Instructions on how to install the firmware-download are to be found in the manual on page 136 (8.5 Firmware Update of the S-4) 
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Iāve asked everywhere , so Iām hoping I can get a reply here.
In poly mode are the samples pitched across the keyboard, I.e. it speeds up the higher the note, or is there an option to time stretch the audio for each note ?
As far as Iām aware itās just simple sample playback. No timestreching or multisamples or anything like that.
Ty , thatās a shame , I get there is time stretching for the loops , although the manual was a little confusing in this regard , but it would be cool if it stretched to keep the length of samples. I think thatās what the
Roland variphrase ? Sampler did.
Either way it looks fantastic functionality wise. Iād put in an order but Iām not up for being a beta tester , Iāll hop on if and when itās developed more.
I think there are no such samplers that support both resample AND time stretch in one algorithm, at least in hardware (except for Variphrase which required a preprocessing of the files)
I need to dive deep into details on this topic, but my understanding that VariPhrase was based on phase-vocoder algorithm, which is not difficult to implement even in 2000s (i.e. SoundHack and earlier), but it usually requires a lot of processing power and still cannot deliver good sounding results if you want a natural-sounding stretch (because, for example, a need for a large FFT window size). Granular synthesis can approximate time-stretching to some extent, but itāll have a lot of artifacts by design.
Hmm, on the other hand, many DAWs are already using open source libraries for that and for some reason they are not used on hardware (because of ā¦ latency?)
Sorry, just thinking out loud
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My impression from reading the manual ist that the term āpolyphonicā that is used in the manual is a bit misleading: it appears that the 8 voices are mixed before the granular effect, and before the filter. No idea if the amp envelope is per voice, but I would guess not.
So the S4 appears to be paraphonic, just like the GR-1, but I guess the granular effect picking grains from the mixed voices would sound substantially different to the GR-1 when more notes are played.
Hmm. Well, I havenāt read the whole manual since I canāt currently buy one anyway, but this would certainly help it fulfill the modern sampler requirement of disappointing me in some way. The Material Device section of the manual certainly makes it sound like a standard 8-voice sampler - āplay this device like a synthā, with the minor inconvenience that the filter envelope shadows the amp envelope. But the manual does seem to focus on some areas at the expense of others, and I guess this aspect of the machine isnāt where the main appeal lies. Videos to the rescue, hopefully.
Just take a look at page 16, if it indeed had a filter per voice, that would have to be inside the material device, otherwise all following devices would have to be replicated per voice, too, or youād see a mixing stage somewhere in the diagram.
Besides, if the S4 could actually play 64 full tracks, they wouldnāt have limited it to just 4.
The shared envelope isnāt a problem, because you get 4 modulators which also can be envelopes.
Iāll ask Torso for clarification and add a feature request for a simple lowpass filter in the poly device.
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Iāve been a bit busy, but I wanted to pop back into the thread and just say that Patrick @Torso was extremely gracious and advance replaced my unit with very little hassle. During the hour or two that Iāve managed to spend with it, Iāve found the workflow to be uncomplicated yet rewarding - itās super easy to dial in some great sounding loops. Like many others Iām waiting for the feature set to be more fully baked, especially including Midi sync.
Also echoing @GurtTractor - looking forward to the eventual Blush Response video where he uses the S-4 in a āBelgians beating up a washing machineā style jam.
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has anybody tried their unit with a T1 yet?
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Yes, it works well, as expected.
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Actually I was mistaken, there is a filter inside the poly device, see this illustration on p. 59 in the manual.
However there is zero information what kind of filter, and how that filter is actually controlled, because the only control in the poly device that is affecting the filter is the Fltr Amount control, basically contour.
And your concern that there is only one envelope for amp and filter is totally valid, because there is no parameter the modulators could control.
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Ah nuts, I should have goaded you into a bet. Well, the single envelope isnāt really a deal-braker, Iāve learned to cope with that over the years. The main issue I have with the S-4 is that the main features it offers are the kind of things Iād probably enjoy more in Live or Max, and itās the multiple poly samplers that are the main draw, which kind of undermines the whole thing. I mean itās still not a bad price for that element alone, provided it works wellā¦
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Iām trying to have a little less menu jumping with midicontrollers, but cant seem to find out if the S4 can interpret relative midi encoders.
If anyone tried, much obliged for some info on this 
Apparently it could be absolute (range) 1-127, or if relative;
BinOffset ccw turn 63/ cw turn 65
or
2ās Comp ccw turn 127/ cw turn 1
(if i understood correctly)
Edit.
alright, iim being siilly i guess.
those relative values are interpreted as absolute ofcourse, since thereās no way to choose any of this in the s4 config.
i got the s-4 for a few weeks, but have difficulties getting great sounds out of it. its probably just me. or?
Itās just you. Itās a looper and sampler, you get out whatever sounds you put into it.
If the FX, filter, and EQ are all still in ābetaā in terms of polish/maturity it might not be just you. 
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Nope, I have the same feeling. The mix lacks spatialization even with only one track, and is a bit muddy in my opinion. I usually use the compression from the drive page to make it stand out more.
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