my 404 got packed up today and shipped to the roland service centre - i finally got in contact with a tech who was keen to have a go at it.

I'm expecting it wont be cheap if they can fix - they charge $100.00 an hr just for labour - probably $50.oo us (lol)


My hope is it works out cheaper than buying a new one That ain't going to happen with our dollar the way it is - at worst I end up with a 24 effects fx box.

what happened was the samples on the card banks started crackling - then the sp404 refused to read and write to cards - was choosy on which ones it would format - then it would not recognise cards which it had just formated 5 mins before.

The cards it would not recognise I tried on a canon camera and it had no problems formatting, recording images and reading them back..

I since been working getting the cheap version of acid running on an old laptop - adding some free vst effects that may be of interest to some here - Ambience (a reverb module) Kaujerhaus (?) Classic filter (like it says), Endorphin (some insane compressor) and Isotope Vinyl (vinyl sim that can also create lo fi effects)

I don't like wokring this way - most things are way easier - chopping samples is a joke - creating fade outs, time stretching, pitch shifting (all the things we bitch about on the 404 ) - but yu can't help but being sucked into the visual thing and yu stop "listening" and start spending too much time looking at waves, and meters and shit... I spent 2 and 1/2 hrs tweaking a 2 bar beat - next day listened to it and it was crap (lol)

anyway, will report back what happens with the real box - it may be of some help to anybody that experiences same symptoms.

You should get solatium from Roland...
@ software

that sucks commander. maybe if they can't fix the 404 and you get it back you can use it to trigger stuff in acid?

not ideal, of course, but maybe a way to make the software experience more interesting.

or, you could just pick up another sp-....

good luck, mans.

just to show how stupid I am - when wax mentioned solatium... I assumed he meant a plug in

I went searching trying to find this damn solatium plug in - nowhere - then a dictionary definition popped up..

got me!

you got one hell of a vocab for somebody who claims english is is his 2nd language.

maybe it's not an english word

at least i never went searching for the madlib expansion pack mentioned on beatjitzu's early album.

Ha ha I assumed it was a plugin too. I have a pretty good vocab but I'd never heard that one.

I better go to school again.

I'm really sorry guys... This online dictionary is a little tricky...
I wanted to say HE should get money instead of paying ish. Schmerzensgeld is what I wanted to say...

compensation for pain and suffering (smart money)... better?!?

Always feel free to correct me guys! That's only way I can learn.
I would be thankful, so sorry again for all that garbage.

the grim reaper has struck - with one mightily compressed blow

$480 AUD for replacement of main board.

i can't go there - but she will still operate ok internally banks A and B and all the effects - she is being packed now and sent back.

so now I have a sampletrack, I guess - sigh

hey wax - Ig and I weren't ragging on you - we were both mightily impressed with the dropping of that word -

apologies if you thought we were trying to dump on you. It was all respect.

I'm going to make a track with that title. It sounds like the name of an ambient opus.

I'm feelin a bit soma at moment - and so very very stygian vista

http://www.last.fm/music/Soma/_/Stygian ... controlled)

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take care