Make it yours

Remove it

1. 1With the hex wrench, take out the two screws at the front edge, below the bottom row of pads.
2. 2Take out the screws along the far edge, on either side at the top of the panel.

Put it back

1. 1Use the hex wrench to fit the two screws at the far edge.
2. 2Fit the two screws at the front edge.

What the image must be

Add it to a project

1. 1Create the image on your computer.
2. 2Export the project to the SD card (Save a project to an SD card).
3. 3Take the card out of the 404 and open it on your computer.
4. 4Copy the image into the project’s PICTURE folder, which for project 1 is EXPORT/PROJECT/PROJECT_01/PICTURE. Make sure the file has one of the names above.
5. 5Take the card out of your computer and put it back in the 404.
6. 6Import the project (Bring a project in from another SP-404MKII). Your image appears the next time you start up.

What the images must be

Switch to custom images

1. 1Press SHIFT + PAD 13 to open the UTILITY MENU screen.
2. 2Turn VALUE to SYSTEM and press it.
3. 3Turn CTRL 3 to the GENERAL tab.
4. 4Turn VALUE to Scrn Saver Type and press it, which highlights the value.
5. 5Turn VALUE to Custom and press it.
6. 6Press EXIT.

Add the images to a project

1. 1Create the images on your computer.
2. 2Export the project to the SD card (Save a project to an SD card).
3. 3Take the card out of the 404 and open it on your computer.
4. 4Copy the images into the project’s PICTURE folder, which for project 1 is EXPORT/PROJECT/PROJECT_01/PICTURE. Give each file one of the names above.
5. 5Take the card out of your computer and put it back in the 404.
6. 6Import the project (Bring a project in from another SP-404MKII). Your custom screen saver is now in use.

What’s in the menu

Change a setting

1. 1Press SHIFT + PAD 13 to open the UTILITY MENU screen.
2. 2Turn VALUE to SYSTEM, PAD SET or EFX SET and press it.
3. 3Turn CTRL 3 to the tab you need.
4. 4Turn VALUE to move the cursor to the setting, then press it. The value is highlighted, ready to edit.
5. 5Turn VALUE to change the value, then press it.
6. 6Press EXIT to go back to the UTILITY MENU screen.

Key combinations

SHIFT + PAD 13

Opens the UTILITY MENU screen.

Key combinations

SHIFT + PAD 12

Opens the GAIN tab of the system settings.

GENERAL tab

Edit Knob Mode

What a knob does when its physical position doesn’t match the stored value. With Catch, nothing changes until you’ve turned the knob as far as the stored value, so there’s no sudden jump. With Direct, the value goes straight to the knob’s position as soon as you move it. DJ mode always behaves as Catch, whatever you pick here.Range Catch, Direct

EFX Knob Mode

The same choice for the effect knobs, with one more option. Catch and Direct work as above. With Manual, changing effects immediately applies wherever the knobs happen to be.Range Catch, Direct, Manual

Load Project

The project that opens at power-on. Last picks up the one you were using when you switched off; a number always opens that project.Range Last, 1–16

Sub Pad Mode

What SUB PAD does in sample mode. Retrig plays the current pad again, and SkipBack takes you to skip-back mode (Save what you just played with skip-back).Range Retrig, SkipBack

Auto Trig Level

How loud incoming sound has to be before the 404 counts it as a signal. It’s the level that starts automatic sampling, and also the level that starts recording into the skip-back memory.Range 1–10

Scrn Saver Time

How many minutes pass before the screen saver comes on. Pads with no sample stay dark while it’s showing.Range 1, 5, 10 (min)

Scrn Saver Type

What the screen saver shows. Choose OldRave or Naminori, Custom for an image you’ve imported (Make your own screen saver), or Disp Off to blank the display instead.Range OldRave, Naminori, Custom, Disp Off

BPM Auto Dtct

Turn this ON to have the 404 work out a sample’s tempo when you import it.Range OFF, ON

BPM Detect Rng

The band of tempos that automatic detection works within.Range 100-199, 80-159, 70-139, 50-99

Pad MUTE

Whether you can still hear muted pads (Mute a pad on the fly). Mst+Phn keeps them silent at every jack. Master lets you carry on monitoring them in the PHONES jack, though without effects.Range Mst+Phn, Master

PTN Change Mode

What happens to samples that are sounding when playback moves to another pattern. MKII stops them at the change, and SX lets them carry on.Range MKII, SX

