Boss SP-303 Dr. Sample

you need to read the manual to learn to do stuff like edit samples, truncate, or record a pattern, but fortunately the manual is clearly written, so it isn't hard to get the hang of this thing.

pos: the cutoff is a decent effect on some sounds. the isolator is great. the reverse is great, i find myself using that a lot. the pitch can sound cool sometimes. recording and editing samples is really easy once you read the section in the manual about it. the pattern sequencer isn't really that bad except for something i'll mention in the cons.

cons: from what i've heard, with the boss 404, the next model up, you can be playing a pattern, and then make the next pattern can be sequenced to come on perfectly on time, right after the first one ends. i don't think the 303 will do this. i made a song with several drum patterns, and i have to push the pad to change the pattern right at the exact time the one that's currently playing ends, so the rythm isn't quite perfect, and if you're recording something, you can hear the ******* in the rythm. most of the effects aren't that cool, and if you put them on a sound, you'll hear more of the effect than the sample. another BIG con is that you have to plug it in, when the 404 is battery powered. also, another BIGGY is that there is not near enough space on the internal memory, and there are only eight pads per bank, and only four banks, assuming you have a memory card. i fill up the pads really quickly. i need more.

i have no complaints about the sound quality. no degradation in quality between the source of the sample and the sample once it's on the pad. good job on that. it's not velocity sensative, which sucks, but i can't afford an akai.

DO NOT EVER TURN IT OFF WHILE IT'S TRUNCATING! i did it, and it ******* up my memory card. not that bad, but there's a glitch when i use the referse effect on a long sample on bank c or d. my fault though, it says not to do that in the manual.

never dealt withem.

overall...this is a GREAT sampler for the price. it's awesome, especially if you've never used a sampler before. it will change the way you write/play music. opens so many new doors. BUT...my advice would be to BUY THE BOSS 404 INSTEAD because it uses batteries, so now you have sampler and a great quality field recorder! and the 404 has four more pads per bank, and more banks, and it takes a flash drive so you can use more space. plus, their pretty much the same price on ebay. i bought my 303 a couple weeks ago, and i just bought a 404 for less actually. i'm going to sell the 303. i'm not hating on it though, it badass and cheap, but just get the damn 404.

If you look at the manual once, you shouldn't have a problem again... it seems wierd at first without a screen but its intuitive in its own way.

The effects are great... especially the vinyl simulator.

its a sampler, obviously the sounds depend on your creativity

the only thing that looks breakable are the knobs

never tried it

I would definitely buy another one... and am going to. I had one a couple years ago but sold it and bought an MPC60... now, other than the feel of the pads, THAT was a piece of crap. Other than the Roger Linn quantizing and the pads, an old MPC is useless and ridiculously overpriced. Besides, if you aren't making some crunk bulls*** what do you need quantizing for anyways? Listen to Madlib, he does everything sample-related on this machine. Its much more fun than an MPC. Give it a chance.

The SP-303 is without a doubt the instrument I could do the least with on my own - the manual is indispensable with this one. This has become less of an issue now that Roland US made the manual available on-line (make sure you have an American e-mail address, otherwise the system will ignore you). But even with the manual, the insane key combinations and cryptic three-digit LED display is likely to drive you insane.

The SP-303 is a very basic and rather poorly thought out piece of kit that sacrifices everything for portability and immediacy - and then fails to deliver either of these. Without the option of being battery-powered, it's decidedly less portable than its predecessor, the SP-202, and hardly any better. Yes, the specs may look impressive, but that's what it does on a good day, giving you a headache in the process.

Also, think about what it has to offer: for instance, 200 minutes of sampling time sounds amazing, but in case you need to edit the recording, you'll be in for a hell of a headache. And forget about transferring samples back and forth between the SP-303 and your computer for editing and storage right now via the SmartMedia card - it doesn't work.

It's MIDI specifications are very basic. There is no option of transposing a sample through MIDI note numbers, straightforward pad triggering only (it does respond to velocity via MIDI, thank God). As for the internal sequencer, I dare you to use it and get something done - you're better off triggering the samples manually all night long.

There is something where SP-303 does a half-decent job, and that's sampling. It's pretty straightforward, the samples sound good (to check out some of the songs I used it on, e-mail me), and the overload indicator is very helpful - I'd had less clipping with the SP-303 than with all the pro gear I've used since. But try to do anything slightly more advanced with that sample, be it editing, effecting, moving, or exporting, and you're back in hell again.

The effect particularly are just waiting to drive out of your mind: not only is their specified number a blatant lie, most of them are totally useless, while the rest are of really poor quality. Be careful with tempo-based effects as they'll only follow the sample's supposed BPM - there is no way you can switch the timing to follow the external MIDI clock, which is a great shame. So in order to properly delay a short vocal sample, you either have to record some silence after it to make the BPM right, or you have to duplicate it an "delay" it manually in your sequencer.

I've had it for one year and nothing went wrong, nor did it seem that it was about to. The build quality seemed decent enough for the money, but it did freeze on me a few times, which would be very awkward during a gig and it's something no back-up can protect you against. The manual warns that you should never turn it off if it stops responding as you can lose your data, but if it doesn't wake back up after fifteen minutes, what will you do?

Roland don't have official customer support in Slovenia anymore, but their former authorised dealer still gladly repairs their equipment for reasonable prices. Top marks for the local guys, then.

There's only one thing you really need to know about the SP-303 if you're a prospective buyer: read some professional reviews very carefully, more than once if necessary. Go for the bare facts, they'll tell you what the SP-303 can do, and don't go buying it thinking it can do a whole lot more like I did - because it won't.

Also, if you're putting together a bedroom studio and you think that you don't need a professional sampler unit, again like I did, you are wrong. Seriously, for the money, you can get an older Akai or Emu unit that'll do most things the SP-303 would, and lots, lots more. The SP-303 is a totally closed system that you're likely to outgrow very quickly. In case you don't need to carry your sampler around a lot and don't mind a few menus to step through, get something else.

Very simple. Instant gratification. This is NOT a machine that will have your head in the manual. It's like a fisher price, 'my first sampler,' kinda box. Yes, it's really that easy to use.

Polyphony is set at 8, but you can re-sample till your hearts desire. The effects are good (personal opinion).. I don't get hung up with needing a certain reverb (hall, stage, stadium etc) just let me adjust the parameters till I get what I desire. The 303 lets me do this. I like the effects, and the ways you can bend up samples. It's the perfect companion to the mpc's because the 303 does what the mpc's can't, and the mpc does what the 303's can't. BTW, the sequencer on the 303 is WACK!

It's sounds good to me, but I make hip-hop.. not rap.. Honestly, if you are making anything that requires a polished sound, this may not be for you. If your looking for lexicon effects, look elsewhere. If you desire the cleanest samples, I wouldn't even waste your money. Techno, house, hip-hop, rock and roll and even R&B will beneift from the 303. I'm not saying it can't produce clean results, because it can, but don't expect the 303's compression effect to match an avalon.. know what I mean.

Never failed on me... it's even fell on my floor a few times!

Never delt with them.

