Hi everyone I'm a rapper/musician trying to produce my own beats and then rap over them. I was at a music shop the other day and the guy at the shop convinced me that the SP-555 would be perfect for me. He said I'd be able to record whatever I wanted using it. I know almost nothing about sound engineering so I bought the thing. Now I've done some research and I'm kind of angry. I've found sources saying the SP-555 compresses its wavs and therefore has inferior sound quality. Some lady at the same store told me yesterday what I needed was an external soundcard. But I've also found sources online saying the SP-555 can act as a soundcard. What gives?

So I just figured out that using a direct line cable I can record audio from my synth. I'm still wondering whether or not I should get a high quality soundcard instead of this SP-555 because I want to have the best quality music. But if the quality in sound is barely noticeable I will not buy a soundcard.

I would downgrade to a 404 and get a soundcard, having both is really the best bet. What software do you use? I would consider getting an mobox or motu ultralite and the old school 404 off ebay, you might be able to swing that for what a 555 costs. 555 is a good unit I'm sure though.

I'm using Cubase right now but I don't really like the way it's designed. I'm more of an artist not a sound engineer I'm just teaching it to myself because I don't feel like paying someone 100$ a track.

I recommend Live, Reason and Logic. Started on Cubase and hate myself for it. My first rig was going to be a macbook and logic, I got a pc and cubase instead. Worst mistake ever. That was like 10 years ago.

I dunno, all the DAWs are pretty much similar.. perhaps live is a little easier, but you still gonna need to understand everything from a technical perspective if you wanna produce your own beats... Id say just stick to it and try to figure it out, cubase or whatever

regarding the 555 - also I wouldnt be worried about minor differences in sound quality for quite a while.. the 555 does degrade the sound a little, but it doesnt sound bad and it's a hell of a lot better than people had to deal with 20 years ago, and look at all the amazing music they produced!

LOFI

afta1 uses an sp555 no?

His music still sounds dope.

you can make all your tracks in sp555 without pc assistance. a lot of us on the forum don't use daw's in our work and produce great sounding music. it's how you harness the sound of your hardware(or software) and exploit it's strengths that your going to make good work.

The 555 is dope,but so is a 404 + cheaper!

Thanks for the support guys; you are all very inspiring. I will make some music.

If you are looking for a sound card get the focusrite saffire. You will get it Mega cheep now and they make the best pre-amps in the buissiness

Fuck it, we all waste money on things we think that will fulfill a musical void. Sometimes we make the golden purchase that ends all purchases and sometimes we keep burning rent money. Its just life.

Whats cool about the 555 is that its the only SP you can resample your patterns, so you can quantize difficult parts which would take a few tries resampling on other SPs to get it right. Plus I wouldn't worry about the sound quality, thats what makes an SP an SP. Your sound will definitely have a distinct character. But look to a DAW if you want that radio mascara sound smeared on your beats.

^ radio mascara