sp555 myth (not a review)

[V-CeeOh]

Quinnx
I'll avoid questioning about what drives you making a thread with such inspiring tittle so...
...the only purpose of my post is to clarify 2 points wich I believe you're wrong.

Page 25

NOTE
If you record with MEASURE set to FREE, and there is an extremely brief interval (less than 0.3 seconds) from when you press [REC] to start recording until you press [PLAY] (or [REC])
to stop recording, nothing will be recorded.

This does not says there's a 0.3s delay. Also this note does not apply to AUTO START . It applys to manual recording as you cleary see on point 7 of the same page:

7. When you want to start recording, press REC.

What the note says is that if the time between pressing REC and pressing PLAY is less then 0.3s the SP will not record anything.

Now, about the AUTO START missing the beggining of the sound:
It seems pretty obvious to me that the SP cannot guess when the sound will start. The Auto Start recording is similar to other samplers I've worked with and I understand that there must be a gap between the time that sound is detected and the actual start of the recording. They cannot occur at the same time.

So, yes, you are right to some extent BUT :
on pag 27 you can read:

Automatically starting sampling (Auto Start).
The Auto Start function lets you automatically start recording when a signal (sound) greater than a specified level is received.
...

I can only blame the manual for not telling me what this "specified level" is but I've tested the AUTO START with several sounds (using a Fantom, a G-70 and a CD player) and was able to get excelent results. You just get different results by changing the LINE LEVEL input. So I can assure everybody that you'll get your "kick" if you set this well

[V-CeeOh]

Just another thing worth mentioning:

the SP also has an AUTO SAMPLING function that works independently of the LOOP CAPTURE. Here you can set the "trigger" level to start the recording. I was unable to check yet if this also affects the AUTO START .

[Quinnx.]

yes im aware of the difference between the two.
However it would be quite simple for the sp555 to pre-sample upto a triger level, and when you press play to auto truncate at the point above 0.
since loop caputure is not a sample you can save, truncation would have no effect on the final use of this sample.
even when using SAVE TO PAD, the pad being sampled to does not rely on trigger level it relies on pressing SAVE TO PAD.
I mean, whats the point of Auto start if it does not produce the required result.
(i will try to set the levels higher, im pretty sure i already tryed this, but i will try again.)

[samp]

one thing i was wondering is can you only record 15 sec. of loop capture at a time. Or is it 15 sec. period??? like can you record a two measure loop of 15 sec. then overdub another 10 sec etc. or does loop capture use 15 sec of recording and overdubbing combined??? thanks i hope that made sense...

[vexa]

So, one bloke is getting great results and the other is getting poor results.

We need a third person to see who's right!!

[Quinnx.]

- -

loop capture is a total of 15 seconds in duration.
over dub just records on top of what is playing and does not use up any more time that what is already being used.
you can record 15 seconds of a loop and keep overdubing on top of this 15 seconds.

[djayhooker]

Well I could live with the 555 as I ahve ableton for looping...although your loop will always undergo some sort of time stretching as you canb not loop without warp on. I still don't get why that is ?

15 is an odd limitation...but what sort of loops are gonna hit 15 sec ?
Pad to record sounds more like it, mmmm not sure thats gonna bother me as you can just run some other sound while from a source...cd decks etc....

But not as advertised...but it's an advert..don't expect roland to sell it as it is..they haven't done that for a while.
Again I find other companys a lot more upfront.

Still looks like a good machine for the price.....I'd be looking at a second hand 404 if the extras on the 555 turn out to be filler.

The thing that digs me with these products and the three digit screen, is NO SAMPLE NAMING.

This is just the same idea as the sp808 etc, and that sample asign software has been around since the sp808.

The screen also makes seeing effect parameters tedious too.

Step away from the old step record mc series seq please roland it's crap to edit on. Give us a decent screen and a proper tr record mode.
Does the 404 have them..also does the 404 have velocity pads too ?

I so wish the sp808 had those.

