Hi guys,

I am using the Electribe EMX, which some of you may now, for about a year and it is a great tool. Since half a year I am looking for new hard/software to enhance it, I mainly miss sampling.

I bought and sold several pieces of soft/hardware just to find that i disliked them all. This list includes MPC 500, Kaossilator Pro, KP3 and Ableton Live. The main problem was that all of them had a very stiff workflow and I had problems intergrating them in my setup. The MPC was probably the best device, but I hated the whole sample management. Samples had to be organized in programms, one had to invest a lot of time until everything was set up. It takes 3 seconds between entering my room and starting to jam on my Electribe; the MPC destroyed this.

So what I want is a fast and easy to use tool for adding sampling to my sounds, both played live and also sequenced and then midi clock synched. The Electribe and this tool should form one unit, so that the Electribes output are routed through the Sp 404 input.

So do you think the Sp 404 sx will make me happy, finally? Is the file managment including patterns and samples simple? Do you have other suggestion no matter if hard or software? The only things which limits me is that I want my setup to be not more than the emx plus one device and a dj mixer which i already own.

It would be great if someone gave me some feedback about my questions. It is really haunting me that I know what I want and I also have the cash but keep buying and selling things. I also thought about buying a midi dj controller for traktor to do some scratching and playing loops in combination with the emx, but I suppose this is also not what I am looking for. So thanks for reading my post.

i'de say


get a dawww/if you don't have one already ...

record the base patterns ...i.e it might be drums ,or synth ,loop that in the dawww

add layers in the dawww

SP404 would be good,or any SP to be fair

with SP404,i'de say get the SX , have the banks loaded up with drums/sounds etc,maybe leave 2 banks spare for example E/J



sample management is easy as breasts . .

me personally i have 3SD cards cos they're cheap,and alternate between em' depending what i've got laced on the pads . .. i.e if i've got track works n loops or simpley drums (note it's good to have the sounds trim n shit before you use em') . .and switch up from time to time .. to me it's quick and easy adjusting sounds and getting what i want from it,


when listening to some works such as Dibia$e the Green Dollar Lama,Flying Lotus & Samiyam,who achieved success /notable for using SP303/404's - it was apparent they weren't just using the hardware alone. a dawww will expand the possibilities of the SP x infiniteeee ,or any other piech of gear for that matter..


i apologize for the rant, hope it makes sense

Using a daw might the most productive technique, but it takes way too long to setup and boot for me.

Hm ok, but you did not answer some concrete questions of mine. For example, what happens to the signal which is connected to the Sp 404 inputs? Is it possible to apply fx on the incoming signal and play samples/patterns which are added to the input signal?

How does one assign samples to the pads? Is the importing process of .wav data simples?

.. you can apply FX to input signal on the 404 ,

you can't however play an input signal and record while you play samples off the 404 at the same time, but you can resample what you've recorded from input signal with layers ontop

you can either record your samples into the 404 via RCA/phono or 1/4inch jack..

or

load the samples onto SD card in a pc.


to be fair mate,i used to wann get away from using a pc - having been exclusive to a DAw setup.switching to strictly hardware made me realise,it doesn't take too long to let the laptop/pc load ,then once it's on,do my thing,with enhanced fucntionability

Ditto on the korg esx. It will pair very nicely with the emx and you'll already know how it works.

i use the og sp 404 with the korg emx and it is really dope combo .. if you have a dj mixer i would run both machines into their own channel on there for better sound or maybe just run one of the outs (say the synth line) on the emx into the sp for effects .. like some people said since you like the emx workflow so much you might want to consider getting the esx... i even kinda want one just cuz the sequencing is super easy and u can go in and out of "record mode" without stopping. the sequencing on the 404 can be tricky but if you're adding samples that compliment a sequence on the emx you might find it easier than building a beat on the 404 from the ground up. also the 404 has way better pad jamming than the korg machines so if you are interested in doing live playing over your emx beats it would be good.


ps dont know where your at with the decision but if you do get the sp 404 and its midi synced to the EMX you might want to know the dummy pattern trick of recording a small sample of silence or turning the volume to 0 on a sample and make a pattern with it so that when you hit play on the EMX the silent dummy pattern plays and you can jam live and still take advantage of the midi synced effects on the 404.