Yes, I only paid $35 for it, and that's the only reason I own it. A true blessing. Anyways, let me give you the bad side of the 303. It came with a 32 meg card (or something in that area), so I'm thinking, cool.. I got plenty of space for my samples. Well, yes and no. First, let me say that I don't sample more than a few seconds. mainly kicks snares, etc, and I like to re-sample my own tracks to create intro's/outro's etc. Ok, so I put in a few kicks, snares, and fill up the internal memory (banks A and B), now I go and fill up banks C and D with additional hi-hats, snares etc. In total, I MAY have used up 2 megs from my total storage, that leaves me with 30 megs free right... Correct, but since I don't have any more banks left, those additional megs are left unused. There's no way to access the space that I need.. in fact, when I go to sample another little 20k kick, the 303 displays a message saying the memory is full. WHA.DA.YA MEAN THE MEMORY'S FULL?? I GOT 30+ MEGS LEFT. This is my gripe with the SP's.. they don't take advantage of the memory. In fact, they even have a new model, the SP-606 that can hold up to 6 hours of music.. yes, 6 hours, but I think it has the same problem as all the previous models (I could be wrong, but I think I'm 98% correct though) So come-on Boss/roland, do the SP series some justice and upgrade the OS to utilize it's memory.

I feel compelled to give this thing a bit higher a rating on account of what I use it for. The simple fact is that the on board sequencer, time stretch capabilities, and bpm funtions are not very easy to use at all, espeacially if you are used to either software samplers or hardware with extensive menus and cut and paste options. Regardless, for my needs, the functions I actually use are a breeze to figure out. I play bass, and wanted an easy to use device for playback of the ambient sounds, vocal samples(from films ect.), and snipits of noise in a live enviroment. The only problem is that I had to purchase a separate midi controller that I could trigger with my feet. I picked up one of the more expensive models, but only bc I have a bunch of rack gear that I needed to controll as well.
Soooo....if you want a little sturdy box, that samples and re-samples very easily, with lots of neat effects and is easily controllable via midi....then this is the thingy for you.

On board effects are pretty well defined....all good for mangling any sounds you load into it. Ive learned that vocals sound really good, when processed through this thing, and if you want retro lo-fi samples, then it scores in that catagory as well.
The sequencer is pretty crappy, so if you want to make complex beat patterns, you'd be better off buying a deticated drum machine, or proffesional sampler like an AKAI or similar.

Its a sampler...the sounds are up to you

But it is not velocity sensative nor are the pads organized in any traditional keyboard type layout(ala electribe)...think of severly poor copies of AKAI pads

its BOSS...so its built like a cinder block

before I bought my midi pedal I actually attached raised buttons to certain pads and set it on my pedal board....used it like a pedal....not even a scratch

Havn't dealt with'em....but I've heard its shite

probably wouldn't buy another if it was lost or stolen. Id most likely opt for something a bit more expansive and expanable.

its great for what it does, and I could see myself using it for years down the line.

Not Sure Of software version..........
Of coaurse I deleted the preset samples including the former owners southern drawl "Yeah".........
Editing takes a bit of getting use to, efects are easy to access.
Had the manual with it havent realy read it yet. STill want to get a 64mb smart media card for it so samples can be biger and longer.

Ofcourse it doesnt have a keyboard built in but triggering with one is realy easy.
The built in efects are realy realy usefull for me(especialy "Lo-Fi"), I like the sounds. easy as well.
As far as expantion you can add a smart media card up to 64mb.
The trigger pads are nice and big and the lights help to remember what pad you just triggered.
Only a midi in........ that sort of sucks........
I havent used the onboard sequencer yet.

ofcourse the sounds are up to you(it is a sampler right?)..
I could use this in any type of music.......
Once again the effects are nice and I find them usefull.
No velocity or after touch, but what can you expect for so inexpensive.

I have owned the SP-202 and never had it fail on me...
I expect it should be the same, I would gig without a backup.
But ofcourse I dont have money for two of them...............HEHEH

Delt with roland before had good and bad experiances with them.....

If it were stollen I would get another...... If it were lost I would be a dumb crap for loosing it! I would say it was worth the tag price.
I have been playing for 12years on guitar mainly and I also play bass drums and keys. SO this is a great addition.
I have way to much gear to list.
I looked at Korg and yamaha samplers, they realy didnt have as many features and goodies.
USB would be a nice addition........
I like it alot!!!!!!!
GET ONE!

This is my first piece of equipment after using a computer for 5+ years. It took me a couple hours to guide myself through all the features, then I was ready to do some sampling and sequencing.

First of all, you need a smart media card, because the onboard memory is not enough. After that, the major limiting feature is the polyphony (8). The Boss website gave me the impression that I could create a pattern and resample it to a pad. I'm working on a beat with 3 sounds layered to create the snare sound, and there is no way to resample all three of these sounds at once to one pad. Also, since you can't resample drum patterns to pads, if you want to make a reasonable length pattern you have to spend forever placing every single piece of percussion. The effects are great, in my opinion, and easy to use. The big drawback on the effects is that only one pad can have effects at any one time. This means you have to resample constantly, and effects like reverb suffer from not being generated in realtime. Finally, the fact that the headphone volume is controlled by the master volume is annoying, especially because this thing is not very loud and you always need to have the volume cranked up to the max. This also makes noise a problem when recording off of it. Bottom line: don't make this your only piece of equipment.

I use this for hip hop. It does not work very well for hip hop music, because of the polyphony and sequencing. I think it would be great for a live DJ, because you could add effects and have some good basic drum patterns stored. The pads are not velocity sensitive, but at this price you can't expect them to be.

I have not had any problems yet. I bought it new.

I have not had to get any repairs, or contact Boss.

I would not buy it again if it were lost or stolen. My advice to anyone looking to make this their first piece of equipment: you will need to add a sequencer or drum machine to this anyway, so save your money and get a different all-in-one package with more polyphony, a better sequencer, and more outputs.

This is my first machine of any kind besides a computer and after 15 min. I was up and running with own sampels, sequences and everything...Very easy to read and the manual tells you everything you need...The only thing that sets the SP-303 back when it comes to easy of use is that it has a bit to few buttons and knobs. The ones who are the are really great, but some manouvers takes a bit to much time when I play it live...

There is a Stereo RCA & Microphone 1/4" in, and a Stereo RCA out and headphones. The microphone line can be run trough the sampler and you can add effects to it and easily change the volume. On thing thats very annoying is that you can't change the volume of the headphones, they only follow the volume of the sampler. The polyphony is 8, witch is not enough, but alot at this very affordable price..It has trhee knobs to tweak the 26 effects, wich I must say i think is all nice. Filter+ Drive, Pitch, Vinyls Sim, Delay, Isolator have its own buttons while the reast of the effects much be selected while a knot. The different buttons are nice and red. They are soft and with nice sensetivity. There is a three digit display wich is ok for showing numbers(BPM, Volum) but show some pretty cryptic messages the rest of the time. This is no problem since the 303 is so easy to use.
You can change the speed of your sampels but this does not work very vell, you get a lot of clicks and fuzz.

You can use smart mediacards up to 64 MB. They can contain Wav or Aiff files wich can be imported to the samplers own format. This is very good, I bought 4 or 5, 32MB cards and use one per song. The smartmediacards (and big nice pads)is one of the best parts of the sampler.

The sounds are great(due to the fact they are all mine).

It have actually "chrashed" one time what I learned from this is that if you are going to overwrite your cards you must format the card first. If you don't format you might end up with some really screwed up mixes of the old and new sampels. With the right use this works fine, but its not rock solid.

I bought this form a local dealer and his very nice, never talked to BOSS.

