The SP-808 Architecture

The SP-808 is a type of instrument that combines sampling, hard disk recording, effects, and realtime performance features into a single workstation. A quick look at the front panel will give you a good idea how these various components are designed to work together (see Fig. 1). The hard disk recording section is located at the lower left portion of the front panel and uses the familiar fader and status button controls found on many recorders. The sampling section is found on the lower right and is a pad based interface that is popular on many “phrase” type samplers. The upper right section of the SP-808 contains the effect and realtime performance features, including the innovative D-Beam* infrared light controller. Separating these sections are the edit and transport controls that are located in the center of the SP-808.

When you record to the SP-808, you will record in one of two ways: as a sample, or as a track. A sample is typically a shorter piece of audio designed to be triggered from the 16 pads in the sampling section of the SP-808. A single Zip™ disk can contain as many as 1024 samples, which are divided into 64 banks of 16. A track is typically a longer, more linear type recording such as a lead vocal or guitar track, and is controlled by the faders and status buttons in the recorder/mixer section of the SP-808. Tracks can also be used to trigger samples by recording the order in which you press the pads. There are four stereo tracks on the SP-808 that provide up to 46 minutes of CD quality recording on a each Zip™ disk.

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