The perfect SP is the MV I guess, so the sp range will never see the above.

The truncation of the loop capture sounds a nightmare to me....I can't see me ever trying to record my loop captures.

Can you have send levels for the effects for each pad etc ?

[djayhooker]

Is the loop capture held in some sort of ram and then recorded to pad ?

Is that why it's only 15 sec ?

[djayhooker]

Oh can you change the roll button amount 16 32ths etc and does it roll with velocity nlike an mpc ?

That is a cool thing..does the 404 have that ?

I think I'd like a 55 over a 404 if

The pad have velocity and the 404 does not

it has a roll button and the 404 has not

and is the sub pad the same as 'clip' on the sp808

i.e can you use it to copy samles over to other pads

[Quinnx.]

- -

I think the difference in price of the 404 v 555 is worth the difference and the 555 replaces the 404 it does not complement it.
Pro`s over the 404 are addition of..

Sample/Record/mix external sources while playing pads
Usb audio send/capture
midi IN/OUT
Loop Capture (with bugs)
Velocity pads
ROLL 16/32 etc...

[djayhooker]

Cool, thanks for the honest review.

More than you get from some of the suspect roland guests on this forum

Sounds like an ok deal at some of the oversea prices....Forget the rrp or even the price that some shops are selling it at. I have seen it at the store you got it from..looks ok price.

Just one last thing...how responsive are the pads, I guess they're not gonna be up to mv or mpc standard at that price. I'm thinking they are gonna be like the ones on the fantoms ?

oh....can you edit or undo any of the automation from the pots ?

erm and can you use the pads as midi controls...I.e to activate clips in ableton and such.

Thanks.

I hop they get the manual posted soon so I can read up, wierd how they only do it on the UK site and not on the US...prob some law or something ?

[J.Daniels]

Quinxx, i have to disagree with you there about the 555 replacing the 404. Over here in Australia, the 555 is double the price of the 404, and the features you named arent nearly as essential as they seem. An mpc500 is cheaper than it, and that is a much more advanced unit!

In addition, the new features on the 555 are obviously not that fleshed out and were put there to sugar coat the specs. I really do wonder if any 404 users were sitting at their desks thinking "oh man, i could get so much more done with this thing...if only it had a d-beam and live looper!"... Although i must admit, velocity sensitive pads are very much welcome as the pads on the 404 are barely responsive at all! but thats really the only feature i desire of the 555's.

Also, all the charm of the 303/404 has been lost in translation as the size has increased, no longer a no frills simple phrase sampler, is expensive and would probably be a "boutique" instrument to only musicians who had alot of spare green....

[djayhooker]

Totally agree...a 404 with velocity pads and a roll function would be the ultimate low budget portable sampler.....why can't roland see that...it's so very simple.

Stop trying to sell to the 'kids' market all the time it's patronising and most 'kids' have more sense and take there advice from the mo experienced anyway.

Trying to competre with 'Un-ableton' will get you jack all...you will never be able to compete hardware and you just end up with your customers going 'software'

[Quinnx.]

Okay.. so the price may be doubled where you live
its not the case here.
And because of this fact, the price difference is so small
(25% extra over the 404)
i think you do get at least 25% extra features.
Now if you dont see the point of adding these features to your existing 404 or instead of the 404, in that case you just dont need them.
That is not to say they are not usefull to someone.
However i do agree with this DBeam thingy, its just there because it can be and i can see no real use for it.

[Dj Frantic]

I think this thing is going to add alot to my production. I'd like to incorporate more tablism into my beat making process. Also, theres alot of things I really like.the mic pre with phantom... cool... now I can sell off my audio interface pads that arent as spongy, I can resample my sequences thru the loop capture (this is huge to me) The effect memory banks.. thats very handy. 4 extra pads, shuffle quantize. a dedicated pad/pattern copy. Plus also the stuff thats already been mentioned. With the exception or an actual pitch control... this gives me everything I could want out of a sampler. And if it turns out to not work out for me I will return it and buy an SH-201