I must say I don't have much to compare with, but imust say im very pleased with the SP-303. Now after a couple of months I'm going to buy a drum machine to have beside it so i can use its some limitided polyphony to sampels of other kind than drums. I use this togheter with a trompetist and a guitarst, and mostly playing not programing so the sequencer part of the sampler is not so well known to me but I have used it and it works fine. It doesent only help me make music, but it helps me play music that is what I like about it, you kan play your sampels and add effects and use it as a instrument live. If it was stolen i would buy another one. This is not the greatest tool on the marked but it really is a value-for-money best buy.

yeah, it's pretty easy to use, hit record, press what pad you want to record in and hit record again.. the auto record is a good function, that's helped a lot. i tweek sounds in sound forge and then record them to the sp303 and it's good that i dont have to set the two going at once. the pattern sequence is easy.. too easy. too basic. this thing in general is too easy/basic. there's not much to get too indepth about. its easy to use because there's NOTHING to use.

eight note polyphony in one single bank unless you have an external controler (which i have). if i didn't i'd be majorly pissed off. and also if you want velocity sensitive keys blah blah blah. the effects are pretty good, some good ones, some really useless ones (vinyl sim. what the hell is this!?) and some which just blow (-cough- time compression expansion -cough-) and pitch to some extent.. generally pissweak, but the fact you can change them in real time is good. the selecting of pads to be effected on the fly is really annoying. i might just be a moron but it really is bad. i'm often setting the fx on two samples at once or stopping one sample.. ugh. ooh, and the different recording options- lofi - for extra long samples with a "good distortion". it's just rolands way of saying "hey! we're just trying to find a use for this useless function" NO ONE wants to record in 8 bit sound!

Being a phrase sampler, it's GIGO (garbage in garbage out) pretty much. i am kinda pissed about the phrase sampler.. (you can't play samples like a piano for those who don't know) but it generally works well for what it does. the fact that it comes with a "whopping" *snigger* 30 seconds sample time on two banks is just pitiful. i coughed up $100 bucks for a 32 meg flash card so i get 16 mintues sampling time divided between 16 pads. i was also pissed off about this. i dont really have much use for 16 1 minute samples (although the style of music i do i not unlike the avalanches so that means really long samples) but i was expecting the 16 minutes to be spread across all four banks. no, i've got 2 really long banks and two banks that are as useless as a pedal powered wheel chair. i'm once again dissapointed by the fact that the resample option cannot be transferred across banks and the rediculus price of flash cards. though, i've found a bit of a way out of this, i line up 2 different samples in stereo and then record them in stereo onto the sampler. i have one side going into one channel on the desk and the other into a seperate channel. so, when i progress through all 16 samples in a show, i just flip the faders and i have another 16 samples. poor? yes it is. but hey, this is what i'm reduced to. I'd buy another flash card if they didn't cost an arm and leg. once again, i'd like to point out how bad the sequencer in this is. REALLY BAD people. very basic, no undo features, only has 99 bars, ugh.

this thing's never crashed on me. nothing's broken yet and all the pretty pads still light up. i'm annoyed that this didn't have a battery option like the 202 did. if it did i would have used it just walking around. but no, it didn't. for shame roland. the knobs are pretty sturdy too. i wouldn't try running it over in my car though.

I freakin' hate customer support. even their freakin website blows anus. i couldn't find jack on it. they're obviously not putting the money they saved on customer support into R and D so where's it going? probably up the poop chute of some executive. sorry. i know that was uncalled for but i'm damn well fed up with unhelpful helplines.

If it was naffed, i would be pissed until i got insurance on it and then i'd keep the money and not buy another one. Definately not worth paying more than a few hundred for. I'm envious of all the people who made the smart choice and coughed up for an mpc2000. man i wish i had one of those babys. The best thing about this is that you dont have to load samples into the ram. they're always there.. but then you can't change them, so that sucks even more. i currently own the 303 and sequence it with an old Yamaha RX5 which does a moderately good job. Yeah, it's definate competitor would have to be the mpc2000 which just shites all over the 303. i wish this thing had.. the ablity to hold more samples. it's very annoying. if you're thinking of buying one dont say "oh, 32 samples is enough for me" IT'S NOT! trust me. it would be easier if i just samples whole songs on there and just hit play. i dont do that because it's increadibly stupid. It's good for an FX unit. the fact that it only supports RCA in's and out's is a real pain in the scrotum too. stock up on 1/4 in adapters if you buy it. and a flash card. it's useless without one. Oh, and no midi through line either. That's another real gripe i have. it wouldn't have been that hard to put one in roland. sheesh. Maybe i'm expecting too much. but i really dont think so...

no short falls here, just read the manual and apply the instructions. i havent utilized it in my musical setup yet in regards to midi - will see how it fairs there...

since i'll be using it in cooperation with my midi keyboard (mapping pads/samples to keys for playback) it has all i need. the sequencer is only usable for creating small, loopable patterns. things move out of sync eventually if your using it for song compostions (and generally low flexibility). effects pretty good, some are almost disregardable though.

depends mainly on your samples (of course), but general sound quality is fine. effects quality is fine. one thing that is a bit of a bugger, is that if you transport your samples to computer via smart media card, they appear as .sp0 files which currently (as far as i know) cant be converted to .wav. (if you find a way, please email me at daves_big_toe@hotmail.com)

no worries mate. all is swell, would recomend for gig usage (note: have not utilized midi capabilities yet!)

cant get a bloody local contact (in Aus) to ask about a few minor things.

if stolen, i would save up and get a more pro sampler (akai et.) as i am progressing music wise. good, basic, first sampler though.
will be using it with my yamaha psr540 keyboard for triggering of samples, see how that goes eh? ;-)
wish samples could at least be converted to .wav files when transferred to computer (saves re-recording). would rather do away with sequencer and see the price lowered.
again, fine for a first sampler though. besides, im only 15 and not exactly bill gates, so low price was a big attraction.

Some people complain about the 3 digit LCD display limiting one's ability to know what they're controlling....I say, it's a sampler, a tool for sound manipulation, if you need words and visual icons and pop-up menus to tell you what you're doing, then this sampler, won't be to helpful. This sampler is for people who use thier EARS FIRST. My personal bias regarding ease of use is first based on an intolerance for menus and screens. I got this thing because it's all buttons, big shiny red buttons, and all functions pretty much have their own dedicated buttons. There are a handfull of functions (such as swapping sample locations) that requre obscure button combinations, but the manual is helpful when you need it.
sampling is easy, resampling is almost easier, and the efects never get hard.
Though this thing is marketed for live remix/DJ stuff, it doesn't limit itself to just that application. As a cheap tabletop sampler, it's nice that it's not meant just as a looper (yamaha and redsound) or just as a drum machine (electribe).

the thing is compact...based more on button pushing than on menu reading. that's good; music is is about movement and muscle memory (twist knobs, push buttons, "feel it out") not about reading (reading illuminated sub-menus on rack gear).

the thing features luminous pads to easily read in the dark (where most buttons light up to be read), but the printed list of multi-effects is not illuminated. I'm not interested in wasting brainspace to memorize 26 effects. I expect to be too busy keeping an eye out for moshers and those that try to sneak up to drag me off stage (or at least stab me in the buttock), so I can't be bothered with READING my own SOUND GEAR.

this thing remains easiy becase it can actually do a lot, and it keeps it fairly easy (...no sub-menus).

"loaded with features"...hmmm, when considering it's size and programming logice, you can do quite a lot with the elegantly simple interface and systematics of this thing.

solid, small, brick-like body (...use as weapon, not as shield).

