It looks basically like an update of the 303/404, as if the MkII never existed. It can do all that the 303 lacks - Proper pitching! Piano key pitch! ADSR! Panning! Better reverb! Waits til a pattern ends before playing the next! Mute group! Copying of samples/patterns! Etc etc. But same old skool workflows and having to use your EARS. If I didn't have such an aversion to completely new stuff, I might go for it. Looks a bit menu dive-y tho. Manual is available here...

https://static.roland.com/assets/media/ ... ng01_W.pdf

yeaa ive been curious about this thing, looks more fun and portable than the mk2, which has been dusting for me anyway. maybe i have to trade in

the very very low sampling time stuck out to me too.

Pretty different than what most Sp users are used to considering all but the 202 have copious amounts of sample time. I think it looks like an awesome buddy for the last gen sps and for peeps that don't want to replace their OG,SX, 303 etc. with the MKII.

But happy they brought back the different sample rates, and lo-fi button.

+But real Pitch
+ Granular mode
+usb rechargeable
+ keyboard mode
+ASDR
+panning

Looks kinda menu divey
I am weird but i dont like how clean/different the new MKII style effects sound.

If i didnt already just get a 202,303,404OG,MKII it would be on my radar for sure. maybe i will replace the mkii with it tho. Since I mainly use my Mkii to do these things then bounce to last gen squad. Cant wait to hear what peeps do with it!

There's very little audible difference between 44.1 and 22khz (I always sample 'Long' on the 303, which is 22) and I also nearly always sample in mono anyway, as a hang-over from my previous samplers...so that's 12 seconds per sample for me, which is obviously an embarrassment of riches. That's over 9 and a half mins in total. Plus there's the sped up sampling trick, since it has proper pitching for going back down, if you need to squeeze extra time out of it.
The same old truism/cliche - such limitations cause you to think about what you're doing before you do it, or to come up with innovative work-arounds, which end up benefiting the music you make. Trust, blud.

Card storage would've been nice. Hate having to rely on a pooter for anything including storage/back-up.

I'ma stick with my 202/303 set-up for now. If the workflows or poor resolution pitching of the 202 get on my tits too much, and despite my aversion to new gear, I might go for it. Ticks the boxes!

However, no reviews I've seen say how it SOUNDS. If I feed it a phat drum break, will it stay phat...or end up phlat?

If anyone gets one, post up a review!

Imo, it's definitely a truer successor to the 303/404/SX than the MkII, despite the form factor. If it was vertical, all the moreso, lol. Who knows - maybe it was supposed to be an SP but they turned it horizontal and stuck it in an Aira box? lol. The SP-406.

That's a great point! lots of 5 seconds or less old head sampling tricks to bring back.

Plus I would always pair this thing with a second SP for best of both worlds.

Mainly using resample method the extra sample time allows me to be more cavalier when i am in creative mode. Plus I also always use long mode on 303, but record most things that arent drums on stereo.

Same for me really curious to hear how it sounds!

pretty tempting . Feel like it adds a whole new creative toolbox, maybe swap it out with the MKII some day since that's my least favorite haha

I just bought one, lol. Breaks my heart to sell the 303 and 202 (again!) but, as those of you who have followed my posts over the last 2 years know, easy speed-pitching is fundamental for me. This little box also fixes all the other productivity hurdles I had with the SPs too. I normally hate to buy modern stuff as I feel it lacks soul (not just as an abstract thing but in the sound as well, due to the lack of true electronics in the signal path these days)...but this is basically like an SP so it does at least still have the simple, non-fussy, not too detailed workflow that I prefer. Hopefully it SOUNDS GOOD! (Not hopeful!)

Doesn't arrive til the end of the month. Will post the results!

A really mighty machine for its size, Roland implemented a lot of useful functions. Reminds me a bit of the electribe S (ES-1) but it's way more powerful.
I like the possibility to change the sampling rate and mix up different audio qualities. And this step loop feature...The P6 seems to be very capable, got ADSR, Proper Envelopes...Like sleepynumb said, a good playmate for any sampler of the sp-line.
But i've got big hands, i'm afraid it could be too small for me.

But I am absolutely curious to see how you will find it, Run of the Hind....what is your current setup? A 202 and a 303?

Standard functions for a sampler, if you ask me, lol.


