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I have a 404 and like it, but make no mistake: It is not a Roland emulator of any type, although it was marketed that way. Compared with an SH-101, which I also have, the 404 produces a much thinner sound overall. Yes, it's filter self-oscillates, but it very much lacks the punchy, "grippy," and ballsy sound of the 101's filter. The only way to lend unique character to the 404's sound is through the two wide-ranging LFOs, the synth's best and most useful feature.
Marketed in 1995 as a cheap alternative to the expensive, out-of-production, non-MIDI-controllable TB303, the MIDI-controllable MS-404 was a reasonable alternative at the time, but there are reasons why it didn't catch on:
1) its unimpressive sound, 2) its very limited MIDI implementation (basically, the filter was the only musical parameter that could be controlled externally, and it responded very crudely to controller messages, creating that "zipper" effect), and 3) virtual synth modeling, which was introduced in the same year as the 404.
Even at these sub-$300 prices for used units, they are not a bargain. You can buy Reason for that much and get infinitely more.
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