Hey guys. Thought i'd ask your advice about this. I've had a 404sx for awhile now and really like it after coming from ableton + midi controller I almost love the way the sp limits you into finding workarounds for things. I've always wanted am mpc for its (apparently) awesome sequencer (i just use resample to sequence on the sp) but earlier this week a 606 that i had been watching on ebay that disappeared from the listings turned up so I copped that and have that on the way. But also this week I swapped my mpd24 for a sp808ex, sort of spur of the moment thing but when it turned up it looked like it had been dropped or something as the underside of the zip drive was dented and the plastic casing was all cracked. I turned it on and it wouldnt recognise the zip disc but the disc was stuck inside the drive. I took it all apart and removed the zip disc and put it all together and its working fine now. I've printed out the manual, the thing is 226 pages! Looks like this thing has a steep learning curve!

But now I also have the SP606 on its way so tomorrow I will be the owner of a 404sx, an 808ex and a 606! I'm really not sure whether I should try to sell the sp808 as it was the 606 that i really wanted. Is it just a bit overkill to have three sps? including two that i need to learn how to use. What benefits would there be to be using all these three machines together? (apart from having a fried brain)

If you've never used the 808ex, you might be surprised at how damn noisy that disk drive can get! But, to be fair, it's got all sorts of menus and capabilities, along with the four audi tracks, it's def a worthy tool.

sup brux.

i have an og 808. I love it (i'd even say i love it slightly more than my 303...). i certainly wouldn't trade mine for anything of comparable value (although mine is mint, previously belonged to ocd-case i think, effects chart was laminated...anyway, I might feel different if mine was beat-up, but kinda doubt it.)

once you get fluent with the thing, you'll see the beauty, clear as day. personally, i don't notice drive noise at all.

thing's got a synth (if you got a controller, you're stylin', and even if you don't...),things got a d-beam (which might seem like a novelty at first, but then you realize the ease of performing effects automation...), thing's got *tons* of effects (and Roland effects, no less...we're talking reverb in surround!!!), not to mention it doubles as a digital 4-track...

i wouldn't trade mine even for another, more modern sp groovesampler, that's how much this thing's charmed me...anyway, that's my opinion.

congrats on the 606 dudebrux. i had one but unfortunately had to sell it. i'm back to rockin' the 505 which does just fine, but the 606 has better pads and the d-beam controller, as well as the ability to hook up to a computer. but basically it has the same sequencer and effects as the 505. though the 606 can have it's own built in synth once you figure out the fx thing. basically the 606 is f***ng cool, and more advanced than the 505 if you take advantage of the cakewalk software it comes with.

i got an 808 and an MV and i find myself using the 808 a lot more. The Mv has too many menu's n shit. The 808 is self explanatory and the zip noise aint that bad. Its like having a fan on in the room.

My homie has an 808 and he uses it to make like dreamy synthpop surfrock (much better than I'm doing it justice with words) but I never thought of using it's capabilities for beats oriented stuff. I'm going to keep an eye out for a cheap one somewhere in my future.

KEEP THAT 808. a 404 and an 808 would be the shit. Yopu could get everything together in the 404, transfer the patterns to the 808, on to the pads and rock out on the 4 track till you have a song. The 808 has a bunch more effects too to resample with. and a pretty nice time stretch, way better the most of the sp machines. the zip noise is not even an issue though everyone mentions it. I never even notice it anymore. And i have 2 parakeets and they loud as fuck, dont notice them anymore either. not hard to get zip disc on ebay, at all.

Yeah, I wouldn't say its too noisy to keep - just annoying. I got along with it for close to 10 years! When I sold it, I had to go through a ton of disks and save my samples to my computer - pain in the ass, but had to be done.

Anyway, the 808 is one of a kind for sure, and I do think about it from time to time. Hell, I used to own a Roland Juno 60, and an original Roland 606 drum machine. I also sold my original Ensoniq ASR-10 sampling keyboard - I wrote most of my original songs on that bad boy til I sold it.

Regrets, some...

yeah, doesn't look like anyone's addressed this so i'll give my $.02.

as far as workflow goes, i can imagine it greasing the wheels quite a bit. often i wish i had one sampler to mix stuff down to, one for beats and one for music. i would think the advantage wouldn't lie in the storage space or the pads-directly-at-your-disposal, but rather having samplers dedicated to this or that. i think you could ditch one if you needed to, but for my money workflow is extremely important (i feel this way because mine is painfully sub-optimal; in my bedroom there is never enough space for the 303, 808, 424, preamp, mic, mic stand...)

word jetson, i had a tr-606, a mpc-1000, a yamaha su-700, and a boss dr-202 . had to sell most my stuff when i became unemployed but now i'm on my 2nd sp505 and lovin' it. gotta do whatcha gotta do!

Sucks dusnt it.. The amount of gear I have lost over the years due to the ups and downs of life..

Thanks for the input guys. I reckon i'm gonna keep hold of the 808. From what i've read its a pretty badass machine. Just takes a while to learn how to use it. My 606 just turned up though so i'm gonna get my head round that first then come back to the 808 at a later date.

I don't think anyone mentioned it, but the 808 also has a real pitch-adjust function, and if you format your disc to the lower sample rate you can pitch things up or down pretty intensely. Can't really do drum 1-shot sequencing without some tricky workaround efforts though. A nice way to get a feel for it would be to put your main samples on it... then re-pitch to another machine. And midi it up as your multi-track recorder.

Gotta cosign everyone's comments on the 808... it's a great machine with a ton of character.

Dude, the three samplers are all different beasts for a start- use them like Voltron & they'll do pretty much EVERYTHING. Remember: Resampling is your friend.

As an SP606 user, its flaws (only 8 voices, 2 audio outs, no pattern resampling) are totally outweighed by the strengths of the others. I don't know what the SP808s can do, but the SP606's USB audio (as an external soundcard) & external sequencer sampling with slay your 404. Oh yeah, make sure you pick up a decent memory card for the SP606, that'll make a big difference if you use loops & long phrases.

Don't worry about the two SPs you've got to learn now. The SP404 & SP606 aren't that different compared to how an MPC vs an ESX work. Pick one up & the other will start to make sense soon enough.

I've been beating three samplers for a while now & its almost the right amount. Collecting samplers gets addictive. Maybe another (my 5th) would help...