Enso Looper vs Ridgewalk

Enso is a looper. Not a phrase sampler, not a beat slicer: a real looper, built in the image of the pedal loopers and reel-to-reel tape systems that defined the form, then extended well past what hardware can do. Press one button and it records; press it again and you are looping. Up to five minutes of stereo audio, host-synced or free-running. The play and record heads are completely decoupled, each with its own through-zero speed control from -4x to +4x. Play backwards at half speed while overdubbing forwards at double, and things get strange in the best way. Four sectors give you separate loop regions to crossfade between and overdub within, and a built-in effects section (tape-style saturation and hiss, filters, and chorus) can sit in the feedback path so your loop ages like tape with every pass. Enso runs as an AUv3 plugin in your favorite host, and includes a standalone mode for sketching. FEATURES - Full automatic looping engine: simple to learn, exceedingly powerful, with one-button looping control, both host-synced and free time. - Independent play and record heads: through-zero speed from -4x to +4x on each, with selectable increment and decrement values. - Dub In Place: work like a traditional digital looper, or like a tape looper with the effects and speed changes in the feedback path. - Sector crossfading: define four start and end points, crossfade between them, and overdub or re-record within them. - Effects section: tape-style saturation and hiss, high- and low-pass filters, and a stereo chorus. - MIDI Slice mode: play your loop from a MIDI controller, automatically sliced into 4 to 16 equal pieces. - Full MIDI CC implementation: an assignable MIDI CC page covers most of the looping engine, tuned for foot control. - Auto RTZ: automatically return to zero at a chosen interval to keep loose material in sync. - Cross-platform preset format: XML presets that can store the buffer, compatible with the desktop version of Enso. No subscriptions and no nonsense. Buy it once and it is yours, with free updates. Enso is also available for Mac, Windows, and Linux at audiodamage.com.

Ridgewalk is a standalone app and AUv3 plug-in. Ridgewalk lets you explore sound in unique ways not possible before. Meander between microscopic moments in a sample to create an infinite soundscape, or stretch or compress audio in realtime, all while recording and reacting to new input instantly. Ridgewalk is both a looper and a granular engine. Output is generated by a set of independent microloopers that traverse a single buffer of audio. The audio buffer can be freely recorded to, overdubbed over, and reverted to a previous version, and the microloopers will transition smoothly and instantly. With control over the microloopers’ size, behavior, and movement throughout the buffer over time, you’re free to reimagine and reinterpret audio like never before - all in realtime. Ridgewalk is designed as a modular tool for flexible usage. It is equally comfortable at the heart of your composition, collaborating with you as you perform, or as a finishing touch to provide a unique complementary atmosphere to deepen your mix. Ridgewalk is fully compatible with modulators such as Ableton CV or Bitwig LFOs to broaden horizons even further. Ridgewalk has the following controls available: Recording: Record via your choice of two unique techniques. Choose between automatic recording via input volume detection and a classic latching recording technique that can record infinitely. Buffers can be up to 60 seconds or 16 bars. Overdubbing: Freely overdub on top of existing audio with two methods. Choose between a traditional feedback dub or a unique sidechain dub which compresses existing audio against new input. Playback will smoothly transition to new recordings instantly. Layers: Each overdub creates a new layer, which you can then move between smoothly and revert to previous versions of audio. Full recall: All recorded audio will be saved and reloaded when reopening a project. Sample importing: Rather than record, Ridgewalk can import samples directly. Volume controls: Independent volume trim controls for dry and wet volume. Playback: Looper playback can be played and paused independently of input and recording. Playback will instantly reflect any changes to recorded audio. Hold time: Looper playback can be automatically paused after a defined time since starting. This allows Ridgewalk to act like a strange reverb or delay. Reverse: Playback can be reversed and audio can be recorded in reverse as well. Looper size: Loopers can span from microscopic fragments of the buffer to the full size, and can be synchronized with your BPM. Looper amount: Up to 7 microloopers are available, which move together in concert with one another. Drift: Looper size and positioning can be randomly and independently desynchronized to add variations and unpredictability. Blur: A one-stop-shop for increasing ambience: this controls looper crossfading as well as introduces reverb. Repitch: Playback can be repitched from ±2 octaves. Random movement (Wander): Looper positioning can be set to randomly wander the sample over time via Brownian motion. Sequential movement: Looper position can move linearly through a sample over a time defined in seconds or synchronized to your BPM. Manual looper positioning: Loopers can be positioned manually via tap or click, turning Ridgewalk into a performative instrument. Instant playback: Ridgewalk can start playing back from recorded audio as soon as it is able, turning its granular looping algorithm into a live effect. Transport syncing: Ridgewalk can be synced with your DAW’s transport to automatically start/stop playback or recording.