By sampie
Tue Aug 10, 2004 4:06 am
By LabWorkz
Wed Aug 11, 2004 2:07 am
sampie wrote:http://www.rolandus.com/sp606/
~
I just know I'm gonna get flamed for this but here goes... A common criticizm of the SP606 is the number of tracks. I think this is rooted in how people use the MPC. I'm new to sequencers and samplers but have played guitar for years. 4 tracks were the standard for recording for a long time. All of today's music is eventually bounced down to 2 tracks. 64 tracks sounds ridiculous to me but I'm guessing you use them very differently than traditional recordings.
I'm trying to make a decision on the SP606 vs. the MPC1000 and to a newbie it's not easy. People here continually complain about time syncing and sample chopping, both features that the SP606 has. People complain that the MPC1000 is missing effects like pitch shifter, which the MPC1000 has. My biggest concern with the SP606 is the 8 voice polyphony but I read elsewhere that it is 8 voices per track (not confirmed). MPC users like to call the Roland a toy but if I sat them side by side and asked someone off the street whick looks more like a toy I think the MPC would get more than a fair share of votes. People here have complained quite heavily about OS bugs and build quality of the MPC1000 (the knobs, faders, and data wheels look pathetically cheap for a $1000 pro audio unit). The MPC seems to be missing some important features and is more expensive. What it does have is a ton of people who swear by it and thats the single largest reason I'm looking heavily at this one. I don't think you can just dismiss the Roland products. MPC users are very loyal. Maybe to loyal (see the thread about Akai's inability to address bugs). I am having a hard time concluding that the MPC is worth the extra money but that is why I am here. Can you be objective?
OK my first post and I called your baby ugly, flame on.
I'm trying to make a decision on the SP606 vs. the MPC1000 and to a newbie it's not easy. People here continually complain about time syncing and sample chopping, both features that the SP606 has. People complain that the MPC1000 is missing effects like pitch shifter, which the MPC1000 has. My biggest concern with the SP606 is the 8 voice polyphony but I read elsewhere that it is 8 voices per track (not confirmed). MPC users like to call the Roland a toy but if I sat them side by side and asked someone off the street whick looks more like a toy I think the MPC would get more than a fair share of votes. People here have complained quite heavily about OS bugs and build quality of the MPC1000 (the knobs, faders, and data wheels look pathetically cheap for a $1000 pro audio unit). The MPC seems to be missing some important features and is more expensive. What it does have is a ton of people who swear by it and thats the single largest reason I'm looking heavily at this one. I don't think you can just dismiss the Roland products. MPC users are very loyal. Maybe to loyal (see the thread about Akai's inability to address bugs). I am having a hard time concluding that the MPC is worth the extra money but that is why I am here. Can you be objective?
OK my first post and I called your baby ugly, flame on.
By stephen
Tue Aug 17, 2004 4:08 pm
The SP-606's brochure from http://www.roland.com/products/en/SP-606/ says 8 voice polyphony - max. I can't imagine working with that. I usually have a clap, a snare, and a hi-hat on beats 2 and 4. If you have a crash from the first beat continuing into the 2nd beat, you're left with just 4 notes for the rest of your sounds. And you're out of luck if you have two drum patterns going at a time. It doesn't look like it'd be very good at generating sounds due to the low polyphony.
The sequencer can only store 18,000 events. The MPC can store 100,000... And with the 606 only having four tracks... I can't imagine working with that. I usually start by recording a drum pattern live, all drums on one track, then move the hi hats and cymbals to separate tracks. I end up with 3 tracks where I am able to mute the hihats/cymbals/kick&snare&claps individually. This setup is very flexible and very easy to use (thanks to the MPCs great trackmute interface). Having a single track left over for every single other sound is laughable.
I almost always use between 16-24 tracks per song. Not all are used (and are definitely not all used at the same time). But it is great being able to click to a new track, lay down another bassline or drum pattern, see how it works with your song, then mute it and try another baseline. Split up the drums into a few more tracks, bring them in and out for breaks, etc.
It would not take long to outgrow 8 voices and 4 tracks.
The sequencer can only store 18,000 events. The MPC can store 100,000... And with the 606 only having four tracks... I can't imagine working with that. I usually start by recording a drum pattern live, all drums on one track, then move the hi hats and cymbals to separate tracks. I end up with 3 tracks where I am able to mute the hihats/cymbals/kick&snare&claps individually. This setup is very flexible and very easy to use (thanks to the MPCs great trackmute interface). Having a single track left over for every single other sound is laughable.
I almost always use between 16-24 tracks per song. Not all are used (and are definitely not all used at the same time). But it is great being able to click to a new track, lay down another bassline or drum pattern, see how it works with your song, then mute it and try another baseline. Split up the drums into a few more tracks, bring them in and out for breaks, etc.
It would not take long to outgrow 8 voices and 4 tracks.
By chiZleo
Tue Aug 17, 2004 11:20 pm
FYI my boy's got a sp 505 and he's killin sh*t with it. his tracks are dooope. i think the 606 could do some damage with the proper person behind it. same with the 1000. it's not the machine, it's how you flex it.
three stripes for three eyes

