Roland SP-404 Mk2 (Part 1)

Had another crack at sequencing with the OP-Z again today - straight forward going to the mk2, and found a workaround for the midi-in issue. What I wanted to do was play a chopped up drum break on the mk2 live into the OP-Z sequencer, then tweak it using step parameters - works brilliantly, but I don’t think I’ve perfected it, seems like a bit of a work around.

Wanted to use the sample track on the OP-Z to sequence, but whatever I did to change the midi channel settings, it seemed to get the return signal on Channel 5 (bass track) from bank E/5, whereas track 4 (sample track) would only sequence from bank D/4 - even though I was playing the E/5 samples on the mk2, which was very confusing… Eventually gave up and swapped all the pads between banks D and E - seems a bit of a clunky solution, but its a start…

yes it happens when I choose the default setting which starts with the original sample’s pad…

spent a little time with the 404sx I just received. My god what an absolute pleasure it is to use. I thought it would be a fun little extra toy to play with and now I’m sad I didn’t get one much, much sooner. I hope you folks get as much joy out of your mk2s. I vibe heavily with this thing

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The SX is superb, glad you’re enjoying it. Sample things in your house with the built in microphone safe in the knowledge this is not something MK2 users will be able to do without external microphones.

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I’m on the waiting list. They told me 45 to 90 days. The first thing I am going to do is sample all of my PO’s and then put them up for sale. That should pay for a big part of the SP. I like it as the sampler for the PO’s because it had 16 pads and is portable.

I’m surprised that I have not seen sample sets for the PO’s.

Lack of a mic is a big turn off for the mk2 for me. Voice, my kids, traffic, burds out the window - anything would be damn cool to just grab and go…

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I bet there are some pretty cool little mics like the one you can plug into an iPhone though. something that fits in your pocket maybe, on a 1/4 jack? I could be tripping there, just wondering out loud.

EDUTIGE ETM-001 Microphone - Omnidirectional 3.5mm 3-Pole(TRS) Microphone for GoPro, DSLR, Mirrorless Camera or Digital Audio Recorder https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IP0ST78/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_PJF9NS9XRSSYETW4B6YB?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Yes something like that! nice.

Excuse me if this has already been addressed:

Can you resample while the MKII is receiving MIDI in?

(this was impossible on the SX)

TBH, current iPhones have VERY decent mics, and the native Voice Memos app takes very clear recordings. Probably far superior to any built-in thing from Roland. And w/ USB-C audio, offloading from the iPhone to MK2 is easy as pie. And the capturing part will be far more immediate and easy, w/ your phone, than lugging the MK2 everywhere, just to snag field audio.

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Working from home today, but this beauty just showed up. Looking forward to making this trio the heart of my project studio in 2022.

Four-day weekend coming up so I should be able to get up and running then. I’m hoping to at least get the firmware updated and editor downloaded tonight.

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I tested it and it seems that trs microphones do not work with the mk2.

It has a 1/4” TRS line-in port, w/ a “mic” switch. Of course it works.

Crank the gain, and make sure your LINE IN button is lit.

I’m not sure- I’ll give it a try, but I think it might work…

Dynamic microphones (sm58) will work, but plugin power microphones will not.

FWIW, my XLR to TS cable did not work with my SM58. It might be a bad cable though (I think it is) so I’m returning it to Amazon tomorrow. I’m torn about whether to try another TS cable or a TRS cable.

It was much faster getting it from the place it’s made, after all! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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As I posted earlier, I first bought an XLR to TRS cable for my beta 58 and it didn’t work. I went to a local store and bought an XLR to TS cable in the microphone department and it works. Not sure if there are different specifications of TS cables, but that’s the one that works for me.

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Yeah, I remember that, but in that YouTube video above the guy that does those vocal performances recommends a TRS. :thinking: