Aeros Loop Studio and Axe-Fx III

Geoff Pratt

Member
I was asked if I would share my thoughts on the Aeros Loop Studio and how I integrated it into my AXE FX III rig. So I’ll do my best and hopefully this is of some value.

I generally play solo for the most part. I haven’t gigged in many years but will start doing some small events as soon as COVID-19 comes to an end. Again, most likely solo. I needed a more capable looper than the AXE’s looper. Singular Sound’s Aeros looked to be very powerful and the visual feedback on the touch screen perked my interest. I do really like the AXE looper. I use it often for dialing tones and (more importantly) IR mixing. However I need multiple tracks and MIDI sync for tempo. I’ve had a Beatbuddy in my rig long before my AXE days. I find practice with a beat/metronome very helpful. The BB plays very nicely with the AXE, or any modeler really if you’re using FRFR. I use the 4CM with the BB in the loop. I have playlists on the BB which plays drums and bass guitar. Here is the beauty of FRFR. The drum sounds are fantastic through the FRFR. Now the Aeros Loop Studio is in the loop as well. This has worked wonderfully. I use a layout on an FC-6 with 5 control switches assigned to the MIDI commands for the BB which in turn send the MIDI to the Aeros for start, stop, next part of song, tempo and signature. There’s a bit of a learning curve with the Aeros. It is packed with features and very DAW like as they advertise. The flow feels familiar. The sound quality is outstanding. I never really thought I would care too much about the visual feedback from the screen (i.e. waveform) but I find it invaluable. At a glance you can tell where you are in the loop. The operation is logical for a looper to me but I know everyone has their favorite looper work flow. I consider the Aeros in the same audiophile league as the AXE FX III.

The issues…You’ll read/hear bad reviews about the Aeros. Singular Sound released it about a year too early in my opinion. It’s true that MUCH of the functionality didn’t exist as advertised. That has really irritated many who purchased. Especially gigging musicians who bought it as a replace looper based on the features and found it useless. However, since I purchased, the SS development team has released roughly 10 updates to the firmware. The current version (3.0.0) has the looper at near full functionality. But there are a few thing yet to be completed. Full MIDI implementation is probably the biggest one on the list.

I would certainly recommend trying out the Aeros now that firmware 3.0.0 is now out of beta release. It’s a wonderful looper. If anyone has any questions I'd be happy to answer them.
 

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I never really thought I would care too much about the visual feedback from the screen (i.e. waveform) but I find it invaluable. At a glance you can tell where you are in the loop.
This is the feature that really piqued my interest. I'm trying to do more, solo, and being able to tell where I am in a longer loop seems useful.

But there are a few thing yet to be completed. Full MIDI implementation is probably the biggest one on the list.
Does it do reverse? Half speed? Can you trigger a loop to play from the beginning with a switch and have it stop playing when you release the switch? So you can tap-and-hold a switch and have it just play from the start every time?

I keep almost buying a Boomerang or an RC-50 and then backing away from the cart. The constant updates to the Aeros, Fractal-style, seem attractive.
 
This is the feature that really piqued my interest. I'm trying to do more, solo, and being able to tell where I am in a longer loop seems useful.
It is so nice. Much more helpful than I ever thought it would be. Wonderful for long loops. Don't know if I can go back.
Does it do reverse? Half speed? Can you trigger a loop to play from the beginning with a switch and have it stop playing when you release the switch? So you can tap-and-hold a switch and have it just play from the start every time?

I keep almost buying a Boomerang or an RC-50 and then backing away from the cart. The constant updates to the Aeros, Fractal-style, seem attractive.
Reverse and half speed are in Singular Sounds development timeline but currently the Aeros will not reverse or half speed the loop. They have been on par with Fractal regarding firmware updates. So I would anticipate those capabilities soon. The forum is a good way to keep up to date and download the beta versions of firmware. They've also been incorporating many user ideas and feature requests into firmware releases. As far as the loop trigger question yes you can have a loop (SS calls them tracks) play from the start but because of the way the parts and tracks are laid out it would take more than one press. However on the forum users have discussed what you talking about and once SS releases the full MIDI implementation one press and hold as you describe should work with an external controller.
They certainly released the looper too early. Early buyers turned out to be beta testers. But now with the new 3.0.0 firmware the unit is nearly fully functional. I do think waiting this long for reverse and half speed is ridiculous. Those are kinda basic looper functions in my opinion even though I rarely use them. Especially in such an advanced looper. Oh well. Still don't know what the Bluetooth is for and SS had hinted at some additional set of feature there. We'll see...
 
