Just hold the sub pad while changing patterns.

It seems to have a slight delay and silence between the patterns but is still useful.

I just discovered that, never found it in the manual.

word
i love using this technique to stutter-start a loop like it's being scratched then released by a DJ


it is in the manual though, page 34 second column. they should have given it it's own entry though, so easy to miss in the fine print

Roland manuals are terrible: I only found out about synth parameters and layering on the 606 by reading the obscure fine print!

They really should get someone from the west to translate them...

Page 34 of the manual states pretty clearly how to switch immediately between patterns. I have no gripes with Roland manuals, they are way more explicative than Akai manuals for example.

but akai machines have menus.

True but that still doesn't seem to help a lot, judging by all the questions that get posted over and over again on mpc-forums.

True, but I learned the mpc without any manuel or forum help (hell, there was no internet back then). It's pretty userfriendly compared to the sp404.
Then again, when you worked with the 404 about 5 months it's way easier to use then the mpc.

i agree that the 404 goes from pretty abstruse to really intuitive over a course of time. just a matter of integrating the unobvious key combos into your brain. death to audio menus!