Hi all!

I'm thinking of buying some professional drum loop recordings (e.g. this one: http://www.smartloops.com/products/prodrumworks/pdw_vol1.htm).

They are offering ACID WAV, Apple Loops and REX2 file formats. Will it be possible for me to import the ACID WAV files into my SP-404sx?

Have not heard of ACID WAV before, just plain old WAV...

Thanks!

Best regards,
Mats

Acid loops, aren't true WAV files, but files in a dedicated format for Sony's ACID Pro 7. They don't offer true WAV files. The Apple loops and REX2 files aren't easy to convert formats either.

Apple loops are standard AIFF files with additional info, similar to id3 tags on mp3 files. BUT you can open them in any software which reads .aif (which is ALL software), they just ignore the extra info and you have the pure sound file. Just batch convert everything to .wav, every proper wave editor can do that. Or who knows, there's a good chance the SP-404SX can import them like regular .aif - worth a try!

Some do not import those files properly though, the extra info can confuse certain software. I've also seen people trying to convert those files to a different bitrate or bit depth getting issues.

It's basically a trial and error thing, even though the underlaying format is still WAV or AIFF. I don't think any of the SPs can handle WAV files with additional information, but it's certainly worth a try.

Thanks a lot for your input!

It do sounds like I should not buy one of these drum loop packages, yet. Not without downloading some free files of these file types and try first.

/Mats

I guess you could always just play the samples then record the audio into your SP? slows things down alot though, and gives u the start/end point headache.

That is true, didn't think of that.

Later today, I will download a couple of ACID WAV files and import them into the 404 and see what happens. I really want it to work...

/Mats

Even if it doesn't work, that's not the end of the world. Just don't buy any apple loop stuff - most sample CDs are in .wav these days anyways.

Okay everyone, after some testing, I have found out that ACID WAV works on the 404. I have even bought and downloaded drum loops in the Dry Studio Kit from smartloops.com. Really nice!

I am happy!

/Mats

Great info! Are the loops snapping to tempo? I used Acid Blotter(free batch format converter) to convert a bunch of my 16-bit wavs to acid files.

Samples don't snap to tempo on the SP-404, they will always play at their own BPM. So you will need to set the correct BPM to match the loop if you're using the sequencer to add drums at the same tempo.

If you trigger sample loops live though, then it will obviously not matter as long as whatever else you trigger has a matching tempo.

Acid loops are standard .wav files- they simply have some additional info in the header which does not affect their basic format. Any "Acid" loops are just like reg .wav files. I been using Acid Pro for a long time and the .wav files always work fine in any other application be it samplers or software.