The Free The Tone FT-1Y Flight Time is a digital delay pedal from Japanese maker Free The Tone, announced in October 2014 at an MSRP of $4301. What set it apart from most delay pedals was its real-time BPM analyzer: tap in a tempo with the footswitch and the pedal analyzes your actual playing within ±20% of that tempo, automatically adjusting the BPM and reflecting it in the delay time2. Free The Tone described it as achieving a sound quality rivaling highly regarded rack-type delays, built on a 32-bit high-precision DSP with the maker's analog and digital know-how3.
Production of the FT-1Y ended in 20164, and the concept continued in the Flight Time FT-2Y. The FT-1Y is therefore a pedal players today find on the used market.
What it does and how it sounds
The FT-1Y covers delay times from 1ms up to 9,999ms, settable in milliseconds or in beats per minute6. Feedback goes up to 110 percent, past the point of infinite repeat into self-oscillation territory, and other editable parameters include Hi-Pass and Low-Pass filters, modulation with separate Rate and Depth controls, and a Trail function6. Pedal of the Day noted the pedal features Free The Tone's HTS (Holistic Tonal Solution) circuit and an analog mixer in the signal path7, a circuit MusicRadar's news coverage also credited at launch8.
Free The Tone's own claim for the pedal was ambitious: sound quality that goes far beyond other pedal-type delay units, pursuing sonic quality equal to famous classic rack-type high-quality delays, without simulation or modeling35. RockBoard's PedalPedia entry repeats that framing, calling the Realtime BPM Analyzer and Delay Time Offset its two ground-breaking features5.
The real-time BPM analyzer and tap tempo
The headline feature works like this: you tap a tempo in with the footswitch, and while you play, the pedal analyzes the performance in real time within ±20% of that tapped tempo, automatically adjusting the BPM and feeding it into the delay time2. One limit worth knowing: if your tapped tempo differs from what you actually play by more than ±20%, the analyzer does not auto-adjust at all2. For a player whose foot is steadier than their tap, that is the whole point; for anyone hoping the pedal will find a tempo from scratch, it will not.
Delay times can be entered directly in milliseconds or BPM6, which suits both players who think in specific slapback lengths and players who work against a click or a band.
REC & REPEAT, dry switch and boost
Beyond straight delay, the FT-1Y includes a REC & REPEAT function that records your input signal and repeats it with the preset delay effect applied2. It holds 20 seconds of recording, one phrase only, with no overdubbing2, so it is a phrase-capture tool rather than a looper in the style of a dedicated looping pedal.
Two rear-panel and preset-level features round out the design:
- A DRY ON/OFF switch on the rear panel, which Free The Tone notes is useful when building a system with an external mixer2
- An output level settable per preset and boostable up to +3dB2
Controls, presets and connections
The FT-1Y has no knobs. MusicRadar's Trevor Curwen described the user interface as "several tiny buttons linked to numerical displ[a]ys"6, a departure from the knob-and-switch layout of most delay pedals. Preset switching involves holding the Tap/Play footswitch for two seconds, scrolling with either footswitch, then holding again for two seconds to confirm; holding the footswitch for four seconds toggles between presets 1 and 26.
| Connection | Detail |
|---|---|
| Audio jacks | 1/4-inch standard phone jacks: IN, OUT, HOLD3 |
| MIDI | 5-pin DIN x2, MIDI IN and MIDI THRU3 |
| Power | DC12V input jack for the dedicated AC adapter2 |
| Input impedance | 500 kΩ minimum37 |
| Output load impedance | 1 kΩ minimum7 |
| Presets | 99 total: 90 user, 9 factory37 |
One omission reviewers flagged: there is no stereo option7. For a pedal at this price with MIDI and rack-delay ambitions, Pedal of the Day's Mike B found that hard to accept, writing "I just can't for the life of me figure out why they would exclude the Stereo option."7
Power and physical details
The FT-1Y does not run on a standard pedal supply. It requires 12V DC, center negative, drawing approximately 400mA, and Free The Tone specifies its dedicated AC adapter (with regional variants for the USA, UK and Europe)357. Its current draw also rules out most small daisy-chain supplies.
The enclosure measures 146 x 120.5 x 57 mm including protrusions such as jacks and footswitches, and weighs approximately 570 g excluding the AC adapter37.
Firmware and manual
Free The Tone offers firmware version 3.1 for the FT-1Y as a download from its product page3, and the English manual is available at freethetone.com5.
What reviewers said
MusicRadar's Trevor Curwen reviewed the pedal and summed it up as an expensive professional's tool with genuinely distinctive features6:
"The Flight Time is an expensive professional's tool, but its onboard facilities include unique settings that some will find invaluable."6
Pedal of the Day's Mike B, reviewing it in February 2016, was more effusive, calling it "a complexly intelligent and awe-inspiring piece of musical equipment, hands down"7, while still questioning the lack of stereo7. When Pedal of the Day later covered the FT-2Y in 2017, it referred back to the FT-1Y as the original Flight Time it had demoed early the previous year9.
Videos
ProGuitarShopDemos
Premier Guitar
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Questions
Is the Free The Tone Flight Time FT-1Y discontinued?
Yes. Free The Tone states that production of the FT-1Y ended in 2016. It was succeeded by the Flight Time FT-2Y, which carries the same real-time BPM analyzer concept forward. Used FT-1Y units are the way players encounter it today.
Can the FT-1Y run on a 9V power supply?
No. The FT-1Y runs on 12V DC, center negative, drawing about 400mA, and Free The Tone specifies a dedicated AC adapter (FA-1220D). A standard 9V pedal supply will not power it, and its current draw is well beyond what most daisy chains deliver.
Does the Flight Time FT-1Y have MIDI?
Yes. The FT-1Y has two 5-pin DIN connectors, MIDI IN and MIDI THRU, so it can receive tempo and preset commands from other MIDI gear and pass the signal on to further devices in a larger rig.
How many presets does the FT-1Y hold?
It holds 99 presets in total: 90 user presets and 9 factory presets. Presets can be scrolled to and selected from the footswitches, and MusicRadar notes you can hold the footswitch down for four seconds to toggle between presets 1 and 2.
Where can I download the FT-1Y firmware?
Free The Tone makes firmware version 3.1 for the FT-1Y available for download from its own product page, alongside the English manual. Both are hosted on freethetone.com.
Sources (9)
- Free the Tone Launches New FT-1Y Digital Delay, Premier Guitar, 2014-10-28
- FLIGHT TIME / FT-1Y｜Products 商品紹介｜Free The Tone, Free The Tone
- FLIGHT TIME / FT-1Y｜Products 商品紹介｜Free The Tone, Free The Tone
- FLIGHT TIME / FT-2Y｜Products 商品紹介｜Free The Tone, Free The Tone
- FT-1Y Flight Time Digital Delay by Free The Tone, RockBoard PedalPedia, 2026
- Free The Tone FT-1Y Flight Time review, MusicRadar, 2015-10-10
- Free The Tone FT-1Y Flight Time Delay, Pedal of the Day, 2016-02-17
- Free The Tone launches Flight Time FT-1Y Delay, MusicRadar, 2014-10-31
- Free The Tone FT-2Y Flight Time Digital Delay, Pedal of the Day, 2017-08-09
