NEW SP-404 SX

[hurlingdervish]

Is the resampling process really improved? you all know this disgusting clicks and pops at the end of a sample... especially with the subs

this is not an sp problem

its called zero-crossings. its common even for fruityloops to have this problem


when the end of the wave doesn't hit the zero crossing it creates a click

[wax inspektor]

... naw really?!

Ever played a sub bass on gate before resampling? No clicks at all man... and I doubt that I hit the 0-point every time.
Even if you resample some shit and let it fade out for seconds, there will be those crappy clicks... I just thought a linear wave sampler could... ah forget it... Some simple attack and decay settings for a sample would be awesome on the 404!!!
1.start/end/level
2. hold 'function" and use CTRL1 for attack and CTRL2 for decay...
3. *dreamin*

[hurlingdervish]

... naw really?!

Ever played a sub bass on gate before resampling? No clicks at all man...

ive heard it many a time and i am 90 percent sure thats because its an effect and not sampled yet

Even if you resample some shit and let it fade out for seconds, there will be those crappy clicks... I just thought a linear wave sampler could... ah forget it... Some simple attack and decay settings for a sample would be awesome on the 404!!!
1.start/end/level
2. hold 'function" and use CTRL1 for attack and CTRL2 for decay...
3. *dreamin*

resample with something with some sort of volume knob and fade the knob out
sometimes i roll all three knobs of the isolator haha

[kel]

hey HD i ran into alan watts this morning and i asked him what he thought about the 404SX's 'linear sampling'... here's what he said:

http://www.box.net/shared/m7gor5vavb

[wax inspektor]

resample with something with some sort of volume knob and fade the knob out
sometimes i roll all three knobs of the isolator haha

Subsonic is cool for fades... and u need one ctrl knob only.
...but it takes a couple of takes to get a satisfying result...

[Nothingless1987]

ADSR settings, or just attack and delay really would be great.

[Jim Y]

A problem I know. Even if the machine could automatically trim to the nearest zero-xing (Most software DAWs can), that can still be hard with stereo - when will both channels be at zero in the same place near the edit?

The answer is auto fade - Roland allowed this on the VS recorders. The fade only has to be a few milliseconds duration and it won't be heard as a fade - it's too fast.

Thing is, if you don't permanently apply the trim, the unwanted audio still exists before and after, then the machine could "cross-fade loop" using a bit of the unwanted audio to xfade in and out of the ends you have set. Result is glitch free looping without changing the timing you wanted. Shame the 404 can't do it.

Some sounds don't like to loop such as droning engine noise. I find if you cut it in the middle, swap the halves about, crossfade them together at the join and bounce then to make a new sample and then it will loop much more naturally. Easy to do on a software DAW but I can't think how to on a 404 - probably some genius that can do it though

Jim

[Les Braun]

1.start/end/level
2. hold 'function" and use CTRL1 for attack, CTRL2 for decay and CTRL3 for porta

fixed
not sure if it's called porta, but it gives kind of a slurring transition from one sample to another...if that's even possible

[PHeMoX]

Yeah, that's Porta indeed. The MV has this too, quite amazing for those wobbling and lose melody type bass lines or sample transitions.

Also, the (non-)zero crossing issue is a thing all samplers have to deal with, both software and hardware.

But in many cases you'll either purposefully make a sound fade out at the end by ADSR or chop where the sound stops.

For continuous sound streams (loops), there's not much of a one-fixes-all solution.

Not even the Auto Zero-Crossing on DAWs (or on the MV8800) will be able to always fix that. It depends on the continuous nature of the FX used a lot.

Some FX sort of blur the sound waves so you won't notice, but usually there's still a transition that's off.

DAWs are getting more clever at fixing this and auto zero-crossing on the MV works great for getting rid of pops and click for most types of samples... but there's still some stuff that won't be easily fixed.

[keesj]

The tech support guys over at Roland did an analysis of the SP-404SX and Roland send me over the summary report. It might be a bit biased because it was basically done by Roland itself, but I thought I should share it with you guys anyway because it might contain some stuff you didn't know yet.

SOUND QUALITY IS AWESOME
Best sounding SP to date. Also note that the realtime timestretch can speed up or slow down samples with a wider BPM range then ever before.

