I have no idea if this is the appropriate place to ask this but here we go,

The 505 really caught my attention lately and I've been thinking a lot about selling my MPC2000XL and my 303. But I'm sure I will definatly miss the screen, 16 pads and wave editor/chopping/zoning of the MPC. If I did my research well enough the 505 has this aswell right? I like the 303 due to it's sound, simplicity and workflow, yet I'm also pretty much okay with the MPC workflow.

Also even when I've done some research I'd like to ask/make some questions/statements just to confirm things:

1. Is it true the 505 has the (exact?) same sound and effects, what I really endorse, as the 303 plus more?

2. Can the 505 run on batteries?

3. Is the 505 portable? I'd love to carry it around in my backpack.

4. Is the workflow of the 505 slower or maybe even quicker than the 303?

According to the things, as stated in the beginning, I would miss from the MPC and 303, wouldn't the 505 give me the best of both worlds then?

Thanks for reading!

1, Yes, as far as I recall, the same effects. If you were to sell your sp303, but kept the memory cards, the 505 can read them. (But you might want to keep the 303 so you have more pads to use)

2, No, doesn't run on batteries. Has a mild wal-wart power supply. (Kind of like a laptop one)

3, Yes! About the size of a small pizza box, and fairly light

4, I don't have mine home yet. It might be slower, since you have to do more things with the screen. You should dl the manual so you kind of know what to expect.

I loved the 505 when I had access to it for about 3 months. My only gripe is the 'clicky' buttons on it. The unit i had, the clicky buttons weren't so great on some of them so you had to push them at weird angles to get them to work or sometimes you'd push one and it'd click once but act like you hit it twice.

These were just issues on my personal unit I was using though. Likely you probably won't have to worry about it.

My favorite part of the 505 was the sample pitching option to make an octave range pitch for one sample automatically and the beat slicer. And of course, the sequencer was useful too...miles ahead of the 404's sequencer.

The 505 is unique among the SP. I have all but the 303 and 606. I love the 505. I think you can work quickly on it once you spend some hours with it.
The buttons are clicky which is not great but mine work perfectly. It is def not like working on the 202/404 at all. I can work on my 404SX almost with my eyes closed and very fast. The advantages of the 505 make up for it though for sure- the sequencer with 4 tracks and muting, pattern bpm memory, pitching function, wav editing, visual feedback on fx and delete assignments. In any case it sounds great and has crazy headroom when compared to my 404SX. Once you get in to the 505 "headspace" it flows and you can get your ideas going quickly. I do find hunting for active pads a little annoying though- no biggie. Also the footswitch jack is useful and def the MIDI i/o.

I ordered a rechargeable battery for it and other things- it is on it's way in the mail. very light and def portable in a backpack. I am sitting on a mountain right now with my battery powered 404SX, I love being able to go places and work- if you get a battery you can do same w 505 or most any other gear. I think I am going to sort a way to velcro or attach it to the bottom of the 505 so it tilts the 505 towards me a little and also keeps the two together.
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=13890&hilit=battery

Video showing wav editor speed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5Fw1N-FW_Y

FWIW a track done all on the 505:
https://soundcloud.com/clifford-novey/t ... e-big-beat

I have both 303 and 505. The 303 has more punchy sound than the 505.
The workflow on the 505 is less immediate than the one on the 303. As for the 606, this machine it is conceived more to work on studio, to look at the screen more than push buttons (read: when cutting/triming samples and using fx)

Thanks for all the replies and especially the video OM! Compared to the MPC2000XL it's way faster with showing the .wav file. Feeling like we're going into the right direction untill making a decision (I'll probably only sell the MPC and just get the 505 and save some money).

Is there anything I SHOULD know about it? Sorry for all those questions, but I've switched from quite some samplers and I'm just trying to find the perfect one. As for the clicky buttons - I couldn't be too bothered by the clicky buttons, my MPC has that aswell so I'm used to it.

I think the 505 might be the one sampler that suits me perfectly: (Sort of) An SP303 with 16 pads, a better sequencer, more effects and more memory (better for live shows if I'm ever going to do those haha) and fairly portable.

Though this pops up another 2 questions: According to ellaguru's post, can I conclude that the 505 is still pretty much hands on, like doing things by ear, yet the screen does definatly has an use? And is the sequencer of the 505 similar to the MPC's sequencer? No need for mute groups, we can use the Isolator for that.

Cheers!

You are forced to use the screen- I think trying to adjust start/end like on 404 etc would not work. Def more screen oriented than all but the 606.

I have a list of things that struck me having used 404SX as my main:
- cannot browse banks while resampling
- have to re-press "pad bank" after every change- hard to search for sounds
- micro edit can not play/audition the events in the list
- auto rec leaves gaps
- editing samples- forced to use screen/wav editor, no mark button
- cannot audition pads in delete mode
- gate/loop settings in sub menus, also no way to set default play setting

So this is a list of gripes sort of but it is really biased and exclusive of the overwhelming positive things about the 505, just thought I would share what I scratched out on paper the first day or so after I got my 505. Love it though, and the tracks/mute groups are rad actually and have dedicated buttons. You can also specify whether a pattern recalls how they are muted or not which is actually really helpful once sequencing.

C

505 is my main machine.

To clear a couple things up. When Using auto record I set threshold to lowest volume, never had gaps in recording. If you want the hands on approach I advise getting your samples recorded properly the first time so you don't have to use wav editor to set your end points. Use record like the mark button in other SPs.

The delete button may not let you preview sounds, but it's a good way to stop all the pads playing. As soon as you hit the delete button all sounds stop playing. Kinda like hitting the cancel button twice on the 303/404.

The smaller SM card you use the faster the machine. Using mono samples improves processing speed too.

If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

Ah smaller card, will try that. I use delete to stop pads playing too. I use lowest threshold on auto record, will try smaller card, internal memory and see what happens. Not a big deal for me in any event.
C

I have an SP 505 I'm trying to sell for $200.00. Message me if your interested.