I've owned the OG Dr. Sample and I own the Sp-303 and SP-404. I scooped up a SP-555 for only $230 at a pawn shop. Originally, I was going to buy it and flip it on ebay, but after trying it out, this shit ain't going anywhere.

To me, it has all the functionality of the SP-404, but the extra features are nice as hell. You can hook it up through the USB on your computer and use it as an audio interface with an ASIO driver. That alone is a huge plus. You can go back and forth with your computer if you want to sample something quick, add some SP effects and put it back in. Wanna gritty up some drums real quick? No problem.

Also, the "Loop Capture" feature is something Im sure any SP user would love. You can just tap the pads (say a drum beat) and then save your loop to another pad. Layering stuff is cool, but I used to resample drum beats and try to mark/truncate to get them into a loop (this gets rid of the hassle). You can either capture a loop to a pre-specified tempo, or the Loop initiates as soon as you tap a pad.

THe D-beam stuff is kind gimmicky, but I like it for improvising with the filter You can also use the D-Beam as a Trigger, so one cool thing I did was tap a drum beat while triggering the hi-hat with my other hand (feels natural if you play drums at all).

The pads are velocity sensitive, so you can finally make drum beats that have more feeling. The pads feel really nice, too. Id say they are better than the 303 and 404.

Finally, a lot of people may miss the famed "Vinyl Sim" compression from the SP-303 and Sp-404. The SP-555 did it a little different, but you can still get that nice "in your face" compression sound you get from the others. The "Vinyl Sim" effect does not have compression on it, just the crackle (a bit improved) and the Wow and Flutter (its only flaw - not quite as good as the SP-303 and SP-404, imo). Personally, I never liked using the crackle (sampling real crackle is way better). The effect labeled "Comp" has the same mojo as the Vinyl Sim compression from the others. The "Lo-fi Comp" also has some awesome character as a compressor with the added bonus that you can do bit rate reduction at the same time.

Half the fun of the SP's is their limitations, and I don't think the additions to the SP-555 will hurt you if you are a SP-404 or SP-303 user. Its still gritty as hell and has a nice sound.

+1 dope thread i rock the triple 5 also, its way too slept on by the sp bredren. thanks for taking the time to post this , much respect -sleeps

Thanks for this post man, answered a lot of questions. but my main concern was whether you could get a gritty sound with the 555 the way can with the 303 vinyl sim. i'm gathering that you can use either the vinyl sim in combo with the comp or the lo fi comp and get the same sort of sound, but the question is do the drums knock like when you turn the vinyl sim comp way up on the 303?

I've had no problem getting the drums to knock. The Lofi Comp and the regular Comp do the job and are extreme as the Vinyl Sim comp is. When I use VInyl Sim on the SP-303 I never use the crackle or the flutter as it is (though the flutter is dope on plain synths). The Lofi Comp is kind of its own animal...crappy as how a normal person uses a compressor, but dope in the "in your face" compression a la Vinyl Sim.

Word up, thanks a lot for the prompt reply man...my SP-303 rca jacks are shot and I may look at re-soldering them but I have been wanting to upgrade to a 555 for a while and you sold me on it now pretty much. Thanks again.