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Subject: Roland SP-808

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Original Message 1/25 29-Apr-99 @ 09:47 AM - Roland SP-808

dan

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A guy is selling his SP-808 for $750, and I was wondering if thats a good price for it. Also does anyone have an Sp-808 or have used one , can tell me if it's worth it. I'd appreaciate the advice, Thanks!

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Message 2/25 29-Apr-99 @ 01:18 PM - RE: Roland SP-808

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What do you want to do with it? I've only had limited experience, but it didn't seem too great for DnB breaks....too many clicks and pops, (it makes a click with EVERY cut - anyone know any different?) but yeah...that sounds like a good price. As i say, I've only messed with a friends, so someone else might have a better clue.

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Message 3/25 29-Apr-99 @ 06:05 PM - RE: Roland SP-808

�hrisFader

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good price, but for a limited piece of gear. I wrote about this at length in the prophecy post. There are more powerful, less gimmicky, more serious pieces of kit out there for less cash. Check out the Akai stuff. If you have some big cash, check out the Ensoniq or Kurzweil stuff. The Roland S-760 is solid, too. I just hate the operating system, which is set up more for rocket scientists than for musicians.

�hrisFader

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Message 4/25 29-Apr-99 @ 07:24 PM - RE: Roland SP-808

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Gimicky man gimicky....

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Message 5/25 29-Apr-99 @ 08:00 PM - RE: Roland SP-808

��hhrriissFFaaddeerr

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Accttuuaallyy II ddiidd tthhaatt oonn ppuurrppoossee. =)

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Message 6/25 29-Apr-99 @ 11:32 PM - RE: Roland SP-808

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OOOKKKK wwwhhhhhatttteevvveeerr yyouuu sssaaaayyyyy

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Message 7/25 30-Apr-99 @ 04:57 AM - RE: Roland SP-808

Brett

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Doesn't seem like anyone like the piece of dung!

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Message 8/25 30-Apr-99 @ 05:03 AM - RE: Roland SP-808

Erik

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I bought it and sold it the first week.

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Message 9/25 30-Apr-99 @ 05:06 AM - RE: Roland SP-808

Brett

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Weak sounds. the sampling engine sounds like a tin can. Not much too say positive about this box.

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Message 10/25 30-Apr-99 @ 05:10 AM - RE: Roland SP-808

dmb1236

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Hey it sounds fine to me. but I just started to make techno this last year. i have an mc-303 groovebox too.

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Message 11/25 30-Apr-99 @ 05:19 AM - RE: Roland SP-808

ren

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I used to Dj with and it crashed everytime. But I had the Emu-1200 before this and it sounds better than the sp-808, but it was more reliable. I'm thinking of selling it though. Any offers over $1200 Canadian? Buy it by it by it by it bit by it. I dropped only twice when I was high!!! But it doesn't work that much anymore. I should ask $3000 for it.

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Message 12/25 30-Apr-99 @ 05:41 AM - RE: Roland SP-808

Sp808

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I am an ex Roland rep and I used to work for Roland. Don't think about buying the box! We had so many problems with this box. We had sent out 9000 units the first month and 4200 had recalls. Now I could fix it for for you if you buy it. I used to be a tech here in LA. But parts will cost you 800-850 bucks. It's not that hard for me to do this because I ripped off half of their inventory. I'm here to make a buck. A guys gotta eat and shit right? Man i need the money. Just send me the money if you think you want it fixed. I can solder shit in a week or two. But I usually don't send units back. I keep that shit!!! And sell it. So I basically fuck you over....chump. Send me the money. Serously I fix shit all the time and shit. So drop me a line and shit if you want that shit modified and shit. I would like it if you send me cash and shit. So shit send me some money if you want that fuckin shit fixed and shit. I fixed this guys shit from San Fran about a month ago, but he calls me all the time to tell me that that shit doesn't even turn on anymore. I don't give a fuck and shit. I got his fucking cash and shit. So fucking email my ass if you want me to tweak that fucking shit and i'll send it back to you when I get around to it and shit.

peace out.

peace out ya'll

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Message 13/25 30-Apr-99 @ 06:34 AM - RE: Roland SP-808

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I send you some shit if you like...

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Message 14/25 30-Apr-99 @ 06:56 PM - RE: Roland SP-808

jcu3

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I'll send you a piece of shit if you want dumb ass! That was the stupidst message I've ever read....

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Message 15/25 30-Apr-99 @ 08:51 PM - RE: Roland SP-808

dan

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Seriously now, is this thing worth $750, I've read the first replies and Im getting that it isn't very good. Than again the 808 was voted runner up for the best samplers of 1998 behind Yamaha's S3000v2.So it has to be somewhat good?. Thanks for your replies(except for that dumb ass, long post) hope to hear from others on their opinions on this unit.Thanks

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Message 16/25 02-May-99 @ 07:46 AM - RE: Roland SP-808

planetalgon

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I think if there were that many problems with the OS still, you would hear about it more often. I've heard of dropouts when you stretch the polyphony, but that goes for ANYthing with a limit. If you don't take the offer dan, please foreward it to me. I'm having trouble locating one. OK, here's a question for all you other live performers: If your going to run a real complex mix live and want a real reliable set up, would you rather...1)Run a sequencer that drives all of your gear and play along with it, 2)Record anything you can't play to a hard disk recorder like the Fostex D-90 and just mute the tracks you want to play live., 3)Play it all from an SP-808 and just swap disks during performance...I think that I would opt for #2 because it seems the most solid and simple, but I wish that someone could convince me that #3 would work. The #1 method is so f--ing hard to do and very stressful so I'm looking into these other two options. I really want the kind of interaction that the SP-808 is intended for. I saw The Crystal Method play live with the Fostex D-90 Technique and it just seems to work. The viewpoints on the SP-808 are so varied that it's hard to get a straight answer. I think a lot of people expect to get a box that just sounds great without a whole lot of fuss. I've never had anything like that, but hey I wouldn't want to deal with clicks either. What do you think?

