Alright, gather around, for I have a tale as old as time.

It goes like this: You've been using the computer to make music for too long, you all know this, have known this, will know this if you aren't there yet. You want a drum machine/sampler to fit into your computer work flow, so you buy an mpc 2500, it's pretty dope, but tries to do too much, the computer is there, and does a lot better and faster, and the mpc is just so damn expensive, too expensive for what you need it for.

So you sell the 2500. And sulk a bit. Then you loose it one day and buy a 404sx. You fucking LOVE it. LOVE IT. Then you try to resample a beat. Oh whoops you can't do that... wtf bro? You want to play bass parts in over your beat... can't do that either, oh shit bro this is going bad. You love the box, everything you make with it sounds dope as shit, and unexpected. Just pure mojo. You still love this box.

But you need real resampling and overdubbing. At this point your will is broken, you are on a quest to find the right box for how you like to work. The sx is 80% of the way there, but that resampling thing is just a deal breaker. You're ready to do anything.

So you buy a Korg MicroSampler. The MicroKorg synth is a pretty cool little synth, so the microsampler should be cool too. The microsampler can over dub, resample, has a keyboard so you can play in pitched parts. SWEET! Only thing is the MicroSampler is a steaming piece of pure shit. No mojo. No fun. The little fucking recessed dials make you want to pick the thing up and break it over your knee.

Holy fuck, you've gone through a 2.5k, an sx, and an MS... and now what?

I put the question to you knowledgeable sp heads: What product will get me to where I need to be? The 2.5k was too much, too big inside and outside. The sp is near perfect But has the fatal resampilng flaw. The MS sucks a dick...

What is like the 404sx, but can effectively resample?

From my research seems like the 606 is the box for me. Thinking of the 555 but I've read some complaints like the loop resampling is kind of a bitch cause you can't actually resample a solid bar or two, you still have to manually punch in and out on the loop to get your end point right.

Truthfully, I really don't like chopping on the sx. I really don't mind doing it by ear, if you could scroll through the sample to find your hits and what not, but like if you have a second or two of silence before your drum hit, and you have to mark in, and you're too early, you adjust the "30" shit and it doesn't get you far enough, so you got to try and mark in again and you're too late (again, because you don't even have a beat, just silence) and you try the "30" thing again and whoops, it won't go back far enough, and uh oh, you're ready to Michael Vick your sx into the wall.

I don't want to chop with the mark and the 30, I'd like to scroll through the sample and set starts and ends that way, if I have to do it by ear. Marking isn't a bad idea at all, it's a great idea, but the fact that you can only scroll "30" from there is stupid as FUCK.

Okay, I'm loosing it. It's late and I'm on some whack meds. I'm sure no one in their right minds has even made it this far.

So the 555, what is the deal with resampling and chopping on there?

The 505, it's a toy? I've heard a lot of gripes about the 505, but I don't know much about it. I know it's got that weird ass keypad. It's not a deal breaker for me, but I REALLY like working in a grid (a 4x4 grid mr. sx).

What are the problems with the 606? And should I even be considering the 808? It doesn't have a sequencer? I don't think I need a sequencer, I like playing my stuff in by hand. Sometimes I'll turn quantize on, but not totally important for me.

Okay, longest post I've ever written. I would really appreciate some help, cause as you can tell, I'm coming unglued, and just want to get to making some beats.

too bad you're selling that ms-1. i really like mine but the padkontrol takes it up a notch in fun. but mostly i use my 404 for it's limitations. and when it comes to mojo whoa whoa jojo, i make my own guitars, so a little i know. i can't play though.lol.

jbl, I don't think he has a ms1. By MS he meant Korg Microsampler.

As far as this post goes the SP 303 can sample external audio while playing a sequence. The zoom sampletrak can sample while playing a sequence. It can also resample sequences. Pitch to scale, time stretching, and a pc editor software too. My advice is to buy two cheap samplers to act as one instead of trying to find one ultimate machine.

Have you looked at the Electribe ESX?

Not sure though if you can do it all in one box nowadays except maybe a workstation keyboard with all the sampler and recording options.

My hardware "workstation" has many boxes. An EM1X for the sequencer, a 404 for samples, a K-station for synth, an old X5 for poly keyboards, a VK8m for organs....
I lack an instrument sampler in hardware but I don't think the microsampler fits that bill - it can't do multisamples as far as I can see.

Jim

Jim,

Do you know any gear/box that allows you to plug a midi source in and then split the midi up into say like 4 or 8 midi outs?

I have a good unit to work as my midi master/sequencer ( my roland mc307 ) but most of my other gear just has midi in ports so there is no way to do the traditional daisy chain method.

