so is there something wrong with me or the machine?

the timestretching sounds awful, even if i only change it by 1 bpm it makes heaps of clicks

please tell me I'm doing something wrong!

Nothing's wrong, the timestretching is just cheap. Only use it on drum breaks and things with very light sounds in it.

hate it or love it- thats what the 404 is about

sorry .. . hate it with a passion... youd think in the 21st century they would be able to run a half decent timestretching algo . . they didn't have any trouble with the rest of the effects so why is this such a cheap cover? I'd gladly have traded 90% of the effects for a decent timestretching algo.

that sucks majorly

well if you really depend on timestretch like that then the 404 might be good for you. the greatest beats of all time were created on machines without timestrech.

'Ever heard of a chef who can't cook?'

ever seen a chef that had to use pizza dough that instead of stretching suddenly shattered into pieces when he kneeded it?

yes, but i was on a special medication

Mmmmmmm... special meds.

maybe im wierd... but I actually really like artifacts that the 404 produces via timstretch. They add a little sumthin sumthin to your sound. And once you add all your drums and perc. you can barely notice it.

what are you guys using the timestretch on?
to spread a chopped sample out a little further?

I usually get a few long samples of about a minute or so, stretch them to where I want them and then resample them with w/e FX I might be using and then I chop.

i have a 303, but i think its the same...
anyway, sounds good enough when you're speeding the sample up, just not when you want it slower.
audacity is free and its time stretch sounds great

oh well. . . yeah there are computers but the whole reason i like hardware is to get away from the computer!

anyhow, itd be stupid to sell it ,would lose too much money.. ill just hang onto it maybe one day ill need it for something

It is a wonder that the 404 time stretch is poor - after all, Roland have other gear that can do quite good time, pitch and beat matching, so they know how to do it (VariPhrase?). I suppose the 404 doesn't have the horsepower to do the calculations. Then again, most of the "hi-tech" companies do this thing where they won't make a perfect machine on purpose - because otherwise they won't have anything to put in the next model you will want to trade up for. It must annoy them when people won't let go of the old stuff because whatever the faults, they can't live without the sounds or just don't want to learn a new box all over again.

As it stands, the 404 is fun and very usable - anyone involved in some kind of sound work could find a use for one. And at least it isn't crippled with an obsolete memory card like Smart Media (Hello Korg - I nearly got an Electribe but for the SM card).

Cheers
Jim

another crucial thing that's missing and could EASILY have been included -

envelope generator effect for attack/decay/sustain/release - kinda cuts a hole through wanting to use it as a melodic sampler when you cant control note release

have been playing all day with it today, determined to get SOME kind of use out of it - and been able to make something OKish . . got the hang of it now I think, still not sure if its worth what I paid for it though.. definitely going to have to shell out for something to supplement it as well