Product: Peavey SP/SX
Price Paid: US
Submitted
11/02/2000
at
09:28pm
by
Kevin Snowden
Email: dinoboy<at>ponyexpress dot net
Ease of Use
:
9
I own three SP's. Two of these units have the latest software (version 2.10)and have fully loaded my SP's with 32mb of memory. The sound disks that came from Peavey are not very useful. To realize the full potential of this unit, you need to make your own samples. The SX (I have two) is used to capture your samples. The samples are transferred from the SX to the SP through SMDI using a SCSI interface. It is very easy to use. I would suggest to anyone who owns the SP to purchase a SCSI hard drive for saving your samples. It allows you to call up 32mb of samples in about 1.5 minutes. The patches are easy to edit. The sounds that you can get from it are awsome. I do not have a patch editor but patch editors are available. The manual that came with the SP is very helpful.
I purchased each of my Peavey SP's for approximately $200. Hard drives and CD-ROMs can be purchased for less than $50. These are helpful storage mediums and should be purchased by the SP user.
Features
:
8
The SP is a 16 voice unit. It does not have any onboard effects. It can be expanded with SCSI units (hard drive, CD-ROM, ZIP drive, etc.). MIDI mapping on the SP is endless. You can make it react in any way that you can think of. The only limitation that I've seen is that you cannot reverse your samples.
Expressiveness/Sounds
:
9
The instruments can be as realistic as you want them to be. Hey! You can even sample the instrument being played by someone. How is that for realism? I utilize my SP's in a rock band venue. I sample portions of songs that my three piece band cannot cover. It sounds great and the audience will never know!! For the most part, it sounds great. :-)
Reliability
:
8
The SP has volatile memory. That means when you "blow" a breaker, you will need to reload the memory into the SP. This is an inconvenience that some cannot live with. However, since it helps our band out so much, we are willing to wait! My SP's have never been to the shop. I have had several of the SIMM cards fall out of place inside the unit. These were easily fixed by me. Peavey is typically built solid.
Customer Support
:
9
I've never contacted Peavey. There is a user's group for the Peavey SP/SX. These people can help anyone who has a question concerning these units.
Overall Rating
:
10
I like my SP's. I bought my first one about two years ago to replace my Ensoniq Mirage. The SP's are light years ahead of the Mirage! I'm always on the lookout for additional units. You should be able to by an SP for less than $200. An SX can be purchased for as little as $50. Music stores, pawn shops, etc., don't know what these things can do since they are not loaded with sounds. They usually think that they are not working and will sell them dirt cheap! I think that is what I love the most about the SP/SX. The thing that I do not like about them is their lack of a nonvolatile memory (i.e., patches stay onboard when you shut the unit off!). In comparison to other products, you will not find anything this inexpensive with these capabilities. I would definately buy another.
