Hello! Im planning on buying a SP404sx along with my software based setup, to create ideas on the fly wherever I am. I have a couple of questions conserning it:

A. Ive heard that theres no pitch control on the SP (only the effect that everybody hates, that doesn´t effect the samples lenght). Is there any way to overcome this inside the SP? If not, how bad really is the "tune scretch" effect?

B.1 In this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoYGHb6szwE at 05:00 the dude samples sound straight into the pad he chose (this seems like a great feature for me), now, I assume you can do the exact same with turntable hooked into it? (Yes this was a question, a really stupid one)

B.2 When Ive recorded the sample to the pad and I want to trim it a bit and keep it on the same pad, how easy is this process?

C. Ive noticed that someone on the forums said that theres a swing function in the Sx, is this swing similiar as on MPC (50-75%)?

D. If I want to make beats without quantizing is this also possible, J dilla style? And If so, can the metronome be turned on and off when I want to?

Sorry for really stupid questions, I just want to be sure where to put my money on

a the pitch function is garbage but there are MANY MANY workarounds for usable but maybe not perfect pitch functions.. i think thats one of the harder things for me to get past compared to other gear ive worked on... time stretching isnt awesome but you can work with it... this topic is ALL OVER the board if you want more youll have to search it out..

b what he does making his voice go to the pad going "test test sp 404sx test test" is sampling... and thats what the 404 does... connect your turntable press play find the spot you want back it up hit record press play press record to stop.. its easy JUST like he did there... OLBY has a good video of this on this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIKpNJM2sA4 the process is the same on the 404.. its not a stupid question but you should research gear more before you buy so you kind of have an idea of what stuff does.. i didnt like the 404 for my first piece of gear.. i got an esx and love it and came back to the 404 and like it more the second time around..

b2 truncating is trimming the sound.. if its a LONG or longish sample i HATE trimming and digging in to find the right spots.. its a lot easier to sample out to a ton of pads and do clean up later than it is for me to sample a long sample to one pad then keep copying and pasting it on to other pads.. (the longer the sample the longer the load time).. then again if you resample rather than pad copy (awesome SX function) it would be faster... you use the MARK button to do the trim.. the sample is 123456 and you only want to keep 2345 so you play the sample and hit the mark right at the end of 1 and right at the end of 4.. you can then hit START/END/LEVEL and use knobs cntrl 1 and 2 to adjust the start and end points.. i like turning on the loop mode so i can hear when the sample starts to loop perfect with no gaps...

c yea the swing is similar.. i havent messed with the settings but it has a 8th and 16th notes setting with swing adjustment.. you set the adjustment before you play (it wont adjust an already recorded pattern from what i can tell).. i like the way the swing works but i havent adjusted it much at this point..

d in the sequencer you can play live with no quantize and turn the metronome down or off... you can also do this in resample mode but the metronome wont turn on unless youre working in the pattern sequencer.. it also doesnt let you resample in bars you just play till you want to stop or till the memory card is full.. saying you wanna play without quantize like dilla is like saying i wanna have style, just like the guy sitting next to me.. theres bad beats with and without quantizing.. finding your own sound to me is more important than using any one specific technique.. i use quantize in some stuff and not in others i use it for some sounds and not for others in the same beats....

its a simple yet extremely complex machine... its simple to get some basic boring stuff out but i honestly think the 404 has a steep learning curve.. the sx is a bit easier to work with because of both pattern copy and pad copy but its still harder for me to get stuff how i like it..

not that i spent any time responding to your first and only post or anything

nevermind Tim, it's valuable info and will help others out as well

Thanks a lot Tim, sorry for not appreciating your post sooner. (Even though I read it almost instantly after you posted it).

Now.. I did a little eyeing of the manual, and this sampler seems like a perfect choice for me. Ill need to do little more research. Korg Microsampler seems like another candidate.

no biggie on the post thing.. i tend to get touchy when people come on here ask for help or opinions and never get involved... this board has helped me out tons and i like to pitch in from time to time to give back... get involved on here its a great community..

i was totally going to get one too but they blew it in a few key areas for me so im not going to get it... (microsampler)

http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... m.php?f=56

i didnt read this post just went and found it for your research but the last time i dug in there a lot of people were having issues... a ton of people had complains along the lines of "i know its new but on the update you should soooo add........" simple things.. people complain about the knobs and build quality.. its a 404 with piano keys as far as i am concerned.. it pitches but i dont know if it stretches well.. and i would rather have a good stretch than a pitch.. (my opinion)...

404-404sx if youre buying new spring for the sx its worth it..

Yeah, The only thing that bothers me is the lack of the pitch function. But If I get a vestax turntable, maybe it isnt that big of a deal, since I can play samples at 3 speeds + some pitch adjusting, so I can choose the perfect pitch before sampling.

I know theres some kind of looping function inside the sp, I was wondering If I want to make a bassline, the pitch problem comes ahead again. Even If I get a one note of looped sine wave (that Im going to filter), If I turn that into couple of more, I have to use the pitch fx right? How about the "octave" fx? Does the same problems come ahead with that one?

The Subsonic effect is basically a sine wave synth. Bass for days, you can control the pitch with a knob while you resample.

there are several mfxs that will work with different pitches.. the dj looper actually has a pretty decent funk one.. i got turned on to it from someone here... the chromatic one is good but sounds a little different than turntable style pitching... think toy piano or something.. if it REALLY came down to it there are lots of ways to pitch on your computer and the editor makes it easy to pick and pull...

Ive got it! I need some basic hardware sampler (without sequencer), to be a friend with my Sp I record all the samples trough the sampler no.1 to the sp, so at this point I can adjust the pitch to what I want it to be! Kinda regret selling my old E-Mu sampler though,:oops:. but it happens

ohhhhhhhhhh the microsampler does have time stretch... mmmmmm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlzY56_rY7I

really good review. this may be what youre looking for

Microsampler is nice, but you cant save data no other route than the USB.

I think Ive made my mind and the choice is sp.

Good choice!

Does anyone know if it receives samples on 2 MIDI channels like the regular SP404? I can't seem to find the manual of the sx for downloading.