Variable sample rates allow you flexibility in how you ration the moderate internal memory (16 meg?). which is cool. A smart-card drive that can accept up to 64 meg cards is awesome. shit, you could fit several tens of minutes of lo-fi on ths puppy (in case you wanna make a speech at the touch of a numbered button). Oddly, the manual says that "if the remaining available time exceeds 100 minutes, it will not show seconds" (in regard to how the 3-dig display should be translated), and though this suggests epic sample time for something smaller than a bread box, the manual doen't clarify at what bit-rationing the remaining time (MEMORY) is calculated.
...damn roland manuals.


Ok...a lot of people keep comparing this to the Electribe ES-1 ("rhythm production") sampler...that's a bad idea, because they are completely different animals.
I have both, and, having researched exactly what they do (to see what gear fit my needs) and chosen them accordingly, I would like to set the record straight.

The boss sp-303 is a phrase sampler that can loop/trigger/reverse samples, with effects. if you sample a beat/phrase onto this sampler, it stores it as a whole chunk of audio. phrases can be adjusted to flix into different pitch, but time stretching disrupts audio because the phrase is in one piece.
The sp-303 can handle anything from 40 bpm to 200.
The "time" of a sample is calculated as a function of bpm that assumes the sample is to play (and if, desired, loop) as an even number of bars. Whne you press a button and don't activate any effect other business, the 3-digit display tells you the samples bpm *(natural, or as adjusteD). EXAMPLE, the one drumbeat that comes already on the machine (and thankfully can be deleted), is 4 bars of drumming at 100 bpm. I FIRST sampled in a phrase that's 8 bars of drumming (originally at 130 bpm), and after, trimming it to loop cleanly, the sampler would tell me it was 130. I could adjust it down to 100, or up to 200, and it would loop "staying right on beat" with the factory beat. A SECOND drum beat I sampled was 3 bars at 100 bpm. trimmed, it would not stay "on beat" with the factory 4-bar/100bpm beat. to get them to "play together" (and both start over every 12 bars), i had to slow the 3 bar beat to time=66 and slow the factory 4 bar beat to 99. hence WARNING= you may need a CALCULATOR to do some bmp/measure arithmatic if you want to prepare some nutty polyrhythmic oversync-action (...like I do, b/c I know that something that loops every 4 bars gets boring a lot faster than something that loops every 24 bars...).
Note, the 303 can only duplicate samples by resampling (this machine cannot simply copy and paste) so you'll have to do trim/truncate work if you want smooth-sync duplicates. Get handy with the reverse button to trim the end of a sample.
The sp-303 has a moderate pattern sequencer, so you can write up little loops of triggering samples (to make rhythms of whatever...just listen to the audio-poop that comes factory preset).
however, pattens sequenced on a given bank can only employ samples from that bank. The 303's sequencer can handle patterns any # of bars from 1 to 99, but each bar is 4/4 time; if you're clever, you can get this thing to play odd time (13 bars of four can be made to sound like 4 bars of 13). the pattern sequencer can be synced (at quarter notes), with incoming midi clock (so loopy 13/4 stuff on the sp-303 will stay in time with the 4/4 assault of my drum machine).
luckily, samples time-stretch can be set off (return to native tempo), or forced into the pattern's potiental bmp. For this, samples played over the looping pattern, and you adjust time-sca

if you buy this thing because of what it sounds like in the store, then I wish you the best of luck; that kind of music ("BAaaa-BAY, YEAaaaaH!") is already a dying breed, and if you actually plan on using these factory presets to make music, then are missing the point (...with the exception of the eloquent Mr. Maniac, feature below).

samplers of this ilk you judge by thier resolution and effects. as such (in it's budget- and utility-range), I say the sp-303 remains at the top.

The 303 has 26 effects, each tweaked with the 3 edit knobs (my electirbe only has 11, controlled by 2 knobs).
I was actually impressed at the flexibility of the "standard issue" effects (chorus, phaser, etc), but kinda disappointed by others. for example, the phase and flange can be pushed fast enough to scramble something, or can go slow enough to "stop" (nice multi-polling), but the resonant filter, while, cool, does not sweep down far enough (dammit, I wanna be able to filter down to zero...and the drive knob should have been a mix knob). The efffect that use two knobs to blend wet and dry independently (pitch, fing mod, voice transformer, etc) could have done fine with a wet/dry cross blender, allowing for more sound flexibility (...dammmit, let me adjust recycle TIME on the pitch, waveshape the ring mod, and let me dial in/out a desired amound of formant control...god DAMMIT, the voice transformer could have so easily been a simple vocoder...but NOoooo, it's just a different flavor of pitch shifter.

A lot of people complain that the time-stretch algorithms are weak, and make your beats get lumpy with even nominal beat adjustment.
It occurs to me that pople concered with keeping everything in tempo are most likly the DJ's who keep the same tempo for long intervals of time (cuz' everyone knows that if you want to DJ the electronic equivalent of math-rock...you need a Mac...). to those, people, I advise they use it more as a sampler (as intended), and let your records bear the brunt of the time-keeping.


the polyphony is 8 (4 with effects), and that's a fact.
NOTICE... a lot of people have complained that the sp-303 can only play samples from multiple banks, which forced people to bunch thier samples into families.
The 202 could do this....but NOW the 303 CAN. Roland has come up with updated software to allow it to play from multiple banks.
all you gotta do is call roland/boss (hope you can get em on the phone), and have em send you a flashcard by which you can update your sampler.

Now, since the Pattern sequncer just plays programmed loops of samples, I'm sure that using the patterns along with playing samples will max out the polyphony.
People who want to be disappointed with limitations are not really thinking innovatively. Knowing how to respect and creatively work-around limitations of power and logic is a great window to creativity.
remember, people, pushing things to their limit is one of the truest ways to innovate (...who here remembers where flanging came from ? ).

My sampler was already updated with the new software (...but not any new factory presets....dear GOD...they really DON'T care...).
I wish the best of luck to anyone who undertakes this. I've heard that the readme file is on the card, so unless your computer has a smart-drive, you'll have to call up roland and have 'em walk you thru the procedure.
then again...go ahead....do that.. (multiple times a week). roland deserves to jump thru hoops now if their gonna try to prove themselves to have better customer support.
(I just hope you don't have to talk to the Pirate...).

it's tough and bricklike. all the buttons are sleek and flush to the body, and the flash-card slot has a screw on locking cover. the only thing is those flimsy knobs that stick out. if those knobs were made like flat dials (like smoot action data whells with a little indention for a pointer), then I would have no worries stuffing this thing into my backpack without the box. however, those knobs are just looking to get broken off, I have to pack it in it's box, which doubles it's load size (though provides room for patch cables and adaptor).
oh well, this is just one more thing that unfortunately forces people to get road cases.
I jsut don't like the idea of spending more on cases than I do on what's inside them.

Most people lack faith in Roland's customer support because they can't be reached. I ACTUALLY TALKED TO THEM, and I can say that their support STILL STUCKS.

Most of the time, Roland/Boss is impossible to get on the phone. However, i called 'em up to ask about the 303's looping programmability (if and HOW I could set samples to loop in time with incoming midi clock data, and if/how I could set samples of ambience to freewheel in and out of sync with each other...b/c I want to do both), and the guy that I talked to was actually quite rude. Either he was in a bad mood, or had a long day, but he damn near threw a fit with his persistance to define to me "IT's s SAMPLER...it's like TAPE...". I knew this. I knew it wasn't a multilayer sequencer (a' la electribe), but as it turns out, I only came to fully understand what it could/could not do for looping and sync until I had one to experiment with.
Attitude or not, it's bad customer support to not be able to understand "the what AND THE HOW" of your products and/or to not communcate these things to customers.
Also, the guy on the phone had a scary voice...probably emphazema. I mean come on, what kind of company let's belligerant. if roland put manuals online (YAY KORG), then it would rock. people could get a better idea of how this thing is designed, and would be more informed.

