Yamaha RS7000. The electribe is significantly smaller, though, if that's an issue.

One you can buy for $150 and the other is $500..... The only way to compare the rs7000 to an electribe is if they made an electribe esx + electribe emx. RS7000 is most comparable to Roland MC808 or 909 ( a synth + sampler )

you can jump to portions in the sequence on the mpc? no shit...hm...i like that.

i just breifed over everyones post but heres my thoughts

1. korg electribes sequencers are the shit. you can live record and then step sequence and edit from there or just step seq from the begining. for me a 16 pad step sequencer is just the easiest way to pound in an idea, make sure its perfect, then add little twists and fills without having to stop and start and listen to half the beat to make adjustments. (dont know about the other models but the current electribes allow you to turn the recording on and off while the pattern is playing with no interupption and to plug hits into the step sequencer you dont even need record lit. HOWEVER - this series is not really for those who are inspired to write their song based on heavy live loop layering and that whole 'jamability' of the 404.

2. i just wish the sp 404 had a step sequencer option, which one has 16 pads? the 555? you could turn that into a step sequencer easy, you would probably have to sequence one sample at a time tho - not a big deal... i just like step sequencers to make sure everything is on point and to move things around without having to delete the hit, then wait for the beat to come around again and try it over, etc.. (anyone on here able to nail 32 note high hats at 130-140 bpm without slowing the tempo to program?)

3. quantize on the 404 seems to be hotly debated.. i once claimed i felt a difference on the first hit (1.1) using 4 note vs 16 note but no one believed me. haha. upon further examination i think its actually bc of 2 things 1. there is no envelope type filter or asdr for crafting drum hits 2. sorry ear lovers - i think seeing the waveform helps me chop better, so i think sometimes in the past ive had slivers of silence before hits that i couldnt notice until more of the 'groove' was programed and then things sounded off (maybe thats just me tho)... thats why i said a while back the juxt way of putting air before every hit, quantizing on 4's or whatever and then adjusting the start points is really the best way (imho) to get a unique tight groove on the 404 (also use 2 pads of the same drum hit with diff 'air' timings for swing)

4. ive achieved much better results with my 404 when its been midi clocked to something else and ive heard the same on here from others

has anyone tried writing custom software to the 404 firmware? like a combination of buttons that you could press that copies? i dno...if anyone is smart enough would be cool!

The sp-606 should also be considered. It has a fairly decent sequencer imo, including both realtime and step time sequencing.

You can do anything with the 404 except pitch shifting and heavy basses. End of discussion.

heavy basses? fool wait till you hear our project i made one called trunk bunker. it fucking rips on the bass

yeah man, i dont know... i got crazy bass out of the 404.. thing is the 404 itself has like horrible headroom for eq's so it might sound quiet off the sampler itself but if you can track it out to the computer and raise the volume its serious... or for you guys that stay only on the sp , try grabbing a dj mixer, i got songs where i had to record the bass at a low volume because of clipping, adjusted every sample accordingly for a mix, turn the vol up half way on the sp and it sounds like regular sp sound, but run thru a dj mixer its barely hitting 0db so i crank the gain and its a brutal beast!

sidenote - i have 2 dj mixers for sale if anyone is interested pm me//// both under 100$ and a great deal

thanks for the thoughts everybody. my cup runneth over, lots of cool info

co-sign dman 5k on strengths of step sequencing, but the bitch is you can't get some of the 'b-boom boom BAP' type kick hits with a step...it ends up bbb BAP or some weird machine gunny type ish if you know what i mean...
school me, is there a way to get more hip hop style kick on a step sequencer?

and dman i know you dig electribes but have you ever f'ed around on an rs 7000? some people have complained the electribes almost sound like reason, ie lacks the warmth of an sp or mpc?

and yeah lezlie ive been thinking about the 606 as well...

im basically debating between
korg electribe
rs 7000
sp 606

and im holding on to the 404...

wish i could get all three and just tinker around for a couple days and decide...preferences with equipment/instruments are really subjective...
i play drums and i used to own a dw kit, which are generally regarded as the best out there, but i was never comfortable on it...gimme an entry level tama rockstar or pearl export any day...point being alot of it's individual tastes that can't be rationalized when it comes right down to it...
but i digress

thats cool to know, cuz i was wondering how i was getting certain 'familiar' (in a good way) sounds out of it. it does seem to lack a little warmth but it has those tubes, my trick so far has been to record the drums with the tube gain low and the synths with the tube gain high.
i never heard of the rs til now but it seems like my dream machine! haha samples and synth/drums in one machine. ill have to keep my eyes peeled and also hear what it sounds like. im about to come to a 50/50 point with hardware and software over the next few months while i learn these programs, so i dont know if a new machine to learn is entirely in order, but i will def try to touch and/or hear the rs

mv8800 is also a sampler/synth box.

yeah the mv 8800 looks hot but $1500 is way out of my range

correction, $1800 is way outta my range