SP-FORUMS

Vivi, tell your friend the guitar center on Kendall Drive in Miami has them and Also the Sam Ash in Dolphin Mall. I checked today.

yes, i see your email, thanks my friend! im glad!
i just send a email to my friend, hope she can buy it.
kiss 4 you, vivi.

hey frantic did u play with either. what were ur impressions w/ the pads? maybe its just me. the volume was kinda low! hey aren't u gonna get one?

I will have one soon (if It does what I expect it to) I went into GC today and they couldnt find where the warehouse guys put them so they they told me to go back tomorrow....bummer... I called the sam ash and asked if they had it on display and they guy asked me what it was and if it was a mixer so I hung up on him I will let u guys know as soon as I try it. Ive already loaded a few samples n thing into my ipod and read through the manual so im gonnna goto the store and sit with it for about an hour and see how I feel about it.

ok.....so...I got to try one at GC yesterday......

The pads are sick. By far the best pads on any SP ive tried imho. They are soft but quick like the 303 pads only a little softer and the velocity sensitivity works nicely. Lofi compressor...wow this is a SICK effect..its everything you would expect it to be....now...heres the kicker...I could be wrong... but Im pretty sure the time stretch and pitch algo. is new. It sounded real clean. I didnt notice ne significant artifacts at all. Same with the pitch. It still cuts off the high end but it sounded alot more smooth and overall more usefull. I didnt mess with the looper much but it seemed cool. I like the knob actions. Real smooth. The swing quantize is nice. adds a nice feel. Im definitely gonna scoop one of these. hopefully by the end of the week.

interesting! keep us posted on the timestretching/pitchshifting!

it makes sense that they'd update the algorhythms, considering it's all on a chip there's no extra hardware costs

yeh thats cool, i think it was the softness that turned me off but like i said the volume was low so...
anyway, it takes all kinds. i like your music frantic; keep it up.

i checked a 555 out for a few minutes at my local music shop. i was just fucking with the pre-loaded samples that are on it, but the velocity sensitve pads are NICE. but overall, it seemed kinda cheap, like it wasnt as ruggedly made as the 404, but the addition of usb would be really nice, thing is i already have a seperate roland usb interface, so I'd have to sell it if i was gonna get the 555. the d beam synth thing was fun to play with, it could proly be useful if you use it for some electonica but really didnt seem all that great for hip hop shit. i mean basically i only spent a little bit of time with it cuz i wasnt overwhelmed, like oh snap, i have to have this, which in some ways is good, because my cash flow is not having it!

Keep the interface as well - the two together make for some interesting routing options.

The d-beam synth can be used for anything you like - I made a thread in the 606 section explaining how to get Dr. Dre westcoast basslines from it.

My SP-555 arrived today and WOW this thing is so damn HOT!! No regrets whatsoever buying this thing (yet ).

I was just messing around with the samples and loops in this box and it's SO amazingly simple to control! Who needs a manual! The pads are a million times better than what I was used to with the MPD24. Screw those pads, these are perfect. (note: the range in volume on the MPD24 is slightly better/bigger, but it's way more difficult to control than these pads).

Anyways, enough ranting! I do have one complaint ... why didn't they include a USB cable with this thing? I mean, come on ... for 500€ they could have included one... and this thing being PC-centered too since it's meant for Djs and stuff...

Now I have to go outside..., cross the street and buy me a USB-cable at the local computer store. I mean wtf.. So yeah.. actually... it's no biggy, but it would have been nice if it were included already.

It's kinda sloppy Roland.....

Other than that, rock on!

nothing seems to come with USB cables these days. unless its a USB midi controller and nothing else... . its insane - I mean I spose it's not 'necessary'

KP3 - no usb cable
MPC500 - no usb cable

The 606 came with one... a pretty red/silver one and all.

What's up everyone.

I think that everyone made very good points on your revue about the SP-555 advantages as well as disadvantages.

I had the SP-555 for a few weeks now and I must say that I like it for the purpose that I'm using it for.
Understanding that every ones purpose would be different,
I just recently started using it as a DJ peace as well as I recently started DJ'ing for different occasions.

As a producer and song writer first, I am using it as a ( scratch pad) writers tool with samples and a built in mic. As a DJ music enhancer, I use it such as, playing fat bass drum sounds and patterns sampled loops when mixing live, the crowd go crazy.
Also, when doing re mixes it's the best, I fill my CF cards full of samples and mix away with this baby.
I also use it with a 800mA DC 9 V. car adaptor when the wife is shopping, she could take her time while I am in the car making beats.... that's what's up.

OK, now the cons: I was a little bothered that you will need to keep the pads at its designated fixed midi note numbers (can't change them) if you would like to use it as a controller pad like the Trigger Fingers or an Akai MPD 24,
but I guess you could work around that one, if the gear you want to control can adjust to the SP-555 pad numbers.

I was also a little bothered about the time signature could only be used in the 4/4 area so any 3/6 or 3/8 something with other time signatures ''forget it'' I will need to use the MPC 1000 or Motif XS or Sonar for that.

I believe that it delivered what it said that it would according to the manual, and I also like the way that Roland came out very quickly with an OS update, that shows support.
I am still waiting for the Korg Zero 4 + 8 mixers to fix the meany problems that it has for months, and Korg is not talking about any OS update releases as of yet.

As far as sampling manually, I would (time) feel out the delay in the sampler and press start when the sampling started, if that doesn't work I would use the PC and edit the sample, then drag it on the CF card, place it into the SP-555 and it's perfect, you only need to get it right once.

Good job all, we need to know the truth about gear from us, the end users, not just the hype from the company's. Thanks everyone.
Peace & blessings.