Roland Sampler SP Series official web site :: Products

Here you'll find a timeline of the Roland SP series,
along with related world events that occurred at the time of each product's release.
Take a look at these models and relive the memories!

SP Samplers Celebrating Over 300,000 Units Sold (Top)

Notable events in 1997
Noble Peace Prize laureate, Mother Theresa died in Calcutta.
Microsoft purchased Apple shares

SP-202
Click to enlarge

This was the first model in a series of compact samplers. It was designed based on the concept of providing "simple operation and easy sampling" to overturn the notion among non-professional users that samplers are hard to use. It was very simple to operate, and became a popular model around the world. It used SmartMedia as memory storage and it was the first time for a musical instrument.

Memory Card: SmartMedia
Maximum Capacity: 4 MBytes


Click to enlarge	The advertisements and catalog illustrations for this product were created by Gogh Koizumi. This example depicts a futuristic Earth army with SP-202 fighters.

Notable events in 1998
France won the 16th World Cup held in France. The winter Olympic games were held in Nagano, Japan.
The movie Titanic became a worldwide blockbuster, setting a new record for box office earnings.

SP-808 Click to enlarge
	This workstation-type sampler was equipped with everything necessary to produce tracks. It featured a built-in 4-track stereo recorder and a ZIP disk drive that provided large storage capacity at the time. You were able to create music by remixing phrases. It was also used in many other places such as radios and TVs for jingles and sound effects. The twin D Beam was also a big feature. Memory Device: Zip Drive Maximum Capacity: 100 MBytes

Notable events in 2000
Millennium madness! The summer Olympics were held in Sydney, Australia.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets became a best seller.

SP-808EX Click to enlarge
	Retaining the superb basic functions of the SP-808, this successor came with improved features such as enhanced effects, a DSP synth, and remixing functions. It supported up to 250MB Zip disks. It also came with a transparent body that was popular at that time. Memory Device: Zip Drive Maximum Capacity: 250 MBytes

Notable events in 2001
Microsoft and Apple released their new-generation operating systems:
Windows XP and Mac OS X respectively.
U2's song “Beautiful Day” won Grammy awards for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.

SP-303 Click to enlarge
	This compact sampler became a worldwide hit. Musicians, producers, and DJs were drawn to its pattern-sequencer function and, above all else, its incredible ease of use. Many producers launched their careers using this unit alone. Memory Card: SmartMedia Maximum Capacity: 64 MBytes

SP-505 Click to enlarge
	A unique design that had two rows of eight pads lined up sideways. It incorporated many requests from DJs such “chop” and “tempo sync”. It had a big display which made it easy to edit sample waves. The four-part pattern sequencer provided creative music production. Memory Card: SmartMedia Maximum Capacity: 128 MBytes

Notable events in 2004
Ten more countries joined the European Union, bringing the total to 25.
The summer Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, with participation from 201 countries and territories.
Michael Schumacher won his 7th Formula One World Championship.

SP-606 Click to enlarge
	Equipped with a USB audio interface, this workstation was designed to work with computers. It also came with mastering effects, giving users a full range of capabilities fit for pro-quality music production. Velocity-sensitive pads provided expressive pad performance. Memory Card: CompactFlash Maximum Capacity: 512 MBytes

Notable events in 2005
The Kyoto Protocol, based on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, took effect.
Live 8 benefit concerts were held in eight cities around the world.

SP-404
Click to enlarge

Four years after the release of SP-303, the SP-404 was released as its successor. Equipped with the SP-303's basic performance, it received upgrades in numerous areas, including a new panel design. This model also supported battery operation for the first time since the SP-202.

Memory Card: CompactFlash
Maximum Capacity: 1 GByte


Click to enlarge	The advertisements and catalog illustrations were created by Santa Inoue. These were the first works in collaboration with Santa and Roland's SP sampler.

Notable events in 2007
Amy Winehouse won three Grammy awards (matching Norah Jones's trio of new-artist Grammies in 2003).

SP-555
	This became the new flagship model of the SP series, inheriting the performance characteristics of previous models while raising the bar with notable new features such as the Loop Capture, D Beam, enhanced effects, and more. Memory Card: CompactFlash Maximum Capacity: 2 GByte

Notable events in 2009
H1N1 flu outbreak occurs in many countries around the world.
Michael Jackson dies.

SP-404SX
	It's cool, it's compact, and yet so powerful — the SP series evolves even further with the innovative SP-404SX. It uses SD cards and supports up to 32GB. This is the first SP sampler that uses linear PCM format and you can capture all the details of the sound. Memory Card: SD/SDHC Maximum Capacity: 32 GByte

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