This is the feature that really piqued my interest. I'm trying to do more, solo, and being able to tell where I am in a longer loop seems useful.


Does it do reverse? Half speed? Can you trigger a loop to play from the beginning with a switch and have it stop playing when you release the switch? So you can tap-and-hold a switch and have it just play from the start every time?

I keep almost buying a Boomerang or an RC-50 and then backing away from the cart. The constant updates to the Aeros, Fractal-style, seem attractive.

I like this looper other than the lack of midi commands. I'm also wondering how you run this looper in your signal chain. I'm getting some phasing issues because of using it in the chain with the in out 3.
 
If you’re getting use from the looper, lucky you. I bought a Midi Buddy based on programmable features advertised that haven’t been implemented many many months later. Don’t advertise what you’re not delivering. They lost me as future customer. I contacted them maybe 5 months after buying it and they offered to let me test alpha software. No apology. Acting like nothing was wrong.
 
If you’re getting use from the looper, lucky you. I bought a Midi Buddy based on programmable features advertised that haven’t been implemented many many months later. Don’t advertise what you’re not delivering. They lost me as future customer. I contacted them maybe 5 months after buying it and they offered to let me test alpha software. No apology. Acting like nothing was wrong.

Did you mean the "BeatBuddy"? I didn't know they made a MidiBuddy. Ya they seem to be nice folks but I think they found a way to sell more units and for right now I don't think the unit is a good fit with the Axe FX because of the long cable lengths for use on a floor board.

One of the reasons people buy the Axe is to get away from a large pedal board tap dance routine as well as not needing to run cables to and from power amps etc. I think I might end up selling this unit and purchasing something with better midi capability. Right now I'm using it table top style and punching in and out with my "free" hand. Luckily they made it the unit to punch in early in the measure or I would have summarily sent the unit back.

I like their idea but...
 
I just bought an Aeros, and now and trying to figure out how to best integrate it into my system, which consists of an axe iii and an Apollo x4.

My thought is that right now I am very happy with my axe iii hooked up directly to my monitors as the "heart" of my system. If I do this, I would have the x4 for mic inputs, and then have it go into the axe iii.

I would need to have the output go to the Aeros, and then back into the axe iii. I haven't quite figured out how to configure this, but I have some ideas. This way, I could take vocals as pass through, bass, and multiple instruments with different effects into the Aeros.

How do I best hook up the input and output -- do I have to use blocks on the block diagram for each sound to do this? This to me is the most annoying part of the otherwise perfect axe iii -- wanting to keep certain inputs / outputs or the axe iii looper the same, while changing sound presets. If I understand correctly, this can't be done?
 
So I figured out how to utilize a few of the main CCs currently working within the Aeros and by no means full fledged control but is just able to stop start record in 2x2. Still in a bit of a quandary as to what the next step forward (backward) might be. Do I stay with this thing or sell it and shelve it until they get their "poop" in a group when it comes to midi. Nice unit...just not ideal for an Axe setup. Any one with ideas on other looper options would be welcomed.

The sad part is, they really only need to program a few extra commands like erase loop, overdub, undo and maybe redo and they'd have most people off and running.
 
So I tried to hook up an output to my Aeros, and then had it input back into the fractal...it didn’t work.

I think I need to set it to line level or is there some setting I am missing? Not sure how to change settings on each input and output.
 
How do you get the Fractal axe iii to work just with tea cables? I don’t understand why I can’t send a signal, then bring it back in to the axe iii. Surely this is possible?
Need help, please....
 
They’re like the anti-FAS. Development is terrible, but their ads all all over, promising the moon and sun. FAS has great development and, if anything, undersells themselve.
 
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