Ok, I got one [hold for applause], but I'm gonna keep on whining [hold for laughter].

super excited. there are some counter-intuitive things that i'm still trying to drill into my brain.

looks great, sounds great, great effects.

Cheers.

fauna, just thought about it and i'm not sure on one shots but looped for sure. i can check tomorrow if u want. maybe limpy loo can tell us. Glad u got one limpy, hope u enjoi it.

If you want a sample to act like 'one shot' then simply
-press the sample(select it)
-check if it's in loop mode (press the loop button to deactivate it)
-hold down edit and press the release key
-set the release time to "127"

There you go!A nice one shot sample!And trust me it's really quick to do this!
EDIT: For 'gate' mode simply do the same but for release time set it to zero...

Well, after reading this post, I looked into it a little last nite, and from what I read you can hit a note (or a chord) while holding down some other button, and it will drone on. For the Indie rock stuff I do, this is critical.

I'm actually looking for this Hold function on other synths too so if people have recommendations, by all means bring it on (not to hi-jack the thread).

But it seems like the microsampler can do what I need.

had to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJFPRqMb56c

About the hold button - Yep, you just hold the hold (derp) then the key and it works just like on the SP555. This is great for drone + drum loop or whatever.

I wanted to add one thing that I didn't notice as much before about pitching: if your source is lower quality (like for me, kung fu samples off of pretty crappy DVD transfer), when you pitch you can get some weird high pitch whine/harmonic that can be very annoying. On other stuff like drums/one hits I didn't notice as much but like chord/melody stuff it was kind of shoddy.

Not a deal breaker, and if you like lofi you may not mind - I think it mostly affects already low quality sources, but it seemed not as quality as the ESX/SP505/RS7K pitching in comparison.

Hm, so pro'lly a bit like the SP's pitch artifacting, maybe?

In general, do you think it is possible to use this like a synth, or does the fact it shortens the samples as it pitches up, etc, kind of ruin it?

I'm looking at this thing more like a synth, really, but I donno if I'm off base. Whaddyoo guys think? Better to just get a miniak or something?

@limpy, I almost fell off my chair.
@fauna, do u have any of the idevices like an iPhone? Theres at least one app that would do this if you wanted to prerecord those sounds. But yes the micro shortens samples as it goes up, just like a casio sk-1.

HELP!!

I recorded 3 octaves worth of xylophone onto the ROM bank (oops)

can I save this data to another bank?

if so, how?

nevermind, i didn't.

i'm stupid.

this thing is awesome.

i love it.

i will save my whining for the near future.

Actually, I have an iPod and that a Akai synthsation keyboard -- which is perfect for what I want EXCEPT that I can't find an app that'll give me the "hold" function that I need. If i could figger that out, I'd be set. Do you know of any? I'm open to ideas

i have voice keyboard and it only allows you to sustain. if you loaded a long enough sample...?

Hm....maybe! It also looks like the guys that make a few of these apps are pretty open to feedback, so i may just request it from xenon or nanosynth. See what happens.

Thx for the input - sorry for the thread jacking!

Update: in case anyone cares, the new version of Nlog has a hold button in the synth - it's the only synthstation app I've found with this functionality. That is all

Also, the MS has a bit more flexibility for external sampling than SP404SX (not sure about other Roland samplers, maybe 555 is good about this). On MS, you can play a beat that is sampled on a key, for instance, while you sample through mic or line-in. This can help when you want to sync (manually) a new sample you are creating with sample(s) you already have by listening to your pre-existing sample(s) while you play or sing along without just having to rely on a metronome.

You can also resample patterns being played from pattern sequencer, which is another thing you can't do on 404sx. So even tho only one sample can be loaded at a time in the "keyboard" mode, which is the mode that spreads a sample over the 36 keys (and this means the second pattern seq track can only access the one sample in that mode), you can still resample this pattern to a key, freeing up that "keyboard" sample for another sample to be laid out over the keys. And changing which sample is played in this mode is controlled by a dial.

Menu shortcuts above keys help navigate options on MS. The "percentage" editor for samples, where you can chop a sample by % of sample (i.e. end it at 98% of length), is nice touch.

In contrast, I like accessibility of 404sx (playability and portability, too), and long sample times. Maybe slightest edge on fx to SP, mainly for that accessibility. I also have other korg products similar fx to MS (including KP3), so less big deal for me. Looper effect is nice on MS. It can give you some surprises when applied to sample(s) being played in pattern sequencer (esp when you apply to only one or a few samples and let rest run normal). But SP can do this sorta stuff too, it's just that MS has more options for longer loop, and the second pattern seq track makes for a bit more possibility on the looper effect.