Forum for all other samplers & synths such as Maschine, MVs, Akai S & Z series, Roland, Korg, OP-1, analog synths etc.
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By Coz Sat Apr 15, 2023 11:16 am
NearTao wrote:Feel free to take any and all of my opinions with a grain of salt... but for me at least the SP404 mk2 might be in the same ballpark as the MPC, but it's not in the same league, and that's okay. Plus, for plenty of workflows the SP404 mk2 is quite good, and it can trump the MPC in specific use cases. The SP404 mk2 for example is great at fast sampling, it is incredibly portable, and the USB C audio integration is so dang simple and works so amazingly well that I probably put the USB integration at the top of my feature list for the MPC.

Where the MPC line shines is in sample manipulation and sequencing... this has been true from the start, and the line has progressed more or less steadily to present day. The current product line just continues to drive this point home with added plugin effects, instruments, and a very generous and consistent firmware update policy spread across the entire current product line. Sure, any of us can point to specific features and things that bug us, work weird, or don't find specific processes and workflows, but for me, the MPC is an absolute workhorse for getting tracks from start to finish, and over the last couple of years it's really blossomed into an excellent sound design tool. But to unlock any of the advantages and benefits here, you've got to put the time in. You can sample and flip content quite fast, but often the MPC drags you a bit "under the hood" as it were when you want to do something specific.

Where the SP line shines is in the speed of sampling and the immediacy of its effects... this has also been true from the start, and the line from my point of view hasn't deviated from this tradition. The SP404 mk2 has certainly added a lot of features that blur the line... and it is dipping its' toes into more sample mangling and sequencing, but I do feel like it is a bit disingenuous to say that the mk2 is going after the MPC line, there's a baby step there for certain, allowing for testing the waters, but the SP404 mk2 doesn't even really compare favorably against the MPC 500 if you are looking for an MPC style workflow. The SP404 mk2 is incredibly fast at taking an idea and flipping it, especially if you fit into it's idea of "how to do it", as long as you like the effects being relegated to 3-6 knobs, and learning them... you can really do a lot of damage. That said, the sequencer is still only functional, effect automation is okay, the midi implementation even with Type B being added is kind of a pain, and Pad Mutes just irritate me how it is implemented. All this could be me and my MPC workflow baggage, but there's just enough inconsistencies in implementation that I can see the light, but I don't know if Roland will get there or not.

All that said, I think the two really compliment each other very well. The MPC continues to be great for sequencing and sound design, and the SP continues to be great for very fast and efficient sampling and dropping in effects. Do they overlap a bit? Certainly... but I guess I have room for both of them in my studio, and am happy to keep it that way :D



Great post :nod:

I put the Mk2 down a while back but feel like a need to re-learn how to use it with the last few updates adding so much.
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By hyena Mon Apr 24, 2023 5:20 pm
question!
i'm a total newb into the sp, i'm quickly learning my way. one thing that bothers me about the mk2 is that it's not easy to go from stereo to mono. i mean, i know you go to pitch\speed , hit shift and if you pan hard left you turn the sample to mono (left), hard right to mono (right), hence halving the polyphony consumption of that sound... BUT in so doing, you loose the ability to pan that sound, its dead CENTER only. the question is: if i resample a pad hard panned to mono left to another pad, the new sample will be real mono or will it be stereo with two exact copies of the left channel of the original? because if it makes a true mono signal, then it makes sense to resample all of the pads to mono to gain polyphony but be able to pan them, if not it's just a complete waste of time. this is unclear, i watched a ton of videos and read the manual but i cant find the info...

EDIT: i just answered myself, hitting the remain button shows sample parameters, the resampled pad is stereo again… so there is absolutely no way of setting samples to mono and still have the ability to pan them… kinda bullsh1t… i think the only way is to use a computer and upload them sound in mono…
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By hyena Mon May 01, 2023 11:07 am
wow this lil thing is a monster! it can do way less than an mpc, but some things are really unique and also it does something the mpc doesn't, example: having a sample on a pad loop indefinitely, this is something totally missing in the mpc world, so simple but so effective for jam sessions\impro\live performances!
the effects are great! i spent the entire morning synthesizing some drums, sampling in the 950 for the grit then resampling and resampling and resampling on the sp... this sh1t is addictive for real!
i'm loving this little fella here. i must add having a bunch of very different samplers (s950, mpc live, er-301 and sp404) all hooked up to a mixer where you can easily route stuff from one to the other is fantastic in terms of creativity and processing your sounds!
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By hyena Sat May 06, 2023 11:19 am
QUESTION:
i don't have any midi controller with usb-c, i'd love to use korg nanokontrol2 and nanokey live, (i can use them at home using the mpc live as a bridge between controllers and the sp). i don't have an usb-c hub at hand, do you know if it works for connecting multiple usb type A midi controllers to an sp404mk2?
thanks!
@neartao maybe?
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By NearTao Sat May 06, 2023 12:15 pm
The SP404 mk2 is not a USB host... and while I don't have a nankontrol2 or nano key live, I don't believe they are USB hosts either.

