— Interactive guide · System 5.50
SP-404MKII
Roland’s pocket sampler, explained properly — sampling, chopping, patterns, the effect buses, DJ mode and every shortcut and setting, searchable in a keystroke, with Roland’s videos and the community’s best tutorials beside the topics they explain.
- chapters
- 14 chapters
- topics
- 141 topics
- key combos
- 358 key combos
- videos
- 62 videos
— Where to start
Your first hour
Plug in, learn how the 404 stores things, and make some noise.
- 1Plug everything in
- 2How the 404 stores your work
- 3Find your way around the panel
- 4Your first ten minutes
- 5Turn an effect on from the keys
- 6Record a new sample
Sampling and chopping
Get sound in, trim it, chop it across the pads and make it yours.
- 1Set up a recording
- 2Record a new sample
- 3Trim where a sample starts and stops
- 4Mark where to cut a sample
- 5Chop a sample across the pads
- 6Change a sample’s pitch and speed
Making beats
Record what you play, program with TR-REC, tidy the timing and chain it up.
- 1Record a pattern as you play
- 2Program steps with TR-REC
- 3Tighten the timing after recording
- 4Automate your effect moves
- 5String patterns into a chain
- 6Turn a pattern into a sample
The 404 sound
Stack effects on the buses, print them, and play it live.
- 1How buses and effects fit together
- 2Put BUS 1 and BUS 2 in series or in parallel
- 3Vinyl, tape and lo-fi colour
- 4Build a lo-fi master chain
- 5Resample what the 404 is playing
- 6Lock the risky buttons for a gig
— Explore the panel
What does this key do?
Tap any key, knob, pad or port. Hold Shift to light up the second job of each one.
Pick a control to see what it does.
All 62 controls and ports, from the pads to the rear panel. The word under a key or pad is what it does while SHIFT is held.
Our own schematic · not to scale · Shift jobs shown for every key, though the unit prints only some of them
— Contents
14 chapters, start anywhere
Start here
What the 404 is, how it stores your work, how to power and wire it, and your first ten minutes.
What the SP-404MKII is · How the 404 stores your work · Plug everything in · Three ways to power it · Power up and down in the right order · Your first ten minutes · Check your version and update · Specifications
Know the panel
Every control, and the handful of held buttons that unlock most of the machine.
Find your way around the panel · Read the screen and the lights · Everything on the Shift button · What the Remain button does · What holding the Value knob does · Bank-wide jobs with Del and Copy · How sound travels through the 404 · When the screen shows an error
Play the pads
Banks, gate and hold, loops, rolls, velocity, scales, muting and the tricks for playing live.
Play a pad and switch banks · Balance one bank against another · Lock a sample to the tempo · Gate and hold: what letting go of a pad does · Play a sample through without interruption · Loop forwards, backwards or both ways · Flip a sample backwards · Repeat a sample with rolls · Control how hard the pads hit · Play one sample across the pads in key · Mute a pad on the fly · Trigger several pads from one · Let samples cut each other off · Stop or pause everything · Lock the risky buttons for a gig
Capture sound
Sample, resample, grab what you just played, loop live and generate your own sounds.
Set up a recording · Record a new sample · Give yourself a count-in · Land the end point on a beat · Resample what the 404 is playing · Save what you just played with skip-back · Build up a loop live with the looper · Make your own sounds with the sound generator · Plug in a synth, mic or guitar · Bring in audio from a computer or phone
Shape a sample
Trim, chop, envelope, pitch, groove and colour your sounds, then keep them organised.
Trim where a sample starts and stops · Make an edit permanent · Mark where to cut a sample · Chop a sample across the pads · Fade a sample in and out · Change a sample’s pitch and speed · Give a sample some swing · Colour-code your samples · Check a sample’s settings, or reset them · Merge samples into one · Swap and copy pads and banks · Protect banks and delete samples
Keep time
How tempo lives in samples, banks and projects, and how to set it by hand.
Give a sample its tempo · Choose and set the bank or project tempo · Tap in a tempo
Route the effects
Buses, the effect buttons, routing, side chain and everything else that decides what gets processed.
How buses and effects fit together · Turn an effect on from the keys · Apply an effect only while you hold its key · Pick any effect from the MFX list · Edit an effect and keep your settings · Send each sample to a bus · Cut the audio and leave the effect tails · Find your way around the effect settings · Put BUS 1 and BUS 2 in series or in parallel · Load a saved BUS 3 and BUS 4 set-up · Set the effects on BUS 3 and BUS 4 · Duck one bus with another using side chain · Put your own effects on the effect keys · Add an effect to what’s coming in · Decide where external audio goes
The effects, one by one
All the multi-effects, grouped by what they do to a sound, with every parameter.
