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djLiquid
Guest
Has anyone here used the Boss Sp-303 sampler before? Im thinking about buying this piece to spice up my sets aan recordings. Any comment good or bad would be appreciated.
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djLiquid
Guest
just checked the roland website looks like they have a newer model out, the sp-505. looks much nicer, has a longer sampling time, otherwise the features are pretty much the same. guess ill have to check them both out.
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PaulieUK
New member
Hi DJ Liquid,
I don't know how much help I can be. I haven't used the SP 303, but hopefully have some relevant information.
You need to identify what it is you are trying to do.
the SP 505 is a completely different unit, designed more for music making, than as a "playing live" tool. I'm sure it can be incorporated into playing live, but I don't think it would be ideal - depends on what you want to do.
I have a Roland JS 30, that I used to take out. It came out about 10 years ago, and was one of the first DJ phrase samplers, and in essence, pretty similar to the SP 303.
I am now thinking of getting an SP 303.
This is the best way to use it: At home, you record your samples, edit, truncate and normalise them, and set up their tempo. This is not difficult but can be time consuming - however, you'll only need a few hours every couple of weeks for all you need. You save your samples to smart media.
Then, when you are playing out, you have to synchronise the tempo of your SP 303 with what you're playing. I don't think this has changed fundamentally from what I used to have to do: Listen to a tempo "click" of the SP 303 via headphones, whilst tapping the unit in time to the beat. You get the tempo as close as you can to what you're playing - that way all your samples will automatically be the same speed as what you're playing.
The negative first:
This kind of tempo synchronisation is only of limited accuracy - short samples (up to 10 secs max) should stay in time, but you really get noticeable discrepancies beyond this. Ideally use samples of 4 or less seconds.
Further to this, if you try and play looped samples together, they are unlikely to stay in sync, as minor speed differences worsen with each cycle.
You have to keep resetting the tempo of the unit, because of course your playing speed changes constantly - you'll need to adjust it every 2-4 tracks.
Firing off samples in time with the music is dependant on how rhythmically accurate you are. There's no room for error. With practise, you get pretty good at this, but you always have the problem of 1 tiny slip up, hitting the wrong button or whatever can totally screw up a kick-*** mix you're doing.
Another factor in this is that samples have to be edited super-tight at the start. Again, a bit of practise will help you with this, and often you find after a night out playing that there a couple of samples needing re-editing.
The good points
You can be totally original with this.
With a bit of thought and effort, you can soon set up a few banks of samples that will allow you to do performances that are completely unbelievable - mixing in 5 different songs all at the same time, you can really add to house/techno build ups by lacing samples over the top.
The tempo sync problems will be pretty much solved if you already have an accurate beat counter. Better still, if you have a midi output it will be done for you - plus you can sync sequences to the speed of your tunes.
In short, there's a real lot you'll be able to do with it - which is why I'm looking at getting one. Just be prepared for having to put in a bit of effort to really get the most out of it.
Different, but maybe worth looking at is Red Federation's "Cycloops". This has no storage, but allows you to sample on the fly. Because it has built in tempo analysis, every loop you record will be extremely accurate, and will stay in time. It really really works, and could not be an easier way of incorporating sampling.
EDIT
Having just checked a review, there are a few pretty fast ways of working with the SP 303: If you have a pc smart media card reader, you can do all your editing on pc, which would be a doddle.
It will also work out the tempo of a sample based on it's length.
Yep, I'm getting one....
I don't know how much help I can be. I haven't used the SP 303, but hopefully have some relevant information.
You need to identify what it is you are trying to do.
the SP 505 is a completely different unit, designed more for music making, than as a "playing live" tool. I'm sure it can be incorporated into playing live, but I don't think it would be ideal - depends on what you want to do.
I have a Roland JS 30, that I used to take out. It came out about 10 years ago, and was one of the first DJ phrase samplers, and in essence, pretty similar to the SP 303.
I am now thinking of getting an SP 303.
This is the best way to use it: At home, you record your samples, edit, truncate and normalise them, and set up their tempo. This is not difficult but can be time consuming - however, you'll only need a few hours every couple of weeks for all you need. You save your samples to smart media.
Then, when you are playing out, you have to synchronise the tempo of your SP 303 with what you're playing. I don't think this has changed fundamentally from what I used to have to do: Listen to a tempo "click" of the SP 303 via headphones, whilst tapping the unit in time to the beat. You get the tempo as close as you can to what you're playing - that way all your samples will automatically be the same speed as what you're playing.
The negative first:
This kind of tempo synchronisation is only of limited accuracy - short samples (up to 10 secs max) should stay in time, but you really get noticeable discrepancies beyond this. Ideally use samples of 4 or less seconds.
Further to this, if you try and play looped samples together, they are unlikely to stay in sync, as minor speed differences worsen with each cycle.
You have to keep resetting the tempo of the unit, because of course your playing speed changes constantly - you'll need to adjust it every 2-4 tracks.
Firing off samples in time with the music is dependant on how rhythmically accurate you are. There's no room for error. With practise, you get pretty good at this, but you always have the problem of 1 tiny slip up, hitting the wrong button or whatever can totally screw up a kick-*** mix you're doing.
Another factor in this is that samples have to be edited super-tight at the start. Again, a bit of practise will help you with this, and often you find after a night out playing that there a couple of samples needing re-editing.
The good points
You can be totally original with this.