+1 on korg esx as all in one machine. I have made plenty of tracks solely on that, but it still has its limitations.

Thanks for responding. Do any of you have experience with the sp 606 or 555 or 505?

Ultimately, I'm not trying to do it all in this sampler. I still work within the computer. But I need to go one step further than the 404sx goes. I love Roland's fx. They sound close to perfect to me. And I know 100% what you mean you use the 404 for it's limitations. That's like 40% of it's high mojo factor right there.

Honestly I haven't considered the Zoom sampletrak at all. How are it's fx? Zoom has a reputation for being... (not trying to be rude) toyish garbage. But I just picked up a Zoom H4n field recorder, and it is AWESOME. I will check out the Zoom.

2 samplers... I've got another sampler... but I REALLY don't like chopping on it. But yeah, I feel you. It's just the 404sx is like there, it's this close, all it's got to do is resample and I'm golden. I'd really like to tell it, resample these two bars, bam, I've got a sold two bar loop.

Dood, what is up with these long posts? You can tell I get a little worked up about this shit.

Unitor8 MK2 (usb version) can do that. You plug it into your computer, and you set up patches, like you want this in to go to these outs and this in to go to those outs. Then you don't have to use the computer, all the midi routing will be stored as a patch. You can then change patches with program change messages I think it is. I'm trying to revive mine right now. Having some troubles with drivers under winxp, but everyone else seems to be able to get this thing working.

AKAI ME80P - I think it was. A truer midi patchbay. Had little buttons on the front that you could use to route signals. Never used this: http://compare.ebay.com/like/2207139280 ... 602_304662

Roland a880 - again, never used it. Don't know if it's legit or what.

Motu Midi Time Piece I think it is called. Correct me if I'm wrong but Motu is the only one still making midi patchbays, is that correct?

All these listed are 8x8, there are 2x4's and 4x4's.

yo nowaysj -- you CAN scroll further back than 30, each time you scroll back it resets the mark to that point, so scroll back 30, then hit start/end to get out of that mode, then set the control knobs back to middle position, hit start/end again to activate, then you can scroll back ANOTHER 30. you can do this however many times you want. make sense??

for me the way the 404sx starts playing the sample from the beginning every time you change the start/end point is the most aggravating. i fuckin hate that shit. i read that mark-mystery thread but it seems wax's trick only applies to the og 404 and not the 404sx.

Yes, most 8x8 midi ports have a patchbay function and can work like that standalone without a computer. If you don't mind using a computer, Midiox (freeware) can act as a patchbay with as many midi i/o as you have, and if you use a computer anyway for Vst's, you can patch the host in with the hardware too. It's a different way of working that gets you away from staring at a DAW arrangement but you don't lose the use of your favourite VST instruments.

Jim

So why not use the 'auto sampling' option ? This will make sure your sample starts fast without having to chop off loads from the beginning.

Thanks for the info about the midi patch bays. I had looked into them at one point in time last year, but I didn't know if they were what I needed. I made a post asking questions and nobody answered. So it's good to know they are available. I do not want to use ANY computer... so that's why I was looking at an all hardware option for controlling ALL my gear instead of 1 at a time

Yeah, I think the motus and the unitor require a computer to set it up initially to how you want it. After that, no computer involved.

Others like that akai (think there were two versions and they had different functionality, so check it), and maybe the roland had buttons where you can just do it on the fly.

I've heard that unitors are going cheap. I may actually sell mine, I'm having a hell of a time getting mine to work right, but I think I'm extremely rusty on my midi chops. I think I'm setting up a midi loop with mine. I really need to get to the bottom of that, but my setup is in upheaval right now. I've got big gaps where shit is supposed to be and a pile of stuff that is supposed to come in...

Just wish I could figure out this mojo box thing, cause it's causing me real grief. Have I mentioned that I LOVE the 404sx. It's no joke, I was literally kissing this fucker earlier today.

Zoom Sampletrak. It is still the backbone of my music studio.

Don't worry, I still love to hate on my 404 too. Bought my first one years ago, kept it for a week then returned to store. Something about the SP series kept me wanting another, so I snatched up my current 404 from a friend for super cheap. I've got about six 1gb cards now and I doubt this piece will ever leave my studio

- Zoom ST224 is my fav sampler to get down to business on.
- Korg ESX best sampler to jam out on
- 404 best sampler to throw in a back pack with a metric shit ton of samples loaded!!
- Ensoniq ASRX sampler with the dopest sound and filters (analog filters!).

Now the goal is to get em to play nicely in sync together

Bro, that asr-x does not have an analog filter. Digi filter.