2 layers94 × 94 mm
Samplooler panel stack
willbearfruits/samplooler
A small looper you play by tilting it, and instruments for the same board: ESP32-S3 firmware, circuit boards, a browser flasher and a desktop app
32 partsGPL-3.0
2 layers94 × 46 mm
Samplooler stack bottom
willbearfruits/samploolerA small looper you play by tilting it, and instruments for the same board: ESP32-S3 firmware, circuit boards, a browser flasher and a desktop app
- Size
- 94 × 46 mm
- Copper layers
- 2
- Thickness
- 1.6 mm
- Parts
- 19
- Nets
- 51
- Pads
- 177
- Tracks, vias
- 469, 81
- Pours
- 3
- Routed
- Yes
- KiCad
- KiCad 10.0 (file 20260206)
- Created
- 25 Sep 2026
- Updated
- 19 Oct 2026
Overview
Samplooler stack bottom is an open-source printed circuit board by willbearfruits, from the willbearfruits/samplooler repository on GitHub, published under the GPL-3.0 licence. It is a 2-layer board of 94 × 46 mm with 19 parts on 51 nets, routed with 469 tracks and 81 vias.
It is built around the PCM5102APW. Its parts include 5 connectors, 4 ICs, 3 capacitors, 2 resistors and 1 switch. It belongs with the audio and music boards and the ESP32 boards of this library.
Main components
1README
README.mdSamplooler
A small looper you play by tilting it. Hold the button and make a sound; let go and it loops. Tip the box forward and the loop runs faster, tip it back and it runs backwards, roll it sideways for a tape delay or a stutter.
PHOTO: the Stack in a hand, tipped forward, screen lit (media/photos/stack-hand.jpg)
Try it and flash it from the browser · Manual · Build one · Get one
The loop is a tape between two reels, and a small operator runs on it, as fast as you tip the box. The screen above is the firmware's own drawing code, run on a computer.
VIDEO: someone playing a Stack, filmed, with its sound, about 60 s
What it does
| Record | Hold the button and make a sound, up to 20 s at 32 kHz. Let go and it loops. |
| Tilt | Forward plays faster, back plays backwards. Snap rounds the speed to octaves and fifths. |
| Roll | Left adds a tape delay, right a stutter. |
| Modes | TAPE (speed and pitch move together) and GRAIN (they move apart). |
| Voice | Optional: SING's 18 voices on the input before it records (autotune, harmonies, choir, vocoder, echo). |
| Speaker | Can be switched off, so only the line out plays, when the speaker feeds back into the mic. |
| Slots | 8 loops saved on the board, kept when you update it. |
| Together | Over the radio with the other instruments: a take sets their tempo or lands on their beat; key and scale are shared. |
| With a computer | USB MIDI and a USB sound card on one cable, and a VST3 plugin that shows and sets everything. |
| Other instruments | More firmwares for the same box: a breakcore-to-doom machine, a singing Buddha with a wall of amps, a flute you blow. |
Other instruments
The same Stack can be flashed with WRECK, MANTRA or HUFF, and flashed back. Install them from the page or with the desktop app in app/. More are in progress (instruments/, ROADMAP.md). Anyone can add one (CONTRIBUTING.md).
Get one
- Buy one: built by hand in Haifa. Write and ask about price and shipping: Dogme84@gmail.com · WhatsApp.
- Build it in the workshop: the ESP32 workshop, 7 meetings at MEZO, Haifa, 2,200 ₪, kit included.
- Build it yourself: order the boards, solder the modules on, flash it: docs/BUILD.md.
Status
Early. The current Stack is rev C: it has been made and runs the firmware (screen, microphone, tilt,
line out and USB MIDI/audio work). The board files here are rev D, which is being tested now (October
2026); rev C's files are at the git tag checkpoint/boards-rev-c. The three other instruments on the list have run
on a board; eight more are in progress. What comes next is in ROADMAP.md. Reports of builds, good or
bad, are welcome in the issues.
What is where
| Path | What |
|---|---|
| ROADMAP.md | what is done and what comes next |
| docs/ | the manual and the build guide |
| firmware/ | the Samplooler's ESP-IDF 5.5 project |
| instruments/ | the other instruments, each a complete ESP-IDF project |
| core/ | the code the instruments share |
| hardware/ | the Stack's schematics, boards and JLCPCB order files |
| plugin/ | the VST3 and standalone plugin (JUCE) |
| app/ | the desktop app: the library, one-click install of any instrument on a board, and the Samplooler back |
| media/ | pictures and screen grabs |
| site/ | the project page and the browser flasher |
| tools/ | flash.sh, sl_midi.py (log and MIDI from a shell), release.sh, library.py |
Licence
- Firmware, instruments and tools: GPL-3.0 (LICENSE).
- Plugin: AGPL-3.0, as JUCE requires (plugin/LICENSE).
- Circuit boards, docs and pictures: CC BY-SA 4.0 (hardware/LICENSE).
Part of Serious S.H.I.T.: instruments, tools and workshops made in Haifa by Yaniv Schonfeld (Willbear). If Samplooler is useful to you, support it on Patreon.
Parts
19| Qty | Value | Footprint | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | M3 | MountingHole:MountingHole_3.2mm_M3_Pad_Via | H1, H2, H3, H4 |
| 2 | 10u | Capacitor_SMD:C_0805_2012Metric | C1, C2 |
| 2 | 4k7 | Resistor_SMD:R_0805_2012Metric | R1, R2 |
| 1 | 100n | Capacitor_SMD:C_0805_2012Metric | C3 |
| 1 | EC11, 25 mm shaft | Rotary_Encoder:RotaryEncoder_Alps_EC11E-Switch_Vertical_H20mm | SW1 |
| 1 | ESP32-S3_SuperMini | samplooler:ESP32-S3_SuperMini | U1 |
| 1 | EXP A | samplooler:EXP_A_2x7_Stack | J4 |
| 1 | EXP B | samplooler:EXP_B_2x7_Stack | J5 |
| 1 | MAX98357A (opt) | samplooler:MAX98357A_Breakout | J2 |
| 1 | MPU6050 | samplooler:GY-521_MPU6050 | U4 |
| 1 | PCM5102A | samplooler:GY-PCM5102 | U2 |
| 1 | PS2 joystick (KY-023 part) | samplooler:PS2_Joystick | U5 |
| 1 | Qwiic I2C | Connector_JST:JST_SH_SM04B-SRSS-TB_1x04-1MP_P1.00mm_Horizontal | J3 |
| 1 | To top board | Connector_PinSocket_2.54mm:PinSocket_2x04_P2.54mm_Vertical | J1 |
Questions
How big is the Samplooler stack bottom PCB?
It measures 94 × 46 mm and has 2 copper layers, 1.6 mm thick.
What parts does the Samplooler stack bottom use?
19 parts, built around the PCM5102APW. The full list of its parts is on this page, with links to each part's symbol and footprint where PCBKit's library has them.
Where can I download the Samplooler stack bottom KiCad files?
From the willbearfruits/samplooler repository on GitHub, at the commit this page was made from: the board is hardware/stack-bottom/samplooler-stack-bottom.kicad_pcb and its schematic hardware/stack-bottom/samplooler-stack-bottom.kicad_sch. PCBKit opens the board in the browser, with nothing to install.
Can I use the Samplooler stack bottom design in my own project?
Its repository publishes it under the GPL-3.0 licence: you may reuse it on that licence's terms (keep the author's notice, and for a copyleft licence share your changes alike).
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