Pop-up Time

How long pop-up screens stay up. Short is briefer than Normal, and OFF does away with them.Range Normal, Short, OFF

MARK Function

What MARK calls up. SBS Def is skip-back sampling with up to 25 seconds of recording, SBS Long stretches that to 40 seconds, and Looper opens the Build up a loop live with the looper. See also Save what you just played with skip-back. You can also switch between skip-back and the looper by holding SHIFT and pressing VALUE.Range SBS Def, SBS Long, Looper

Reverse Type

Where a playing sample starts running backwards when you hit REVERSE. 404 starts from the sample’s end point, as on the SP-404SX. 303 turns around on the spot, from the current position, as on the SP-303.Range 404, 303

USB IN

Where audio arriving over USB goes (Bring in audio from a computer or phone). LINE IN blends it with the signal at the LINE IN jacks. MIX OUT blends it with the mixer’s output, bypassing INPUT FX and BUS FX.Range LINE IN, MIX OUT

DJ Mode TS type

How DJ mode treats the audio when a sample’s speed changes. VINYL ties pitch to speed, like a record. BACKING and ENSEMBLE handle speed and pitch separately: BACKING suits instruments whose sound clearly decays, and ENSEMBLE suits instruments that sustain.Range VINYL, BACKING, ENSEMBLE

Bend Sens (DJ)

How fast the pitch moves when you press BEND- or BEND+ in DJ mode.Range 10–200

FileSystem

Which characters the 404 can recognise in filenames when importing. Multi-Byte takes letters, numbers, symbols and double-byte text such as kanji, hiragana and katakana, so those files will import, but their names look garbled on the screen. Latin1 takes letters, numbers and symbols only, and files with double-byte names won’t be recognised. After you change this and press EXIT to leave the screen, you must restart the 404.Range Multi-Byte, Latin1

Bank Mute

With this ON, playing a sample from another bank cuts the sound automatically. Roland doesn’t spell out exactly which sound.Range OFF, ON

App Auto Connection

When ON, the 404 connects on its own as soon as you open a third-party app, for example Serato DJ, Koala Sampler or Melodics. Added in system 5.01.Range OFF, ON

Start-up Screen

Skip leaves out some of the screens you see while the 404 starts. Added in system 5.01.Range Default, Skip

CLICK tab

Output Assign

When ON, the click goes out through the LINE OUT jacks and the USB port.Range OFF, ON

Click Level

How loud the metronome is.Range 1–5

Metronome:REC

When ON, you hear the metronome while sampling or resampling.Range OFF, ON

Metronome:PTN

When ON, you hear the metronome while recording a pattern.Range OFF, ON

Count-In:REC

How sampling and resampling get under way (Give yourself a count-in). With OFF, they begin the moment you press REC. 1 MEAS and 2 MEAS give you that many measures of count-in after REC. WAIT holds on until you play a pad or sound arrives from an external device.Range OFF, 1 MEAS, 2 MEAS, WAIT

Count-In:PTN

The same choices for pattern recording (Get a count-in and a click): start on REC with OFF, count in with 1 MEAS or 2 MEAS, or use WAIT to hold on until you play a pad or sound arrives from an external device.Range OFF, 1 MEAS, 2 MEAS, WAIT

MIDI tab

MIDI Sync

Where the tempo comes from. Auto follows MIDI clock whenever it reaches the MIDI IN connector or USB port. Internal uses the tempo set on the 404. MIDI follows clock at the MIDI IN connector only, and USB follows clock at the USB port only.Range Auto, Internal, MIDI, USB

MIDI Sync Out

When ON, clock, start and stop go out to whatever’s plugged into MIDI OUT.Range OFF, ON

SEQ Note Out

When ON, a pattern sends its pad’s note number through MIDI OUT as it plays.Range OFF, ON

SYNC Delay

Corrects for latency between the 404 and an external MIDI device. Higher values make the 404 play later. At 0, its playback and its MIDI messages go out together.Range 0–20ms

Bend SYNC(DJ)

Whether bending a deck also bends outgoing MIDI clock. OFF keeps the clock steady. ON lets it follow the 404’s playback speed, so connected MIDI devices speed up and slow down with you. To leave the clock alone for a single bend, hold REMAIN as you press BEND- or BEND+.Range OFF, ON

