Sequential Circuits 2002

jeez, only two reviews of this amazing machine? probably this is because everyone who has one is either busy using it or has given up trying to figure it out. here's the thing- intuitive it is NOT. you need to study at least the quickie starter guide if not the whole, very-well written manual. hint- both are available via the yahoo group for this thing & it's keyboardy relative. so- while it's not the easiest thing to use, it's actually no harder than the near-contemporaneous s900, & lacks this latter's LCD display. probably this cost SCI their market share, along with the exchange rate.... BUT stevie wonder used an SCI 2000 sampler.

the presets are fixed waveforms, & this should give you the idea that this isn't an s1000 or an MPC3000.... the memory, even in an expanded unit, is tiny. think of it as a prophet synth with 8 voices & samples instead of oscillators, & the experience suddenly starts to get rewarding. the 3 seems unfair to me, given that I became quite adept with it within a few weeks, but for the beginner, it could be very tricky, especially now we've all been spoilt by PC editors & huge LCD edit screens.

8-voice poly, but this vanishes when you start stacking voices. also has weird voice allocations when using the split memory to do two things (it supports a bizarre midi mode, 3B, which is bitimbral, & the internal architecture is L/R symmetrical).
there was a memory expansion kit & an 8-output kit- my rack version has both (the 2000 is the keyboard version). of course, WC may occasionally have the bits to make more available, but one suspects this will only be from dead machines ('pon which, qv...).
midi implementation is odd- forgive SCI this, as they did sort of invent midi, & took the odd liberty with it. so the 2000/2002 support 2x & 3x the standard baud rate for sample dumps, + an overflow mode for daisy-chaining units to increase polyphony. AT is supported, but duplicates the mod-wheel routing rather pointlessly. nice built-in arpeggiator, which can remember 80-odd notes in "assign" mode, & supports keyboard splits &c.

everything I have put through this machine- it's own preset waveforms, it's own sample library, 3rd party samples, my own samples- they all sound fantastic. it's 12-bit, & not very high sample rates (3 are supported), BUT it has prophet (curtis) analogue processing- VCF, VCA... so it's like a prophet 5 with a sampler front-end.
I used my 2000 as my main keyboard until it packed up. I use the 2002 to this day, & it sounds better than my emus (esi32, 4000, 5000, 6400 ultra..)
sonically, it rocks.

keyboard controller chip in 2000 died slowly & horribly, leaving me with one dead prophet. :-( WC couldn't replace the chip, as it was proprietary. I do not hold this against them, they tried & were very prompt & courteous in their communications with me.
the rack version (2002) has been solid. had to swap out floppy drives on both of them, but see the yahoo list- it's easy enough.

see above. it's a vintage synth, so be prepared.

if it were lost or stolen... hmmm.... good luck trying to fence a 24 year old sampler, rat-boy!
other gear- various analogues large & small (moog, yamaha, roland), emu modules & samplers, alesis modules & effects, mellotron, hammond, various basses & guitars.... been doing music & collecting instruments since late 70s. bought the prophet from argents in 1990 because akai sucked then & still does (sonically- ymmv, but I have my opinion & this is my box to write in) & there was nowt else on the market. in fact, I also bought a cheetah sx16, but that's another story.

Since the last/only review for this Monster was 8 years ago (!), I might as well post, since I have been tinkering with this dandy box.

The 2002 is the Rackmount Version of the 2000, sans keyboard. Strictly for MIDI work, the device has it's ups and downs.

Being made in 84-85, it most certainly does not compare to today's MPC, but fun if you're partial to old gear.

Unit comes with internal memory of 12 different presets/sounds, and if you're lucky enough to have the stock floppies, you have a broader array of sounds to fool with. But, wait... it's a Sampler! Grasp your mic, record a drum, belch, radio, yell n Scream, and play around to reenact that scene in Ferris Bueller's Day off, when he's going nuts with his keyboard sampler. Kid Nepro still sells sound disks for this unit.

You have good control over the LFO's and Filters to warp your sounds, set up the velocity sensitivity to apply these filters when you have a Velo-sens Keybd.