I bought this thing new...and it's a funny story. I wanted to buy it from a store, so that I could have the warrantee and have a warm body to answer to. one morning, I checked ebay, and saw one for "boy it now for $200"....i then went to guitar center (the wal-mart of the music biz), and asked them "how low can you go (from the store price of $300) for me to walk out with it right now?" they offered to go as low as $280 (for just the sampler). I then showed them the paper to let them know that I could just as well go home and get the sampler for less, and they should go lower. They lowered the price down to $360, which included throwing in a midi patch cord. Guitar center buys the sp-303's at-cost for about $215 each.
...fight the power ! (...teehee...).

as far as this puppy goes, it's fun and flexible. I bought this thing to have beside my drum set, not to replace me
(cuz my electribe es-1 can't even do that). For my needs in a live band, it's really handy (...big buttons, big memory, big effects, smaller size than most people's heads).

Don't compare this thing to teh electribe es-1. they are completely different animals.
If you want a sampling drum machine, you could also look at boss's sp-505, but I should let you know the followig.
the 505's time-stretch powers aren't any stronger (things get lumpy just as fast), though the 505 let's you input what time signiture the sample will come in as (...but I don't know if it would still assume/calculate everything to even # of bars....and I don't know if it cand handle times in 5, 7, 9, etc....go see for yourself).
boss made the 505 to try to outdo the korg electribe es-1, but I think they failed (YAY KORG).

the 505 may have more sample time and effects, with a 4 part sequencer, but the simple fact that boss puts in factory souns which cannot be deleted (and which are programmed to do time-stretch better than anything you could put in there...a case of FALSE ADVERTISING), is a FUCKING INSULT to anyone who expects to use a sampler creatively.

Dear Roland/Boss; though you make tough products and dominate several markets, you should understand by now (according to your marketing decisions) why nobody likes you as a company.

Presets were funny for 3 minutes, then go straight into it.
had a 32mb mart media card already, but didn't use it via a usb host in my pc - found it easier to record to via the line in from the stereo playing the samples on the pc - this was very simple with some help from the manual, and the samples were on the 303 and tweaked perfectly (start/stop times) within about 15 minutes.

have not tried the sequencer yet, so can't comment on that.
resampling is easy (and has to be used to retain effects, as only one can be sued at a time).
No problems with the smart card at all, it runs much faster than the internal memory btw.
The midi needs a thru - not much else to say here.
The effects are very good for the price, love the delay.
would have liked to be able to play samples from diff banks in realtime.

Has options for loop (infin play), gate (sample stops when your finger comes off) and one shot (plays through once, finger on or off).
Samples need to be tweaked for start and stop points, then usually resampled with at least one effect (unless done previously on your pc). once that's done you can delete the unused parts of the samples or keep them. resampling on the fly seems responsive, and all samples have the option of normal, lower and lowest sound quality aswell as stereo or mono options (so samples use less space).

Would use live - if i could work out how to apply an effect to a pad already playing in a loop..
Great for tweaking buttons, solid build and excellent lighting on the buttons.

not had to deal with this.

Well worth getting for someone new to sampling or someone just wanting to manipulate sounds.

aaaahhh shiieeet mayyn...Boss's stuff is so easy to use...they got the civilian spirits...jyeah...but as usuall I delete the presets right away but actually keep one cheezy studio r&B musician's singing sample (SAAVVEE SOME TIIIIIIMEEE~~~~~~) for fun..and actually used it in one of my song...hahaha you know my name I am the one who brought you in the dopy game.....I pay my due..an keep my cool..
Editing the patches are cruising for me...more and better effects than sp 202 the only thing I regret is the 202 can have different effects with different settings for each individual samples where the sp 303 can only have one effect and one setting for ALL samples...either you turn it on or off...big big draw back...aaaiiiiiii...ijimaneno...but the effects this time are quite powerful that it can really tweak or morph the samples..lots of fun...
Manual is so dopy!!! very economical..no waste of word, no waste of paper, no waste of time and no waste of mind energy...jyeah I like that.wwowoowowowowoowowoowowoadadadawwowdada!!!

the polyphony really improved too compare to the sp202...now has 8 (4with effects) while the 202 only have 4(2with effects)..I am so glad they didn't change the big pad and the cute non-roman machinery looking letters...and still feels good feels good...but they ARE a little bit slow when I try to sequence all the samples to make a drum loop, sounds choppy...so it kinda requires some work to mark the samples quite close to perfect in order to make the drum loop run smoothly..well it worked out..so It's all gravaaayy!!

Effects are pretty OK..but they do sound kinda cheap compare to my Korg Trinity's effect...but I like how it's kinda cheap cuz...CIVILIAN SPIRITS mayyyn!!!! just being REGULAR!!! effects are very easy to use and this time 303 has three knobs controlling the effect while 202 have only one..so it adds more varaition to the effects themselves.
the smart media is crazy...with 120mb you can have 30 minutes of sampling time..dammnn...you can record SONGS on him...I also hope he can have more banks to I can manage the long sampling time better with more short samples instead of fewer long samples, only 32 spaces..well that's actually pretty good already...I bought him to enjoy my dayz, not WISHING my days away....actually 303 has this new resampling feature...not just you can save space but also you can resample with effects on the original sampling and you can resample them again and again with effects....after resampling several times with the EQ effects...I can get some very punchy and bassy kick drums.
Once again no comment on Midi cuz I am not a Midi man...my only external midi connection is hooking up the Tr727 and Trinity...big time mind fuck already.....dont' wanna deal wit that shieeeesnttt
the sequencer is........................................CIVILIAN SPIRIT...hahahwheithahahwefiaowfjaskl;dfjkl;svnasklfdweiot[pq th2qngfs;.d.....basic shit but now I can make drum loops and even patterns...with the 202 I can only make ambient or back ground cute little sounds for my songs....I think the 303 can be more involved with my music..The sequencer is actually very easy to use...the metronum sounds sooo tight like Huang Qiu Sheng's Beef, very percussive and you can also adjust the volume of the metronum. It has a little quatize function and those numeric whatever is called LED's help count the beats for you 1234 1234 1234 1234 123 123 123 12345 12345 123456 123456
12345678 12345678 pretty cute...

Again and again..just like I said...it's a sampler..so the expressiveness of sound is really up to how the person uses it...but one thing I am gonna say about 303...is that...................................CIVILIAN SPIRIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
heheheeheh sorry I think I eat too much sugar today...kinda hyper my name is not piper...It's sampling capability improved though with 44.1khz cd quality but still can lo fi it like the 202 for the liking of it or save more memories.
I think It can work with all types of music...it's all depends on how you use it and what you sample..
no sorry,, the pads are not velocity sensative...

very reliable,,,I had my vintage Microphone fall on it once..OH NO!!!!..but I am so lucky and it only leaves a hair line mark that you can only see it under some very bright light....but the 202 seem to have a more solid build when I hold it on my hands...yeah..the 303 is kinda light weighted....even the packaging box.....the 202 box really look like a peice of music gear...but 303's box looks like a shoe box mayyn....see...that's when CIVILIAN SPIRITS go too far...gotta bring up the taste a little bit,,,,seee I don't want my girl to be all superficial and ONLY care about outward apprearance...but...you gotta CARE a little bit to a presentable degree or even a visually pleasing degree....shoe box mayynn..make everything look cheap...

never deal with them and don't wanna deal with them

I definitely love this machine...I been using it for a year and become better incorporating samples into my songs cuz the 202 just couldn't do much, with 303 things gets more organize and more dynamic..but the battery operated option for 202 is way too dope...if the 303 have that......well....yeah through these time I keep comparing the 303 with his older brother 202 but I end up have both cuz I am slightly infected with OCD (obsessive consumer disorder) and just thought it would look cool with both 202 and 303 on my hands now the 303 is my real samplin sation and 202 becomes a sketch pad...I love walking around and sample found sounds...so 202 is more for the ambience of my music and 303 is my groove station now..hehee...I even use the 303 as an effect box with my Korg VC10 vocoder...he can really do alot..if it were stolen I would definitely get another one.....last words...for the traditional heads out there who are caught up with all the akai's...do your things maynn..but I really recommend the 303 to the Civilians out there who are intimidated by the elitist interface and the price of akai sampler.
303 IS for the people!!!!! one love!!!

