emu sp12 worth copping?

hello all

i'm thinking about copping an sp12

simply coz its under sp1200 half price and really want the sp sound

its 5 secs sample time plus rom sounds versus 10 secs

saving is to larger floppies versus standard built in floppy drive

i've done a search and dunno weather this has the heating problem as some sp1200 first issue, does it?

what would you pay for one?

any replies appreciated

Same power supply, that gets warm, like the original SP1200, and earlier reissue SP1200.

I paid $550 + shipping at the beginning of the year for one (without disk drive).

They seem to be pushing higher, as eBay speculators push their SP12 prices higher in response to other eBay speculators pushing their SP1200 prices higher, not really wanting/needing to sell them quickly.

You just need to wait for one at a decent price, from a seller that wants/needs to sell it, or through a source other than eBay, if you don't want to pay the higher prices for readily available units on eBay.

You obviously (should) want a Turbo version, for the 5 seconds of sample time.

And how happy are ya with it? Like saving wise, sample time wise

Do you feel good making beats on it?

I know some are posting advantages of the sp12 vs 1200.

Like flash ram and something else cant rember exactly


As a user tho i am sure you find those advantages immediately


Cheers

Have not used it very much, been waiting to see if a memory card reader replacement for the floppy drive is possible, but might give up on that and find a Commodore floppy drive to use floppies, or use the cassette in/out hooked up to a computer audio interface.

Also need to get it together and find a replacement OLED display, as the LCD backlight is gone.

Had an SP1200 years ago, but not side by side with the SP12, and from memory, the SP12 is pretty much exactly the same in use, same box, same sequencer, same feel.

The fast loading and saving of the SP1200 3.5 floppy, along with the 10 seconds of sampling time, and being newer, are the main advantages of the SP1200.

The battery backed-up and ROM sounds for instant power on usage are handy with the SP12, but I would probably prefer the fast floppy of the SP1200.

You can fit your own custom samples in SP12 ROMs, if you can burn them yourself, which I hope to have a burner to do so myself early next year, or there are some sets being sold here and elsewhere.

SP12 is a much cheaper way to get pretty much the same drum machine as the SP1200, which in itself is fairly basic (compared to an MPC) and probably over-hyped, not sure it is worth the high prices the SP1200 are going for now, but then I don't really understand $3500 TR808s either.

To me, speaking solely from my own experience, the overheating isnt even a problem.
My SP1200 is the original grey and its overheated like idk, 3 times the last year?
(its died probably 10 times cause of other stuff, lets face it, its from 1987)

The SP12 i 4.6s, which isnt that much.

I like my sp1200 and 10s is just about enough, but i also have a s950.

If you can get one cheap go for it, but if theres any kind of doubt id go for the sp1200.

i may get an sp1200 which is what i really want but if i get a good deal on an sp12 i'll defo cop it i'm sure it does the job

as far as saving goes i can do without, its no big prob. i just want that sp 12 sound or at least to try it out and see how it fits into my production

i prefere the 1200 thats for sure but the price i find them for will be decisive

its good to know the heating is no big deal i was concerned about that but its all good

after all i had an eps classic anyone who's used those would know how it heats up. i understand its not a big prob on the sp1200 grey so thats good news

It's the SP workflow not just the SP sound.
This is the real reason people don't understand why many swear by it.
Also remember a lot of us purchased them new so the price doesn't really look that ugly.

soundtech wrote:i may get an sp1200 which is what i really want but if i get a good deal on an sp12 i'll defo cop it i'm sure it does the job

as far as saving goes i can do without, its no big prob. i just want that sp 12 sound or at least to try it out and see how it fits into my production

i prefere the 1200 thats for sure but the price i find them for will be decisive

its good to know the heating is no big deal i was concerned about that but its all good

after all i had an eps classic anyone who's used those would know how it heats up. i understand its not a big prob on the sp1200 grey so thats good news

ntalec wrote:It's the SP workflow not just the SP sound.
This is the real reason people don't understand why many swear by it.
Also remember a lot of us purchased them new so the price doesn't really look that ugly.

Idk man, is the workflow THAT good tho? the chopping i enjoy, and everything else, but hte sequencer is a pain in the ass, and i came from a mpc60 so its not like im comparing to a 2013 sampler.

I love my sp, but i do have moments when im like "**** this man, why am i even bothering?"
The main reason i stay is the sound it gives loops, drums are cool but theyre no dealbreaker, but its the SP loops that i love.

