Hey 606 heads, i've been a 555 user for a while now. the 606 looks pretty damn cool from what i've read and seen. the added tracks to sequencer seem like a pretty big plus for recording songs. however my main question is about loading pad banks. I do live entirely unsequenced sets (think Jel or Exile finger drumming) and i would not want to get a 606 for a couple extra effects and sequencer, i would want to be able to use it for everything. so from what i've read/seen you have access to 16 pad banks of samples internal memory and 16 more per CF card, is there a long process to load a new pad bank? does getting to the menu to load a pad bank take more than a button press or two and is there an extended loading pad bank wait time? currently running my sets on the 555 i tend to just load songs on the CF card(one song per pad bank) and have a fading out pad that plays will i hit the button for the next bank and then a 2 bar loop is on my 202 for switching cards, i can get through a set with very few complete drop outs of sound this way and would not want that to change.
also any opinions or advice beyond my questions regarding the 606 would be dope.
thanks!

the timing is a bit long.
i made 2 non-sequenced live with it and preparing the tracks (some loops of 20 sec max) was a little long.

ahh that's too bad. it looks like such a great box but that would be the killer for me. i don't like standing there between songs waiting for it to load. part of why i love the sps so much is not loading things, haha!

Really? I've never had to wait like that. Usually once you've loaded up the sample to the pad that's it, it's there ready to play as soon as the SP's on.

Opening different pad banks takes almost no time at all (the longest bit is navigating to pad banks after #16, which is limited by how fast/slow you get there). So for what you're talking about QuiVive there should be no problems at all.

I think Ella may be referring to loading new samples or backed up save states from the card. That can take a little while. But surprisingly the pad banks saved from the card (17 through 32) load instantly & automatically.

+1
exactly that.
loading new samples from card to pads is long. but once is done, no waiting time around...
thanks Unfo!

cool man, thanks for the response. this is a really intriguing box. from what i read in the manual a pad bank can be loaded by pressing the pad bank button and the corresponding pad, correct? so if you keep a list or memorize what songs are on what pad banks you could run a set pretty seamlessly. when loading pad banks from the card i believe i read you have to change from internal memory pad banks to card banks, when doing this is it a one time thing or do you have to switch to card memory every time you load a pad bank, if it's a one time thing i could continue to run a loop on the 202 to keep music going. very interesting...
*edit*
just reread the part about banks 17-32 being nearly instantaneous, sounds like a SUPER dope machine, may have to cop one...
any other advice or comments about this machine?

I can co sign on the instant bank loads. It's as instant as hitting the pad bank button and pressing the desired pad bank-pad number or using the scroll wheel and enter button.
It also continues to play the current sequence while changing banks. it can also external resample record on the fly... Which is the dopest shit since the 303. The effects are a little tricky to do in a live setting unlike the 404,555.
The 606 has a dynamic that separates it from the 'lower' end sp's. I think the pre amps/recording quality destroy the previous versions of the sp line. Try it out if you can get it for a good price. Just don't expect to have a dj fx/bpm looper supreme glitch machine. It also has digital INs and OUTs Which eliminates all that high pitch ground electric noise.

well, i just found one used through guitar center's website for 199, which is a good 150-200 less than i've seen them going for on ebay. i'll be testing out how much i dig it in a few days it looks like. thanks for all your guys' help and answers!
HYPED

Good find! Hope it goes as hard as you want it to!

Off topic- Culp, is this you on track 6 or is there another Culp out there?