Just for the 808-style sequencer, maybe.


Do you mean once you've sampled something? I've seen/heard a couple of things written about doing that but I haven't found owt in the manual about it. AFAIK, if you change the sample rate of something, it changes speed, so if the p6 has a function for that then it might be fake sample-rate woo woo that it uses (just a bit xcrusher type thing), which would be disappointing but also typical for a modern device.
I might be getting the wrong end of the stick tho, and people just mean as you're sampling. Altho that's standard, init? All the SPs do that, for a kick off?
Actually, the sampling time changes when you change the sample rate, so it must be 'real' sample rate. Yay.


You know what they say. Big hands...


It was. Sent off the 303 today. Nearly changed my mind, ha ha. I do love it and quite like some of the stuff I was able to do on it, particularly before I had an external something doing speed-pitch, but ultimately, and as usual, the pitch thing as a hurdle was putting me off having a session. If I still had my Technics and vinyl, it wouldn't be so bad but only being able to sample off of pooter, it just stands in the way.
The P6 is simple, non-"arse-wipey" yet can do everything I expect a sampler to be able to do, and much more besides. However, I fully expect it to sound non-vibey and vanilla and for me to bum out on its lack of mojo and/or not gel with using it and sell it off within a month, lololololololol. And then buy another 303 in worse condition and for more than I just sold mine for, ROFLZ.

Yes, i'm talking about changing the sampling rate before sampling, of course.
As i know regarding the sp-line this feature ended with the 404OG, where you can set the sampling rate to 22kHz with the lofi-Button. All sp's after that use a software trick for this, i think.
Another great sampling machine with changeable sampling rate and bit depth is the yamaha su 700 which is totally underrated. Maybe you gonna try this machine before you buy a 303 again.

Didn't the SX do that too tho? Never had one but I would've thought so?

Edit: Just read the manuals. Looks like, indeed, the SX just crushes it for playback. For the OG, however, it is selected for sampling...BUT in the back of the manual it states only 44.1khz as the sampling freq, rather than listing all the different grades's freqs like in the 202/303 manual...altho the sampling time is doubled for lo-fi. Interesting...



That's what I feared with this. But it looks like it's simple enough to be OK. Don't like this "Raspberry Pi-ification" of music gear, like the MkII and modern MPCs, these days.



Ha! I have looked at those in the past...but then I found out... NO SPEED-TYPE PITCHING

Man I'd buy one if it had more sample time. 5sec limit per pad damn. No card storage/bank?? Kinda surprising.

Na, you can switch the pitch type of a sample on the su 700 from vinyl-like pitch to timestretch. And all (loop-) samples on the yellow pads are automatically synced to the bpm-speed, it's kinda like the modern warp-function in ableton.

Has the p-6 arrived yet?

Nope. Was given a delivery date range of 27th-3rd October. I see the place I got it from is now showing a date of 8th-10th Oct on the product page...so hopefully this is for a 2nd batch and not that my batch has been delayed!

Thomann have dropped their price by £20 to £169, to get people buying, because...you now have to wait 5-7 weeks for delivery from them! It appears Roland misjudged how popular this thing was going to be! Reckon it's gonna be the new SX! This will have to change its name to the P-6 Forums, lololololololol.

However, I'm not completely sampler-less til then as I can't really sell the 202. I bought it cheap-ish (£110) 'untested'...and the power connection is dodgy and I wouldn't be comfortable selling it on in this state. The seller was talking out of his arse tho, of course, as who hasn't got a 9v adaptor? He also said it had a card with it and I didn't check the picture and it turned out to be a 3.3v one, ha ha. I thought I got a steal! I was going to sell the card and have a free 202, ha ha ha. Nevermind. Despite it being next to bloody useless, owing to the lack of sequncer and the global pitch (and not even global like the MS-1 where you can at least vary the sample rate and match the pitch of what you're sampling), I'll get some rechargeable AAs and keep it. A 202 was my first sampler in '99 so it's worth it for the nostalgia, if nothing else. And I can give it to my son to get him started, ha ha.

Nah, I won't bother with that. I like to be a one-machine kinda guy where poss. I'll just keep it for mucking about with or give it to my son.

Everyone seems to be spunking about the variable sample rate thing but I didn't realise that it was such a rare feature. Most of the samplers I've ever had could do that.