By AMG
Fri Aug 20, 2004 6:44 pm
chiZleo wrote:FYI my boy's got a sp 505 and he's killin sh*t with it. his tracks are dooope. i think the 606 could do some damage with the proper person behind it. same with the 1000. it's not the machine, it's how you flex it.You're definetly right, but you see how smart Roland was to incorporate software with the SP-606, despite some "limitations" people here might see. But the way the software & hardware flow together are mos definetly hot! But you guys can continue to hate...as chiZleo said ^^^
MPC til infinity
By JStruMENTAL
Mon Aug 23, 2004 6:12 am
ive made a decision to not get the 1k and go with the 606, i finnaly got to the guitar center and played with both, and the 606 won. my sample based hiphop just goes better with the 606
By mpc3000
Mon Aug 23, 2004 2:01 pm
"my sample based hiphop "
What other kind is there?
Actually do you mean `phrase-based` hiphop? Since the 606 is more of a phrase sampler.
What other kind is there?
Actually do you mean `phrase-based` hiphop? Since the 606 is more of a phrase sampler.
By Track Kingz
Wed Sep 15, 2004 3:01 pm
obviously some ppl in here have never gone to a REAL studio
and track your beats the right way(each sound on own track)
with this 606 that would really suck
plus the OUTS it has are VERY limited
only 1 midi i/o one stereo out? c'mon
it would suck to have to bounce out those tracks
and track your beats the right way(each sound on own track)
with this 606 that would really suck
plus the OUTS it has are VERY limited
only 1 midi i/o one stereo out? c'mon
it would suck to have to bounce out those tracks

By AMG
Wed Sep 15, 2004 3:45 pm
Some people don't need a REAL studio to track beats 
MPC til infinity

By Jessiah
Wed Sep 15, 2004 6:18 pm
dude. This is crazy. I have been wanting an Akai for so long. Then my brother got one, and i wanted one even more. Then i got an apartment with a friend that had a 2000. He let me use it, and eventually it found its way into my room full time. I recently moved out to a new apartment, without this roomate, or his 2000.
Thanks to him i learned how to do everything MPC. Well one week went by, and i couldn't wait any longer. I bought the mpc 1000 at guitar center. I love it. Its everything that the 2000 had plus more. I find that the 1000 is more intuitive, more friendly. You can load a shit load of samples in like two seconds, and even saving what you have just done is easy to. You can make your own folders, and really get things organized perfectly. The ram upgrade is incredible, and the compact flash storage kiks ass. I dont want to change anybodys mind, but i want to stop you from making the "obviously" wrong decision with the roland... hope i helped a little...
By MidnightFlyer
Wed Sep 15, 2004 7:42 pm
Whew. I thought it was going to be another negative post. How refreshing.