No Patch editor, all control is entered via "The Matrix", theres 4 rows, and 16 coulms, you'll figure it out quick enough. The manual is written in a scientists dialect, you need to skim it several times before you get it.

Mapping samples across the keyboard is a bitch, Get your sample up, select a map, build keyboard map, select octave range, play the highest key in that range, that's about it. The manual makes it more of a task than it actually is...

The polyphony is good for now, as long as you aren't using your feet and hands together, notes will get swallowed up. There is a MIDI "Expansion" (overflow) option, where you can hook up 2 of these 10+ lb monsters for 16-note capacity. Memory maxing helps also.

The only 'effects' are the stacking to layer sounds/samples for thick aural goodness, and the Arpeggiator, not necessarily an effect, but gives an effect... Filters can be categorized as effects, I guess, you can do an analog flange if skillful - but there's no Reverb or Delay here.

With The MIDI, there's the in and out/thru. 2 audio outs for mono/phones & Stereo. There are 4 Midi specific settings Send/Rcv all channels, send/rcv left/right side of memory and rcv only on specified channel. There are also the same 4 options in expansion mode.

There is no sequencer, and I'd watch it when using one with this, notes will be cut off and swallowed during complex cquens'g.

Sounds, Mostly synthy, and some 80's typical stuff.

Will respond to velocity, but when making a new batch of presets/samples, you must set the "Amplifier Peak Value" to max for that effect. Will react well to playing, remember, 1985...

Disk drives are stupid, will read a disk, then not read the same one, will format, won't save. There are many generic drives for this unit, you need a 720k'er or a Dualie 1.44megger.

Gigging with this unit? not really.

Nothing doing. Wine country USA will attend to your needs.

Thanks for reading

presets, Nice Hammondy sound and a lovely rezzy bass that can always be edited to make a good modern bass sound. There is no way youll ever need a patch editor on this little beastie as all your editing is done via a matrix parameter display not unlike an akai so1's but theres a big parameter control knob here. However this knob could always do with a blast of contact cleaner as it can be a bit glitchy. The Manual, ? It's almost horrific, However the machine its self is so intuitive you'll only ever need it for referance and so it's teccy bias is actually quite nice at least you get the gen when want/need it!

Polyphony here is a tricy one, Technically eight I believe but a word of warning this can get eaten very quickly as this unit has the famous sequential stack function which allows you to layer voices for massive fat sounds. No Effects. Expansion, Theres an eight Output module stocked by W.C an In Sync in London Aoso Memory is available from Both. Memory wise I normally manage two drum loops at 31 Hz, and 4-5 1-2 sec sounds out of my unit. Remenber each of these gets it's own analogue resonent filter and asdr as well as looping ! MIDI, well basic Controllers are pitch and thats it and these are global it's worth noting this aint a toy for most if you want a "Dance" machine to filter your sample this is it. If you want a cheap multi use sampler than forget this machine
The below features rating is for the analogue processing alone.

As I've said before this machine can rezz your basses to hell. Interesting gubbins include the ability to map key velocity to both attack and filter peak amongst others. Apart from this it really does bugger all else.
If you want your samples to sound exactly as you put them in it's cool If you want your samples to be analogue processed to hell it's cool. If you want to learn analogue synthesis it's cool. But beware your samples can sound very similar as certian things setting wise always sound good. Otherwise forget it. Oh, Beware the disk drives on these units are renowned to be dodgy, they can be replaced However.

The Unit I have has proved a little dodgy in small hot venues and the afore mentioned drive problems mean I dare'nt gig with out 4-5 copys of every data disk. However openeing the lid and putting a desk fan next to it has always solved this problem for me.

Sequential is gone and buried now. Wine Country in the U.S are great but expensive. A couple of Pro service centers in the U.K have bits and bobs around including Data disks, software revs and the afore mentioned out output kits but hunt these out yourselves I aint giving you all my secrets!

I love it, it over heats. The disk drive isn't trust worthy. But it sounds so V. um... "Darkly dancy". I would suggest any one who likes a gamble and digs that cheesy sheep on drugs/Son of william sound to give one a chance