Preset Slots: With 40 preset slots at your disposal, you can save and recall your favorite loops and settings effortlessly. At a touch over 660g, the Trio is heavy!! In fact, it’s not far off double the weight of the Donner Circle. Something any ‘on the go’ musician ought to bear in mind. It took me some.time to get used to the different function switches, but overall, I can say it’s intuitive, easy to use without the owner manual! The Donner circle looper shines between the budget looper pedal options with 40 memory slots and a synchronized drum machine in one pedal. There are 100 different beats in 10 different styles, plus 10 metronomes, bpm control, and an independent volume for rhythm and loops along with the tap tempo feature.

Another significant aspect of the JTC Pro is its 6 hours of recording capacity with 256 slots which is much higher than the capacity of Flamma FS21. JTC Pro also offers different ends to the loops, such as immediate stop, stop at the end of the loop or fade out. The footswitches control the activation of the looper functions, and the drum machine, and can be used independently of each other. The left footswitch activates loop recording and dubbing, while the right is used to stop and start the drums, and to save, recall, or clear recorded loops. Recording with this Donner looper isn’t too restrictive either. We found the 160 minutes of recording time to be more than enough in most cases. I haven’t used the USB computer interface yet, but along with Donner’s free software, it promises to open up a whole new world of possibilities in editing & importing/exporting recorded files.This is a common syndrome for guitar pedal manufacturers; Digitech is similarly guilty. It's as if they don't hire drummers, or even musicians, to make the beats! The beginner and intermediate level guitar players who want an exciting looper pedal and drum machine to practice at home can choose Flamma FS21 without hesitation. You can learn and compose new melodies with the high-quality looper or jam on top of 100 different drum patterns. As this pedal is highly affordable and has enough capacity for recording, it is a great pedal to get familiar with looper pedals and spice up the practice at home. The Flamma FS21 Drum Machine Looper Pedal Compared To Other Pedals Flamma FS21 Drum Machine Looper Pedal Vs. Boss RC-5 Loop Station Overall, despite the cheerful color scheme, it’s very nicely designed. Personally I prefer something a bit sleeker like the Pigtronix Infinity 2, but this is really down to the individual. Creating a Loop with the Donner Circle Looper The left hand side is the looping stuff and the right hand side is all the rhythm section stuff where the drum machine lives.

For those who prioritize true bypass functionality, the Donner Circle Looper’s power-off process may be a minor inconvenience. If seamless power-off is crucial for your setup, you may want to explore alternatives with this feature. Advanced Arrangement Features One thing to mention here is that it doesn’t include a power supply. So yes it’s cheap, but you should mentally add a little on for that. How Does the Donner Circle Looper Perform? And How Does it Sound? When it comes to price, the Nux pedal tends to be more expensive. Although that will depend on where you shop. Both have a screen, however that you get on the Donner looper is FAR superior. Not only is it clearer to read (perks of LCD over LED), but it’s also a LOT more useful too. Navigation via this screen is a breeze!The first thing you will experience is that it really doesn’t like to be daisy-chained...you get an overall hissing sound with some other weird noise, which I think is normal with digital pedals. Once plugged with a dedicated power supply, everything became silent and crystal clear. If you are a beginner or intermediate player and want to spice up your practice at home, Donner Circle will get the job done. Or, if you want to experiment with your composition ideas with some looping again, Donner Circle Looper is a great choice with its low price tag and great features. It sounds good, has enough capacity for recording, and has some great grooves to play along. I think the two button controls are worlds easier to use than a single button looper however I haven’t tried any of the Donner Single Button Looper’s. The added LED display is a nice touch and I would rather see this then the blinking light on most pedals. In regards to foot-switches, both pedals are made of metal & feel substantial enough to stand on. Neither of these pedals feel cheap by any means.

I thought that with 100 drum sounds, there would be a good number of usable ones. Unfortunately, most have ghastly snare sounds (all the disco beats), and many would be okay except for awkward drum fills which make them unusable, at least at certain tempos. "Funk" beats are only "funky" in that they have odd syncopations...like a programmer might think. On the subject of screens, the difference is pretty clear. The Donner has one, while the Trio just relies on clusters of LED lights. For this alone, the Circle is (in our opinion) more user friendly. However, the Nux does trump the Circle in regards to memory slots. The Nux has 99, while the Circle has just 40.Metronome Types: Musicians know the importance of timing. The Donner Circle Looper offers 10 metronome types, allowing for precise control over your practice sessions and performances.

One issue people run into is with the levels of the drums and the loop. You have to set the drums quite low to really hear both the drums and yourself through an amp. You can basically get this tailored to your amp and then leave it, but it’s a bit of a nuisance at first. It doesn’t help that you have to switch “mode” constantly while tweaking this rather than just having dedicated “Level” dials. It’s an excellent choice for both novice and experienced guitarists, offering a creative playground for looping and rhythmic exploration: with top-notch sound quality and studio compatibility, it’s a valuable addition to any guitarist’s arsenal. Connecting an external expression pedal is just as easy with the Donner looper as it is with the Digitech. Both these loop stations support external expression/ sustain pedals. You can control the volume of loops and drums, there's a fade option, and the drums have a bpm/tempo option.

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Mooer Groove Loop has almost the same price tag as Donner Circle Looper. Once again, with the features and sound quality taken into account, Donner Circle Looper is the way to go, in my opinion. Conclusion If you require advanced arrangement capabilities like setting up intro, bridge, and chorus sections within your loops, this pedal might fall short. While it excels as a looper, such features could potentially be enhanced through software updates. CONCLUSION: SUMMARY OF THIS DONNER CIRCLE LOOPER PEDAL REVIEW ARTICLE In this article I am going to take you through all the aspects of this pedal from unboxing to breaking down how it works. There’s no shortage of drum grooves & effects. Safe to say, this pedal has plenty to even keep the most professional guitarists entertained. Speaking of which, the grooves sound nice too. We came across very few ‘unusable’ sounds.