roland sp555

[leon <woodshed@blueyonder.co.uk>]

..is useless as a live looper it seems from this quick review i found  
online. Just another backward looking DJ box.

http://forums.rolandclan.info/? 
action=show_thread&fid=3&thread=20638&s=&e=


"Okay, i have manage to get my hand on a 555
and i will answer any quiestions posed.

However there where a few expectations of the 555 which i have  
investigated and have found to be a myth.

Reviews usual start with the good then the bad and then overal
im sure once i get use to it it will have is pros, but my immediate  
expectatioins where a dissapointment and here they are..


Does the 555 keep the music going
NO
Can you sample when using Loop capture
NO
How good is loop capture
Ok

Long version
Loop capture does what it says and works the way you expect it.
over dub works just as well
So what happens once you have your loop what can you do with it.
There is a SAVE TO PAD button which you would expect to do what it says.
IT DOES NOT
It should have been named RECORD TO PAD
Because what it does is play the loop capture sample and the pad  
chosen records what is being played.

Maybe you can live with that, but what makes this really bad is that  
while you have LOOP CAPTURE playing and press SAVE TO PAD it STOPS  
loop capture from playing.
If you time it right you can do as follows

SAVE TO PAD(loop capture stops playing)
PLAY(loop capture) now it starts playing again
Press a pad and your now recording to the pad
However at the end of the loop
your pad has captured the loop, but the 555 does not continue playing  
the loop
its stops it and you have no music

The first time you use LOOP CAPTUIRE you must press line in to allow  
your external source to be captured.
Press Rec to start the capture, press play to replay the loop.
press Rec to goto over dub (or use a pedal)
Problem....
you external source is not being recorded???
why?
because when you recorded your first pass and pressed play
the 555 disabled LINE IN
This means once you have captured a loop, before pressing REC(over  
dub) You must once more press LINE IN

Now there is absolutely no reason why SAVE TO PAD has to stop the  
loop capture from playing, it should simply retrigger it
or once you press the pad to capture to, IT will retrigger it.
Roland don’t seem to understand the idea that the music is not  
suppose to stop unless we tell it to do so.
Roland seems to impose its own will on others rather than allow  
others to make decisions for themselves.

So that’s all the myths gone about the 555
and 15 seconds loop capture time?? why is it only 15 seconds? This is  
an artificial restriction imposed for no technical reason other than  
to force you to buy more gear.
only 12 pads mono can playback at any time, what about the other 4  
and why not stereo (32 voice)

Maybe you will still like the 555 after al that
Overall the SP555 is Not as useful as it should be and is NOT to be  
seen as a LIVE performance tool because of the fact that is does not  
allow to music to flow but instead if you try to do more than one  
task the music STOPS!
If you have the sp404 and upgrading it maybe worth the extra few  
dollars if you get a good price for the 404, I got 320 and paid 449  
for the upgrade so its a good deal. Just be aware of what your  
getting. THIS IS NOT A LIVE PERFORMACE TOOL
i will play with it for another 28 days before i decide to return it  
(who knows)"