Music

Loopa lets you sing to yourself

Loopa lets you sing to yourself
The Loopa microphone from Sonuus
The Loopa microphone from Sonuus
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Tour of the Loops microphone from Sonuus
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Tour of the Loops microphone from Sonuus
Loop level control, playback, recording, undo and redo are all positioned to the top of the Loopa
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Loop level control, playback, recording, undo and redo are all positioned to the top of the Loopa
The Loopa working prototype with 3D-printed housing
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The Loopa working prototype with 3D-printed housing
The Loopa microphone from Sonuus
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The Loopa microphone from Sonuus
The onboard circuitry is powered by a single AA-sized battery (not included)
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The onboard circuitry is powered by a single AA-sized battery (not included)
Vocalists are promised up to 12 minutes recording time
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Vocalists are promised up to 12 minutes recording time
Proprietary algorithms offer unlimited overdubbing to build up a sophisticated layered sound
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Proprietary algorithms offer unlimited overdubbing to build up a sophisticated layered sound
Guided tour of the Loopa's circuit board
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Guided tour of the Loopa's circuit board
To get the looping microphone from working prototype to production, Sonuus has launched on Kickstarter
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To get the looping microphone from working prototype to production, Sonuus has launched on Kickstarter
View gallery - 9 images

Recording vocals and then replaying them in a loop to sing over the top of can involve a complicated mix of hardware and software, and some technical know-how to bring them seamlessly together. UK-based Sonuus is looking to put loop control in a singer's hands. The Loopa is billed as the world's first microphone that puts loop and overdub controls on the mic itself.

At the heart of the Loopa's circuit board is a custom looper engine that makes use of a 32-bit floating point processing courtesy of an ARM Cortex M4 processor, 24-bit digital-to-analog converter and Toshiba NAND flash memory with built-in error correction. The circuit is powered by a single AA-sized battery (not included) for up to 10 hours of continuous use.

Recorded audio is written to, and read from, the onboard memory with the promise of instant response, and vocalists can look forward to up to 12 minutes recording time. Proprietary algorithms offer unlimited overdubbing to build up a sophisticated layered sound, there are 16 levels of undo and redo and controls are positioned to the top of the mic for ease of use, including loop level playback and recording.

To get the looping microphone from working prototype to production, Sonuus has launched on Kickstarter
To get the looping microphone from working prototype to production, Sonuus has launched on Kickstarter

Looped playback can be stopped at any time and the Loopa used like a normal cardoid condenser microphone (with 130 dB SPL and 100 Hz - 16 kHz frequency response). Both recorded and live vocals are output via a cable running from the 3-pin XLR port.

Sonuus is currently at the prototype stage of development, with working Loopas having been created using 3D printing, first a desktop extruder and then an SLS printer. To get the looping microphone from working prototype to production, Sonuus has launched on Kickstarter.

As of writing, pledges start at £75 (about US$105) and, if all goes to plan, shipping is estimated to start in July. An XLR to 6.4 mm jack microphone cable will be included, together with converters to connect the Loopa to smartphones, headphone amps or powered speakers.

The campaign pitch video below offers more on the Loopa.

Sources: Sonuus, Kickstarter

Loopa - now everyone can beatbox and sing acappella

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SonuusJames
More videos of this cool gadget in action can be found here: http://loopa.tv