Continuing the discussion from Roland SP-404 Mk2 (Part 1) - #10195 by Lemajik.
Previous discussions:
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Happy belated 404 Day! Anyone else treat it like a holiday?
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@DimensionsTomorrow ~ well the bug is not fixed for me in this new update. I sent in a ticket to Roland but Iām sure theyāre quite full right now
Didnāt stop me from messing with a track while I had my 404 out 
OPZ & guitar are sound sources, using none of the new features
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This is the moment I stopped liking you 
āthis unit should get a bump in price.ā
Im thinking about buying a second one 
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Hey, Iām honored that you value my take on it but Iām afraid I will only be a GAS cooler in this case. 
My issues with the SP were much more fundamental than the lack of a few features. It was more about how it was getting in the way of basically all I was trying to achieve.
I want to make music on a device, on the couch or in bed. For my style of heavily sequenced music, it was just a massive chore to attempt that on the SP. It wants you to make more ālooseā music and rely on resampling and āflatteningā of those samples to advance.
The step sequencer felt more like an afterthought, and it isnāt anywhere near the immediacy of say the Syntakt/Digitakt sequencer. Nothing about it felt quick and immediate, even learning which buttons to press to switch between modes.
But then there were other details of the workflow, like how it forced me to press Exit to stop chromatic mode before hitting record (only to quickly re-enter chromatic mode again if I wanted to record something in that mode). Or all the impossible-to-remember button combos (I honestly canāt even remember how to switch between normal and step sequencer recording). Or the fact that you canāt merge sequences (other than, again, resampling). Or the fact that you canāt add effects on a per pad basis without committing to printing a new sample (what if I dialed in too much reverb on that snare?).
Itās simply a workflow that invites you to explore in a very different way than what I prefer when making music. If I were into eg ambient or lofi, or things like that, I could see how using the SP could be a fun experience and where the new tone generator could be a great source of input. But clearly the SP still wants to have its line ins plugged into other gear. Like a guitar, or other synth, or a mic. Itās not a standalone device to make music on, at least not music that is heavily based on sequencing. The MPC is a far more suitable tool for my style of music in that sense. And it already has all the tools you need for sampling, including a looper and more than decent effects.
About the only thing I appreciated about the SP was how fast I could turn a sample into something else without really caring about naming or anything like that. As a pure sampler, it is quick and fun. I just donāt need a pure sampler, I āneedā a sample-based groovebox.
Hope that provides at least a different perspective. Again, Iām not faulting the SP (other than perhaps some very basic UX paradigms that I fundamentally disagree with, like deliberately pointing fingers at the user rather than doing what the user intended), itās just not a match with the way I make music.
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Well now we are here lol
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iāve managed to replicate one of the crashes iām having
after importing new sound from an sd card press resample button - instant reboot, every damn time
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Yup. It was my first crash Iāve had so far on the new firmware but that was the exact thing that happened to me.
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Personally I love the SP404, yet I think this post is spot on! I fall into the āloose musicā and āresampling workflowā camp so to me this device is one of the best, but if youāre into detailed sequencing and precision in controls, I feel there are much better options out there than the SP404. Great post @djst
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I canāt seem to get a good audio signal into my iPad and Koala for some reason. Audio coming in nice and load on the SP but it comes in really quiet in Koala 
From what I remember from like, 2 and a half years ago, the master volume dictates the volume going over usb. I know they added a USB iut in the general settings under āGainā tab, make sure thatās set to 0dB but you might also have to adjust the master volume
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Glad I never sold this fun little box. Hereās something for your Friday:
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I am loving the new update. It really is a (cliche alert) total game changer for me. The looper mode, the sound generation - it just works for me. I already loved the 404, but now I really love it!!
Quick jam today combining it with the RC505 looper.
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Take off your headphonesā¦ crank main volume to maxā¦ and see if it is a better signal to record.
Normalize your sounds
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I know I can normalise but thatās annoying to have to do every time.
Iām sending audio out of my macbook at full volume into the SP. If I crank the volume up to max, I can only get the meter on koala to go up to the 3rd dot. It is REALLY quiet.
Going into the front input seems to have fixed it. Didnāt like the rear inputs for some reason
Most of your criticisms are still valid. In particular going in and out of the sequencer and chromatic mode and a lot of the workflow inconsistencies with the way buttons work in some instances and not others.
That said this new sequencer update is quite good. Itās now just Shift + Rec to enter TR mode (I donāt remember what it was before but I feel like it was different than that). And being able to delete notes is simpler and editing notes in general is simpler.
But yeah, the 404 is more of a sampler as an instrument. Its strong point is manipulating samples. I feel itās better than the MPC at this because of how easy it is. MPC is more of a workstation and probably better suited at finishing tracks, or at least getting a base level arrangement, though with being able to export stems from the sequencer the 404 is holding its own now.
But yeah, really just two different frames of thought with design between the two and not everyone can justify having both.
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Nope. Wrong. Itās still shite - just canāt get any decent level in to my ipad
Max volume pad recording
Man, I really wish that you could disable the Koala ātakeoverā in order to be able to use the iPhone mic to record on all pads. (Yes yes, I just need to organise projects better, as I know the takeover only uses banks A-D).
But unless someone knows another way to do this, it does seem like using the mic in Koala is the ONLY way at present to use the iPhoneās mic to record into the SP-404. It doesnāt seem like any other app (which wouldnāt take over A-D, as only Koala does this) will offer anything other than the SP itself as an input source. I tried AUM, Audioshare etc. Very easy to record synths or drum machines back to the SP, but no mic option!
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