This sampler offers a wide variety of effects but it lacks the professional quality of other samplers. The SP-303 is not very accurate when determining the start and stop time of a sample. While other samplers do this by adjusting the time in numbers the SP-303 does this while the sound is playing by clicking a button to zoom in on a particular part. In my opinion a KORG ES-1 would be a better buy for DJ's musicians, etc. It one midi IN while the KORG ES-1 has IN/OUT and Through. The manual for it is also very vague.

The sound quality is good with RCA ins and outs. CD sound Quality.

Too much loading time. Inaccurate sampling rate. Not very profficient. Too simple not accurate.

If i were you i'd spend the extra cash for an ES-1 or an AKAI sampler.

I just got this and I was loving it but now I am having trouble with the smartcard to be compatable with my cakewalk (on windows 2000) and the 303. I hope it will work out soon. Also I wanted a footpedal midi controler and I'm finding out that Roland doesn't have one that will work-only keyboards. It is very easy to use though. Other bummers. Iwish that you could pan the mono samples to be able to have them go into a mixer and mute one sample in realtime while it is still playing and be able to fade it in, etc. It seems like the only way to do this is to record the sample in sterio with one side blank. This is a bummer and it seems it would have been easy to include for the price. Also the time shifter is shit with noticable niose at the slightest change. Makes it pretty much useless for me. Also it would have been nice to be able to edit a sample (IE truncate) while another is playing, but maybe that's asking too much.

See all tohe other reviews for the specs.
I havn't used the sequencer. I plan on using this in a live setup. Unfortunately it seems like you can't match bpm to a live drummer unless u act like you're going to record a sample.

It'll record in good quality whatever you put in to it. It's as good as you are. The effects are fine for the price

We'll see.

I called them today about my smartmedia problem and they weren't very helpful. Maybe monday...

I think it's worth what I paid. It seems like the best product for th eprice.

Easy to use. Presets? Who cares! Its a sampler!!..Manual's ok, but not very detailed.

Polyphony ok. Effects are ok. Mido IN only, nothing to be controlled from external besides notes on/off and velocity. I wish effects etc were. Dont care about the onboard seq.

Sounds great, sound quality just fine.

Well, the audio ins and outs on mine are messed up now, and i have no warranty, it sucks. Now i have to use the front headphones out and mic in until i get it fixed, but its gonna take a while. It worked fine until a week ago. It really sucks.

Theyre helpful when you ask a question.

I like this unit a lot but now im stuck with that INs and OUTs problem, and im gonna have to send it to aone of their Service Centers at my own cost for who knows how long!
I also wish it had more than one midi channel.

I had absolutely no problem with getting into this machine. It's use is fairly limited, so it didn't take me very long to get into. Within an hour I was deleting samples, recording new ones, applying effects to samples, and resampling them. True, I haven't touched the SP-303's sequencer, but I won't be using that.
Applying the copious and NICE sounding effects is a very simple process. I wish, however, that it had some sort ability to resample on the same Pad. As it is, you need to resample to an empty pad, then delete the old pad. I always keep one empty pad for resampling now. The manual is just fine. Short and to the point. You'll need to refer to it occasionally, and the information is right there and only takes a minute to glance at. It would be easier with an actual display on the SP-303, but I can easily cope, especially since I'm sure it kept the price down. I don't really miss the display to be completely honest. I do most of my sample editing on a computer anyway.

The sp-303 has 8 sample polyphony (four stereo samples or eight mono samples) .. which is plenty. The effects built into the unit are very strong, as I mentioned before. There are six effects groups, and you can have one applied to a pad at a time, or across multiple pads. One of the six effects groups is actually a collection of 21 multi-effects that you can scroll through, like lo-fi, distortion, flanger, phaser, tape echo, ring modulation, etc. One cool ability is that the SP-303 can be used quite easily as an effects processor, as it applies all the effects to external sources in real-time :) I -like- that.
Expansion comes in the way of smartmedia cards. You'll need to load up on smartmedia. I personally just purchased a bunch of 8MB cards. Since I don't plan on using this as a standalone music arranger, I don't need large smartmedia. 8mb 3.3v cards cost around $15 if you find a good deal online. The SP-303 itself holds little sampledata-just enough to work with. Internal, two banks of 8 pads each. Using a card (no matter the size) gives you an addition two banks of 8 pads each. So that's 32 on the unit at once.

That SUCKS.

I can't help but wish that it had more than FOUR banks, allowing for people like myself who want access to many smaller samples, as opposed to 32 large ones.

Someday i'll get a normal sampler with a small controller and duct-tape them together. And I'll use the SP-303 as a drum module for my SPD-6 drum pads (MIDI support, yeah!) and/or as an effects processor. But until then, I'm still quite happy with it.

And like I said, I haven't touched the onboard sequencer and probably never will. Well, probably will someday ;)

The 8 samples it comes with are laughably cheezy. I had some fun making them sound hardcore and evil with effects before I deleted them. The sound quality -is- 16/44/stereo, but you can downgrade the quality/channels to make better use of the memory. I have no problems here. I don't detect any audible loss of quality when samples are played back from the SP303.

The unit itself is VERY expressive, despite the fact that the pads aren't velocity sensitive. I've been able to get some seriously wack sounds out of it by manipulating the various effects in real time. Realtime reverse is pretty cool too, especially once you lock a Pad into loop mode.
Since it's a sampler you can use it for just about any genre of music I can imagine. Personally, I do the power electronics industrial electro thing. It works great for me here, and I can imagine any other "electronic" styled act would benefit from the SP-303 if they need samples played back live but don't want to haul a sampler+controller on stage everytime.

I have no idea :) it feels solid. i haven't had it too long, and i haven't gigged with it. I wish it had 1/4" i/os on the back. It just has RCAs which can get a little woogy after a lot of plug+unplug action. On the front there's a 1/4" mic input (with gain knob) and a 1/4" headphone jack. Everything feels very solid.

Have never had to call Roland for tech support.

I'm very happy with the SP-303 .. i've used full samplers before. I didn't get the SP-303 to be a traditional sampler. I got it to manipulate sounds and effects and loops in real-time .. and it does this VERY well. If you need a full sampler get an old ESI32 or 4000 or one of the Yamaha Axxxx models. For a small box you can put in a bag and make crazy sounds for $300, get the SP303. I like it much better than the Sampletrak which I played with briefly. If you need one of these machines, you should get the SP303. :)

Wow so easy,didn't have to check the manual before playing with it.Don't get carried away though because it's not that perfect,for some functions you need to push buttons or combination of buttons that you could never figure out for yourself.That's when the manual comes in handy,and i have to say that the manual is pretty straightforward and yet comprehensible.Presets are ok but let's face it they're just examples for the store clerk to show customers.