Filters and EQ · Delays and echoes · Reverbs · Modulation effects · Vinyl, tape and lo-fi colour · Drive and distortion · Repeats, stutters, stops and spins · Pitch and voice effects · Compression
Make patterns
Record in real time or with TR-REC, edit to the note, automate effects, chain and bounce.
Play back your patterns · Record a pattern as you play · Get a count-in and a click · Program steps with TR-REC · Split a step into quick repeats · Fix single notes with Microscope · Tap notes in from the REC button · Tighten the timing after recording · Record rolls into a pattern · Automate your effect moves · Automate pad mutes · Change a pattern’s tempo, loop and length · Cut a pattern down to size · Switch pattern banks · String patterns into a chain · Turn a pattern into a sample · Swap, copy, extract and delete patterns
DJ mode
Two decks on the pads: sync, markers, rolls, effects and headphone cueing.
Turn the pads into two decks · Mix, sync and roll the decks · Play pads and patterns alongside the decks · Jump to, add and edit markers on a deck · Trim a sample while it’s on a deck · Grab a sample from the SD card mid-set · Preview in your headphones
Projects and the SD card
Switch, copy and name projects, move audio on and off the unit, and keep backups.
Switch between your 16 projects · Run a project straight from the SD card · Copy and delete projects · Rename samples and projects · Bring audio in from an SD card · Save samples to an SD card · Bring a project in from another SP-404MKII · Bring in a project from an SP-404SX or SP-404A · Save a project to an SD card · Export a pattern as stems · Back up and restore your data · Prepare an SD card · Return the 404 to its factory state
Make it yours
Faceplates, custom screens and every setting in the UTILITY menu.
Take the faceplate off · Put your own image on the opening screen · Make your own screen saver · Find your way around UTILITY · Every system setting · Every pad setting · Every effect setting
Computers, MIDI and apps
The SP-404MK2 App, MIDI control, Koala Sampler and Serato.
Connect MIDI gear and sync tempo · Control effects with MIDI CC · Which MIDI notes play which pads · Get started with the SP-404MK2 App · Edit and organise samples in the App · Manage patterns in the App · Manage projects and tempo in the App · Control Koala Sampler from the 404 · Control Serato Studio from the 404 · Control Serato DJ from the 404
Recipes
Whole workflows built from the pieces in the other chapters.
Flip a loop into a new beat · Turn a drum break into a kit · Build a lo-fi master chain · Print effects and stack layers by resampling · Make a bass line from scratch · Make room for the kick with side chain · Get ready to play live
— Muscle memory
The combos you’ll use every day
Nearly every key and pad on the 404 has a second job under Shift. The full cheat sheet has all 358, filterable by key and printable.
Open the cheat sheet- SHIFT + START/END
- Opens the marker screen for the selected sample.
- SHIFT + PITCH/SPEED
- Opens the envelope screen.
- SHIFT + EXIT
- Stops all samples and patterns.
- SHIFT + REC
- Switches to TR-REC, so you can add to the pattern that’s playing.While a pattern plays
- SHIFT + PAD 9
- Turns the metronome on or off.
- SHIFT + PAD 4
- Enters chromatic mode with the selected sample.
- SHIFT + BUS FX
- Mutes the audio going into the bus so only the effect is left; press again to bring the audio back and switch the effect off.
- Hold REMAIN + PAD
- Changes which bus that pad’s sample feeds. Each press flips between the bus selected with BUS FX and DRY. See Send each sample to a bus.
— Watch
Learn it from Roland and the community
Introducing the Roland SP-404MKII Creative Sampler and Effector
RolandChannel
Roland’s own 13-minute tour of the hardware, sampling, bus effects, patterns and DJ mode. It dates from the 2021 launch, so there’s no TR-REC, looper or side chain yet.
SP-404MKII in 2026 | Everything You Need to Get Started
Gear4music Synths & Tech
Andy from Roland takes a beginner from banks and pads through resampling, effects, the step sequencer, skip-back and the looper. Filmed in 2026, so it matches a current unit.
SP-404 Mk2 Beginner's Guide (Part 1): Setup, Sampling, Recording & Chopping
Chris Laps
A patient 25-minute start, from setup and SD cards to recording and chopping. Parts 2 and 3, also listed here, pick up effects and patterns.
An independent guide by boog.ie, not affiliated with or endorsed by Roland Corporation. Roland and SP-404 are trademarks of Roland Corporation. Content is written in our own words from Roland’s SP-404MK2 Reference Manual (System 5.50, March 2026) and Roland’s other SP-404MK2 guides; community material is credited and linked. The panel is our own schematic. When in doubt, the official manual wins. Roland’s SP-404MKII manuals