I really love the Polyend Tracker Mini
It’s small, battery powered, has a very powerful sequencer and now onboard synths as well as sampling.
It’s very fast and fun for sample chopping.
It doesn’t have the great FX and bouncing down workflow of the SP404 though.
I just bought my second SP404mk2 today.
I’ve bought it in a move to streamline my studio/home setup and have it as a travel device.
I’m mainly in Ableton and Maschine these days, and quite happy with them, but the SP404 can always find a spot with a job to do, and that’s what is so good about it.
I really dig it as an end-of-chain FX box and quick capture tool… so it’s way less about sequencing for me. And then it’s great as a battery powered grab and go device.
I get that the Seq is quirky, but if you’re happy playing into it rather than seq’ing, it’s really rewarding. I’ve got some of my favourite ideas from having it in random places and playing through my samples.
I don’t think anything else beats it for what it does best… Octatrack and MPC included.
Koala.
Its better. And Cheaper. In my opinion.
I just added an MV w/ 404. Now it’s perfect. MV handles sequencing and vocal processing better than MPC/SP. Much much much much much better in fact. If I want a touchscreen or more visual cues I have the best one in the business (iPad) which also happens to have exponentially more synths, midi fx, daws, samplers or whatever else I could possibly need and easily integrates with everything.
This part of the post almost made me want a 404! :))
I don’t think I have any good recommendations though, because I would say the Octatrack, Digitakt, or the M8 and these have all been discussed.
I personally like making beats on Octatrack the best. Coming up with a workflow takes a bit of time, but in the end I found it made thr most sense and was the smoothest experience.
Although Maschine connected to the computer is a very close second. I definitely agree that sample management in Maschine is the worst. I would say that was the biggest reason I sold my Maschines.
I’ve never tried the new MPCs, but they sort of look/feel a little too toy for me.
I love the idea of the SP and have bought and sold a few of them. It is super fun, but I always find I flow better on other machines. I feel like my glow is always broken by some process or something.
Also, I’m not super stoked on the effects.
When it comes down to it, all these machines are just tools. In the end, I’m always just bouncing stems to arrange in Ableton.
Gasp! 
they’re more DAW than toy if anything and so fast when you get the hang of it. They’re so immersive.
MPCs are not toys, they’re well built and despite my misgivings about the touch are an awesome daw and offers the best bang for buck. because they’re relatively affordable.
I love the SPs, but yeah they’re more like glorified FX box and looper for more, sequencing isn’t fun but you can get round it with an external sequencer driving it. The power is the resample method.
Load up a sample, specify the auto slice points, which I only change when I don’t want a drums decay to be all chopped up. Once that’s done I change some parameters for the pad, such as the envelope, number of slices allowed at once (1 or 2) and go to the sequencing page and change that to read my note input as opposed to pad triggers. Press record, jam out a new rhythm. Redo when necessary, but if I like it, I can adjust when the slices trigger, and change velocity and percentages. I use the velocity as also a modulation source for the filter, and envelope sometimes. Rinse and repeat. I did all the menu stuff on a blank template, and then saved that as my startup template so I don’t have to keep redoing all of that. Easy.
just picked up a sp404mk2 - upgraded the firmware, now onto populating with my sounds - anything you recommend i do or do not do to avoid the hate?
UNAVOIDABLE HATE 404 IS NOT FOR ME
Use it! Hate sucks! Enjoy, it’s an awesome piece of gear!
yeah man, gonna take away with me for a week on batteries and headphones try to crack it - i’ve loaded a bunch of my tunes to chop and sample and hopefully weave into something
MASSIVE FAIL HATE THE 404
At its core, it’s the easiest sampler going! Everything after that is a friend with benefits!
Not sure if you’re familiar with the 404 workflow, but if you’re coming from korg & elektronland like I did, my suggestion is to try not think of it like a sequencer at all, and more like an infinitely layerable loop machine. One that lets you save those loops into discrete samples if you want it to.
I think what threw off the OP, and me when I first got the SP (and still sometimes now), is that if you approach the 404 after getting used to a powerful sequencer that lets you tweak a stuff after the fact, you will face a lot of frustration.
Yes, there’s a sequencer you can access, but it’s kind of a nightmare. Best to mostly ignore it and use the “record” and “delete” features instead, at least at first. Do as much as you can playing into the 404 live (the metronome is your friend). Then try to combine that with FX & Skip Back. Rinse and repeat till you have a beat.
Your finger rhythm might sound awful at first but it will improve. You can also search for better pad settings on here or probably just ask @NearTao who I’m sure has a video on it.
I like using the SP 404 mk2 sequencer.
There’s always one
Now that I have the 404, I can’t think about a dawless setup without it. It is indispensable.
thanks for the tips - i am going away with it for a week with headphones and batteries so will see what comes up - its possible it will go the way of all samplers i have owned but hoping for a useful time - have blanked it and put some of my tunes and one shots in to play with…bit daunted as i am constantly breaking up with gear and posting madly here - always feel the love on this forum thanks all
Just get the EP133 KO2 and enjoy life
I just watched a few SP404mk2 tutorial videos and now I also hate it (having previously owned a SP404, it seems like a similar general impossible and unintuitive workflow but with an ‘always recording’ feature). I’d suggest a Digitakt mk1. If you don’t need to do live sampling, the Model:Samples is even better for getting ideas going pretty quickly.
Also, I have an app on my phone that’s called Koala or Koala sampler and it’s a pretty fun way to sample and make beats quickly, I may have even used one or two in an actual recording.
