The SP-303 is a very basic and rather poorly thought out piece of kit that sacrifices everything for portability and immediacy - and then fails to deliver either of these. The portability issues, especially compared to its predecessor, the SP-202, have been well exposed by other reviewers, but none of them found the SP-303 as cumbersome to use, apparently. The SP-303 is without a doubt the instrument I could do the least with on my own - the manual is indispensable with this one. This has become less of an issue now that Roland US made the manual available on-line (make sure you have an American e-mail address, otherwise the system will ignore you).

But even with the manual, the insane key combinations and cryptic three-digit LED display is likely to drive you insane. It's not that I mind editing samples by ear - though I'd like to have the option of not having to - but to have an interface that keeps getting in the way no matter how much time you spent with the unit is a frustrating experience. I dare you to use the internal sequencer and get something done - you're better off triggering the samples manually.

There is a function where SP-303 does a half-decent job, and that's sampling. It's pretty straightforward, the samples sound good (to check out some of the songs I used it on, e-mail me at sartre@siol.net), and the overload indicator is very helpful - I'd had less clipping with the SP-303 than with all the pro gear I've used since. But try to do anything slightly more advanced with that sample, be it editing, effecting, moving, or exporting, and you're back in hell again. The effect particularly are just waiting to drive out of your mind: not only is their specified number a blatant lie, most of them are totally useless, while the rest are of really poor quality. Be careful with tempo-based effects as they'll only follow the sample's supposed BPM - there is no way you can switch the timing to follow the external MIDI clock, which is a great shame. So in order to properly delay a short vocal sample, you either have to record some silence after it to make the BPM right, or you have to duplicate it an "delay" it manually in your sequencer.

If you're putting together a bedroom studio and you think that you don't need a professional sampler unit, like I did, you are wrong. Seriously, for the money, you can get an old Akai or Emu unit that'll do most things the SP-303 would, and lots, lots more. The SP-303 is a totally closed system that you're likely to outgrow very fast. In case you don't need to carry your sampler around a lot and don't mind a few menus to step through, get something else.

-fredfades

The effects on this baby alone are worth the bucks. And the REAL reason apart from the sound quality EVERYONE in music should own one of these is the SAMPLING TIME EXPANSION CAPABILITY. This modern miracle can be expanded to sample up to *200* minutes. That is right 200 minutes. OWN IT NOW!!!!