Rocktron PatchMate Loop 8

The Rocktron PatchMate Loop 8 is a MIDI channel and loop switcher built into a single rack space, 19" wide and 1 3/4" tall¹. Its job is to sit at the center of a rig and take over the switching: eight loops can be wired to effects pedals or rack gear, to amplifier channel switching jacks, or to guitar routing schemes, and any combination of them can be stored as one of 128 programmable presets recalled over MIDI¹. Rocktron positions it as an updated version of the earlier PatchMate, a unit the company says players asked to have brought back for years¹.

The unit has no footswitches of its own. It is driven from the front panel or by an external MIDI foot controller, which makes it a building block for a MIDI pedalboard system rather than a stompbox¹².

Front panel and rear jacks

All of the audio connections are 1/4" mono jacks: input, output, and a send and return pair for each of the eight loops¹. On the back of the unit are Passive/Active and Active outputs, and the front of the unit carries buffered Active and Passive inputs¹. That input and output structure lets a player match the unit to the rest of the rig: the active path runs through the unit's buffering, with an active input impedance of 1.5M ohms and an active output impedance of 150 ohms¹, while the passive path leaves the signal closer to how it arrived.

Programming is done from the front panel using lighted buttons, with real time user controls, so loop states can be set and stored without an editor¹.

MIDI control: program changes, banks and continuous controllers

The PatchMate Loop 8 may be set to any MIDI channel, programmable from the front panel, and can be configured for use on any of 16 banks of controllers via the front panel switches¹. Presets are recalled with MIDI program changes numbered 0 to 127, and any loop can be controlled in real time with MIDI continuous controllers¹. Change commands are handled in groups of 8, with 16 banks running 0-7, 8-15, 16-23, through 120-127¹.

The unit also supports what Rocktron calls intelligent Latching and Momentary switch sensing, which allows the user to use any MIDI continuous controller number without additional programming effort¹. In practice that means a controller sending on an arbitrary CC number can trigger loops without the user mapping that number by hand first.

Power: 9VAC through a 4-pin DIN

The power requirement is unusual for a rack unit: 9VAC at 3.4 amps, delivered through a 4-pin DIN connector¹. This is alternating current, not the 9V DC used by most pedals, so ordinary pedalboard power supplies and daisy chains cannot run it. Phantom power of 9VAC at 2 amps is also provided on pins 6 and 7 of the MIDI In jack¹, which is how a compatible Rocktron foot controller can be powered down the same MIDI cable that controls the unit, avoiding a separate supply at the controller end.

Foot controllers

Because the rack unit is switched entirely over MIDI, the choice of foot controller defines the playing experience. Rocktron recommends its own foot controllers as additions for what it describes as ultimate control: the All Access, All Access Limited, MIDI Mate and MIDI Xchange¹. Any controller that sends program changes and continuous controllers can address the unit, but the recommended Rocktron models can also take advantage of the phantom power on the MIDI In jack.

History and the Loop 8 Floor version

Rocktron describes the PatchMate Loop 8 as an updated version of the earlier PatchMate, brought back after fans, in the company's words, "hammered us for years to bring back the PatchMate"¹. The rack unit's product page is dated August 28, 2013¹.

Rocktron followed the rack unit with the PatchMate Loop 8 Floor, a floor version of the PatchMate Loop 8 released after what Rocktron describes as the incredible popularity of the rack unit³. The Floor version keeps the same loop-switching role but moves it to a floor unit³, with buffered ACTIVE and PASSIVE inputs³²⁴ and both buffered and non-buffered signal paths². Reviewers found Rocktron provides a good user's manual for it, with detailed functional descriptions and connection illustrations, though one noted it often references documentation².

Following the popularity of the rack unit, Rocktron added a floor version, the PatchMate Loop 8 Floor, released in September 2011 according to the dated product announcement³. The Floor keeps the same eight-loop concept but puts it in a floor chassis with 9 metal footswitches for real time control³. MusicPlayers.com's reviewer, Derek Davodowich, noted the Floor's buffered and non-buffered signal paths and described the manual as good, with detailed functional descriptions and connection illustrations².

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