All user reviews of 4/5 for the Boss SP-303 Dr. Sample

With a polyphony of 8 dj can do many things, unfortunately, the use of effects is divided by two.
16bits/44.1 kHz converters are the big plus of this phrase sampler (competition only 32 kHz), the quality is good, we can DGRAD sound samples for percussion or drums, the quality LoFi makes it good for hip hop.
With 26 effects one might say that we Roland is still a selling point, as is the case because they are pretty good overall, I use them also for external instruments from the microphone jack.
In a twelve o'clock and that's it, if you plug a keyboard so you can enjoy the VLOC.
Squenceur The pattern is a good innovation from the SP202, making it a little mini-sampler groovebox, unfortunately we can not combine the sounds of diffrent banks A, B, C and D. ..
The default is the major SP303 time-stretch terribly wrong. For example, if you go from 120 bpm 119 altration you hear a dj, gold n'tait not the case with the SP202 o one was receiving only sacadas run its course (70 bpm ) trs is a shame because for the synchronization of all samples must be bored to have the same tempo of departure. For me it is the weak point of the Roland SP303 could avoid.

UTILIZATION

The SP family of one of the easiest handle. any beginners get a snap about the results convincing. The buttons allow great expressiveness.
The edition is rudimentary sounds, the screen displays only three characters, we called all the ear with the button marking. The function of resampling is a bndiction not to lose its original prcieux samples.
The possibility of placing samples in WAV format same SmartMedia from your PC simplifies things. If you have an editor of his happiness is ensured.

SOUNDS

Converters taient the major weakness of the SP202, for me they are of good quality sound recording without apparent distortions or breath.
The effects and filters asceptiser far from the sound can give a little relief even dirty it in the right sense.
With the compressor, the dynamic is really good, the sound level should not SP303.

OVERALL OPINION

I have over the past year, honest if we look a phrase sampler, it fulfills its function and even a little more. What it lacks in order to be truly enjoyable it up a notch like the SP505 and timestretch worthy of the name. Nevertheless, Roland / Boss does not charge the SP303 too expensive (it's even the cheapest of all the phrase samplers on the market. For many people it's a toy, a To some extent this term is MRIT (it is far from professional samplers), but musically it allows many fantasies and is fully usable. When I sold my SP202 for Akai S2000 I really thought no longer need, but I'm back on my RULING and bought a SP303 for its spontaneous and amliorations significantly from the year. It seems to me that if I claim, I fail even when ...

This unit has 8 Polyphony. It has a 20 bit conversion rate for both A/D and D/A. As for effects is has 26 all together (Delay, reverb, vinyl sim, overdrive, isolation, etc...) and has the ability to resample with the effects (pretty sweet). You have three options of sampling, Normal, Long and Lo-Fi. The standard sampling time is as follows: Norman=31 secs, Long=63 secs and Lo-fi=3 mins. 10secs. With a 64 mb smart media card (max) you get: Normal =33 mins., Long=64 mins. and Lo-fi= 202 mins. As for connections it has RCA stereo in/out, 1/4" mic/line input, midi in, 1/4" headphone jack and of course the Smart Media card slot. You cannot edit this with a computer, but really there is no need to, everything you need is right in front of you. I should also mention that it has a step sequencer built in which is great for programing multiple samples to play in specific patterns.

UTILIZATION

The general setup/config is a little confusing. I definitely needed to read the manual to learn how to do just about everything. They do have little "hints" printed next to some of the labels of the buttons, but they don't always make sense. Again, the editing on this unit is a little tricky, but after reading the manual, you should get the hang of it. Once you get that knowledge, you can pretty much do everything you need to do without having to flip back through the manual. This was one of the best Roland Manuals I have ever used (I have had bad experiences before). I had no trouble figuring out what I needed to know.

SOUNDS

The convertors sound fine. The samples retain almost all of there genuine tone when using the normal sampling rate. You obviously lose a lot of quality as you step down the sampling ladder (Long, Lo-Fi). The effects are good as well. I particularly like the isolation and the filters. They are great for electronica type tones. I am not sure what it means when asked if the dynamics are respected, but I think this unit sounds great and I also have seen some of my favorite bands (Benevento Russo Dou uses the sp202 model, and Lymbyc System uses this model) use this unit live.

OVERALL OPINION

I had this unit for 2 years. The best thing about this unit is the ability to resample as many times as you want with the internal effects. What I didn't like about this unit has to do with the resampling funny enough. You cannot set it up to automatically resample the whole original sample. You have to do it manually which can be difficult if you already set up the tempo just right. I noticed that my resamples would be slightly off sometimes so I would have to delete that resample and try again. Kind of frustrating. Also, smart media cards are hard to find nowadays and can be expensive, so that sucks too. I also have the RC-50 floor pedal sampling unit. They label it a guitar effect but I use this thing for all my instruments. It doesn't have internal effects but it does have way better options in my opinion. You can find these for around $150 on ebay, an overall, thats a great deal for musicians who want sampling capability but can't afford computer based samplers. I would probably buy this unit again if I was on a tight budget, but if I wasn't, a mac laptop will do way more.