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WTB: Portable stand alone unit


yizzle
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this is for a good mate of mine that is looking at buying a stand alone sampler or drum machine.

As long as its stand alone, able to do drums patterns, create rhythms, loop etc

essential it has a mic input. nothing over $600 pref.

they are looking into the Roland SP-404SX at the moment.

arm99011227.jpg

is this pretty much the way to go or is there better out there for the same price range.

Second hand is not out of the question if obviously its in excellent condition.

ta.

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OK,

let's be clear, does your friend want a sampler or a drum machine?

also, I gather that it needs to have a sequencer built in (can record you playing the pads and play back), is this 100% required?

The roland SP404 is pretty cool, but it's a little limited in terms of being standalone. the sequencing side of things with the 404 is a bit tricky to get your head around, but it tends to make people get creative (sometimes good, sometimes bad). I have a friend who wrote a few tracks on the 404 that were really dope, but whenever I played with it I just couldn't get it to do what I wanted it to.

The other option which was mentioned in chat is an MPC. I have an MPC 1000, they were (are) the 'go-to' for sample based hiphop production. They have an excellent sequencer, and the later models have plenty of flexibility in terms of sample memory and recording time.

What sort of things will you be using it for/with?

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let's be clear, does your friend want a sampler or a drum machine?

pretty sure they are after a sampler

I gather that it needs to have a sequencer built in (can record you playing the pads and play back), is this 100% required?

100% necessary

What sort of things will you be using it for/with?

They are ultimately looking for a unit to play with live, create basic tracks etc and do live vocals over.

Its all pretty experimental stuff they do live. i used to help them write tracks for things but now they have moved away and are going for a 'one-man kinda band' thing

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I know a guy selling one on facey too. I'll ask him if he still has it

Edit: it's just a 404, not an sx but I've asked him anyway

what are the differences between the 404 and the SX?

also cheers mate :thumleft:

No idea lol they look similar but I'm going to assume the sx has some extra features or a better engine

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the 404 is the older model, the SX is better workflow wise. The 404 uses a CF card, the SX uses an SD card. The SX has no internal banks, so you NEEEEEEED a card in there.

the sx is "way" faster, it works with .wav files directly and doesn't resample them when you load them up. It also doesn't obliterate the samples you load into a lower bitrate (supposedly)

If you can get an SX, get an SX, otherwise the 404 will do pretty much the same job.

alternatives would be:

Korg electribe MX

Akai MPC500 or 1000

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It does, but not for this 404. the 404 uses a 9v supply, which means the included supply probably won't work here (if it says 100-240v on the power adaptor you just need a plug converter)

It uses AA's too, so you can use it without a power adaptor until you manage to find one

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