Okay, here's the deal. I've spent about a week making my decision, and I think I've narrowed my choices down to two options: the SP-404 and the SP-555. There are things I like about both, and money's not too much of an object, considering they're both relatively cheap for samplers. Here's some background info on what I'm looking for...

I'm a beat maker (not an aspiring music producer, just someone who likes to push buttons and make noise), and I won't be using it for much DJing purposes. I am currently running Reason and Recycle with an MPD24, so velocity sensitivity isn't a must. Whichever one I get is going to be chopping samples a lot though, so I'd like it to have a good workflow.

The things I like about the SP-404 are that it's portable, it seems to be reliable for most people, and it's a little bit cheaper (money isn't TOO MUCH of an object ). With this however, I'd have to drop an extra hundred on an audio interface, which wouldn't make them too different in price either way. Some USB connectivity would also be very nice.

What I like about the SP-555 is the 16 pads instead of 12, USB connectivity and the fact that I wouldn't need an interface, and the extra features and effects (although that D-Beam or whatever it is doesn't interest me much honestly.) The problem with this one is that I've heard it's a little bit glitchier (being newer and everything), which is a big red flag to me.

So that's about it, if you'd like to know anything else, please ask. Thanks guys, any tips will go a long distance for me.

I dont know much about the 555 specs all I got is my biased opinion. Get the 404, it kicks ass!!!

Good deal, that's what I was kind of leaning toward. Can someone explain the pitch shift of both to me though? I heard they're both weak. And do they have a workaround for the fact that one pad can't stop another pad?

you have to set the samples you're going to use to Gate playback (so they play only when the pad is pressed). this way you get your sample played as long as you want to and if you play around with quantize i think you can achieve the same effect as if pads would cut off each other.

Peace