Okay so I was hoping to utilize the SP-555 as an audio interface via the USB connection. The problem is that I have not been able to get my mac to recognize the connection at all. I've tried numerous programs and none have found the SP. I know the cable is not faulty because it works fine with a bunch of other gadgets in the house. I almost afraid that the output may be screwed up, but I can't say for sure. Are there other troubleshooting methods to fix the connection?

Assuming I've exhausted my options above, are there other ways to get the audio from the SP-555 into my computer? I've just purchased a new mic and was hoping to be able to feed to mic into the SP, then the audio into my computer. Will an RCA-USB cable do the trick?

Thanks a ton in advance.

maybe a dumb question, you've tried the correct mac drivers?
http://www.rolandus.com/products/produc ... uctId=902#
I really doubt the USB is not working, sounds like its not seeing the device due to drivers.

If your mac has a ilne in you can use a Y cable (RCA to 1/8") but it's not going to sound as good as USB or another interface.

Ok wow now I feel like a total idiot. That ended up being half the problem.

So yes, I did download the drivers, but it turns out I downloaded the wrong one :/ Figures.

Apparently I had downloaded one for OS X 10.7 which I bet happened because I just picked the latest version by default. Now I finally I realize I run Leopard and only 10.6.8 so it was the 10.6 driver that solved everything. Moral of the story: always know the exact version of your OS, as trivial as it might seem haha.

Thanks a lot though for the quick response!
And for curiosity's sake, I was still wondering if an RCA-USB cable would also do the trick (of course, only for curiosity's sake, I doubt i'd take such a route).

Most RCA-USB (or any such kind of) adapters I´ve seen are 16bit/44.1kHz and I doubt they´re all that great in terms of quality (SP-555 can work at 24bit/44.1kHz).

The real advantage on having another soundcard/audio interface is that you´ll be able to overdub and record in full duplex. The SP-555´s audio interface works like that only for the MIC/LINE, not for the actual sampler (which means you can´t monitor what´s being recorded).

I´ve never done this, but since you can aggregate audio devices on a Mac it might be possible to use some tricks (like routing a metronome track/monitoring through a different audio device) and make better use of the SP-555´s own. It might be an option.

Also, it´s always best to avoid unnecessary A/D\A conversions.

Ahh okay. Yeah I wasn't aware of the 16 bit part and given how strange that connection is, I'm not too surprised the quality isn't too hot.

Is monitoring the real only drawback of using the 555 as an interface? I look through a lot of audio interfaces these days and so many are so overpriced. It makes me realize how much I probably don't know about audio interfaces since I can't differentiate like a 200 dollar one to an 80 dollar one.

wow, roland cutting corners again... pretty sure even M-Audios crap interfaces are coreaudio compliant