Roland RC505

[Headphones]

What up SP Family. Saw THIS at the local pawn shop.

Got it for $400, but only had to give them $40, with 5 months to pay it all off. (Which won’t take me too long). So it’s like a Loop workstation where you loop whatever you want to record into it. Vocals, guitars, synths, SPs, you name it. And there’s YouTube clips showing off what you can do with one and a little imagination. I thought there would be a post about it already, but looks like I’m the first one to mention it. (I even used the search engine here, and it came up blank).

I think there’s 4-5 different tracks you can record on to it, pitch them differently, add fx of course, even get odd time signatures. I wanted a SP808, but this will have to do. I can give it a proper review when I get it home. It looks fun already. And it looked brand new when I had them put it in the back. Anybody else use one of these???

[mr.thraz]

it's a great machine. should make bouncing fun.

it could make things super interesting if playing live.

[Headphones]

It really helps I get paid 3 times in November & January. I still got a SP505 I gotta make payments with as well as this. Only thing I need when I get this home is a new desk or table.

[Headphones]

I’m finally picking this up Friday, but it doesn’t come with a power cord, so I’ll have to wait another week for that to come from Sweetwater, but I’ll do a basic review of this real soon. Stay tuned.

[nubes]

Theres a guy on youtube who makes silly songs in his bedroom. his name escapes me but anyways, he uses one of these to live loop. it seems to almost quantize what you play cause this guys stuff sounded like it was very in time.. Idk I guess you can give us details?

[Headphones]

I wasn’t able to order the power supply, and I need to cough up another $40, but I’ll just need another couple weeks. As far as I can tell, it’s like a hardware version of the way Ableton loops .wav files over & over. I really want to hook it up to my dj mixer/Technics 1200, and make loops of my records. Pretty sure it easily can. I can then use my SP505 to auto chop those into individual pads. So as soon as I can, I’ll give this a proper review.

[THEGREAT]

Make sure you update the firmware .. it allows you to use 2 fx on all channels , i think . Whereas without the update you can only load 1 fx.. or something like that, can't remember.

But very useful piece of equipt .. had plenty of fun ..

[Headphones]

That will have to wait until I can buy a cheap laptop. But definitely I’ll look into that. I can always use my 3 SPs for more FX. Oh I found a $8 power supply. Sure beats paying Sweetwater $35. Just need $40 and I’m there.

[Headphones]

Theres a guy on youtube who makes silly songs in his bedroom. his name escapes me but anyways, he uses one of these to live loop. it seems to almost quantize what you play cause this guys stuff sounded like it was very in time.. Idk I guess you can give us details?

If it was this guy..


https://youtu.be/aQ9c4EXJ0UU

Then I’ll try his tricks for sure.

[Headphones]

Finally got my finances in order to get this puppy home. I’m gonna be tied up just a bit until Sunday, so I won’t be able to sit with it & figure it out until then. But other than laundry, it’s just gonna be me, the SP404 & RC505 having fun. If I find time I’ll give the review I’ve promised.

Also, spotted another Technics MK2 1200....

[Headphones]

Ok gang. I’ve spent a little bit of time with this. I can’t really read the manual so well because the fonts are so small. But I’ve figured out enough quickly to not need it. (For now). On the back is a mini jack output. I plugged in my Volca Kick, and with in no time I recorded a basic 4/4 kick pattern on channel 1. Then on channel 2 I used a vocal sample from my SP404. It runs a bit shorter than the original sample, so I didn’t get to squeeze the whole sample into channel 2, but that was good to go. Used a internal drum pattern on channel 3, and kinda just farted around & made 3 loops into 1.

The fun is the FX, because you can adjust different settings internally, and go as subtle or extreme as you want. Wish it was easier to control like the knobs of the SPs, but I guess they figured people who do vocal loops on stage don’t want to look dumb fiddling knobs to the crowd. Would have been handy if they were there, but as long as you don’t mind sinking down the FX rabbit hole and doing a tad bit of menu diving, you won’t regret it.

I don’t play guitar or bass, so I can’t say that this is for them, but most guitarists worth their salt can use this to quickly record riffs, chords, jams, and make it into a song.

I can definitely see myself doing some finger drumming and making my own patterns. Just got to practice that. I don’t like my voice recorded through a microphone, but it’s not like I need to worry about it that much. If it sounds alright, then the RC505 will make a loop out of whatever. Beat boxing, a joke, sound effects recorded through it, etc.

Was it worth the $400+tax I spent months making payments on? Absolutely. Toss in a SP & you have a great studio to pack in a backpack.

Downsides: Ummm, it’s plastic. No metal parts. So go easy on this thing. The knobs are as smooth as most sliders on a DJ Mixer, but I think they could break if you’re using this roughly.

Also, you’ve got to remember to save your loops, or it’s gone when you turn it on. There’s no memory card/hard drive, so nothing more to buy, but they claim you have 3 hours of recording time. So I assume you back up your loops to your PC/Mac. (I use a iPhone & haven’t owned a computer in awhile, so I can’t comment much about it)

If you’re ok with a bit of menu diving, and think this might be what you need to record your ideas, then it’s a worthy investment. If you’re a singer or rapper, you really can’t live without this.

Peace.

[mr.thraz]

I'm really happy for you.

i played around with a friends rc202 and it was super fun.

maybe do some vids? let us see it in action??