4 note polyphony in stereo,8 note polyphony in mono
MIDI syncable.Storage possible via 8 to 64 megs smartmedia card,wow.
26 build in fx ranging from total crap to great but most of them are average i guess.Anyway for the price these fx are a bonus.
On board sequencer,haven't used it yet but looks to me like a bit of hard work will be involved in the process.This is not a stand alone box,you need to incorporate this machine in some kind of set up most likely a DJ set up.

They are 3 sample rates 44.1,22 and 11khz.
You know what they say:a sampler is as good as what you feed it,so if you're sound is good the dr. will be good to it.If not,use a better sampling rate or fx it.I really think that this machine as a professionnal sound at 44.1khz.

Don't really know yet,but this thing is made for touring and giging and being toss around in a DJ bag(watch out for those knobs though).I also know that is older brother the sp-202 as a very long life expectancy and that they've made this one as sturdy as the original.

Never had to deal with them.

For under 500$ canadian you won't find a sampler with that great a sound or with that much onboard fx.It syncs to MIDI,imports WAV files via reliable smartmedia cards using a floppy disk adaptor and it's easy to use.I'm a DJ in a band and for my limited use it's perfect.

It's OK. Basic operation is fairly straightforward, but you have to learn the limitations of the machine (see below), which can lead to some involved workarounds. I don't think it's as easy to use as the SP-202

The deal breaker for me was two things: The time stretching function sounds terrible -- much worse than the SP-202. When you try to time stretch (i.e., change the tempo of a sample without changing the pitch), unpleasant and unnatural flutter artifact sounds are introduced, at even the most mild changes --like changing from 102 to 104 BPM. The second deal breaker is that, while polyphony is up to 8 samples at a time, they HAVE to be in the same bank. For instance, you cannot get a sample going in bank A, then switch to bank B and trigger another sample pad. As soon as you press the bank change button, the sound in the previous bank stops playing. How stupid! Even the SP-202 could do this.

Other than these things, which to me are fundamental for live performance, the things has a lot of effects, which sound good. The built in sequencer is ok. Tempo settings for the sequenced patterns are global, though. So all stored patterns are governed by a master tempo setting. This is a plus and a minus, depending.

I find the effect implementation less than straight forward though, especially compared to the SP-202.

Because it can sample at 44.1, the sound quality is much better than the SP-202, in general. It sounds very good, I think.

I suppose. I used a Boss SP-202 for probably 100 gigs without failure -- though the volume knob on my friend's SP-202 died at some point. The SP-303 seems at least as well made.

I haven't had to deal with them. But I imagine it's damn near impossible to find a person to talk to if you need one. It's a mass produced piece of gear.

I was waiting for this box to come out, hoping it would build upon the SP-202. Instead, some things are better, but others are much worse. I'm pretty disapointed.

I hope Boss comes out with an SP-606, with a smarter feature implementation and time stretching at least as good as the SP-202.

This bad boy is hot off the presses, I probably have OS beta 0.1 or something. The presets made me laugh my ass off. Think Backstreet Boys meet 80s synth pop meet Puff Daddy. But who cares, it's a sampler, you're supposed to blank the memory as soon as you can figure out how. Which was pretty damn easy, like everything else in this gleaming silver box. Basically everything on here has a dedicated button and/or knob. If you can't figure it out, you should go back to playing spoons.

8 sample polyphony in mono. (why would you care to sample in stereo? that's what a mixer or reverb unit is for!) Pads are nice, thick and chunky. It takes ridiculously priced SmartMedia cards which are slow as all hell to load and save to, but I guess putting a ZIP drive or SCSI port would have doubled the size and/or price of the unity. My suggestion: load up on 8 or 16 meg SM cards and flip through them during a gig, because the glatial speed of sample dump or load is gonna flatline your set unless you can play your groovebox or tables for 10 minutes in the meantime. MIDI is really basic, only in, doesn't respond to velocity, aftertouch, or control change. Oh well, that's what you get for a price like this. The effects make this thing *shine*. Coming from an SP-202 with the crappiest of all crap wannabe useless effects these ones sound almost studio quality! The delay actually works like a delay, the low pass filter actually sounds good, and the other stuff is quite fun to mangle sound with. I haven't used the sequencer yet, cause I do that on my JX-305, but from skimming the manual it looks to be pretty decent for what it is.

It's a phrase sampler. No velocity or aftertouch, no automatically pitching samples up and down the keyboard. Stop whining and dig up $3000 to get a studio sampler. Ha! Thought so. Effects are sweeeeet. In fact I plan to run my SP-202 through it during stage use just because I don't feel like throwing that venerable machine into the trash yet. Makes a world of difference.

I've only just got it, but I can already tell you BEWARE of memory corruption. I was sampling a rather long guitar loop at a lower fidelity than usual and the thing locked up. In fact, even after cycling the power and deleting all samples several times, it would continue to lock up every time I tried to sample something. Even after finding the "Memory Initialisation" section in the back of the manual, and doing it 4(!) times it still wouldn't sample until I'd scolded it sternly and unplugged it for the night to sleep on what its punishment should be for being such a bad, bad sampler. The next day, it seemed to sample fine until I played back the pad I had sampled to and got nothing but the most absurd lo fidelity squawks and bloops, and just a hint of the sample that had crashed it in the first place. Another memory initialisation later, and everything is working fine. I hope to god this doesn't happen again, or is addressed in some OS update ASAP, cause I'm gigging with it next Saturday and do *not* need that kind of hassle.

Haven't dealt with them yet. I may give Roland a call and see if they've heard of the kind of lockup I had. Who knows, maybe my unit's bunk. Or maybe it got offended when I laughed at its presets before promptly deleting them all.

This machine is all about bang for your buck. If you've been scared off of phrase samplers, or BOSS samplers by the SP-202, this could be the box to change your mind. If it got stolen I'd be pretty choked, cause I pre-ordered this thing right after NAMM and had been itching to get my mitts on it for almost 3 months. Would I get it again? Probably, or a used Yamaha SU-700.

simple to use for sample recording, playback, sequencing, effects, etc... more complex things like resampling, copying samples, loop point editing, etc. require a glance at the well written manual. Many of these features require a combination button push, which is not labelled on the device.

Tons of effects, most are actually useful. The slicer effect is an easy way to get any patch to sound like it was arpeggiated. Each pad can have it's own effect, but only one per pad. Midi implementation is ok, I've sequenced using Logic Audio with no problems. I can sync the sequencer to midi clock, and use MMC for start/stop of pattern playback.

I'm using a 64m smartmedia card for expansion. I bought a floppy disk adapter to be able to load samples I create on the pc directly into the sp-303. It works flawlessly, even calculates the proper bpm from the sample length. Loading long samples this way can take 10's of minutes though, so changing your samples betweens songs at a gig may be out of the question.

I wish the pads were velocity sensitive like the MPC's are, but for $299, it's probably too much to ask.

The first thing I did was to dump the factory samples.

I started having a problem with the SP-303 last night. Intermittantly, I'll get an obvious glitch in the sound after a few seconds of sample playback. It sounds like the machine is self-oscillating because it's just noise. After I turn it off and back on, everything's fine for a while. I'll be returning this unit for another, hopefully perfect, one.

I have the old SP-202, which has worked flawlessly for years, both on AC and on batteries. It's built a little more rugged than the newer SP-303, though.

