub as many times as you like
6
– REFERENCE GUIDE –
STOP FOOTSWITCH
1 To use the second footswitch to stop loop playback, press and hold the
MODE button for two seconds A dot will appear on the digit display next to
the STOP label
2 To immediately stop loop playback, press the STOP footswitch once The
loop is automatically reset to the beginning
3 To pause loop playback, double-tap the STOP footswitch Playback will halt
at the current position, and resume at the same place if the LOOP footswitch
is pressed again
Note: Fadeout must be set to ‘0’ (disabled) in order to pause a loop
4 When STOP mode is active, the REVERSE and ½ SPEED effects are only
accessible through the REVERSE and ½ SPEED buttons
FX FOOTSWITCH
1 To use the STOP/FX footswitch to toggle loop effects, press and hold the
MODE button for 2-seconds The dot on the digit display next to the STOP
label will disappear, indicating that FX mode is active
2 When FX mode is active, use the REVERSE and ½ SPEED buttons to enable
each effect The FX footswitch toggles the selected effect(s) on or off
3 The FX LED above the footswitch indicates whether the FX mode is active;
when the FX LED is lit, the FX are activated
UNDO-REDO FUNCTION
1 To undo an overdub (remove the last take) during Loop playback; press and
hold the LOOP footswitch for 2-seconds The PLAY LED will blink twice and
the previous overdub will be removed
2 To redo an overdub (restore the last take) during Loop playback: press and
hold the LOOP footswitch for two seconds The PLAY LED will blink twice
and the previous overdub will be restored
3 The Undo-Redo function can only be initiated while a loop is playing back
Undo-Redo cannot be performed during overdub, record or stop modes
4 Note: once UNDO-REDO is enabled, this function is available until the loop
is erased The undo-redo layer is preserved regardless of bank changes and
power cycles
5 Shortcut: pressing and holding the LOOP footswitch when stopping an
overdub will cause an undo This action gives you a convenient way to
quickly undo overdubbing mistakes

7
ERASING A LOOP
1 To erase a loop, play-back must be stopped If a loop is playing, press the
LOOP footswitch two times quickly or press the STOP footswitch once to
stop the loop
2 Press and hold the STOP (FX) footswitch for 2 seconds The MEM LED will
blink four times and then remain off, indicating the loop has been erased
3 Only the STOP (FX) footswitch can erase a loop, regardless of the
footswitch mode
4 Shortcut: if a loop is playing, press the STOP footswitch two times quickly
and hold for two seconds on the second press to erase the loop
5 Note: the erase function is only enabled when the loop has recorded
memory, as indicated by the MEM LED remaining lit
LOOP MEMORY
1 Any recorded audio is stored automatically to the internal memory
2 All recorded loops will remain in memory until they are erased Power
cycling does not erase loops unless power is cut while recording the loop
Any loop or overdub that was being recorded at the time of power loss will
not be saved by the 720
3 After a loop is recorded, the length is subtracted from the total loop
recording time For example, if a 20-second loop is recorded on Loop 9,
there are 700 seconds still available for Loops 0-8 Overdubbing on top of
any given loop does not subtract from total loop recording time
4 When the full 720 seconds of loop recording time is depleted, you will not be
able to record a new loop If an empty Loop is selected and recording is
attempted, the MEM LED will blink twice To free-up recording memory,
select a loop with recorded memory and erase it
5 If the full 720 seconds of Loop Recording time is reached while recording a
loop, recording will stop automatically The REC LED will turn off, the PLAY
LED will turn on, and the Loop will begin playing immediately The MEM
LED will also light solid, indicating the presence of recorded loop memory
LOOP SELECT MODE
1 Loop Select mode is entered when the letter L flashes in the display
2 When in Loop Select mode, turning the LOOP knob selects banks 0-9
3 If the LOOP knob is turned during record, playback, or overdub, the current
operation is stopped and the next bank is selected This same behavior
applies to bank select via an external foot controller
8
LOOP PROGRESS MODE
1 Loop Progress mode is entered when the letter P flashes in the display
2 When in Loop Progress mode, the digit display will show a loop’s progress as
it plays back
3 If the playback mode is normal (e g , not in REVERSE mode), the display will
count up If playback is in REVERSE mode, the display will count down
4 For loop lengths up to 10 seconds, loop progress is displayed from ‘0’ up to
‘9’ in seconds
Note: if the loop is 4 seconds long, the display will count up to ‘3’ and reset
to ‘0’
5 For loop lengths greater than 10 seconds, loop progress is displayed from ‘0’
up to ‘9’ in tenths
Note: all loops greater than 10 seconds will count 0-9
6 Loop Progress mode automatically tracks changes in effect modes If the
REVERSE function is toggled on, the Progress count will change direction If
½ SPEED is toggled on, the Progress count will adjust for the halved tempo/
doubled loop length
7 In addition to showing a loop’s position, Loop Progress mode can also be
used to modify a loop’s position by turning the LOOP knob This function is
useful when practicing with very long loops, where the LOOP knob can be
used to quickly fast-forward or rewind to a particular location within a loop
8 When selecting Loop Progress mode on an empty bank, the letter E is
displayed The display will show r when recording to the empty bank
9 When selecting Loop Progress mode on a bank with memory and playback is
stopped: the current loop position will be displayed, and the digit display will
flash briefly showing that Loop Progress mode is ready to advance when
playback is started

