First I have both. The sp808 I bought brand new when it first came out, used it for a couple of years then sadly sold it.

Flash forward today, I recently picked up both the sp808 and the sp606. I used the sp606 for about 2 weeks and it started to grow on me. But for precise sampling, I didn't like that it goes to a minimum 16 samples as you edit the start and end points. But its close enough. If you are really tight with rhythm than no problem. I also at first didn't like the pads on the sp606 and I still wish they were a lil more sensitive. But after awhile of playing I got used to them and started to like them.

After playing the sp606 for two weeks I cranked up the sp808 and fell in love with it all over again. Soundwise the sp808 is just plain better, they both as with all Roland products have a flatness to it. But the sp808 is just a touch warmer sounding than the sp606. The sampling on the sp808 is waay more precise plus it tells you what your bpm are while your editing. So for example if you know the bpm of a drum loop that you sample. You just set your input start lvl on the sp808, hit sample. After sampling you simply goto the end point adjust the endpoint until the bpm is what it should be. The other nice thing about this feature is pad sounds or any weird ambient sound that its hard to tell what the bpm are. You just find a start point you like and then set the endpoint to a bpm you want. Try it if it sounds to fast or slow then you can time stretch which is a feature I did not find on the sp606.

So the sonic capabilities of the sp808 surpass the sp606 by miles. I also like the fx on the sp808 better than that of the sp606. However the filter and isolator on the sp606 do sound better than that of the sp808. Also the sp606 is quieter than the sp808 but really the slight whine of the zip drive does not really bother me.

So sadly I will be selling off the sp606 mainly as I don't want a huge amount of gear here in my bedroom studio and I still want to add an analog mini synth. I hope some of you can chip in , if I am wrong about the sp606 sampling and editing abilities.

the 808 always intrigued me, but the lack of a real sequencer always stopped me to buy it. i don't say that the 606 sequencer is incredible, but it's at least more useful. saying that, the lack of notes midied out on the 606 makes me nervous; so it has a sequencer, but just for sync/start/stop...on the sp505 you can midi out 4 different tracks simultaneously and the sample editing it's a bit better on it (you can copy many samples on the clipborad, and just one one the 606 (!!!))...the microedit it's the same, except that on the 505 you can listen what you're doing and not on the 606;the mute group it's a cool feature on the 606...i forget to say that the 606 was originally conceived to work with a pc, but roland left to others the way to do it better (read:NI maschine) after some years of non development of this sampler...

coming right from the303 to 404 og then 606, i would compare the sound between them like this,


sp 303 - pencil

sp 404 og - pen

sp 606 - chalk.

the 303 has a grity grainy rich sound that you wont apreciate completly untill you sample something into it. kind of reminds me of a soundblaster 16 style of crunch. good soundcard! but its still got its own grain that makes it the classic sounding sp. the 505 is the closest you can get to a 303 sound. but still not the same.


the sp 404 og has the fattest sound in the world and once you figure out the ins and outs of every feature and invent your own. you are well on your way to sp (sound) mastery.

the 606 frequency range did not disapoint me in the least. the frequency response is alot like that of a tape. especially in long mode. but beware resampling in long mode, because doesnt sound good if you resample long to long, try long + fx > hifi. the lofi is called long because it's like any other sp lofi , it reminds me of the budget time tracks MT on boss recorders, just a bad sound unless you are prepared to use it correctly.

i ruined an entire record by forgetting the long setting on, and after a couple bouncing and deleting the original sample i was stuck with a tinny and garbegy sounding bounce of what was once a nice sounding lofi sound.

808 seems like roland wasnt shure if they wanted a plastic mc 505 or mc 909 without groove patches. moving parts are disapointing. i think it was a bad proprietary phase in computer trend development, like scsi and jazz.

I agree the sp808 would be awesome if you could get rid of the Zip drive. Be nice to be on a card tech or even be able to have a hard drive.

Sequencing I would'nt use either sequencer. I think the sequencer on the sp808 is the worst, I haven't tried the 606. Back when I first had the 808 I had the mc505 and its sequencer was great . Now I use FLStudio, so I don't need the sequencing, but I do like having sampling and sample processing which the 808 does very well.

I let my buddy hear this awesome sound that I sampled originally on the 606 but then resampled over on the 808 and then timestretched into this very deep groove.

I am trying to convince myself to keep the 606 but while it looks nice sitting on my desk I find myself constantly using the 808. I looked at the 404 I just didn't see the editing I was looking for.