I'm just starting out and want to use a looper for my voice & a hand drum I need it to be inexpensive.
I'm considering getting an Amazon Fire HD 6 tablet ( I also have a MacBook 2007 ,updated to snow leopard, Not pro,); Can I use the tablet for looping ?
iOS is far more well supplied by music-related apps than Android. I've heard there are reasons in terms of how audio hardware is done but that may not be true - it might just be that because Apple is known for being used in creative areas, this drives the market.
Either way, you can get some amazing software that will work on even a previous-generation iPad (or iPhone). The power of modern mobile devices is incredible - you can replace an entire guitar FX setup with an iPad if you so desire.
Although I'm a big fan of Android for most purposes, Android is not really there when it comes to applications for live music performance.
The Android music apps that do exist suffer from latency problems. I believe these are caused by a combination of the Android OS not having music as a design goal, and of the broad range of hardware platforms it runs on.
So the bad news if you're an Android fan, is that iOS is the place to be for music apps. The good news is that you can probably get away with a couple of generations old, used iPad.
For looping on iOS, there is an excellent app called Loopy. It will work with headphones and the built-in mic. But for high quality results, you probably want to invest in an audio interface for your iPad. This would allow you to use an XLR microphone.
Having said all I have about Android -- things are changing. Android is now compatible with USB audio interfaces, and there is an app which clones Loopy - it's called "Looper". You'll still find that, for now at least, there is a much greater choice of musical apps on iOS. But you could try Android and Looper to see if it works for you.
Yes you can get drum machines for ipad, and sampling tools for microphone.
One example would be Native Instruments "iMaschine". I use it on my iPhone all the time. It has drum pads, record vocal samples, keys, EQ, FX, volume sliders, etc. You can even cut the sound samples to size.
I then export the beats to my full version on my computer if I want, (but is a little fiddly)
You will need to get an iPad though, but the app is very cheap and feature rich. (And I see ipads going cheap second hand)
While some tablets and mobile phones may be loud enough to hear without headphones, they are still rather silent. Of course, if you can connect an external amplifier this is no longer a problem. Most of smartphones in these times are capable of replaying a pre-recorder sound track without much additional software. You could use your desktop workstation to prepare that sound file in advance.
A typical laptop can afford much more space for loudspeakers and is near equally portable. If you need an autonomous solution, I would suggest to use a laptop for looping instead.