9
FADEOUT MODE
1 Fadeout mode is entered when the display flashes F
When in Fadeout mode, turn the LOOP knob to select fadeout times from
between 0-9, where a value of ‘0’ disables fadeout The numerals in the
range 0-9 do not represent actual seconds Instead, each numeral identifies
a specific Fadeout time as indicated in the following chart:
Fadeout
Value Fadeout Time (sec)
0 0
1 1
2 3
3 6
4 10
5 15
6 20
7 30
8 45
9 60
2 A fadeout sequence is started by selecting a value from 1-9 and stopping
loop playback via the LOOP or STOP/FX footswitch
3 The PLAY LED flashes quickly during the entire fadeout sequence When the
fadeout sequence is complete, the PLAY LED remains off and playback is
stopped
4 An active fadeout sequence can be canceled at any time by pressing the
LOOP footswitch to resume playback, or by pressing the STOP/FX footswitch
to stop playback early
10
LOOPING ORDER
Esta lish a Workflow – Think about the looping order that suits your
workflow Or, simply experiment with the two options for looping order that are
set in the following manner:
To initialize REC/PLAY/DUB mode:
1 Unplug the power jack
2 Simultaneously plug in the power jack while holding down the REVERSE
button for three seconds
3 The digit display will show the sequence “o – o – 1 – 1”
4 The power on cycle will continue as usual
To initialize REC/DUB/PLAY mode:
1 Unplug the power jack
2 Simultaneously plug in the power jack while holding down the ½ SPEED
button for three seconds
3 The digit display will show the sequence “o – o – 2 – 2”
4 The power on cycle will continue as usual
FACTORY RESTORE
To initialize a Factory Restore:
1 Unplug the power jack
2 Simultaneously plug in the power jack while holding down the LOOP
footswitch for three seconds until the REC, PLAY, and MEM LEDs begin to
flash together
3 Once all three LEDs start blinking you can release the footswitch at any
time All three LEDs will continue to flash for about one second until the
Factory Restore process is complete
4 After the process is complete, Loop-select mode is entered with LOOP 0 as
the default bank, fadeout disabled, all effects off, and STOP mode enabled
5 Note: All Loop audio is erased during Factory Restore, and the process
cannot be undone
- CHANGING THE BATTERY -
To change your 9V battery, remove the four screws on the bottom of the 720
Take off the bottom plate and change the battery Do not touch the circuit board
while the bottom plate is off or you risk damaging a component
Typical current draw from the Stereo Looper 720 is 60mA, which gives about 8
hours of operation on a single, high-quality alkaline battery
Email us at [e-mail]

11
- WARRANTY INFORMATION -
Please register online at http://www ehx com/product-registration or complete and return
the enclosed warranty card within 10 days of purchase Electro-Harmonix will repair or
replace, at its discretion, a product that fails to operate due to defects in materials or
workmanship for a period of one year from date of purchase This applies only to original
purchasers who have bought their product from an authorized Electro-Harmonix retailer
Repaired or replaced units will then be warranted for the unexpired portion of the original
warranty term
If you should need to return your unit for service within the warranty period, please
contact the appropriate office listed below Customers outside the regions listed below,
please contact EHX Customer Service for information on warranty repairs at info@ehx com
or [phone] USA and Canadian customers: please obtain a Return
Authorization Num er (RA#) from EHX Customer Service before returning your product
Include with your returned unit: a written description of the problem as well as your
name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, and RA#; and a copy of your receipt
clearly showing the purchase date
United States & Canada
EHX CUSTOMER SERVICE
ELECTRO-HARMONIX
c/o NEW SENSOR CORP
55-01 2ND STREET
LONG ISLAND CITY, NY 11101
Tel: [phone]
Email: info@ehx com
Europe
JOHN WILLIAMS
ELECTRO-HARMONIX UK
13 CWMDONKIN TERRACE
SWANSEA SA2 0RQ
UNITED KINGDOM
Tel: [phone]
Email: electroharmonixuk@virginmedia com
This warranty gives a purchaser specific legal rights A purchaser may have even greater
rights depending upon the laws of the jurisdiction within which the product was purchased
To hear demos on all EHX pedals visit us on the web at www.ehx.com
Email us at [e-mail]
12
FCC COMPLIANCE
Note: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B
digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules These limits are designed to provide
reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation This
equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and
used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio
communications However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a
particular installation If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or
television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the
user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following
measures:
• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna
• Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver
• Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the
receiver is connected
• Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.
Modifications not expressly approved by the manufacturer could void the user's authority to
operate the equipment under FCC rules