thinking about an sp-202 for 120 bucks (comes with a sm card as well)... are the lo-fi setting anything special? i heard there are four different sample rates. if not, it might be worth it just to collet another sp... can any 202 users tell me any reason why the machine stands out in any way? or should i just stick to my 404?

the 202 stands out in a few ways.

its the gear that cLOUDDEAD used to create two amazing albums. for that alone, i will always love the 202. they did their records entirely without sequencing, and to me they showed how far you can push a really limited machine.

i still think the 202's filter is better than the one on the 404 (better sounding, simpler to use). and i think the pitch shift / time stretch (and really, it is sort of neither) is better than the 404's.

i think the 202 must be a different bitrate, too, because everything i dumped out of it sounds different than the same samples triggered on other machines. not warmer, but crunchier.

lo-fi setting is great, but something you need to work WITH, otherwise it worx against you.

finally - fucker is orange and black! mans. so great.

now - if i had to buy ONE sampler, it would not be the 202, because it is sooooo limited. but if i had a sampler i could rely on and freak as need be, the 202 would be nice little pick up. a "role player" would be the sports analogy.

Building on the role player analogy, it's got a +2 charisma and +3 sword of crunchiness.