FLAMMA FS21 Stereo Guitar Looper Pedal & Drum Machine 2-in-1 with160 Minutes Loop Recording Capacity 100 Drum Grooves 10 Metronome Support Software Editing

Easy enough to use

I finally broke down and joined the Looper fan club, and I wish I had done it sooner. It really makes a great "sketch pad" to try new ideas, and it's a great learning tool. The cons- the instructions that came with it were a little vague, and I'm a looper newbie, so it took a little getting used to. A trip to YouTube and a little experimenting got me going pretty quickly. I still can't find the accessory footswitch control, which would be nice to have. Some of the drum patterns are, well, horrible. It would be nice to have a "fill" feature, and some editing control over the drums as well. It also might just be me, but the tap tempo is hard to use. The pros- It works, it sounds good, and with 90 drum loops and 10 metronome settings, you might not find THE perfect drum beat, but there's something in there that's pretty close. It's easy to use, and putting overdubs down is a painless affair. Being able to sync the looper and drums is definitely a nice touch. The sound quality is excellent, too. Overall, I'm happy. For the money, it has some nice features, and most importantly, it works as it should. I've had no issues in about 6 months. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a nice looper for a good price. It's a lot of looper for the price.

This is a first impression review, not in depth, because I have not had time to test it extensively yet. I like the control layout and function well enough, although it seems a bit quirky. I can get used to that. Construction seems quite solid and like it will be survive well under use. I like that a power supply and data cable are included, unlike the NUX looper at the same price point I had to send back (due to those lacks, false advertising, etc.). I wish people would move to USB-C connections, as they provide better data transfer, and the option for more power transfer as well. This device uses a mini USB conncetor, which is not as common. At least they provide the data cable, unlike NUX (which also didn't even make a power supply for their pedal). This device is not recognized by Linux, which means it is not compliant with common USB device standards. They do NOT advertise it as such, and they DO mention it is not compatible with certain Apple standards, which honesty and transparency I really appreciate. I was not expecting that it would, although I did hope that it could. I would like to see device manufacturers adhere to standards which are compatible with Open Source devices and software, in order to make their devices usable by a wider audience. Open Source software is opening up huge new vistas worldwide for creative people in less fortunate places, which will only enrich all our lives. I have not tried running their software under Wine to see if that would work, but it most likely would not, since the base USB drivers are not there. Also, I don't want to have to go to that many extra steps to get something to work. More layers of technology mean more points of failure. Now, I have not had time to experiment a lot with the looping functions, although I have gone through all the drum patterns and find most to be usable, with the exception of Metal and Hip Hop. Still, to get 80 usable drum patterns is good enough for me. I understand that one could replace them if the software works as advertised, but I will not be able to test that as I refuse to use Windows. I am a diehard Linux enthusiast, and have not touched a Windows machine in over three years. Don't even get me started on Apple . . . . The functions I was hoping to use this for were practice and recording quick riffs and song ideas, but that will be restricted somewhat by the lack of computer compatibility with my system. Still, I am hoping to use it for practice against a drum pattern with limited recording of riff and song ideas with minimal gear setup. That will require further testing. If I encounter anything remarkable, good or bad, I will update this review. I have decided to keep the unit and experiment with it further, as future software upgrades may make it more usable to me. I would at least like the ability to run the software under Wine in Linux and/or move files back and forth to my computer. Native Linux use would be better. That may not be possible with the current hardware in the pedal, but maybe Flamma can think about that for future devices. My wish list for the next version of this: Linux/Open Source compatility, USB standards compatibility, USB-C interface with the option for powering the pedal and using data over that connection, more memory (of course), and the ability to treat it as a small multi track recorder and have more control over saving and moving tracks without special software. I don't want much do I? : ) As I experiment with the basic looping functions, I may have more to say. Those functions are pretty well covered by many YouTube reviews, so I may not have anything to add. Would I recommend this pedal? Only if you are looking for basic looping functions or use Windows based computers that can run the Flamma software. In that case, it could be really useful and fun. For anyone else, it is not useful for much beyond basic looping functions, which it appears to do well. Considering I can do those basic things (and a lot more) with a 10 year old Zoom pedal that was half the price, I cannot say this device is your best option. Your mileage may vary, however. Do your research and be clear about your expectations and the limits of this pedal before you buy.

This pedal arrived on time just like it said, “Get It Tomorrow w/Prime.” As soon as I ordered it I was literally camping by my front door for the next 24 hours barely able to contain my excitement! Any guitar player would understand the suspense and oh, the horror of anticipating that new toy for your guitar to get delivered. Theres nothing like the satisfaction of instant gratification sometimes. Anyways, back the pedal... i chose to go with Flamma because of the fact that it is an American Company (though the pedals were made in China) comprised of American veteran guitar players. There were other pedals that were similar and even looked like copies for cheaper (most under $100 here on Amazon) but i couldnt find any information on those companies. Flamma was the easy choice. I COULD NOT find a bad review about the company and its products anywhere online. Its filled with All good stuff out there, recommendations, reviews, comparisons, etc. And I can see why. The foot switches operate a little differently from the RC models that Boss makes. Why one would oppose or go against the idustry standard in looping pedals sure beats the hell out of me. But really, if you’re accustomed to the foot switch functions from Boss pedals then there will probably be a learning curve to remember left functions from right side. Just takes some getting used to especially with the added drum machine. There are only two switches so i don’t see it taking up much time. Simple operations, you just step on both switches one time to switch between looper and drum mode. There are also 2 turndial/push button knobs that work independently of each other but are assigned to... You guessed it, looper and drums. A simple push of the dial will prompt a click guiding you through each of the 3 submenus and the ability to scroll within said menus also lies within the turn of the dial and clicking it again will choose the selected function. Alternating between volume, bpm, and beat slection for the drum machine, meanwhilst the looper menu cycles the voiume, memory slots for the recorded loops and also to adjust the fade out time after you stop recording the final. There are some other things i didn’t mention about this pedal yet but i would be writing an instruction manual if i would mention everything. Im here to tell you what I love about it! And what I dont. If I dont! This thing is frigging awesome! Im surprised at the quality of the drum patterns and beats and clarity. You can adjust bpm by tapping or using the dial. Very cool feature. You can also merge both looper and drums to work together with the push of a button so they stay in sync. There are over 100 rhythms. Endless fun i tell ya. If you are looking for one looper to do it all. This is it! And the esthetics are nice too. Color combination is nice, solid construction, feels like it will last forever! You will not regret it and the comparable Boss pedal will cost about double with same functionality. Im looking forward to see where this company goes! Thanks Flamma!

For a while this was good but after less than six months the noise level on the drum rhythm channel got so bad it became unusable. The merger ctrl LED and circuit has now blown too along with the record count-in. I suspect progressive component failure. The recorded looper side still works.