With a bit of thought and effort, you can soon set up a few banks of samples that will allow you to do performances that are completely unbelievable - mixing in 5 different songs all at the same time, you can really add to house/techno build ups by lacing samples over the top.
The tempo sync problems will be pretty much solved if you already have an accurate beat counter. Better still, if you have a midi output it will be done for you - plus you can sync sequences to the speed of your tunes.
In short, there's a real lot you'll be able to do with it - which is why I'm looking at getting one. Just be prepared for having to put in a bit of effort to really get the most out of it.
Different, but maybe worth looking at is Red Federation's "Cycloops". This has no storage, but allows you to sample on the fly. Because it has built in tempo analysis, every loop you record will be extremely accurate, and will stay in time. It really really works, and could not be an easier way of incorporating sampling.
EDIT
Having just checked a review, there are a few pretty fast ways of working with the SP 303: If you have a pc smart media card reader, you can do all your editing on pc, which would be a doddle.
It will also work out the tempo of a sample based on it's length.
Yep, I'm getting one....
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djLiquid
Guest
Thanks for all your advice. i do plan on preparing all my samples and stuff ahead of time, i just dont think you could do it with well with accuracy of the fly. i went to my local audio store today to check it out. but they didnt have one. they strongly recommended the Korg Electribe S though.......it looks like more of a production tool to me. i think i may go more that direction. check it out at http://www.korg.com
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PaulieUK
New member
djLiquid said:
Hmmmmm I know where you're coming from, but my strong advice to you would be take some time and figure out what you actually want to do, and buy the tools for that job.
I just think you may otherwise try and get something for production that you can use out DJing - and you'll end up with something that does neither terribly well.
Korg S does get good reviews - but not as a DJ sampler. Remember it compresses audio (I like to keep mine perfect).
To be honest, there is an awful lot you can get for the same money - especially if you look second hand.
But only you know what's in your head, and what your plans are.
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PaulieUK
New member
djLiquid said:
Well your shop has obviously convinced you of what you need.
I can't help: I've put all the food for thought out, and you haven't described what you want to do.
It may be that the Korg unit is exactly what you want.
It sounds to me like you really have no idea what you want to do, and the shop is trying to off load some of it's stock on you.
Good luck.
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djLiquid
Guest
thanks for your advice. i just ordered the boss sp-303 from http://www.musicansfriend.com theyve got great deals! all along i was actually looking for something to enhance my live sets with. and i think your right that my local shop tried to tell me what i wanted. the sp-303 has 44.2 khz sound vs. 35 khz and 26 vs. 11 effects plus its like $200 cheaper! ill let you know what i think once i get the hang of it. thanks again!
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SoulSelekta
Guest
sp303
i've had the sp303 for about 2 months now, and i've had a lot of fun with it. i got it mainly as a live production tool, and never really intended it to be for straight production use. it's very dj-friendly, being able to sit on a table top, and it has large glowing red rubber buttons which are easy to find and control in the dark. i've had one technically difficulty with it, and doing some finer tuning to the start/end points of the samples is somewhat tedious. i'm glad i bought it though, it's a steal at under $300 ($280 at www.123dj.com or marsmusic.com). a good buy.
i've had the sp303 for about 2 months now, and i've had a lot of fun with it. i got it mainly as a live production tool, and never really intended it to be for straight production use. it's very dj-friendly, being able to sit on a table top, and it has large glowing red rubber buttons which are easy to find and control in the dark. i've had one technically difficulty with it, and doing some finer tuning to the start/end points of the samples is somewhat tedious. i'm glad i bought it though, it's a steal at under $300 ($280 at www.123dj.com or marsmusic.com). a good buy.
infradead
Active member
i'm getting the older model the sp202 eventually. battery powered with an internal mike for walking around sampling. thats cool
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SoulSelekta
Guest
hehe
the 202 takes D-cell batteries and the internal mic (as expected) is basically useless. your best bet is to plug a microphone into the input and then sample that. funny, 2 minutes ago i couldn't have possibly imagined why someone would possibly want the 202 over the 303..
ss
the 202 takes D-cell batteries and the internal mic (as expected) is basically useless. your best bet is to plug a microphone into the input and then sample that. funny, 2 minutes ago i couldn't have possibly imagined why someone would possibly want the 202 over the 303..
ss
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Kaymir
Guest
Hey, diggin this thread up!
how's the sound quality off it? cuz i heard it use some kind of Roland compression for saving the recorded samples?!?!?
thnx in advance
how's the sound quality off it? cuz i heard it use some kind of Roland compression for saving the recorded samples?!?!?
thnx in advance
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JpL
Guest
ive never used one but if ya like madlib aka qausimoto aka shytload of other alias' His makes almost all of his music using just the 303, vinyl, and live instruments. So that should give you a good perspective of what can be done with it......
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Kaymir
Guest
for real? I love madlib work but never new he was using a sp-303!!
i want to use it next to my MPC2KXL..sample sounds from the MPC to the 303 ----->> store it/resample it ---->> play like for example a vocal sample --->> trough my filterbank/compressor/fx unit sample it back to the MPC
good idea or what with the 303?!?!
i want to use it next to my MPC2KXL..sample sounds from the MPC to the 303 ----->> store it/resample it ---->> play like for example a vocal sample --->> trough my filterbank/compressor/fx unit sample it back to the MPC
good idea or what with the 303?!?!
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JpL
Guest
www.redbullmusicacademy.com check out the production section they got an interview there with madlib
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Kaymir
Guest
thnx bro!!