i use a mpc2000xl , mircokorg and logic studio, got some spare cash and have seen a boss 303 on ebay , i like its small size and just the fun of learnin a new machine and hopefully make me make beats in a different way. or am i wasting money, am pretty sure i can do everything the 303 will do with my equipment already but am interested as this may allow me to make beats on the move as i travel between the uk and ireland. any advice would be nice.

it's portable in the sense it is small, but it still requires wall-power. the sp-404 can be battery powered

Alias of Anticon uses an MPC but still uses his SP-303 to process drums (through the famous Vinyl Sim effect), so there's definitely a spot for the box in your rig/work-flow

i guess you just gotta figure out if it's worth the price for the roles you envision it fulfilling

welcome to the boards sertone... ah man you didn't tell em i sent ya, i was hoping to win the madlib exapsion pack j/k just like drewzie already said... i personally like both and if i had the funds i 'd get both... the processing on the 404 is faster, but that's not a problem for me, i can always take a bong hit while waitng... more fx, pads & polyphony on the 404, but i like the sound & the pads of the 303... but yeah if your taking that train ride then the 404 is nice for that situation... check out the battle thread on here and hear the samples these katz flip and the music section too...peace..

my bad dude, shouts to blast1 for the link up to the boards!

Welcome SertOne, I'd say the 404 would be better for the travel but I also like the pads and sound of the 303.

do the 303 pads feel better than the 555 ?

if i was in your situation i would purchase one of those small digital recorders from edirol or zoom and capture sounds to bring back to the studio and tweak away! but seeing that you want to make beats on the road the 404 is nice. Alesis also has some machines that are interesting.

when i say on the road, i dont mean like busses or trains, talkin mostly bout hotel room, guest rooms or friends house, so power supplies arent a problem. plus he 404 is around $100 more.

I will sell you my 303 if you want to buy it. I got the box and book for it. Mine just collects dust.

a way to look at it is like this: the mpc you have will probably let you do anything you can think of, eventually. as in, if you scroll thru this or that screen, hit window, change this, blah blah. great machines, totally great! but yeah, loooots of clicking. that's how i find my 1000, at least.

the advantage of the 303 / 404 set up is that its direct. simpler machine, faster workflow. basically NO screens. whack-whack-chop! hi-YA!

i travel (biz) w/ the koassilator, just to keep doing stuff while moving. but i would totally consider bringing the 404 if i wasn't paranoid about it getting gripped!

how much and would u post to the uk?

email me [email protected] or www.myspace.com/sertone

Thats a matter of opinion but I would say hell ya. 303 has the best pads in the entire series in my opinion.

what up sert-

like i said on the st boards already, i used to own a 303, now rocking a 404.
i loved the 303 but the 404's quick processing time is really convenient. sometime waiting for samples to delete or swap pads on the 303 can break your flow a little bit...

aka wig master

Damn, is the 404 really that much faster 'cause that sounds pretty nice. I guess I don't notice how slow the 303 can be since I surf the net and watch movies when I use it.

Probally wouldnt be worth it because of shipping.