SimonInAustralia wrote:Have not used it very much, been waiting to see if a memory card reader replacement for the floppy drive is possible, but might give up on that and find a Commodore floppy drive to use floppies, or use the cassette in/out hooked up to a computer audio interface.

Also need to get it together and find a replacement OLED display, as the LCD backlight is gone.

Had an SP1200 years ago, but not side by side with the SP12, and from memory, the SP12 is pretty much exactly the same in use, same box, same sequencer, same feel.

The fast loading and saving of the SP1200 3.5 floppy, along with the 10 seconds of sampling time, and being newer, are the main advantages of the SP1200.

The battery backed-up and ROM sounds for instant power on usage are handy with the SP12, but I would probably prefer the fast floppy of the SP1200.

You can fit your own custom samples in SP12 ROMs, if you can burn them yourself, which I hope to have a burner to do so myself early next year, or there are some sets being sold here and elsewhere.

SP12 is a much cheaper way to get pretty much the same drum machine as the SP1200, which in itself is fairly basic (compared to an MPC) and probably over-hyped, not sure it is worth the high prices the SP1200 are going for now, but then I don't really understand $3500 TR808s either.

Yo
Couldnt you do the lotherak floppy emu thing for your sp?
http://www.lotharek.pl/product.php?pid=42

psr wrote:

SimonInAustralia wrote:Have not used it very much, been waiting to see if a memory card reader replacement for the floppy drive is possible, but might give up on that and find a Commodore floppy drive to use floppies, or use the cassette in/out hooked up to a computer audio interface.

Yo
Couldnt you do the lotherak floppy emu thing for your sp?
http://www.lotharek.pl/product.php?pid=42

Nah, the Commodore external floppy drive is a completely different beast to a normal internal PC floppy drive.

There are a couple of external Commodore drive emulators, but the one that someone seems to have gotten to work with the SP12, which seems to need to work with a G64 type Commodore floppy image, instead of the D64 Commodore floppy image that most of them support, does not work in standalone mode at the moment, so you can use the SD card reader with the SP, but you need a Commodore 64 attached while doing so, to operate it.


I think that the difference to normal floppies is due to the Commodore floppy drive having a CPU and it's own OS/DOS onboard, so the C64/SP12 is not communicating directly with the disk drive, as a normal PC does...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_1541

The disk drive used Group Code Recording (GCR) and contained a MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor, doubling as a disk controller and on-board disk operating system processor. The number of sectors per track varied from 17 to 21 (an early implementation of Zone Bit Recording). The drive's built-in disk operating system was CBM DOS 2.6.

Though the Lotharek site does mention C64 compatibility, so I have sent an email to them asking if it might be possible.

To OP:
I'd probably pay up to £599 for an SP12 turbo in decent condition.

@ SimonInAustralia:
You want to try and find a 1541 Ultimate mk1 and use firmware rev.2.6d with it.
Standalone and G64 support.

I've never owned an SP12 so have never tested it but I've owned 1541Ultimate for the last 6 years.

If you want to send me ur SP12 to test


In other news... I've just taken delivery of a gorgeous SP1200! Needs fixing though.

Thanks Jimmie, will keep an eye out for one.

Was that the broken SP1200 on eBay recently?

jimmie wrote:To OP:
I'd probably pay up to £599 for an SP12 turbo in decent condition.

@ SimonInAustralia:
You want to try and find a 1541 Ultimate mk1 and use firmware rev.2.6d with it.
Standalone and G64 support.

I've never owned an SP12 so have never tested it but I've owned 1541Ultimate for the last 6 years.

If you want to send me ur SP12 to test


In other news... I've just taken delivery of a gorgeous SP1200! Needs fixing though.

Cheers i'll look out for prices. There is one on ebay right now 1300 or best price, dollars

SimonInAustralia wrote:Thanks Jimmie, will keep an eye out for one.

Was that the broken SP1200 on eBay recently?

I saw that one sell someone paid a mad price for a broken one. Could be an easy fix tho

Good luck and hope you enjoy the cop

Yeah I paid £666.66 for a non-working SP1200.
That was my max bid.
It's in super-nice condition inside and out.
I'm on it, trying to get it fixed-up, trying to find a PAL RAM chip ATM.
Been after an sp1200 for many years as I love the sound and grew up on music that was made with it; 1988+ hip hop and raw house music.

If u think £666.66 is a mad price for a broken one, you ought to try finding one in Europe for less than £1300!

That is still not bad, as long as you can get it repaired for a few hundred dollars (couple of hundred pounds).