That’s it, haha.
Sp404! The Fx/resampling/sound = mojo box supreme 
Sp404! The Fx/resampling/sound = mojo box supreme ;)
One vote for SP! I’m realising this may not be fair, as the SP costs more, so to balance the scales, I’ll allow up to two volcas per vote
Second hand Volca is cheap and lots of fun…
I have a Volca Bass for sale btw
You can always get rid of it once you’re tired of it.
SP404 is pretty good for FX, but a bit clumsy for sample managing.
I like the sound a lot, though. Or used to, as I got rid of mine.
What is it for ?
Thanks @lyingdalai I thought I had an opportunity to buy some, but it looks like the opportunity may have passed. But I appreciate your advice.
Sounds moot now but also can recommend volca keys (pocket sized BBC radiophonic gritty delay pseudo poly beaut) and volca sample (sounds killer. Pretty good sequencing/p-locks etc. But rarely use it cos I never get round to changing my samples. If it had sampling inputs I’d use it constantly).
But yeah, love the Sp404. Most of my favourite animal collective/panda bear stuff was SP-heavy and they’re rad for that kind of loose mayhem. Fast sampling/resampling + nice selection of fx.
@ludicrouSpeed I just ordered a smaller card for my sp505 - apparently the massive card I had was making it super slow. Will let you know how it goes. I’m starting to actually really like the combo of OP and SP, bouncing back and forth between the two is great - the built in recording compression of the SP really glues the drums a bit better.
The volca sample unfortunately can’t do this without inputs :,(
My vote is for SP!
@ludicrouSpeed I just ordered a smaller card for my sp505 - apparently the massive card I had was making it super slow. Will let you know how it goes. I'm starting to actually really like the combo of OP and SP, bouncing back and forth between the two is great - the built in recording compression of the SP really glues the drums a bit better.The volca sample unfortunately can't do this without inputs :,(My vote is for SP!
Thanks Millman. Oh I see! That makes sense, cause no one else was complaining about the speed of the SP… Oh, for some reason I thought you had the 404… No matter… I actually heard people talking about how quick these units were compared to the older 202 and 303… Here you were thinking you were just being picky at the speed, but it was an over large card… So what size is appropriate? What size did you have?
Yep exactly. The 404 definitely seems to be the most popular unit out, there’s a few good boiler room vids using them exclusively (like this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9ksTvWXrzU), but apparently has it’s own set of problems - as an hardware unit does.
My SP came with a 128 mb card, so I’ve just ordered a 32 so hopefully that will speed thingns up. If not, a 16 should work fine, (which still does 8 minutes of audio at full quality, plenty for a few tracks of samples)
Knowing the problems in a backwards way helps you see what you can do with it.
From memory, main pb with SP404 is you can’t sample while playing…
Editing samples was weird but I got used to it…
Only one FX at a time (so you would use resampling a lot)
I really loved its sound, especially the og version (for some reason the awesome Vinyl Sim didn’t make it to SX version)
Compression, distorsion, pitch shifting, these FX were really powerful. There was something round and punchy in what I could dial out of it…
Nowadays I would get the og version for the FX only 
Thanks @lyingdalai
Ooh, good gotcha that the sx is less good? I just automatically thought that the sx would be better.
SX got SD card instead of Compact Flash.
Doesn’t get the almighty Vinyl Sim.
Is a bit more expensive, even on the second hand market.
I don’t know any other difference but there might be some still.
I thought I read that you can apply vinyl SIM as a sort of real time plugin on the sx @lyingdalai, might have been misinformation.
I thought I read that you can apply vinyl SIM as a sort of real time plugin on the sx @lyingdalai, might have been misinformation.
There is a vinyl sim on the 404SX, nowhere near as good as the 303 or the 404’s.
I thought I read that you can apply vinyl SIM as a sort of real time plugin on the sx @lyingdalai, might have been misinformation.There is a vinyl sim on the 404SX, nowhere near as good as the 303 or the 404’s.
Aha! The truth comes out 
Yep, @LyingDalai pretty much nailed the problems that I’ve heard about the 404: Can’t sample on the fly (same as 505 - my main gripe TBH as it kills the live implementation for me), one fx at a time (same 505), editing of samples by ear only (505 has a screen).
The one thing that is kind of killing me with my 505 though (besides the slow card) is the coveted vinyl sim: I just don’t think it’s that good. It’s absolutely nothing like the Vulf compressor plugin, which is supposedly is modelled on it. The volume drops when it’s engaged and it doesn’t get that thumpy smash that I expected it to do. Maybe I’m just using it wrong? I’ve tried hitting it with a low signal, high signal, sampled drums, whatever. It just doesn’t do anything except roll off some highs and add some fake vinyl crackle. The comp side of it is way too gentle. Dunno what I’m doing wrong???
I thought I read that you can apply vinyl SIM as a sort of real time plugin on the sx @lyingdalai, might have been misinformation.There is a vinyl sim on the 404SX, nowhere near as good as the 303 or the 404’s.
Aha! The truth comes out
also, not sure about the original 404, but the a liveset full of loops on all pads/banks loaded in 5 seconds on the SX.
The SX has 12 sound banks as well, while the 404 only has 8 (1 sound bank being a set of 12 pads with samples/loops on each pad)