OK guys... I hope you dont think this is a stupid idea..
it might not have any outcome, but at least it's worth a shot.
I think we should get brainstorming and come up with an official SP-Forums spec for what we'd want in a new SP sampler.. Once we have decided upon everything, we make the list look official, add all our names to it as a kind of 'petition' in a way.. to show how many of us are involved. and then get it to roland as many ways as possible. (and sacrifice a goat to the devil, pledge allegiance to the dark lord if he helps us)

the most important things we should consider (IMO!) are:

Keeping it simple - No major changes, redesigns.

CHEAP - roland obviously does not want to spend money on this.. unfortunately.
So no gold-plated titanium shells, no intel quad-core processors, etc etc..
Also any ideas to CUT costs will be very very very very valuable!

Not going to hurt MV sales - need to keep it limited - just make sure it still feels like an SP, not some uber-does-everything-awesome-sampler.


So I'm gonna start with an idea.. you can either throw it out or agree..
Lets make a new format rule first...
Any new ideas/features/etc you want to bring up, make them bright green (or whatever colour you like ) so we can tell them apart from all the talk, so that ideas dont get missed etc. Try to keep this as focused as you can.. I know I tend to crap on and I'm probably the worst offender.. but we need to be very clear now and come up with a set of solid ideas!

As things develop I'll put a post directly under this one and edit in all the ideas that get accepted to build a list!.



I think the next SP should be something a bit more complex and a more studio-based tool - based off the 505 & 606. the 404SX we just got is portable, battery powered.. and covers that part pretty well. the 555 is good for DJs and live use with its looper and such.

The 606 already has alot of the things you'd expect from a studio SP, so it's probably the best starting point (actually using parts of the 606 design, + parts of the 555 design is probably what roland would do I guess).

The kinds of things that I think need to be added - if every one on this list was achieved, I would buy it.

- 'normal' pitch (I think the reason this is a problem for roland is because of reading samples straight off the card.. not sure though.)
- amp envelope (attack/decay at least)
- improve polyphony - this doesn't matter to me, but other people maybe?
somewhere around 20 - 24 mono would be good.. I dont think i've ever had more than 10 stereo tracks playing at once.
- SDHC storage (this should be a freebie, since they've already done it for the 404SX)

With amp envelope & pitch - I would be OK with it just being a new effect (in MFX), where you change the pitch or set an amp envelope, then resample to store it -
using the effects DSP basically means we don't need any extra processing power to do these things..! if we can do the entire upgrade using say the same processor/etc.. roland might actually give it a chance.

To cut the costs of making a new SP, we can throw away the D-Beam, which is not really necessary in the studio.

I think we could also get rid of any kind of internal microphone.. what do you guys think of that?

ALSO.. What would you guys think about getting rid of the 2nd effect of the 606? Technically you don't need it in the studio if you resample... I could live without it.. could you?

I think we should keep the velo pads, 1/4" outputs, multi-track sequencer.

OFFICIAL SP-FORUMS SAMPLER SPECIFICATION:

<will go here>

i'm ok with real pitch and more polyphony!
plus
reasample of the out (as on mpc1000/st224/esx or "capture" as on sp555)...
more fx simultaneously (2 as sp606/555/mpc1000 or 3 as esx)

I'd love a sampler with more than 16 pads, but that won't be very likely, huh. Right, more banks, too.
Being able to export the track directly from the SP would be awesome, too.
I also noticed that the SP-404 can't handle heavy basses. Something to enable heavier basses would be nice.

Props to cartesia, this is a very nice idea.

I assume they're already working on the 555SX, 666, 707, 777 or whatever it is but we can try.

Some of this stuff might overlap with what's already mentioned (and keep in mind I'm a SP-555 user):

Panning - part of sampling/resampling or as an effect (better yet, as a setting - like gate/loop/reverse);
Metronome - available when sampling/resampling (save volume as a setting);
Resample - should be possible to resample the output and would be cool to stop resampling automatically at a determined length;
Effect Assign - would be nice if Mic In and Line In were treated as two different things;
Loop Capture - please don't stop the music (could be ditched in favour of a better resample as mentioned);
Mute Groups - come back (606);
MIDI - better implementation (someway to assign MIDI note numbers individually), ability to automate effects (like 606) and stuff like that;
Internal Synth - playable through pads and MIDI input (like 606);
Tuner - if there's a Hi-Z input, there's a tuner and it would be very useful for Subsonic (could be ditched because the Internal Synth could work as a sort of tuner - then it would be nice to be able to choose the reference pitch);
USB - sample/pattern management/transfer through USB, another mode for recording that isn't based on a feedback loop, separate channels for Mic In, Line In and samples;
Volume - two independent volume levels, one for headphones and another for line outputs;
Effect Memory - 10 banks (or whatever the number of banks is available for samples/patterns);
Sample Editing - maybe make use of the pads (could work a la KP3 or something like that);
Metronome Out - self-explanatory;

Ok, maybe some of this stuff is not so focused on cutting costs but I've tried my best. I don't mind loosing V-Link, D-Beam and the internal mic (although I don't think this one adds too much cost but it does take some internal space).

as fast as the 404 is, i always thought it would be cool to have a feature where you could hit rec and while your sampling a longer phrase you could tap the mark button wherever your chops would be in real time. then, when you hit record again your chops will lay out on the pads in that order. oh, and real pitch.

That's a nice one.

wow these are awesome ideas.

gimme a 404 with that and i'm happy guy's

well one very cool thing about the 404 is that it does remember your mfx settings, so long as you don't change them when you come back to them, or turn off the power of course. i don't think i could ever be as efficient without that feature, cuz i use mfx 24 on EVERYTHING and need it to stay still when i'm skipping around the other mfxs.

Dedicated MUTE pad? (Pressing MUTE button simultaneously with selected sample - mutes/umutes the sample. Combo like MUTE + REMAIN ( sp-404/555) - mutes all the samples.

and if multi-track ( like 8 or 12 tracks ) sequencer was be added, this MUTE button would also work within pattern mode.

MIDI OUT for any -even the smallest - sp.
If they dont want to support the sequencer, just let us use external sequencers...

. . . . . .
404sx would be just okay for me now though. Pattern copy function was all I needed. now they need to release 404sx mk2 with midi out and Im shuttin up

I dont think that roland gonna release something worth attention soon. They're all about makin money now, dont give a shit about being the best out there... It's so fucked up - they got what it takes to be the best - but they're all about the fuckin money. I just officially hate em and at the same time I love most of their products...

NIIICCEE!!!

- 16 polyphony would be enough, but if the little MPC500 got 32, why not.

- 8 track pattern sequencer

- Pitch samples like a turntable

- MS-1 had a dope feature where after you trimmed your sample, you had the option to truncate it or divide the remains to another pad. That would be ideal for manual chops.

- Song mode should have the option to either link patterns together or build your own from scratch with editing features.

SOFT PADS! Like the 303, come on how hard is it to make some soft pads. The 404 pads are so hard and not very responsive. Im not talking velocity sensitive pads, just SOFT RUBBER PADS.