Never had to deal with these guys before.

I have the SP-202, the younger sister to this model. I love the ease at which I can grab a sample during a performance and play it right back immediately. The SP-303 should be able to do this also, even locking in the sample length based on the (preset) bpm. I haven't tried it yet, so we'll see.

I love the little BOSS samplers. Even though they look like toys, they're really not. I route a send from my board to the little beasts to use them for effects. I love the lo-fi stuff especially when I route a drum loop through them.

I bought the SP-303 to be able to sequence samples along with midi clock. I create the samples for it on the PC (or Mac) and transfer them to the SP-303 via smartmedia. I looked at the MPC's but they were way too expensive, only have 32meg, and offered a ton of features I really didn't need.

Even though I'm having a problem with this particular unit, I'm certain an exchange with another one will correct it. I'm giving the SP-303 an overall rating of 10, becuase there's nothing I've found that can compare, feature for feature.

Presets are pretty lame, but who wants a load of cheesy samples from someone else??It kind of defeats the purpose
I tried this out in the shop and could almost work everything out without looking at the manual. Having had some
experience with other sampler this was a revelation. It's such a user friendly, intuitive machine. Loading samples
and putting effects on them and sequencing them is as easy as pie!!!The manual is also - shock horror- well written.
You can read the whole thing cover to cover without having the feeling that you're deciphering ancient sanskrit text.
All in all it seems Boss have learnt from mistakes of most companies, and got a human/normal musician to design the
thing and write the manual. Yehaaaaaaaa!!!

8 not polyphony(mono) 4 (stereo) O.k. if you're the chemical brothers maybe this is n't enough. But for me
it's plenty!!! For me the more options the more counter-productive. The built-in effects are often brilliant,
especially the filter, isolator, tape echo reverb and ring modulator. Some effects are a bit iffy like the
vinyl simulator, but certain effects work better with certain sampled sounds so i'm sure evrything could
be used. Effect usage is piss easy. Even my girlfriend could work it out. The effects can only be used one
at a time, but you can resample shit, so it's not really a problem. I also have external effects boxes!! It
accepts smart media cards which are a bit pricey but that's o.k.
The midi capabilities are a bit limited but I'm not so interested
in elaborate midi shit. I play in a guitar band and want something which i can trigger simply like an effects
pedal. The keys are perfect size and sturdy enough. Beautfiul design. Very similar to the korg es1 which came
out also recently. Sequencer very easy. Okay, it's not that expansive but I don't want to make pre-programmed
shit which is planned to the last quaver note!!!The sequencer is a lot simpler and handy than the es-1 sequencer
which is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

It samples at cd quality(44hz) which is great. The es-1 by korg only samples at 33hz and costs more.
The sound is not noisy at all and as far as I can hear flawless. The coolest thing about this piece
of kit is that it's inspiring especially if like me you're not a dance musician. It's like an instrument,
not like one of those horrible akai rack samplers, which are about as spontaneous as my senile grandma.
This thing could really bring inspiration to musicians of any genre. I think it's actually more inspring and
useful precisely if you're not just a dance act, because it encourages improvisation and 'cos of the limitations
with sequencing and memory. I play rock/rootsy stuff and I'm already drooling at the mouth at the thought of sticking
some backward loops and fucked up sounds through my music.
This machine reacts like an instrument because you don't have to go
through complex banks to adjust things on the fly. You can us this machine like an instrument. Exciting shit for any musician!!

Don't know yet , but Boss stuff tends to last

Don't know, never had to deal with them

What an inspiring piece of kit, and the price is staggering. This thing is going to put some
other budget samplers like the Korg es-1 , yamaha su200 and zoom sampletrax into a lonely limbo.
This thing has sooooo many features for the price. For instance the es-1 costs almost twice the price
and has half the effects , a maddening sequencer lower sampling rate and you can't play samples on loop
or at the same time cos of a stupid banks system. This machine blows everything in it's price range out
of the water. I was looking for a while for a basic sampler which i could use to fuck up sounds, sequence
and bring inspiration, and also use a sketch pad for songwriting. This machine does all that and more!!!
All the other samplers have major drawbacks, but this machine's drawbacks(midi, rca inputs/outputs) are far
outweighed by it's stunning plus points and almost zen simplicity of use. I mean Yamaha must be burning their
su 200 model now, which costs more and has 20 less effects and so much less functions( eg effects can only be used
at 22hz sampling rate)) This machine avoids all the traps which made me stay clear of samplers, the complex interfaces
which can make samplers so uncreative. If you're looking for something to get the creative juices flowing buy this thing.
You won't regret it!!!

Very sweet indeed !
manual is a bit cryptic, but logical..........

8 note poly in mono !
effects are sweet ! 26 in all, only one can sound at a time though
Luckily there is resampling avaliable on board !
~~Would be nice to record knob movements...
~~rca ins and outs arent the best, but for the price..............
~~Man I wish this thing took batteries like the 202 !
~~Headphone out a bit noisy....

REALLY FUN AND EASY TO USE SEQUENCER !
I CANT BELIEVE THIS THING IS ONLY LIKE 300 BUCKS!!!!

very good sampling grade........
DSP effects are great for the price !
BIG chunky pads , feels like an instrument !

JUST GOT IT !

this rocks, almost bought an mpc for 10 times the price, But I dont need that much sampling power.........
For this price, you can compose entire songs on it !
~~ Although I program all beats manually on drum machines, I will be using it for vocals and sax/piano/guitar riffs .....

MIDI IS A BIT TRICKY which is my only gripe......
cant control recording start with beatbox, only play....

The prestes are ok but i won't use them. Very, very easy to use, very friendly features like the Loop one, that allows you to perfect the length of your sample in real time. I'm having problems midi-wise though, for some reason i just can trigger anything from Cubase, but i'm sure i'll figure it out.

Polyphony of 8 or 4 stereo is plenty enough for me. Effects are great to me, memory through Smart Media cards allow you to store up to 33 minutes or even more! Like i said before, I'm not quite sure about Midi yet, and that's important to me, i am not a dj...

Very good recording quality, good for any type of music i'd say.

Don't know yet.

Usually the tech support guys at Roland-Boss are really cool and helpful.

If the Midi issue stops being an issue, i'll give it a 10 overall because of its size, features, effects, sound quality, memory capacity via cards.

Software version isn't listed. The preset samples are pretty weak, so I deleted them immediatly. Patch editing seems staightforward although get samples looped properly is painful if possible at all. Manual seems typical for Roland, but its a bit thin which is unusual

8 voice polyphony, so you can play 8 mono or 4 stereo samples at a time. The effects aren't stellar but good for destroying sounds. Accepts 8 to 64 mb smartmedia which i haven't tried yet. The cool thing is that you can load wav or aiff samples on the card and import into the 303 provided you have a card reader and a pc. MIDI in only for sync so don't look for any advanced stuff there. Onboard pattern sequencer, not very promising. You can also route external audio through the efx which is cool. Giving it a 10 due to the fact that for $300 new you get quite a lot of features.

Seems to be a tiny bit noisy but since its being marketed for djs Roland probably thought they could get away with it.

Just got it, but the knobs are a little flimsy but other than that looks reliable.

Have never dealt with Roland, and I own several pieces of their gear so thats a good sign.

I looked at the Korg ES-1 which has much better presets and 1/4" outs but it also cost $200 more than the 303. I like the fact that you can trigger all 8 samples in memory at once without switching banks. The bottom line is that it has a lot of bang for the buck.