NEW, EASIER BACKUP SAVE/LOAD ALLOWS THE USER TO EASILY ACCESS 1,440 SAMPLES
Unfortunately, most people never took advantage of the SP-404 Classic's backup functionality. Since restoring samples from one of the SP's 12 backup slots takes less than a minute, you might as well think of backup loading like project switching.

(12 samples x 10 banks) x 12 backups = 1,440 samples per card

With the included card, that's an average of 4 seconds per sample. A 32 GB SDHC card means each of those 1,440 samples can be approximately two minutes long. One could conceivably use an SP-404SX to play back their entire iTunes library... in better than iTunes quality.

GREAT BUILT-IN DEMO SOUNDS/PATTERNS
Mike Acosta programmed some really cool loops, raw samples, and patterns into the SP-404SX. Banks A-H are protected, so people can't easily erase them.

SAMPLES CAN BE PAUSED
This is actually a really, really cool feature, and I hope Roland owns a patent on it. If one uses the SP-404SX as a backing track player or wants to broadcast long ambient samples, unlike *all other samplers*, samples can be paused, and therefore, retriggered from somewhere other than the beginning. Note that if samples are set to "Gate" (turn off when releasing the pad), if you pause a sample or samples, restarting them behaves as if Gate were disabled.

Because it's easy to play multiple samples or patterns across multiple banks, there's a new feature that stops all samples/patterns: Quickly press CANCEL four times.

LOTS OF NEW SHORTCUTS AND UI IMPROVEMENTS
Too many to list here, but even though the front panel is nearly identical, workflow has been drastically improved over previous SPs. It's much easier to use, and the manual is WAY better. You can also change effects with the pads like on the SP-555!

WAVE CONVERTER SOFTWARE WORKS GREAT
The SP-404SX includes software that converts .WAV files to SP format. Actually, it's more of a script generator, because nothing *really* gets converted. Unlike the conversion software for our other units, there is no utility that converts from SP to WAV, as the files are already WAV. If you want to transfer SP samples to your computer, simply find them on the card and drag them to the desktop. All samples are clearly labeled.

POTENTIAL USE IN WIDER MARKETS
BANDS-- The SP-404SX is perfect for playing backing tracks, ambient intros before a set, or seques between songs.
VOCALISTS--Can trigger long, backing vocal parts if the rest of the band can't sing. Because the SP-404SX can timestretch audio, turning the CTRL 1 knob means the vocals' tempo can be adjusted in real time.
RADIO STATIONS--The same machine that triggers stingers and sound effects can now trigger entire music beds, commercial spots, or political speeches. And because samples can be paused, the board op doesn't have to worry about always returning to the beginning of the file.
THEATRES/PLAYHOUSES--Plays music cues or voiceovers with instant start. Because samples' tempo can be adjusted in real time, said cues can be sped up or slowed down to match the action onstage.
HOTELS/RESTAURANTS/MALLS--Entire three-hour-long setlists can be set to loop indefinitely for broadcasting holiday music. And now the setlist can be paused, so it doesn't always start with "Jingle Bell Rock". More reliable and better sounding than an iPod.
V-DRUMMERS--The SP-404SX is the perfect way to get electronic drummers into sampling (that is, if they don't already have an SPD-S). We could even pre-build kits that automatically map to various V-Drum brains.

[hurlingdervish]

samples can be paused??? say what??

[timfromtexas]

Function>tap tempo.... From what I've seen it's mike patterns can be paused... But if you have a pattern on a pad............ I haven't tried Messing with loops going at the same time. I use the sequencer but I'm sure it work for the " looptroop" heh

[7th CITY]

? for who ever has it....did not see this is in manual. this is more of a big hope for me!!! you know how you can switch patterns really fast by holding down the SUB PAD and pressing a different pattern pad? well i am hoping that when you are making patterns that you can just hold the sub pad down and press different pads, so that they switch right then...(monotriggering)...i doubt it, but can you check for me? lol

i know it is for "rapped repeat" but that was more for individual samples...fingers crossed!

[timfromtexas]

the pause pad pauses everything when not in the sequencer... i tried selecting one pad while other randomness was playing and couldnt get it to pause just one sound... its a full on pause button not a track mute...

[drewzle]

LOTS OF NEW SHORTCUTS AND UI IMPROVEMENTS
You can also change effects with the pads like on the SP-555!

anyone want to explain this to me?

i change MFX with the pads all the time on my original SP-404