double 303 or 303+404(sx)

[Stuff Linear]

Hi Peoples,

I'm new here; Great forum!

I have owned a 404 for a short while in the past, which i sold,
but bought a 404sx a few weeks ago for €355,-.
Now i really like the thing and the workflow.
(i dont know what was wrong with me before)

But now i found a 303 for €125 which i just got in and i dont just like it;
i frikking looove the thing! the sound and especially the effects sound soo sweet!
Plus its so much more pleasant for the eye! Really suits my 2 yamaha mt50 fourtracks.
And the mark and reverse-buttons work "the way they should!" unlike the 404's. (only a shame they dont work while resampling!)

The thing is now;
I could allmost buy three 303's for the price of one 404sx!
I am thinking of returning the 404sx and get a refund (30daysmoneyback)
and buy or a second 303 >or 404?

I know the memory and speed of the 404's are a big pro, but i can live the restrictions of the 303, is actually more creativityenducing.
Allso the patterncopy on the sx is nice, but i dont plan to use the sequencer anyway.

Do you guys have any opinions on coupleing (or maybe even tripling) several sp's?

Thanks for any replies!

SL/ Amsterdam

[yo-yo crunch]

owned a 303 originally, now have the og 404 (never used the sx). i would probably go with the 404/303 combo. i agree the 303 is more aesthetically pleasing and has some nicer workflow options. but the 404 is cool for the internal mic and battery option if you ever wanna take it outside. also its more rugged w/ more solid connections. i also kinda like that the 404 can go clean or dirty--you're basically stuck on dirty with the 303. some variety is a nice thing

[Stuff Linear]

hi, tnx for your reply.
i really dont get the comments on the "dirty" sound, i think especially the fx are less harsh and maybe there's an overall vanillasound with less highs in the 303.
but if you check the comparisons at http://otherish.com/sp/
it's pretty damn close!

[groktopus]

haha how to we get to see which each "taste" is? I wanna see if I can hear the difference... it sounds like I can but who knows.

[Stuff Linear]

A - SP_202_LoFi.wav
B - SP_303_HiFi.wav
C - SP_303_LoFi.wav
D - SP_202_HiFi.wav
E - SP_303_Long.wav
F - SP_404SX_LoFi.wav
G - SP_404SX_HiFi.wav
H - SP_202_Standard.wav

from this post, all work done by ModuLR
http://sp-forums.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5682&hilit=comparison&start=15

[groktopus]

Thanks I got a handful correct but got mixed up in between the 303 HiFi and 404 LoFi, and couldn't call each one out by name, but for the most part the machines were correct.

Interesting how close they can all sound.

[yo-yo crunch]

dont get the comments on the "dirty" sound, i think especially the fx are less harsh and maybe there's an overall vanillasound with less highs in the 303.
but if you check the comparisons

like the way grok had a tough time differentiating b/t the 303 hi-fi and 404 lo-fi mode--that's kinda what i meant

[Stuff Linear]

I dont get that mixup, or grok means something else, cause B and F are totally different. F (404sxlofi) has so much more crackle/largerbits
303's hifi sounds so much better then 404sx's lofi imo.
Its the 2 hifi's that sound the same. imo.

[groktopus]

I think what happened was my brain assumed the 404 lofi was the 303 because it had lesser quality, but really the 303 HiFi does sound better. The 404 LoFi has way too sharp of highs for me, but since I have never messed with a 303 I assumed it was the 303. Of course now that I KNOW which ones they are I hear the difference and know what it is, but at the time I assumed wrongly....Besides the extra highs on the 404 lofi though, they sound pretty similar.

[yo-yo crunch]

yeah totally i hear those highs in the 404. basically what i meant is the 303 hi-fi mode still has some high end muffled out whereas the 404 hi-fi mode doesn't really change or color the sound at all. it still has those crispy highs

[Stuff Linear]

back OT

guess i am keeping the 404sx afterall.
big sdhc-cards are very welcome, besides the 128mb sm's

sweet setup now;

303
404sx
2x yamaha mt50
numark pt01 usb
mackie 802 vlz3
krk rokit 6's

edit;
plus
macbookpro
focusrite saffire pro24
reaper
max msp
nanokontrol
monome64
beyerdynamic dt770 pro

[yo-yo crunch]

the mackie mixers are amazing. they bring out sound in the sp's you wouldn't hear otherwise. good choice holding onto the 404

[Stuff Linear]

haha
i think i made that decision too soon
i now returned the 404sx afterall and got my second 303 today
supernice!
just got a lot of smcards with it.
i realised i only use the 303 and use the 404sx solely for recording.
i find the 404s fx quite terrible when you know what the 303 can do.

now i;
or just use the two 303's looped back into eachother
or use them with my macbookpro and reaper (lovethatsoftware!) as final dawrec.

now only need to get a little nanopad2 to use with my sounds in max msp.