I'm looking to buy my first hardware sampler. I'm really anxious to break out of the very non-musical pc workflow, but I'm not so sure about which sampler is best for me. At first, I was dead set on an MPC. But those things are so grossly overpriced considering the tech they use and the out-of-box limitations. Spending over a grand on one piece of gear is painful enough, but even worse when there are still necessary upgrades to be bought (HD, RAM, JJOS).

When I first noticed the SP series, the toy-like look of the newer models initially turned me off. But I have since then realized what the SP series is capable of, and that some of my favorite producers even use them. (J Dilla used an SP? WHAT?! That's awesome.)

So basically, I'm down to the 404 and the 555. I thought it would be an easy choice. Get the latest, greatest model right? Well apparently there are pros and cons to each.

I've heard that the effects on the 404 sound warmer and "more effective" than the 555. How true is this? I've heard bad things in particular about the vinyl sim/lo fi on the 555 (which is an effect/mode I would love to take advantage of). Warmth could be a deciding factor for me. I love old school, analog sounds. The warmer and scratchier the better. Also, am I nuts or does the DJFX effect (also an important effect to me) work better on a 404? I've never seen either piece of gear in person, only in vids and pics.

Of course I also hear that the 555 effects sound better than the 404, so I could really use some help on this one.

The 555 looks like a really nice piece of gear (on the inside haha), and definitely an upgrade from the 404, but is it worth 300 extra bones? The loop mode looks like fun, but since I will be using the SP for production and not live play, I don't exactly need it. The roll and swing features of the 555 are pretty big selling points for me, but I've heard that there are workarounds on the 404 to get roll and swing-like effects. How much of a pain in the ass are these workarounds?

The iBeam feature seems gimmicky and useless. I don't need an onboard synth, I have a MicroKorg for that.

The USB capabilities of the 555 seem really useful. There's no need for a card reader (which I don't own) and it can be used as a controller. But why would I want to control a virtual sampler using my crappy pc soundcard if I have a dedicated hardware sampler? Unless the 555 acts as the soundcard??? I need help on this one too haha.

Also, if there is a 404 vs 555 comparison chart, or anything of that nature anywhere on the net, can you please point me in that direction?

Basically, I need to know these things:

Are the workflows of the 404 and 555 the same, except for the extra pads/sample time/loop mode of the 555?

Do the 404's effects drastically outshine the 555's?

Are the USB capabilities really all that useful? Or would I end up just using the 555 alone?

Does being able to use a 2gb card, instead of just 1gb (Where would I find a reliable one of these anymore anyway?), make a big difference?

My understanding as of now is this: 404=$400 with better effects, 555=$700 with more features

Sorry for the long-winded post.

I posted this in the 404 section too, in order to get more responses from users of both machines.

THANKS!

EDIT: I almost forgot. If I mess with the fx knobs while recording on the 404, will the movement of the knobs be recorded as well? I've heard yes and no to this same question, so I'm still unsure. It sure would be a shame if you couldn't even record the cool things you can do live with the fx.

if you heard the 404 sounds "better" you heard it from a person jealous of the 555.

the only thing the 404 is better for is portability, its optionally battery powered.

beyond that the 555 decimates pretty much every other sampler ive seen.

the usb audio in/out will provide ENDLESS sampling opportunities. This is extremely fun if you have plugin synths or programs on your computer, just change the oscilators and effects and see what wierd samples you can come up with. The benefit of doing it this way is you dont have endless save files on your computer (you dont even need to save ANY project if you do it like this). You can literally sample anything with the sp 555 with its RCA/MIC/1/4" inputs. I find myself amazed by the 555 day after day.
However dont think of it as an MPC, think of it as a creative solution to working with whatever you can feed it being records, fl studio, ableton, reason, vocals, guitar. it can mash up pretty much everything.

although the d-beam synth is lame, the d-beam filter provides a nice way to get more percussive uses out of a filter, and also can be midi-assignable.

so whatever you do , DONT BUY AN MPC!!! the interface sucks and they havent changed much since the mid 90's

p.s.the knobs cant be recorded unless you a. resample b. use the loop capture or c. midi assign them

this is agood post for me, as i am currently in the same boat. i once owned a 404 and loved it, but i did own an MPC at the same time. right now, i dont own anything and am starting clean. i only want 1 machine, so im thinking of going 555 now, since i dont have the MPC to accompany it.

a big thing about the 404 that i didnt like was that you could only apply an effect to 1 pad at a time. if you wanted to put an effect on another pad, the only way to get around this was to resample the sound with the effect on, but this is inconvenient because it is time consuming, requires an extra available pad (that you resample to), and you cannot change/undo the effect once its resampled.

on the 555, does it stlil work this way, or can you assign effects to multiple pads now?


also, the sequencer didn't change from the 404, did it? the 404 sequencer was shotty sometimes...i dont expect the SP's to be sequencer rich anyway, but itd def be a plus if there were improvements here tho.

you can assign effects to any amount of different pads you want. or all, or none.

just hold effect assign and press the pads you want to affect.

only one effect at a time, if you want 2 different ones you still need to resample unless you have one from the MFX and the Filter D-Beam

ah ic...thats kind of a pain u stil have to resample to use 1 effect at a time. i guess it makes sense tho...i liked how u were able to do all that in the MPC, but the MPC's effects were wack

the machine would be huge if they put the capabilities for chaining effects on the chip design. not even designated effects boxes run two effects at a time unless the one effect is a combination of say delay and echo.

hey hurlingdervish. doesn't the sp-555 allow you to tie effects to a certain pad and then store it to memory? if so, is it possible to use this method to tie multiple effects to different pads? i currently own an sp-404 and am thinking about adding a 555.

thanks!

a. you can assign 1 effect to any number of any pads

b. you can save the effect settings in effect memory

they are separate functions. the effect memory is amazing tho if you have your samples or patterns in the background (or you 404 input) and you can change between say isolator settings of only low, to only mid, to only high or delay times or whatever by hitting the sample pads while effect memory is on

think "percussive" effects. if you want more than one you have to do the resample routine or use the d-beam filter

keep in mind that the cards from the 404 will have to be re-formatted (deleted) in order to be used on the 555....which is lame but thats what cables are for and the loop capture would make that process a snap.

i would love a 404 in addition i think they would make a cool team

thats for the speedy reply! this definitely helps.

im pretty close to upgrading to the 555 myself, been wondering the question to this first answer... how much better does it actually sound? would you say you can get commercial quality sound out of it?
second
does the usb thing you're talking about mean you can run virtual synths and such with the 555 as a controller and be able to sample what you're playing into the 555 as a real sample?

The 555 doesnt have the vinyl sim compressor the 404 has...which IMHO is the best compressor the SP series has offered. It kinda sounds like tape compression. But at I would still rather have a 555 than a 404.