Known Flaws of the Sp404MK2

[TGN]

I don't have a mk2 so someone will have to back this up/confirm if it was fixed, but I read somewhere in here that there's a noticeable lag when you finish recording a sample (not sure about resampling). Like 3 seconds long, which is a lot longer than a 404SX. I can't remember if it cuts the sound or not but it seems pretty disruptive if it's really that bad...

This happened to me a few times, when i used the skipback-function, but not always. It was about 1 second. No prob for me.

[SP-USER]

It is "an absolute abomination in interface design" as a member here rightly pointed out

Despite being menu based, it still would be a nice little box if they fixed such abominations, but even if they do, I personally still prefer the interface of the SP-555, it's way more roomy and purposeful. I will be forever grateful to the LED-Based 404 for 'hooking' me on to the SP line, but the MKII had the opposite effect cause it it was like going from sheer enjoyment to sheer, hair-pulling frustration!

I reckon eBay will be absolutely flooded with second-hand MKIIs just months after Christmas this year if they don't fix these abominations. They cannot fix the physical fuck-ups but they sure as hell can fix the software interface design (and for the sake of everyone that owns one, I hope they do so as quickly as possible). It's scary how bad it is, I don't know how those design decisions ever got the green light, sincerely I don't.

Believe it or not I HATE trashing Roland for their efforts, and one of the reasons I hate it is because real people are behind it and it sounds as if I'm hating on them when really I'm not. I'm sure they're all nice, super-cool people, but they don't seem to understand what it was that people liked about the LED line of SPs, and that mainly it is because designing around an LED display forces better design because there are no menus to help you out of poor interface design decisions.

There's a reason those LED display based devices are always nicer to use, and this is true regardless of whether we're talking about Korg, Roland or Yamaha. Show me an LED-based device from any of those companies and I will show you a unit that is very likely a joy to use!

These companies simply will not remove themselves from this obsession they have with giving everything a menu and making it too fucking small. Both of these obsessions are a hinderance to enjoyment and that's all there is to it, there is no getting away from that!

- Ignore these basic principles and you end up with the SP-404MKII.
- Embrace these basic principles and you end up with the SP-555.

And before anyone jumps down my throat again, I'm actually quite a Roland evangelist myself, I like Roland, and just to prove to y'all how much I like Roland I just bought a brand new Roland A-49 so that I can MIDI it up to the SP-555 and use it as a sort of Digital Mellotron (cause yes, that's another beauty of a non-crippled device, because the SP-555 is also perfectly viable as a 12-voice polyphonic (with mono samples), 6-voice polyphonic (with stereo samples), fully chromatic sampler!!!

Another reason I bought the Roland A-49 is because for once, it is actually the best choice on the market. It's the only full-sized 49-Key MIDI keyboard that has a Full-Sized MIDI DIN and also allows you to set all of the parameters directly on the controller without needing to involve a computer.

Well done, Roland, that's how it should be!!!

I even bought two new MIDI cables, I could have got some for a couple of quid each but instead I chose to pay way more for the Roland-branded MIDI cables, so you see I really do love Roland, I just wish they'd quit the 'Menu' and 'Miniaturaisation' bullshit because neither are conductive to enjoyment and never will be!

They even totally destroyed the look of the new Juno by sticking a modern display on it instead of using a much more fitting LED display. What a shame, I would have been interested in that if it were not for the out of place display they stuck on it. So again, it has cost Roland more money to do it wrong that it would have cost them to do it right, and that in turn is costing them sales!

[Danswift]

SP-User wrote

SP-555.....


SP-USER wrote

SP-555....


SP-USER wrote

SP-555 ....


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[ellaguru]

The SP-404MKII is an absolute abomination in design, so to compare that thing to the SP-555 is well and truly beyond the threshold of hysterical.

sorry but, i disagree
(i say sorry but because it is not to be said:) )
i think that one of the most convenient thing of this new 404 is the design: the new screen approach give way more ease to compose/writing tracks; and you still have the immediacy of the in your face old sps workflow, if you want; so this new machine combine sp606/505/808 with 202/303/404 because of those facts.
ps
plus, recently, you have also the TR mode wich, with the 808/909 etc drum machine, include also the es1 similar approach:)
ps2
personally speaking, if they put a real decent midi (shame since years for Roland SPs line), i will think about to buy it

[TGN]

i think that one of the most convenient thing of this new 404 is the design: the new screen approach give way more ease to compose/writing tracks; and you still have the immediacy of the in your face old sps workflow, if you want; so this new machine combine sp606/505/808 with 202/303/404 because of those facts.
ps
plus, recently, you have also the TR mode wich, with the 808/909 etc drum machine, include also the es1 similar approach:)

Word!
Btw.: you can control the efx via midi-ccs on all 4 busses if you want...

[SP-USER]

Well as long as you're both happy and it inspires you, that's the main thing!
Didn't work for me, and the more I used it the more I got frustrated with it.

I was glad to see the back of it but at the same time saddened I even felt that way

[SP-USER]

I've edited my post above because saying I hated it felt too extreme, cause I didn't hate it and in fact quite liked it, but as you can see from the edit, it just frustrated the hell out of me.

So what I'm trying to say is would I like it if they fixed the problems?
Yes, of course I would.

Would I buy it if they fixed the problems?
No, but only because the SP-555 exists.

[ellaguru]

Word!
Btw.: you can control the efx via midi-ccs on all 4 busses if you want...

thanks
but i would like to see a 404mk2 with a good midi out, in order to use it also as a cool sequencer
as far as i know it seems that it's like on 606/505...or am i wrong?

[kel]

One flaw for me is short battery life. I use energizer max AAs and they’re gone in about 2 and a half hours, even with turned off screensaver and low pad light.

[TGN]

One flaw for me is short battery life. I use energizer max AAs and they’re gone in about 2 and a half hours, even with turned off screensaver and low pad light.

Hey kel, i bought a powerbank and this cable:
https://www.songbirdfx.com/products/birdcord6v/
There are similar cables from ripcord.

Works like a charm, hours of different sampler-sessions with one time charged powerbank.

[LORD BEATJITZU]

Don't sleep the MK2 is a beast! There's flaws with every machine. You want to chop og number style on the MK2 there's a secret button combo to not have the wave form and you can chop by numbers. There's so many nice features on the MK2 you just have to spend time with the machine and let it unveil its secrets to you just like all the other SP's.

[SLEEPS NUMB]

One flaw for me is short battery life. I use energizer max AAs and they’re gone in about 2 and a half hours, even with turned off screensaver and low pad light.

Hey kel, i bought a powerbank and this cable:
https://www.songbirdfx.com/products/birdcord6v/
There are similar cables from ripcord.

Works like a charm, hours of different sampler-sessions with one time charged powerbank.

This is what I use. I get like 20 hours out of my power bank.

Anker 535 Power Bank 20,000 mAh

[The Police]

Small power banks way better than aa’s. I have a few and use them frequently for meet up sessions at random places that don’t readily have power.

[TGN]

Small power banks way better than aa’s. I have a few and use them frequently for meet up sessions at random places that don’t readily have power.

Yeah, me, too. In summer at the lake...or when i just take the underground from one end of the city to the other end = half an hour of sp-time.

Another flaw of mine:

I have Filter+drive (hpf) on bus 1. When i choose filter+drive on bus 2, too, it is high pass filter, too. When i change it to low pass, the filter of bus 1 changes, too. I can change other parameters individually. Think it's a software bug.
Anybody else got this, too?