Donner Circle Looper Pedal Drum Machine, 2 in 1 Drum Looper Stereo Guitar Loop Pedals, 40 Slots 160 mins Loop with 110 Drum Grooves, Tap Tempo, Fade Out

The media could not be loaded. Can't stop using it.The Donner circle looper is a looper 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. Did I mention tap tempo? It has tap tempo. You can run the looper and the beats in synch or not in synch.There are two inputs and two out puts that allow you to run the looper off two instruments or out of two amps. So, for example, if you want to run a guitar in one channel and have it come out of one amp and a bass or a eukele in the other and have it come out of a different amp, you can do that. Or, you can run a stereo reverb or delay or chorus or something in front of the Circle and then run to two different amps and get stereo sound.I am really enjoying the beat library. I have not used them all yet, but I find having that many different rhythms at my finger tips is pushing me to learn to styles and new techniques that I might not have gotten around to without the Circle Looper. The Drums sound organic and lively.There is a button in the middle of the looper called "MERGER CTRL." When you push it, it turns green. Then when you switch from the rhythm side to the looper side and start the loop, you get a count off and then the drums start when the loop starts. And everything stays synched. If you don't push "MERGET CTRL" the beat and the loop won't stay synched. I'm sure there is a use for a loop where the music slowly drifts away from the drums, but I'm not there yet. The first time you don't use the "MERGER CTRL" it becomes clear why you should. LOL.Quick note, the drums and the loops act independently. So if you record a loop and save it, and you want it to play with the beat you recorded the loop with, you will have to set the drums to the settings you had them at when you recorded it. This is really easy, but if you don't realize that your drums aren't automatically saved, it can be a little jarring when you wonder why you thought you had been on time yesterday and today it sounds like there are two different songs playing. Going back to "MERGER CTRL" once you dial in the drums that you used to record and press 'start' the drums and the loop will start at the beginning of the loop. I hope I'm not making this sound complicated, it's not.The Looper has an led screen that is easy to read and very useful. The screen has a little "circle" that runs around the outer edge of it to tell you where you are in a loop, once you've recorded the first layer. So, if you get lost, you will kind of know where you are in the song. The Screen also tells you what memory slot you are on, what beat you are using, what bpm you are at. It will also tell you if you are coming into the looper too hot.The Directions are clear and detailed. This pedal is a little more complicated than just a simple looper, but it is definitely worth the effort. I honestly can't stop using it. It's just great and for the price, it's down right amazing. I believe these have already sold out twice, so if you see one, snatch it up.

Bottom Line Up Front: I would recommend this item if you are looking for a drum pedal and/or looper.The pedal housing, switches and knobs all seem to be built very well and should hopefully last a while. I removed the rubber feet from the bottom to add Velcro for the board without an issue. The feet are just stuck on with some adhesive.The drum tracks sound much better than expected. When I play it through a clean amp, they come across fairly realistic compared to some drum pedals I have used in the past. Another thing to note is that the drum tracks have a lot of groove and flavor compared to some that are just fancy metronomes. There are some consistent fills at then end of the bars on some of the tracks which can be useful and distracting. A real drummer would probably not fill/crash as often, but it adds some character to your solo jam sessions.The LCD screen is bright, easy to read, and responsive to the knobs as you make your selections.There are 40 memory slots to up to 4:00 minute recordings. You can link it up to the computer and download some very simple software from the Donner website to Import/export the recordings.** BONUS** You can load files into the memory banks from other places, not just your recordings so if you have a track you are trying to work out parts for, you can load the file and save it in the pedal to mess around with at your leisure. I downloaded some drum and bass tracks from a website to jam over and am having a blast. The only downside which I hope we can get a fix for is that it seems as if you can’t name the tracks. Not a huge deal, but when there are 40 spots it would be better if we could save them by a name and not just default number.Overall this does more than I expected and the build/sound quality is higher than anticipated at this price point. I have purchased a few Donner items and have yet to be let down. It’s really a blessing in our current times that musical instruments and gear can be so affordable and of superior quality.

Pros:- relatively easy to figure out (good, because instruction guide is miniaturized)- decent sound quality- priced well for features- loads of memory for saving loops- drum tracks sound better than expected, and recorded loops store and play the drum track/tempo- rhythm track synch works wellCons:- absolutely needs an power on/off switch. Plugging/unplugging the power adapter is not a reasonable solution when a switch is pennies to install.- stopping a loop shifts by default to “dub”, so any additional sustain or sounds after you hit stop get recorded before you can hit the footswitch again to kill dubbing. This is really, really annoying.- a slightly larger display would be so nice for some of us older players

I bought the circle looper/ drum machine.This is a great pedal! Great tool for a beginner learning how to play along with a group or just creating entire songs by yourself. Fantastic jam tool. Sound quality is good and the controls are fairly simple with enough options for recording, dubbing over recordings and sound levels. Also, drum patterns, speed, and volume. Also it feels pretty sturdy and well made.Special note: Does not come with a power supply. I bought a daisy chain power supply (1 Spot by Truetone) and it works well so far for my multi effects pedal and the looper. I was having trouble with my recordings clipping at first. I asked Donner for an exchange and It was at my door a day or two later. I was very impressed by their customer service. I was having the same problem as before with the clipping so I figured it had to be my equipment. Took it to a guitar store and asked if I could hook the pedal to their equipment. It sounded great and found out that my old power supply had some slices in the cord at the ends. Had no idea that could cause the pedal to turn on but malfunction. So, I bought a power supply from the shop and have been having a blast with this thing ever since.