If you want to use them together, you'll need a device that can be a host and is able to route audio/midi around... if you've got an iPad, Audiobus 3 would let you do this...

Otherwise... I'm not super up on small devices that would let you do this... I'd be willing to bet that there's something out there that can manage/route midi like that...
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By NearTao Sat May 06, 2023 12:19 pm
hyena wrote:question!
if you pan hard left you turn the sample to mono (left), hard right to mono (right), hence halving the polyphony consumption of that sound... BUT in so doing, you loose the ability to pan that sound, its dead CENTER only. the question is: if i resample a pad hard panned to mono left to another pad, the new sample will be real mono or will it be stereo with two exact copies of the left channel of the original?


I know you answered your own question... but going to confirm for you. Panning Hard right/left... it is a "stereo mono"... so it does not actually reduce polyphony, it just changes the behavior of how it is played, and essentially sends a stereo signal to "center" (ie both channels).

And yeah, resmampling this setting... does still eave you with a stereo sample that consumes 2 of your 32 notes of polyphony. Unfortunately the SP404 mk2 doesn't have a way to convert a sample to real mono and only consume 1 note of polyphony at this time...

Good news though, I've run experiments and found that if you load a mono sample (from SD, or loaded through the Application), it actually *IS* mono, so that you can do your panning, only consume one note of polyphony, and all the other things you'd expect.
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By hyena Mon May 08, 2023 7:44 am
Thanks for the clarification.
I checked with the mpc live, i can route midi cc's from the controllers to the sp via the mpc, so at home\studio it isn't an issue. i have a midi controller with din connections, so i guess i'll use that if i ever need to use midi cc\notes in a live situation.
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By loose_t Fri Sep 01, 2023 4:16 pm
Close to pulling the trigger on one of these but surprised they haven't implemented multi track audio out over USB-C. I've seen YouTube tutorials of people individually bouncing stems internally then exporting. Seems super tedious and unnecessary with that usb connection just sitting there. Anyone think Roland will make this possible at some point?
By sl23 Tue Jan 09, 2024 3:12 pm
I'm thinking of getting one of these. I don't use my live 2 to its fullest and dislike its ecosystem and the way it connects to pc. Great for sofa jamming though! :nod:

I also have a boss RC-505 og, which I only use for basically getting ideas out of my head. So I was wondering about replacing these two with the SP-404.

But the main thing I am interested to know is that although I know the SP-404 is no looper, I'm wondering, can I sample vocals/beatbox direct to a pad and then edit and loop it? So then I could trial fx and other ideas with it. I just want a quick process from start to finish.

It sounds like a good bit of kit, and I know there will be other uses, but this is probably my main one.

Thanks NearTao for all your interesting reviews and explaining several things that many reviews leave out. :wink:
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By Ill-Green Sun Jan 14, 2024 2:37 am
After 2 1/2 years with the MK2, I just wanted to say that I like the sampler, it was quirky and strange in the beginning and took me a month to finally get a decent workflow aside from just making loops. Then updates came and it got better and better. But now, I'm seeing the flaws, mainly from the physical side like the position of the knobs being above the screen, which can make your hands get in the way when trimming samples.

Speaking of trimming, I liked if Roland would've put 360° turning potentiometers like the value knob. Every time, I have to zoom in, adjust my points, then zoom out, because the CTRL knobs only turn from hard left to hard right, so you have to reset the knob back to hard left and doing so, throws off your points and you gotta start over and hope the hair on your knuckles doesn't move the knobs to throw off your start/end points again. Also, chopping by numbers, suck. Its simple and confusing and nothing can be auditioned when in that number screen, you have to go back to the waveform screen to even listen what you calculated.

Other than that, its an awesome machine, though not really like the older SPs (for one, I used to sample whole vinyl albums onto the pads of the elders, MK2 has a time limit per pad), but is, maybe for the new generation type SP? Anyway, besides those gripes, I can do my thing on it and make music for days.
By sl23 Sun Jan 14, 2024 8:33 am
Thanks for the info. I can see it has it's it's ups and downs, like anything else really. I've ordered mine but have to wait for restock. £385 not a bad price.

I'm waiting on selling my live 2,but think I'll sell it and my Rc505 if I can record vocals quick and easy. Especially seeing as all the MPC software will still be legally mine. Best of both worlds then!
By sl23 Mon Jan 15, 2024 8:00 am
Yeah it is. Only downside is that they gave an estimated date of the 6th Feb so I have to hope it's in then! Fingers crossed! :)