PAD Note Out

When ON, playing a pad sends its note number through MIDI OUT.Range OFF, ON

Soft Through

When ON, whatever comes in at MIDI IN is passed on to MIDI OUT.Range OFF, ON

USB-MIDI Thru

When ON, MIDI from the USB port is passed on to MIDI OUT, and MIDI from MIDI IN is passed on to the USB port. The internal sound module receives it as well.Range OFF, ON

PC Rx

When ON, the 404 accepts incoming program change messages.Range ON, OFF

MIDI Mode

Chooses between two assignments of note numbers. Which MIDI notes play which pads shows both.Range A, B

Pad MIDI Channels

An offset for the MIDI channels. It only takes effect when MIDI Mode is B.Range 1/2, 2/3–9/10, 10/11

Note offset

An offset for the note numbers. It only takes effect when MIDI Mode is B.Range -11–35

MIDI EXT SRC

How MIDI notes from outside control EXT SOURCE. With TOGGLE, each note-on flips the button on or off. With GATE, note-on turns it on and note-off turns it off. With THROUGH, notes leave it alone.Range TOGGLE, GATE, THROUGH

GAIN tab

Attenuator

Pulls down the level coming in at the LINE IN jacks. Reach for it if that input sounds distorted.Range OFF, ON

Noise Gate

Cleans up the noise floor on the LINE IN and INPUT signals. OFF leaves the gate out. The dB values bring the noise floor down to that level, and -Inf takes it as low as it’ll go.Range OFF, -9dB, -12dB, -18dB, -Inf

LINE OUT

Gain at the LINE OUT jacks.Range 0, +6, +12 (dB)

PHONES OUT

Gain at the PHONES jacks.Range -18, -12, -6, 0, +6, +12 (dB)

USB OUT

Gain at the USB port.Range -24, -12, 0 (dB)

Anti Feedback

When ON, helps stop feedback on the mic input.Range OFF, ON

VERSION tab

Version

Shows which version the unit is running. See Check your version and update.

Key combinations

SHIFT + PAD 15

Opens the pad settings from the top screen.

SHIFT + VALUE

Changes the colour value in steps of 10 as you turn the knob.On the BUS COLOR tab

TRIGGER tab

Curve Type

How your strike translates into volume. Lin is the standard response. Exp makes hard playing change the volume more, and Log makes soft playing change it more. Fix ignores how hard you hit and always plays at 127.Range Lin, Exp, Log, Fix

Threshold

The lightest hit that a pad will respond to. Raise it if vibrations from neighbouring pads are setting a pad off.Range 1–100

Gain

Overall pad sensitivity, keeping the shape of the curve. Higher values make the pads more sensitive.Range 0–100

Trig Span

How soon a pad can register another strike. Low values let it catch repeats that are close together. Raise it if a pad is picking up repeats you didn’t mean to play.Range 1–10

LED tab

LED Brightness

How bright the button and pad lights are when highlighted.Range 1–10

LED Glow

How bright the button and pad lights are when not highlighted.Range 1–10

Pad LED Mode

What decides a pad’s colour. BUS colours pads by the bus their sample goes through, using the BUS COLOR tab. PAD gives each of the 16 pads its own colour, using the PAD COLOR tab. SAMPLE gives each sample its own colour, for up to 2,560 samples: see Colour-code your samples.Range BUS, PAD, SAMPLE

BUS COLOR tab

BUS1 Color

Pad colour for samples going through BUS 1. Works when Pad LED Mode is BUS.Range Default, 1–127, White

BUS2 Color

Pad colour for samples going through BUS 2. Works when Pad LED Mode is BUS.Range Default, 1–127, White

DRY Color

Pad colour for samples going through the DRY bus. Works when Pad LED Mode is BUS.Range Default, 1–127, White

PAD COLOR tab

PAD-1–PAD-16

One colour setting for each pad. Works when Pad LED Mode is PAD, while a sample is playing or stopped in sample mode.Range Default, 1–127, White

Key combinations

SHIFT + PAD 16

Opens the effect settings from the top screen.

