The first time you picked up your SP-404.....

[soopa]

.....what did you do first?

Did it take you a little while to figure it out? Were you mad at it and wanted to chuck it at the wall (not having in mind you just spent around $300-$400 on it lol)? What were your first thoughts?

I've been to Sam Ash once in my life, and I ran (walked at a quicker pace, didn't wanna look like a weird geek that I am inside) right into the drum machines/samplers section. Yes, there was a shiny SP-404.... I looked towards the left though, even though I wanted to play with the 404, I saw the MV-8000. I played with that the whole time there (played with the 2000XL, but didn't really care since I have a 2000 at home... its funny, now that i think about it, that was a huge waste of time lol). anyway, they had some MC-808's and 909's too I believe, but I didn't look at them... I think it was because the price tags lol. Any way, i'm trying to get my mom to take me (no car lol) back to Sam Ash / Guitar Center and i'm going to play around with it if i can talk her into taking me there... who knows, I might break her guitar strings so she has to go there to get them fixed lol. enough with my pointless rambling that you just wasting your time reading, just wondering how you guys first reacted to when you picked up the SP-404.

[J.Daniels]

I did the research, on it seemed to be the most interesting unit in that price range. Ofcourse i really wanted an MPC, but the 404 seemed to be a fitting alternative.

I picked one up, although i was abit frustrated because i payed the full store price and could of easily picked up a zoom sample track for 500 aus dollars less than the 404. Or even an sp-505 for cheaper!

Although, as a result, i made sure i learned the 404 inside out. and its like stil my main tool, despite my laptop setup and the sp12 i had.

[pt3r]

I think I knew the machine like the back of my hand (controls at least) b4 I had one. I listened to the cheesy samples, chucked em out and started making some dumb beat that still sounded way better than the copyrighted factory crap. Then I discovered how to to track muting and Once I figured out how to copy samples and patterns (tx to Chulukinat)I never looked back.

[Cheenergies]

When I first saw the sp404 in the shop, I asked the shop assistant if I could make beats on it. He basically told me in no uncertain terms NO, saying I should buy an MPC. Being the ignorant type, I bought it there and then.
I took it home, couldn't program a beat with them shitty factory samples, didn't know where to get any decent samples from. I was convinced I made a mistake. Wanted to sell it on ebay a few times. Put it down for a few months. Then all of a sudden I managed to find some inspiration when I discovered these boards. And fell in love with the 404!

[jsrockit]

I already used many drum machines and an SP-303 before I had a 404...so there was no learning curve for me.

[Dj Frantic]

the SP-303 was my first ever production piece. So I already knew how to use my 404 when I got it. But when I first got my 303 years ago, I was very frustrated...lol I figured out how work it pretty quickly. But everything I did on it was mad wak Thankfully I never got mad at the 303 for that. Otherwise I might never be where im at today with my 404 !

[balazs]

i thought the 404 sucked at first, i was used to the mpc. And it only took me a couple days to figure everything out, but everything was fucked up cuz i couldnt see the sound like an mpc screen. i thought about just using it for fx. Now i got the sequencer and trimming on this machine down, And its a beatiful thing.

[Kuraden]

What did I do first? I think I kissed the fucking box. I ordered one just when it came out because it looked like a great machine to start out with. I probably would've gotten an MPC but I don't exactly have $1000+ to spend like that.

I already knew how it worked from the online manual so I looped up a Smokey Robinson song just to test it out. I was hooked after that and haven't left it since.

[5_ELEMENT_NINJA]

My friend of mine had the sp-202 and he would let me borrow it,So I knew that the 404 would be similar.I bought my 404 for the efx cause I already had a mpc1000.I made a couple of beats on it but I wasnt really feelin it I was usin it more for the efx for my mp.I liked the mp but I never really liked the sound that i got out of it,Plus I was reading alot of interviews about madlib just usin the 303.So that inspired me and I think thats when i decided to make BEATJITZU vol1 only usin the 404!
Since I finished that project the 404 has changed me!I still like the mp but on the real I like the 404 and what I do with it so much more!I just got a new turntable and have hooked it up to the 404 for the first time and damm man vinyl sounds so good on the 404!

[Lopar-XL]

I have experience with a used 303 that I got from an eBay auction (and am planning on selling since my upgrade), so learning the 404's interface wasn't that hard. My 404 was also another used one from an auction, so the first thing I did with it when it arrived was plug in some rechargeable NiMH batteries and run a thorough test of all its features to make sure they worked. Everything checked out OK, though I was disappointed to find out that I could not play samples at different pitches across a MIDI keyboard. Next, I began making Voice Packs for the game Unreal Tournament 2004 on it as well as recording and editing sound effects for various projects I'm working on. That's what I use it primarily for, voices and sound design for films and games, but I haven't gone very far yet. The ability to export files in .wav or .aif format is one of the things that sold me on upgrading to this model.

[soopa]

Yo my dudes. I just got back from SamAsh, they had the MC 808 and 909 again, the MV-8800 this time (exact same shit basically, just a different number), the same MPC 2000 for sale for 900 that was there last time (and will most likely be there forever), MPC 1000, MPC 2500, other drum machines, SP-606 and....... the SP-404. Honestly, I've never read the manual for it, which I will tonight, but, I look at it and for some reason, I feel like I know how to use it. I didn't make any patterns with it because it was quite uncomfortable crouching as they had it one foot off the floor. It looks like a hell of a lot more fun than MPCs (my opinion, others will of course call it a "toy", but who cares, I got a kid inside of me that loves to play with new shit). Just had a job interview too, so if I get that job, my hard earned money is definitely going towards a new turntable, DJ mixer, monitors, and a brand new SP-404. Ima sell my MPC probably too, the gay pad sensor killed four of my pads so when I get that off my hands it will pretty much be the SP-404 as my main squeeze. possibly a MPC 60 in the future, and definitely a SP 1200. I will live up to "I travel the lands, with the SP in my hands" (Pete Rock). Yo, im just in a good mood, i love you fuckers.

[Arafat]

I chopped up some Cannonball Adderly

[Boston Luca]

the first time i got an sp 404 it was due to the situation of having to sell my mpc 1k and i guess i wasnt too hapy about it. but i bought it , took it home was too use to the mpc style of beat making. returned it in a week. recently came up on a 404 by way of a slew of trades that started with a 202 & a drum machine for a 808 , and just recently traded the 808 for the 404 i have now with iiiiiii. im really enjoying it and i regret returning it when i first had it

[dishwater]

I chopped up some Cannonball Adderly

hahaha me too! best of Cannonball Adderley, work song, all that stuff

actually that was on the sp303... so when i got my 404, i already knew how to do every (basic) thing, and all the extra features of the 404 are all pretty easy to understand, so i was just going through them, like 'oh neat'. i love the speed of the operations, duplicating samples in a flash and all that. i think the first couple of hours i was just going crazy filling up all the pads, resampling and getting into the bad habit of filling it up too fast and losing track of what's where.

[cartesia]

I only used it for fx to start with because I thought the sampling was too basic and limited and i would never be able to deal with it