im thinking about getting one. im an mpc guy, but i notice a lot of the producers i listen to use an sp along with an mpc (madlib and dibiase for example). im new to this forum, and i know this is probably an elementary question, but ive never owned one. any help would be appreciated. thanks.

i think a lot of mpc people use the 303 or 404 for effects and effects resampling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twHhcB4D-po

(is that the 303 "line in light" on? (meaning he is running through it for effects))

check out a few of jels videos.. he triggers manually a lot. i would imagine most people have the two synced.

shit, i forgot to mention jel as well. yeah im very familiar with his stuff. ive actuall downloaded the audio of a lot of his youtube vids in to my itunes, lol. thanks for the vid, i'll check it out

It's just the fast workflow, everything is at eyes/hands reach with no windows or menus to scroll thru, and the efx are pretty nice. It's personal preference really. I wouldnt get one just because Madlib or Dibiase use em, get one to use with your MPC. Everyone thinks Madlib uses a 303 for all his beats, he actually uses a 606 a lot more. Doesnt really matter what kind of sampler you use, your beats wont sound any different based on the sampler.

wasnt thinking about getting one BECAUSE they use it. i was just curious because it seems like a fun machine. i just mentioned them as a reference. but i hear ya.
is $200 too much? (for a 303)

For $200, fuck yeah grab it!

dopeness. thanks man.
also, is it pretty easy to learn/understand? if i know may way around mpc's and sp12's i could pick this up pretty easily, right?

It's the same shit as every other sampler.... Dig, sample, chop, sequence.... Boom Bap MAGIC!

If you are good on an mpc this will be a walk in the park to learn. It is a lot different though so it may take some getting used to, like only having one bpm setting at a time for all sequences.