I wonder why there is no function to cut the sample to the BPM… In the SP app, it seems to be possible to snap to the BPM grid.
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This is why the mk2 should adopt the loop sampler feature on the sp 555 where you can record a loop up to 4 bars and loop “perfectly”
What I mean is, on the 55 I normally tap the tempo to match the beat I’m sampling. Then set how many bars and press sample on the downbeat and I can get a perfect loop.
see spvidz video
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The reason why mk2 can’t sample in BPM units may be because it prioritizes feeling.
Can someone explain the looping issues and how to reproduce, please? I’ve only had mine a couple of weeks and have just used the sequencer mainly to sequence one shots, I haven’t done any internal resampling yet, so haven’t run into this issue. What’s actually happening? Thanks
Well… I do carry my MPC One, along with headphones and an Omnicharge Omni 20+ battery (and work Macbook) in my backpack when I take the train to go to work once a week!
That’s pretty cool. I’d need a bigger backpack and some confidence on the train to do that. 
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People complaining about the dj function are justified, looks super clunky.
SP live sets require spamming vocal samples and feedbacked delay to transition between songs, no other techniques are allowed!!!
Kidding, but stop & start sets are totally cool in my eyes and beat matching is a little overrated
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Yeah, when I first saw it, I thought it could be dope for making a beat tape. For instance, taking all your final tracks you’ve done on the SP, and doing a live mix of them, triggering samples over the top and using the effects, so I was bummed when I heard that you are basically locked into DJ mode, so don’t have access to your banks of samples for playing over the top live.
Aside from that use case, I’m having a hard time figuring out what I would do with it. Again, though, hopefully they will come up with something cool for it over time. For instance, it would be cool if you could use the companion app to set up Serato style markers for live remixes of your beat on the machine.
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I watched this the other day and was thinking it might be a feature that some of the ambient people might like.
Sort of like the Eno technique of looping various lengths.
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Having this thing for a few weeks now I think some of the quirks and unintuitive shit is kinda popping up. Not complete deal breakers but definitely just some baffling design decisions that hopefully can be patched.
For one, the use of the Exit button. Often you have to back out of whatever mode you’re in rather than just pressing the button and just going there. For example with the chromatic mode, you can’t just press the pitch button or envelope button to make the page about that, you have to exit out of chromatic mode first.
Tangent: Stuff like this is similar to why MPC feels unintuitive at times, coming from Maschine where if you want to go to a chords mode on MPC you have to load the sample into a specific device, can’t just do it in a drum device. But in Maschine you just press the button and it works…
Ok, fine, gotta get used to backing out of things using the exit button. But then you go to pattern mode by pressing that button and now you want to leave so you just press the exit button right? Nope, gotta press the Pattern mode button again.
Kinda goes in line with that inconsistency mentioned above where assigning samples in record or resample mode has pads either blinking or solid but assigning chops have them one color or another. Just kinda weird stuff like that where they didn’t follow a format entirely.
Another weird thing is sampling over USB, say if I want to sample from the SP404MKII to Koala sampler, the audio is significantly lower of volume and there’s no way to increase the output gain of the USB audio, only attenuate it which isn’t what you want in that situation lol. Looking at the flow chart in the manual it seems the USB audio bypasses a Limiter and Clipper stage while the AUX outputs (including headphone jack) go through that and I’m wondering if the Limiter is increasing the volume before hitting the output which is why the USB audio is so much quieter.
Final gripe is the MIDI note output. This thing would be such a good companion with an iPad and it could be used as a MIDI controller if only the note output went at higher (and lower) ranges. It only outputs from C2-Eb3. I would love for them to just add the full note range and then working with an iPad would make it a pretty dope setup, almost MPC like (but with potentially better sounding synths). As it is you’ll have to either have a separate MIDI controller or just play on the touch screen which, it’s safe to assume, most of us here hate since we are on a forum dedicated to a hardware company.
But overall I do enjoy the workflow and audio effects it puts out. It’s in the early stages and we know that Roland will probably support it for maybe two years before abandoning it like they do with their other devices so hopefully they can fix the little things before then.
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Quick question for people that already have the mkll, I can’t seem to find anything about it in the manual or tutorials.
If I plug in a guitar in the front input and choose the Amp Sim effect for it, does it mean that the stereo signal from the backside inputs is also send through the Amp Sim?
SP UI is a mess, and the workflow is clunky… 
Yes. The effect will be applied to both the front and back inputs simultaneously.
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Thank you for the fast response! Lots of little detail and quirks are now starting to come up, but I think it’s just best to try using the mkll myself once it arrives and then figure out if it rubs me the right or the wrong way.
I guess that’s the silver lining for those of us who won’t receive ours for a little while, hopefully Roland will have gotten out all of the kinks.
btw for those of you who’ve used the sp-303, which Fx do you like more, the 404mk2 or the 303?
Sp404a user
Never used a sp 555 and my MKII is still on back order
I agree this looper function looks sick, but I think in a round about way it is included in the MKII.
Minus the dedicated record and play button, and bar LEDs, I think we will be able to use the pattern sequencer to essentially do the same thing and then resample that pattern onto an individual pad, while making that a perfect sample to whichever BPM and tempo the sequencer was set to
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Reading this has cooled down my thirst for the sp 404, even Marlow mentioned it was sort of half baked at the moment. I’m sure so of the stuff I can easily pass, but the biggest gripe from reading you’re reply is sampling over USB which is a big downer, can they even solve this?
I have tested the SP USB audio, Koala seems to be reducing the sound output. When I used another looper app, I got the same volume as the SP output.
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The SP’s were always a bit clunky. It seems like Roland kept it true to the line with the mkII. 
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So, it might be Koala doing it as another post suggests. It’s not a complete deal breaker because you can normalize the sample within Koala (or simply raise the volume) but that can potentially raise the noise floor as well so your sample might sound slightly noisier, it’s probably gonna depend on the sample and how it was recorded (I think synths that I sampled from my phone to SP-404 were fine but sources that were definitely recorded with a mic would understandably have more of an issue).
That said, if you were afraid of a little bit of noise maybe the SP-404 wasn’t meant for you in the first place lol. The thing is a dirt machine.
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