Flamma FX20 Headphone Amplifier
Smaller doesn’t always mean better. Many mini guitar pedals and accessories offer little added value compared to their bigger counterparts. Some are no more than toys. The Flamma FX20 Headphone Amplifier, which runs around $90 U.S. is an exception.
This little plug-in device, which is about the same size as a single cheap wireless transceiver system sold on Temu, contains plenty of options programmed into those tiny circuits. The unit comes pre-loaded with 52 amp models, from airy and acoustic to crunchy and distorted. These include the VX 30 CL (Vox Clean), EV 5050 DS (EVH 5150 distorted), B-Star Club DS (Blackstar distorted), MRS J800 (Marshall JCM800), and MRS Plexi 100 (Marshall Plexi). Most of the other amp settings are just as easy to figure out what’s being modeled and they all sound pretty good.
When attached to a cellphone (Apple or Android), players can adjust the master volume, gain, presence, bass, treble, and midrange for each amp. The modeling is solid, and there are noticeable differences between the sounds of the different amps. The FX20 also comes with 24 effects, including different delays, reverbs, choruses, flangers, phasers and tremolos. As with the amps, the effects can be set at various levels through the cellphone app.
And, to keep the tempo steady, there are 40 built-in drum beats, which sound better than those on some drum machines, but lack a few standard 4/4 beats that work well with almost any style of music. There are also no drum fills, but that’s a minor flaw in a device that’s user-friendly, fun to use, and can be set for everything from the echoey modulations of light rock to the swirling, swarming sounds of garage psychedelia. There’s even a setting for backwards guitar reverb.
One great feature of the Flamma FX20 is the ease with which it can be plugged into a simple cell phone recorder (no DAW necessary) and used to record guitar parts with accompanying beats. The device is rechargeable using a standard C-port cable and provides about four hours of battery life per charge. The FX20 also features a tuner, a 3.5 mm audio output, and a Bluetooth audio input. There are buttons on the side of the plug-in unit, which are convenient for controlling the beats and tempos of the drum machine, and a dial to control the master volume.
And the FX20 is compatible with the Flamma mobile cloud platform. Since the company isn’t as well-known as Boss, Positive Grid, or ZOOM, there aren’t a ton of settings to choose from, but the model we tested had presets for “Heaven’s Door,” “Crazy Diamond,” “Little Wing,” “Bite the Dust,” “Layla,” “Slash Clean,” “Solo Santana,” “Stairway to the Hven,” as well as additional programmed amp tones that provide plenty of choices for hours (four at a time) of bedroom rocking, and quickie demo recording. – Jon Wiederhorn
