hey all. have not posted on this forum in a while. hope all is well.

trying to backup data on my sp505, and I was wondering if you can put samples/pattern files onto a sm card, then store them on a pc, and transfer them back when needed. it would only be the pattern data if possible.

tried searching the forum, but found no luck. any help is appreciated!

If you can back the patterns up to a card than it should work fine. On the 303 you can save patterns and samples on your computer for later use. If you just save the patterns though you'll basically have midi files, so for instance if you save a drum pattern you could reload it later with different drum hits and sounds and get a whole new vibe. This is how Flying Lotus gets his track to sound like they're morphing but the beat and rhythm holds tight just like a dj likes. Your welcome to anybody that tidbit helps out. I hold the secret manual to the sp-303, it was passed on to me like I'll pass it on someday.

Any multi-USB memory card reader will allow you to swap .wav or .aif files in/out so backing up your data isn't a problem. You should remember to burn a cd-rom/dvd rom and back it up, so you don't lose the chosen samples ever.

SP505 does not generate wav files. It can import wav and convert it into proprietary format. Vise versa for exporting a sample to a .wav on the SM card.

Couple things to point out.
I don't use internal memory on the 505 because it makes things difficult/time consuming to make backups.

When you are ready to backup your 505 you need to go into the system settings on the 505and save/backup your patterns to the memory card. This will create a single backup file that contains all of the patterns on your machine.

Now you will be ready to copy to your computer. I usually create a folder that is sort of descriptive about what beats I'm backing up. Now pop the smart media card into your PC memory card reader and drag and drop the entire 505 folder into the folder you just created. Do not rename any of the files within the 505 folder as it will make it not readable when you try to reload it. When you're done put the SM card back into the 505 go to the system menu again and format the card. The last step after that is also in the systems menu. You will need to "init" your patterns so they will be empty/blank.

Once again, avoid using internal sample banks and backing up/restoring is a breeze.