sp-303 vs sp-404 sound comparison; 'sample grade weirdness'!

mostblunted · Post by **mostblunted** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 3:21 pm

Now here is something for you...
I DON'T GET THIS.
Let me explain what I don't get:
The sampling mode 'lo-fi' on the 404 (which we found out uses the same
sampling rate as the mode 'long' on the sp-303, sounds a lot like the 'lo-fi' mode
on the sp-303.

sp-303 specs:
normal: 44 KHZ
long: 22 KHZ
lo-fi: 10 KHZ

sp-404 specs:
normal: 44 KHZ
lo-fi: 22 KHZ

So why does the sp-404 lo-fi sound like the sp-303 lo-fi?
Here is a sound example, a simple loop, played on both machines in the following order

1. sp-404 normal
2. sp-303 normal
3. sp-404 lo-fi
4. sp-303 long
5. sp-404 lo-fi
6. sp-303 lo-fi

http://www.zshare.net/audio/7156866fb02201/

You hear the sp-404 lo-fi twice to compare it to both, the sp-303 long and lo-fi sampling grades.

Someone explain this to me. The 22 KHZ on the 404 and the 10 KHZ on the 303 sound nearly the same, while the 22 KHZ on the 303 sound way different.

DISCUSS!

Olby · Post by **Olby** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 3:53 pm

well I guess the manual of 404 has a mistake in it. otherwise i dont see why it should be like this. 505 long sounds the same as on the 303 by the way. can I ask you why you need these comparisons anyway?

balazs · Post by **balazs** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 4:01 pm

sp-404 specs:
normal: 44 KHZ
lo-fi: 22 KHZ

Are you sure about 22khz for 404 lofi? I dont think the manual gives that info.

btw- the 404 lofi sounds kinda heavy- are you talking about lofi record mode or lofi effect?

mostblunted · Post by **mostblunted** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 4:08 pm

juxt wrote:
sp-404 specs:
normal: 44 KHZ
lo-fi: 22 KHZ

Are you sure about 22khz for 404 lofi? I dont think the manual gives that info.

btw- the 404 lofi sounds kinda heavy- are you talking about lofi record mode or lofi effect?

I'm talking bout' the lo-fi sampling grade. The sample button.

And I'm not sure, but in the manual it says that you have double recording time when sampling in lo-fi on the sp-404, that means you cut the sample rate in have, which then is 22 KHZ.

And why I'm doing this? I'm always curious in sound differences.

brettweldele · Post by **brettweldele** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 6:16 pm

thanks for doing this. now we need a 202/303/404 comparison

I honestly don't hear any difference between normal and long on your 303 example. I chopped the sample up and ran the separate machines together just to be sure. and the 2 Lofi modes sound very similar.

it's funny. Boss is very specific on the sampling stats on the 303, but are not at all on the 404. there's no sampling spec for lofi i could find anywhere when i went searching after i got the machine. i came to the same conclusion based off that same statement. it must be 22 khz, right?

Dj Frantic · Post by **Dj Frantic** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 8:15 pm

Ive looked into this in the past. The sampling rate of lofi on the 404 is 22khz. The reason you hear all that hi end noise is because you get more artifacts that you wouldnt notice b4 when u record at a lower samplerate with the 404s more advanced converters. Use the filter and assign the cutoff knob to about 3o'clock after you sample with it and you will see it doesnt sound that lofi. U get the the 22khz sound. its pretty fresh

Olby · Post by **Olby** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 11:42 pm

i just poked around with my mpc. and when I use the bit convert function and converted sound from 44 to 10khz it gave the same sound as the 303's LOFI and if the 404's LOFI sounds the same as 303's then we camed to conclusion that 303's lofi and 404's lofi use the same sampling frequency. because 404 has 44khz ad/da converters so they use same effect as the mpc's bit converter from 44khz down to 10khz which brings us back to my previous conclusion.

soopa · Post by **soopa** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:31 am

i actually like the 404's sound a lot better in those snippets, it sounds more powerful as the 303 sounds more dull honestly

Euclid Ov Oåklånd · Post by **Euclid Ov Oåklånd** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 1:38 am

I like the 303 myself, the 404 sounds a little too sharp for my ear. I think the 303 at normal sample rate sounds the best. But that's why I have a 303, I made all these comparisons right after the 404 came out and I still like the 303's sound a little better, but I like the effects on the 404. I wonder if it would be possible to put the 404's effect chip in my 303.

Dr. Tad Winslow · Post by **Dr. Tad Winslow** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 2:39 pm

brettweldele wrote:thanks for doing this. now we need a 202/303/404 comparison

Yo I don't have a 303, but I'm working on a 202, 404, Zoom sampletrack comparission, I'll post it up sometime this week for sure.

brettweldele · Post by **brettweldele** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 3:33 pm

Dr. Tad Winslow wrote:
brettweldele wrote:thanks for doing this. now we need a 202/303/404 comparison

Yo I don't have a 303, but I'm working on a 202, 404, Zoom sampletrack comparission, I'll post it up sometime this week for sure.

that would be great! thanks very much for doing this.
could you also post an example of the time stretch in the 202 and Sampletrak in action?