let's say that on a pad, you have a pretty long sample...the starting point is perfectly fine, but you want to make an ending point and you want to make it EXACTLY one bar...is it possible to have the metronome going while you're marking the sample as a refrence? basically I guess what I'm asking is if it's possible to have a metronome OUTSIDE of record mode, for when you want to make a chop perfectly fit a certain amount of time (half a bar, a bar, two bars, etc)

Record the metronome onto your computer, tape deck or another sampler. Sample it back to the 404. Mark it perfect and set it to loop mode. Now you'll be able to hear the click and mark the other parts without using the sequencer.