FAVORITE tab

Routing

How BUS 1 and BUS 2 connect: TYPE A runs them in series and TYPE B runs them in parallel. See Put BUS 1 and BUS 2 in series or in parallel.Range TYPE A, TYPE B

FAVORITE

Which of the 16 stored slots supplies the BUS 3 and BUS 4 effect settings. Bypass switches those effects off. See Load a saved BUS 3 and BUS 4 set-up.Range Bypass, 1–16

BUS 3 and BUS 4 tabs

EFX Type

The effect on that bus. Each tab has its own. See Set the effects on BUS 3 and BUS 4.Range Bypass, 303 VinylSim, 404 VinylSim, Cassette Sim, Lo-fi, Downer, Compressor, Equalizer, Isolator, Super Filter, Filter+Drive, WrmSaturator, Overdrive, Distortion, Crusher, Ring Mod, SBF, Resonator, Hyper-Reso, Chromatic PS, Reverb, Ha-Dou, Zan-Zou, Sync Delay, TimeCtrlDly, Ko-Da-Ma, Tape Echo, Chorus, JUNO Chorus, Flanger, Phaser, Wah, Slicer, Tremolo/Pan, To-Gu-Ro, DJFX Looper, Scatter, SX Reverb, SX Delay, Cloud Delay

SIDE CHAIN tab

SOURCE

The bus whose level sets off the compression. See Duck one bus with another using side chain.Range DRY, BUS 1, BUS 2, BUS 3, BUS 4

TARGET

The bus that gets compressed.Range OFF, DRY, BUS 1, BUS 2, BUS 3, BUS 4

THRESHOLD

How loud the source must get before the target is compressed. Higher numbers lower the threshold, so compression starts at quieter source levels.Range 0–255

RATIO

How hard the target is compressed for the source level above the threshold. Higher values press down further, and at extreme values the target drops to silence.Range 0–255

RELEASE

How long the compression takes to let go. Higher values bring the target back more gradually, so the effect lingers after the source falls below the threshold.Range 0–255

GAIN

Makeup gain on the final output, to win back the volume that compression took away.Range 0.0dB–6.0dB

DIRECT tab

Direct FX1–Direct FX5

The effect on each of the top-panel effect buttons, so your favourites are one press away. See Put your own effects on the effect keys.Range Filter+Drive, Resonator, Sync Delay, Isolator, DJFX Looper, Scatter, Downer, Ha-Dou, Ko-Da-Ma, Zan-Zou, To-Gu-Ro, SBF, Stopper, Tape Echo, TimeCtrlDly, Super Filter, WrmSaturator, 303 VinylSim, 404 VinylSim, Cassette Sim, Lo-fi, Reverb, Chorus, JUNO Chorus, Flanger, Phaser, Wah, Slicer, Tremolo/Pan, Chromatic PS, Hyper-Reso, Ring Mod, Crusher, Overdrive, Distortion, Equalizer, Compressor, SX Reverb, SX Delay, Cloud Delay, Back Spin

OTHER tab

Mute Bus

How far the mute bus reaches. ALL covers BUS 1 and BUS 2 together, and BUS covers only the buses you select with BUS FX. See Cut the audio and leave the effect tails.Range ALL, BUS

Input FX

The effect on audio coming into the 404. Those marked with an asterisk are only available here, not on the other buses. See Add an effect to what’s coming in.Range Bypass, Auto Pitch (*), Vocoder (*), Harmony (*), Gt Amp Sim (*), Chorus, JUNO Chorus, Reverb, TimeCtrlDly, Chromatic PS, Downer, WrmSaturator, 303 VinylSim, 404 VinylSim, Cassette Sim, Lo-fi, Equalizer, Compressor

Input Bus

Where the INPUT and LINE IN signals go. DRY skips the BUS 1 and BUS 2 effects, while BUS1 and BUS2 send the signal into that bus. See Decide where external audio goes.Range DRY, BUS1, BUS2

DRY Routing

What happens to audio on the DRY bus. DRY keeps it clear of BUS 1–BUS 4, so it gets no effects. BUS3 feeds it in just ahead of BUS 3, so the BUS 3 and BUS 4 effects process it. With BUS3, you can’t use DRY as a side chain source or target. See Put BUS 1 and BUS 2 in series or in parallel.Range DRY, BUS3

MFX TOP

The MFX that’s ready when you power on. See Pick any effect from the MFX list.Range Scatter, Downer, Ha-Dou, Ko-Da-Ma, Zan-Zou, To-Gu-Ro, SBF, Stopper, Tape Echo, TimeCtrlDly, Super Filter, WrmSaturator, 303 VinylSim, 404 VinylSim, Cassette Sim, Lo-fi, Reverb, Chorus, JUNO Chorus, Flanger, Phaser, Wah, Slicer, Tremolo/Pan, Chromatic PS, Hyper-Reso, Ring Mod, Crusher, Overdrive, Distortion, Equalizer, Compressor, SX Reverb, SX Delay, Cloud Delay, Back Spin