NEW SP-404 SX

[timfromtexas]

yea at first i thought they were more sensitive.. they feel the same now.. not a huge deal for me... it would have been nice to have nicer pads but whatever

[7th CITY]

yeah the sound quality is better. and the stretch and the pitch seems to be better too. i said BETTER not great. coming from the 303 to this....yeah it brings me back to how i worked on the 555...FAST! tracking out is easy with the track muting. videossss on the way!

[timfromtexas]

FINALLY someone else jumping in... i never used the stretch thing but its dope... i kinda like it...

as far as the track mute thing depending on how large your patterns are the work around could be the pattern copy... copy the pattern as many elements as you have in the song then delete all but one sound from each pattern... put them back together on the computer... (you probably already thought of that but i think out loud on the computer)...
7th city i watched your 303 sample tricks a week ago to kinda remember what i was doing on the 404... i had seem them like a year ago too... good stuff and thanks..

post up in here when you figure out more stuff.. (if you dont mind)

[timfromtexas]

warning this is a rant for the sake of ranting... no question is being asked no answer is being searched for...

ugh.. i sold the 404 because i was basically using it as a recording device.. once i got my esx i pretty much stopped learning stuff on the 404... i like the visual readability of the esx vs the light up pads and quantize thing of the 404... i ended up getting the sx not on a whim as much as a "the new features are cool and i think it will be easier to put stuff together" kinda thing.. making songs, like full length songs on the esx is a breeze for me.. i am pulling out my hair over here just trying to get my feet wet with programming drums... im not ready for no quantize... its almost there kinda but not quite as good as i would like it to sound.. i know where on the board stuff sounds good on the esx but trying to crap all that stuff into negative space in the air on the 404 is driving me nuts... basic stuff sure.. ive got wack sounding loops that could be strung together for a long wack thing... buuuuhhh to a learning curve... i told myself no esx until i make something worthwhile on the 404... its gonna be a long winter..

[hurlingdervish]

warning this is a rant for the sake of ranting... no question is being asked no answer is being searched for...

ugh.. i sold the 404 because i was basically using it as a recording device.. once i got my esx i pretty much stopped learning stuff on the 404... i like the visual readability of the esx vs the light up pads and quantize thing of the 404... i ended up getting the sx not on a whim as much as a "the new features are cool and i think it will be easier to put stuff together" kinda thing.. making songs, like full length songs on the esx is a breeze for me.. i am pulling out my hair over here just trying to get my feet wet with programming drums... im not ready for no quantize... its almost there kinda but not quite as good as i would like it to sound.. i know where on the board stuff sounds good on the esx but trying to crap all that stuff into negative space in the air on the 404 is driving me nuts... basic stuff sure.. ive got wack sounding loops that could be strung together for a long wack thing... buuuuhhh to a learning curve... i told myself no esx until i make something worthwhile on the 404... its gonna be a long winter..

try using groups of drum hits instead of just a kick a snare and a hat

so one pad is like

kick hihat hihat hihat
then the next one is like snare hi hat hi hat
and other one snare hihat kick

its much easier to get a groove on the SP's that way

[timfromtexas]

indeed... i kinda was sorting through that last night.. i was working with a single bass, a bass with another tap, and then just a snare, and high hat... i shoulda chopped chunkier..

thanks for the words though for sure..

[jbl]

you know what's funny is that the new sx 404 sells for cheaper than the original here in Japan. how the hell do sell the old stock now? haha

[mosp]

Hey,
i got my sp 404 sx today. i also tested the sp 404 but i cant remeber , so i hope you can help me.
its about the mark button .
When i hit the mark button while playing one time , and play the sample again it will start at the marked point . Now when i hit the mark button again it wont only remove the mark and keep on playing , the sample starts from the start with pushing mark .
was it on the old sp the same ?
i dont like the feature , its not good for "live marking"

i hope you understand my question , my english is bad sorry.

bye

[Euclid Ov Oåklånd]

I believe it is the same on the regular 404, the 303 will unmark at the same place in the sample and continue to play so you can live loop shit, check the video I just posted in the SP-forum mixtape thread you'll see it when I remove the mark points on my sample.

[hurlingdervish]

i love the way marking works...hit mark rapidly to the beat on a looped longer sample and you get some crazy rhythms

[DREWDANK]

what about like multi patterns at once?

[timfromtexas]

if youre asking if you can play multiple patterns at once no...

the the same ol 404 but with pattern copy and paste and sample copy and paste..
a few other kinda neat shortcuts and functions but overall the same box

oh and large enough storage possibilities to host a 4 day music festival from a single 404... i installed the sx in my computer to the motherboard to use as a hard drive.. shits sweet... i can add vinyl sim to all my word documents now but i wont be using compression on ANY of my photos..

on a serious note i really like the new features on the sx.. it sounds like such a small amount of difference but its making the 404 a lot better for me.. chopping is easier for me with the copy function (which is super fast unless you have a huge chunk of sample).. and being able to copy patterns with a simple command is awesome.. those copys are instant i dont even think the 404 "thinks" when you paste. its just bloop-bleep.. if you sold one a long time ago and wanted a new 404 and got the sx you would love it... if you sold your 404 saved money and bought the sx you would think both the sx and myself were stupid...

[DREWDANK]

haha dope dope they should have a new firmware come out that matches the sx for regular 404 useres like a pattern of buttons we can press so we can copy and paste!

[timfromtexas]

i edited my post with a little more serious info... if you can call it serious...

i agree.. its the same damn buttons... why cant the 404 just get the update? or pay for an update and a new faceplate or something... then again something is different inside the box because there is no internal memory... i almost wish i had kept my 404 long enough to compare the weight... it comes with a 1gig card which is dope in my opinion and i copied the folders that came on the card to my desktop that way if i ever sell it i have the samples... it warns you not to format the mem card or you wont be able to do the RESTORE FACTORY SETTINGS COMMAND.... thats right the 404sx now comes equipped with a factory restore... dont like the samples DELETE THEM you can always call them back just dont format the card....

like i said in a previous post the stock samples were "aweeeeeesom"

[elhuana]

On the Roland site, it's written that the regular 404 weighs 1,3kg whilst the SX version is 0,1kg lighter.

I wonder what's making this difference. The only thing that comes to my mind is the card reader. SD reader is much smaller and shit, so that'd be the only difference in sp-construction.

I'd take the risk of trying to install the SX o.s. on my 404 as soon they put it on their site.

peace fam