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Message 17/25 02-May-99 @ 02:33 PM - RE: Roland SP-808

jcu3

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I'd quite worring about the "clicks" on the 808. If a user tries to trim loops on the Sp-808 you may end up with alot of clicks. But If I owned the machine i'd use a wave editor like Sound Forge, and edit the loops that way. SInce you can get down really tight on your loops and never have to worry about clicks. And then digital transfer them via digital coax input on the expansion board of the 808. Does that $750 include the expansion board? The only thing that would drive me nuts is only having 4 parts to mute and trigger. How would you do that? Drum kit on the first slider? Bass line on slider 2? etc, etc... That would suck if you want to drop out some hihats through the track and couldn't. You'de half to waste a whole nother track and/or trigger another loop with out the hihats implemented...... sounds really challenging to me. Actually more like brain damage..... Anyhow, i'd thought i'd post my two cents. Feel free to tell me to go to hell if you'de like.

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Message 18/25 02-May-99 @ 03:30 PM - RE: Roland SP-808

planetalgon

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I think that given the SP-808's lack of tracks, and huge memory. You'd be better off recording a loop with and without that hi-hat. That also opens up the opertunity to do a fill at the end of one loop if you like and not have to be tapping like mad to get it in place, if your using other controllers as well for example. But hey, I don't own one. That's just what I do with loops now. You need gobs of memory (128 MB or more at times) but with the SP-808 you wouldn't have much to worry about, right?

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Message 19/25 02-May-99 @ 04:44 PM - RE: Roland SP-808

jcu3

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I'm not too sure on this SP-808 issue. To me this seems like a really ass backwards way to work. But for some artists this may be the solution there looking for. I'd think that this 808 thing would be really powerfull if you sat down with it for a few months. I hope you find the information your looking for.

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Message 20/25 03-May-99 @ 07:14 AM - RE: Roland SP-808

Dan

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THanks to all for your input, I think Im going to buy it, Im just waiting for the guy to mail me back and confirm the deal.Thanks again to all!!

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Message 21/25 04-May-99 @ 03:48 PM - RE: Roland SP-808

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jcu3 - sending the loops to an editor is basically how we've been working, though haven't got the output board, so i'll get the loop in Cubase or something, cut it up, pitch it, etc, then sample it back into the 808....there are some real nice FX things you can do, that i can't do on my PC. But even with the digital I/O, doesn't that defeat the object of an all in one box. I mean, if you've already got the PC, then you might as well have a normal rack sampler. We haven't got a proper sampler, just a PC, so the 808 is getting a fair bit of use, but you could do better for the money.
Incidently, the guy who owns it also plays in an indie guitar type band, basically as their drummer, but using the 808. It seems to be suited quite well to that, and it doubles up as a digital four track for demos. I think i'm basically saying that it's not a peice of shite, but it's not the all-in-one dream box Roland made it out to be....but then there probably isn't an all-in-one box to do everything you want.

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Message 22/25 04-May-99 @ 03:55 PM - RE: Roland SP-808

jcu3

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Sounds awesome. I like that it also syncs to MIDI too. Sounds pretty powerful.

Disclaimer: " This is my opinion, although I could be wrong"

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Message 23/25 04-May-99 @ 04:02 PM - RE: Roland SP-808

jcu3

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Sounds awesome. I like that it also syncs to MIDI too. Sounds pretty powerful.

Disclaimer: " This is my opinion, although I could be wrong"

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Message 24/25 04-May-99 @ 05:27 PM - RE: Roland SP-808

planetalgon

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Al: So, what if you want to record say a big long track off of your computer that you have already arranged. Do you store that as one long "sample"? If you did, it seems like it would start falling out of sync within a few bars. Do you have to chop up that long sample into little ones in order to keep the sync straight for 8 minutes?...Or does the SP-808 know the timing of the whole sample. If you tried to do a very long drumtrack on a regular sampler, you would HAVE to chop it up. How does the SP-808 handle this?

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Message 25/25 05-May-99 @ 01:04 PM - RE: Roland SP-808

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So far i've never had to record more than 16 bars with one track to the 808, so no syncing is needed.....just loop it with the same tempo (maybe adjust very slightly, which can be done automatically). It does sync up alright if you need it to tho. It gets a bit harder when you want to record a track from the 808 to the PC....for arranging, mastering and burning to CD. You then need to chop the track a bit to makesure it keeps time, but that's not really a problem...especially cause we do real broken beats, so a millisecond of silence or two isn't really noticeable, especially when it's only one track of eight.
I think maybe i'll try recording a whole 4-5 minute synth track into the 808, tho I reckon i'll have to sync them then. I do like the sound mangling possibilities, and some of those FX can add real atmosphere to the track....which i'm kind of lacking with my current setup.
Al

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