So i saved up some cash and ive been trying to decide what to add to my small little gear collection. Recently ive just been using ableton live with a pad controller to make music but ive been looking into getting a Maschine or SP404 which ive only heard about really recently but it looks pretty interesting.

How versatile is the SP404? Can you actually make whole beats just using the 404 and samples? I like the fact that its portable whereas the maschine has to be plugged up to a laptop at all times, but is the SP404 more for live performing or would it do well just for my purposes making sample based beats? I also like that its a standalone piece of hardware so i can kinda get away from being attached to a computer for a little.

I know the maschine probably can do a lot more, but I wanted to hear some other opinions on what you like and dont like about the SP404. I already have a midi pad to use with ableton so I feel like the maschine might just be more of the same right? Let me know what you think i should spend my money on. thanks

Try and get a sx.

Maschine is awesome, you can get beats made easily and chopping is quick too. Comes with a great bunch of sounds too.

404 own a sx is awesome too but its alot different, no visual wave forms so you be using your ears to to mark and adjust start and end points. If you read the manual its a piss easy device to learn, its however, really limited in terms of sequencing. However, this doesn't escape the fact if you head to the music produced by the members here are ridiculous. If anything I learnt the restrictions have bred some pretty crazy stuff that skews your way of making music.

They're so different though, its hard to argue which is better. However, if you're comfortable with ableton Maschine would be a great addition you hardly have to look at the screen as you be using the controller 90% of the time but again is tied to the laptop

404 is awesome as well, you can produce sampl base music but it be different but not difficult to learn but you may be frustrated after tasting ableton to be so restricted in what you can do with it.

What does the SX have over the regular version? Cuz its definitely a lot pricier. Idk if it makes a difference but im looking to make that kind of glitch hop type aesthetic, I remember hearing that Flying Lotus, Teebs, Madlib, and others use the SP404, and theyre all inspiring the kind of music im trying to make.
Sounds like the SP is kind of limited, but I wouldn't mind messing around and seeing what i could do with it. You think Id be able to just use the midi pad and ableton to do whatever I cant do with the SP and use the SP to do the rest?
And idk if this is asking a lot or not, but itd be sick if someone could walk me through the steps they usually take while theyre making a beat with the SP. Not super detailed or anything, just so i can get a idea of the process vs using ableton or something.

edit: just went through the music section and im digging a lot of the beats i listened to, im kinda starting to lean towards the sp over the maschine... damn i wish i was rich lol

404sx is great for passing samples back and forth to ableton live and I like the way that you can mark only the end point now. The original 404 and 303 have a nice funky sound to the a/d conversion which a lot of people including myself enjoy. That being said I actually like the super crispy 404sx sound and the reverb is better sounding to my ear.

Teebs uses Fruity Loops to make his music
FLying Lotus uses Ableton and analog synths to make his stuff

I do half and half, make stuff on Maschine then export loops to SX to add stuff on top and resample.

Or I do the standard sample stuff using the sx and make a beat like that.

The sp404 looks like a toy but is actually a beast. If you come from a computer sequencing background then its a WHOLE different ball game and I don't know if you will have the patience to make a beat on it but its amazing for making samples and getting lost in sound.

But making a whole track which you would compare to something from Ableton would be very difficult.

If you want a visual interface,the best sequencer and make a beat very precisly take maschine .
If you want the best effects, a magic grain, make raw beats and portability take sp.

(i have both and i think it's a very good combo)

maschine is kewl cuz it's limits are kinda infinite due to the fact its runin on daw, the only reason i dont fux with a maschine is cause i hate making music with a computer (at least in the creative process of a beat, cause ill bounce everything and mix shit up on audacity anyways) but thats just a matter of opinion and preferences.
the 404 is a good tool even tho there's no visual to it as many said above. But for some reasons i feel like it's limitations forces you to push your beats to the limit of these said limitations. i dont know if it makes sense to anybody but i feel like this about a lot of other piece of gear, the more its limited, the more i can easily put something good out of it...

If your already making beats with a controller and abelton live, I don't see the point in getting the machine, it's just a dedicated controller with worse software in my opinion. I'd go with the 404sx and get away from the computer until tracking out time, the sx is faster than the maschine because of its simplified workflow and lack of menus etc.

If you feel like you need to be detached from the computer i suggest going with the SP. I know how a computer can be and let me tell you the SP changed the way i approach samples , look at music for what i want to sample, and go about making songs. The pattern sequencer im not too fond of though, I much rather resample everything into a set of different patterns and variations then add drums

no offense man but you have no idea what youre talking about!

the maschine is a whole dimsension apart from the MPD and Ableton simply BECAUSE of its software. its the fastest chopping you will get and the pads are great

in regard to the OP - they are completely opposite beasts imo (i have both)

the maschine you can do everything and very quickly

the 404 is incredibly limited but like somebody said above those limitations bring out brilliant creativity.

if i were you i would get a maschine then pick up a 404 later on. you might be quite disappointed with the 404

anyone ive ever known personally whose used a maschine beats are wack

indeed

@op, i was using ableton for 2 years and then bought sp. if you wanna making music, get maschine. if you wanna making music and enjoy it at the same time, get sp dude.

i use maschine to make beats... im not gonna comment on whether theyre wack or not though lol

but you guys could all make really dope beats with the maschine... theyre just not using it right

do you say the same thing about the mpc ren? cause thats just akai's maschine

He's right guys. Get an SP-404.